Many believed that the Dallas Cowboys were pursuing a tight end on Draft Day of last year, following Dalton Schultz’s free agency departure to the Houston Texans.
And so they were, eventually selecting defensive tackle Mazi Smith in Round 1 and Michigan’s Luke Schoonmaker in Round 2. Speculating is enjoyable.
“Draft Re-Dos” are enjoyable. But we also need to be fair in addition to “fun.” The Cowboys choose Dalton Kincaid and team him with Jake Ferguson in CBS Sports’ draft do-over.
In retrospect, that might have been an incredible combination for Dallas in 2023.
Dallas was considering choosing a tight end high, maybe to the detriment of tight end Kincaid. Mike Fisher from CowboysSI.com previously wrote.
Thus… “The Cowboys were probably aiming for this player in April of last year, but the Bills beat them to it. Kincaid would take over for Dalton Schultz,
who left in free agency the previous offseason, according to CBS Sports. “He and Jake Ferguson would be a fun tight end duo for Dak Prescott.”
Here are two issues with CBS’s work… First off, we’re not sure where CBS obtained the information that Dallas planned to select a tight end there at No. 26. In fact,
we believe that Mazi and an O-lineman engaged in an on-the-clock discussion. As we reported at the time, “Matthew Bergeron, the offensive lineman from Syracuse,
should have been selected? … Cowboys war room footage currently available shows that Dallas’ discussion,
Furthermore, the Buffalo Bills selected Utah’s outstanding early, as CBS just reported,
forcing Dallas to choose Michigan’s Mazi Smith at No. 26. Thus, how was Dallas expected to wait at No. 26 and still select Kincaid if the Bills traded up ahead of them to acquire the No. 25 pick for him? It seems the Cowboys were hoping for more with Mazi,
who hardly saw the field after Smith and Kincaid’s debut seasons, while Kincaid finished with 673 receiving yards and two scores from his 73 receptions in Buffalo’s system.
not to mention his postseason 10-receive, 93-yard, three-touchdown performance against the Green Bay Packers.
It appears that the Cowboys made a poor decision when comparing that output to Mazi, who in his rookie season only played 20 or more snaps in a game five times. Related: Is Mazi Fixable by New Coach Mike Zimmer? However, since it is only one season,
we cannot pass judgment on Smith at this time. Schoonmaker, who as a rookie caught eight passes for two touchdowns, is similarly affected.
Would the Cowboys select Mazi in the first round of the 2023 draft if they could go back in time and make a different selection? We would currently have to say no, given his performance in his first campaign….
Ferguson, on the other hand, became Dak Prescott’s go-to guy in his second NFL season, hauling in 71 receptions for 761 yards and five scores,
To be fair, though, we may play this game with any team in any draft. We demonstrate here why it’s great to have hindsight: Dallas would have won earlier had Detroit drafted Sam LaPorta at number 32.
Perhaps at pick 58, they ought to have selected O’Cyrus Torrence, the O-lineman who was selected by Buffalo as the next pick, instead of Schoon.
And why not go all-out and try again to acquire what the Rams did in terms of fifth-round receiver Puka Nacua and defensive lineman Kobie Turner,
both selected in the third round? Copyright ABG-SI LLC. All rights reserved. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC.
