FRISCO, Texas – Every year, we hear the same debate when it comes to drafting players.
Do they take best available player? Or biggest need?
As it turned out, the Cowboys basically did neither. Instead, you can categorize this as drafting a at a position that was thinning out.
The Cowboys are pretty ecstatic about taking Taco Charlton with the 28th pick, even if many of the fans weren't as impressed. Some of them probably wanted a cornerback, especially since someone such as Kevin King was still on the board – and remains there as they head into Friday's second day of the draft.
But this didn't seem like it was about Charlton vs. King. This was about the rest of the pass-rushers available against the cornerbacks.
Stephen Jones and Jerry Jones basically said as much in the post-draft press conference. Stephen told us there "many good cornerbacks still available" and even admitted to having one of their 18 players with first-round grades still on the board heading into Friday.
He didn't say if it was King, but I think it's probably a safe assumption to think that way.
Now, don't expect King to be around when the Cowboys pick again at No. 60 in the second round. And don't hold your breath this team makes a trade up to get him. That's just too rich in my opinion.
But it's not just about King. There are some other good corners still on the board. You've got Tankersley from Clemson, Tabor and Wilson from Florida and maybe a handful of others.
It's one thing to like one player over the other, but it's hard to project an entire draft strategy with just one pick. If we've learned one thing about drafts, it's that we need to wait a little bit before we start judging
I can remember fans absolutely HATING the Travis Frederick pick back in 2013. He's now the best center in the game and that will go down as one of the best first-round picks the Cowboys have ever made, especially in terms of true value.
I'm not even sure people were thrilled about Zack Martin because those defensive players were wiped out and they went with the best guy on the board.
But the draft memory that reminds me the most of this situation occurred back in 2003, Bill Parcells' first season as head coach.[embeddedad0]
There was a tight end they had a first-round grade on, sitting there with the 37th pick in the second round. While some of the members of the War Room definitely wanted to take Jason Witten, Parcells knew there were other tight ends to get later in the draft. There wasn't a better option at center than Al Johnson, or at least Parcells thought. So he drafted Johnson, which seemed to close the door on Witten.
Of course, we know how the story ended up. Witten never got picked in the second round and was sitting right in the Cowboys' lap with the 69th selection.
I doubt Johnson was ever a better pick than Witten. But according to Parcells, he thought he could get more value at tight end later on than a center.
Who knows, maybe this is a sign Kevin King will still be around for the Cowboys. Don't bet on it. But the Cowboys are betting that at least another comparable cornerback will be.
