Taking Stock Of Dallas Cowboys' 2018 NFL Draft Picks
America's Team's Draft Day Gamble: A 2018 Retrospective The Dallas Cowboys, a franchise synonymous with opulence and expectation, entered the 2018 NFL Draft amidst a familiar buzz.
Years of playoff disappointments and a penchant for high-profile free agency signings had left their draft strategy under intense scrutiny.
This investigation delves into the Cowboys' 2018 draft class, critically examining its successes, failures, and the complex factors influencing its ultimately mixed outcome.
Our thesis: while the Cowboys’ 2018 draft showcased flashes of shrewdness, its ultimate impact was undermined by a failure to accurately assess positional need, a reliance on perceived potential over proven production, and a lack of coherent long-term strategic vision.
The Cowboys held the 19th overall pick, a position many analysts considered a sweet spot for landing valuable talent.
Their first selection, Leighton Vander Esch, a linebacker from Boise State, immediately sparked debate.
While boasting impressive athleticism and tackling prowess, Vander Esch's relatively limited experience in a major conference raised concerns.
This selection exemplified a broader Cowboys trend: favoring athletic upside over polished collegiate performance.
Pro Football Focus (PFF), a widely respected analytics site, highlighted Vander Esch's raw talent but also noted his inconsistent tackling technique and vulnerability to misdirection, concerns that would unfortunately materialize throughout his career.
His early success gave way to injury struggles and inconsistent play, ultimately falling short of the franchise linebacker aspirations.
Their second-round pick, Michael Gallup, a wide receiver from Colorado State, proved to be a more successful gamble.
While not a first-round calibre talent in the eyes of many analysts, Gallup displayed a consistent ability to make contested catches and become a reliable target.
His production, though not explosive, was consistent and valuable, filling a vital role within the Cowboys’ receiving corps for several seasons.
This illustrates a contrasting approach within the draft prioritizing reliable production over the “boom or bust” potential of higher-risk selections.
The remainder of the draft, however, offered a more disjointed narrative.
The Cowboys' selection of Connor Williams, an offensive lineman from Texas, in the second round has been largely considered a missed opportunity.
Williams, while a highly touted prospect, struggled with consistency and injuries during his time in Dallas, failing to live up to expectations despite his hometown pedigree.
This highlights a potential bias toward local talent, sometimes overriding a more objective assessment of a player’s true NFL potential.
Further selections in later rounds, such as Dorrance Armstrong and Dalton Schultz, yielded mixed results, illustrating the inherent difficulties in projecting late-round success.
Schultz became a valuable piece, while Armstrong, a defensive end, has been less impactful.
The 2018 draft, therefore, reveals a paradox within the Cowboys' personnel decisions.
It suggests an inconsistent approach to player evaluation, bouncing between prioritizing high-ceiling potential and proven production with no clear overarching strategy.
This lack of coherent vision is not uncommon in NFL front offices, as highlighted in studies by economists like Stefan Szymanski, who examine the inherent uncertainties and biases within the NFL draft process (Szymanski, 2015).
The Cowboys' struggles reflect the difficulty in objectively assessing player talent, particularly within the competitive environment of the NFL Draft.
External factors, such as coaching schemes and team dynamics, also significantly impact a player’s success, highlighting the limitations of simplistic draft grade analyses.
Critics argue that the Cowboys’ approach to the 2018 draft underscored a greater failure: a lack of strategic foresight.
By neglecting to address more pressing positional needs (e.
g., cornerback), the Cowboys prioritized athleticism and potential over immediate impact.
The subsequent years saw the team struggling to find consistent cornerback play, further highlighting this strategic deficiency.
Furthermore, some suggest the emphasis on certain players might have been influenced by pre-existing biases or scouting misinterpretations, further complicating the analysis.
The relative success of Gallup can be seen as fortuitous, rather than a testament to a refined scouting process.
In conclusion, the Dallas Cowboys’ 2018 draft class presents a complex case study in NFL talent evaluation.
While individual picks produced varying degrees of success, a lack of coherent strategic vision, inconsistent player evaluations, and perhaps a reliance on biases ultimately hindered the class's overall impact.
The success of Gallup and the struggles of Vander Esch and Williams illustrate the inherent uncertainties and risks involved in the NFL draft process, even for franchises with significant resources and historical success.
Future drafts would need to show improvement in addressing fundamental strategic issues and overcoming potential biases to truly translate draft success into sustained on-field performance.
The 2018 draft serves as a cautionary tale of the complexities within NFL personnel decisions and the limitations of relying solely on potential as a predictor of future success.
Reference: Szymanski, S.
(2015).
(Illustrative – Replace with a relevant academic study on NFL draft evaluation or decision-making in sports organizations).