As the Draft began to draw to it’s conclusions, Cowboys scouts and position coaches were busy on the phones trying to bring more talent to the team. The Undrafted Free Agency period is perhaps the most competitive part of the draft. All the players remaining on your board that didn’t get drafted are now being targeted by teams. You have limited amount of time to go through your lists and secure deals with these players. Relationships and team fits also play a role into where these guys end up. How did the Cowboys fare?
Lets start on Defense. The Cowboys landed Tyrus Wheat Mississippi State Outside Linebacker. He was Edge 19 from the Athletics Dane Brugler. (The remaining rankings will be from Dane Brugler as well. Wheat is a flasher. He has strength, quickness and explosiveness. He also shows some ability to long arm and bend as a pass rusher. His biggest trait right now is his motor and vision. He knows where the ball is at all times and will do anything to get it. Isaiah Land Florida A&M LB was a prolific pass rusher in the FCS. Land came from a HBCU, where he racked up 89 tackles, 42.5 tackles for loss, 29 sacks and 7 pass deflections. The production was good enough to get drafted. He was LB 18. He comes in as an elite pass rusher and uses his hands well. Land will have to continue to refine his techniques as a Linebacker and add some weight if he wants to make the roster. Durrell Johnson of Liberty was a Cowboys 30 visit. He was Edge 43. Cowboys also brought in some corners in D’Angelo Mandell BYU and Myles Brooks of Louisiana Tech. Brooks was CB32. These corners have good size but will need to improve their physicalness. They don’t have the quick twitch to win late so they will have to depend on their technique.
On offense, the UDFA class is led by Hunter Luepke of North Dakota State. Luepke is the do it all playmaker for the Bisons that played Full back, running back and tight end. RB21 has the best chance to make the squad in this new hybrid Mike McCarthy offense. Guard TJ Bass of Oregon (OG14) and Earl Bostick of Kansas (OT17) were also highly demanded prospects that the Cowboys landed. As good as this Defense is, these linemen will have a chance to go against some of the best in the league and earn a name. How they deal with speed and power will be something to monitor in camp. They can work and get better and leave an impression with the team and the other 32 teams during preseason.
Princeton Fant (TE28) of Tennessee and John Stephens Jr of Louisiana are Tight Ends that the Cowboys added to the mix. They have the opportunity to compete within this Tight End room to make the team. Stephens is a converted Wide Receiver. The Cowboys also brought in some slot receivers in Jalen Moreno-Cropper of Fresno State and Jose Borbon of Temple. Both were highly productive in college. Moreno-Cropper was WR31 and does a good job of getting open. He will have to improve his feet and adjust to getting both feet down. Neither of these guys have a big catch radius so they will have to continue to refine their route running to maximize their skills and get open. A receiver with food size and speed that signed with Dallas as a UDFA is David Durden of West Florida. Durden is 6’2 200 pounds. He ran a 4.45 forty yard dash and had a vertical jump of 37 inches. The concerns for Durden are his age (will be 25 this year) and his level of competition. Can he get open against NFL talent? Can he tap into that athleticism to improve his route running skills and catch rate?
The Cowboys usually have some form of success with these guys. Players like Peyton Hendershot, Marquez Bell, Malik Davis and Danny Houston all had snaps during meaningful games for them. So yes, UDFAs matter. When they get into rookie mini camps and training camps, it doesn’t matter where they were drafted. It matters what they can bring to the team. If they work hard and have productive camps, they will get their chance, especially considering the Cowboys history with UDFAs.
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