ARLINGTON, Texas — On Thursday, the Dallas Cowboys will pick no one in the first round of the NFL draft in Nashville.
“It’s hard not to have that first-round pick,” said Cowboys long-time insider Mickey Spagnola. But things worked out about as well as could be hoped for.
“It was a well spent first round draft choice,” said Spagnola, “picking up Amari Cooper in that trade with the Oakland Raiders.”
“I think if you realize how badly the Cowboys needed a wide receiver of his caliber, you found the results last year in that second half of the season,” Spagnola said.
The Cowboys would have the 27th pick but for the trade with Oakland.
“I think there would not have been a wide receiver the caliber of Amari Cooper [at pick number 27],” Spagnola said.
While many have said the Cowboys should pick a safety in the second round on Friday, Spagnola said that’s not the priority – or at least it shouldn’t be.
Rhetorically, he asked, “If you don’t have ‘this’ position taken care of, which position would get you beat?”
“To me, the safety position doesn’t get you beat.”
“But if you can’t stop the run up-front, or you can’t get to the quarterback, that will get you beat faster than anything else,” Spagnola said.
“I think the Cowboys found that out with their inability to stop the run in the playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams.”
The Rams ran for 273 yards in that game. That means defensive tackle and defensive end should still be in the mix for the Cowboys as they select pick number 58.
“They don’t have a proven backup running back to Ezekiel Elliot,” Spagnola said. That means a running back can’t be off the table either.
Many sports pundits think the Cowboys will stay with 58 and not trade for a higher spot.
The draft will be televised Thursday night, Friday night and Saturday afternoon on ABC, ESPN, NFL Network and ESPN Deportes.
Nexstar stations are providing coverage online of “The Draft in Music City.” Check daily for news and live video streams.
Use the video link abve to see a lot more from Spagnola on the draft.
