Watch out for the late Round Picks

 There are many reasons to be excited about the Dallas Cowboys this upcoming season. The thing that has me most excited is the youth movement that the Cowboys have started. Young players are always a wildcard. They can be instant contributors to the team or they can struggle early in their careers and leave the team wondering if he is right for the system. You can also get players like Maliek Collins and Anthony Brown. These two players showed flashes but weren’t instant starters. It’s hard to accurately judge how good they are because they were used sparingly, despite having success last season. The one thing that they Cowboys have going for them is that they have had some good draft picks turn into solid starters. The Cowboys seem to be taking a page out of the Seahawks playbook!

            In 2012, the Seattle Seahawks took Russell Wilson in the 3^rd round of the NFL draft. Wilson was considered a very good quarterback coming out of Wisconsin but he was undersized. The Seahawks had just given Matt Flynn a contract that off-season and he was the expected starting quarterback. I would love to say that Russell Wilson came from nowhere and beat out Flynn for the starting job. Truth is, Matt Flynn was a bum and Wilson came in and took the starting job away from Flynn (easily). Wilson was a key piece to the Seahawks ascension to the dominant team that they are now.

            Russell Wilson allowed the Seahawks to implement the power running style, while mixing in some read option. Wilson is the perfect quarterback for their system because he is smart and has a ton of athleticism. He also allows them to win games on the defensive side of the ball. Make no mistake Wilson is an excellent quarterback, but the first two seasons of his career he was mostly handing the ball off, checking down passes, and not turning the ball over. While he was doing that, the Seahawks defense was coming together and becoming one hell of a unit.

            I love making the Dak Prescott and Russell Wilson comparison. If Prescott can develop the same way that Wilson did, the Cowboys will have a very good quarterback for a long time to come. I really want to focus on the similarities between the Cowboys and the Seahawks teambuilding, mainly on the defensive side of the ball.

            In order to build any good team you must have a solid foundation. In football terms that means via the draft. All good teams have talented players that they’ve drafted, developed, and molded from the vision of the organizations direction. All great players aren’t first and second round draft picks. In fact it helps the organization if they can hit on the 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th round drafts picks. The way contracts are set up, the later picks don’t make as much money as the higher round picks. When Richard Sherman (5^th round pick) becomes a top three player at his position it benefits the organization because they don’t have to pay him top dollar immediately. To build a great team like the one the Seahawks have assembled you have to hit on those late round picks.

            The Seahawks core foundation is comprised of players they’ve drafted. Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor, Bobby Wagner, and KJ Wright are all players drafted by the Seahawks. Only Earl Thomas and Bobby Wagner were taken before the third round. More importantly, each one of them has been to a pro bowl. Also consider that all of them are top 5 at their position. Make no mistake it takes some luck to assemble this kind of talent from late round picks. It also takes a good defensive scheme that will maximize their abilities to make this all work. The Seahawks have had the luck and the scheme that has allowed them to get this done. The only comparison that I can make to the Cowboys is that they too have a ton of late round picks that they expect to contribute.  

            The Cowboys are going to be putting a ton of faith into some late round draft picks this season. Maliek Collins (3^rd round pick) and Anthony Brown (6^th round pick) are expected to start this season at defensive tackle and defensive back. Both of them were taken in last year’s draft and both had a good season last year. The Cowboys have also added players like Jourdan Lewis (3^rd round pick 2017), Xavier Woods (6^th round pick 2017), and Marquez White (6^th round pick 2017) to this year’s secondary. All of them are talented players and will probably have to contribute this season. I don’t expect them to be starters but I do expect them to all contribute.

            Every one of the players that I just mentioned is a wildcard. One of them can be the Cowboys next Richard Sherman or Kam Chancellor or maybe Jaylon Smith can become their Bobby Wagner. Expecting late round picks to step in and contribute isn’t a bad thing, it just means that they Cowboys are desperate, which they are. They have ignored the defensive side of the ball for two long and now they have to get lucky on some of these late round picks. On the bright side, the Seahawks have had a lot of success with late round picks. It could work out well for the Cowboys. Cowboys fans don’t keep allowing these haters to trash talk our rookies as if it’s impossible that they will turn out to be good players.