The Dallas Cowboys finished the 2022 season with a record of 12-5... Good for some teams, but substandard for America's Team. Defense was the top item on the menu and the Cowboys went shopping at Ann Arbor, Michigan.. They had the 26th overall pick in the first round, and went for help on the defensive line..
Mazi Smith is 6 foot 3 inches tall and weighs in at 357 pounds..He was the captain of the Michigan team in 2022 and their vocal team leader. He anchored the defensive front for the Wolverines and coaches say he loved the contact..
Smith can learn from veterans on the team and also get in on some of action. He was a first team selection on the Big 10 All-Conference team. At the NFL Combine Smith vertically jumped 29 and a half inches and recorded a broad jump of eight feet eleven inches. His hands are said to be nine and three-quarter inches wide.
As long as the Cowboys were in Ann Arbor, they stuck around for their second round pick..
Needing a tight end, the Cowboys picked up Luke Schoonmaker, a six foot five inch monster tipping the scales at 251 pounds. Didn't start the 2022 season as the top tight end for Michigan but worked his way into the starting line-up.
Schoonmaker ran a 4.63 forty yard dash at the NFL Combine and posted a 33 and a half inch vertical jump, and that was 5th overall among all tight ends. Also at the top of the charts for overall athletic scores when he recorded a 9.86 out of 10.
In the 3rd round Dallas returned to the Lone Star State when they picked up DeMarvion Overshown of the University of Texas..
Overshown was the 90th overall pick in the draft, and he stands six foot four inches tall and weighs 240 pounds. His hometown is Arp, Texas, so he will be staying home for his professional career. Overshown's nickname among teammates is 'Agent Zero', referring to his jersey number.. but he won't be able to keep it with Dallas. Cowboy safety Jayron Kearse has already claimed the zero number.
Overshown was a 1st Team All Big-12 selection, and among his 96 tackles for the Horns this year, 10 went for negative yardage. He also had 4 quarterback sacks.. He played safety for Texas his first two years with the team before moving to linebacker. At the NFL Combine he posted a 4.6 forty yard dash. He also was a semi-finalist for the Butkus Award, that goes to the top college linebacker.. Zero started 33 of 50 games for the Longhorns..
In the 4th round Dallas moved to the west coast for more help on the defensive line... Viliami Fehoko of San Jose State University.
Fehoko is 6 foot 4 and 267 pounds.. The 129th overall pick had a nickname of 'Backfield Bully' since he was in opponents backfield so often. Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2022 and named to the All-Conference Team. Actually, it was the second year in a row Fehoko has been All-Conference. He led the team in tackles behind the line of scrimmage, sacks, and forced fumbles. Coaches say he is full-speed on every play and always around the ball.
In the 5th round the Cowboys went cross country to find some help for the offensive line...
Asim Richards of the University of North Carolina stands six foot four inches tall and tips the scales at 307 pounds.. He by-passes his senior year to come out a year early.. He is young, but coaches call his play solid with great footwork..
At the NFL Combine, coaches were impressed with Richards' command of his position, but needs to work on his hands.. He possesses a good first punch, but fails to maintain his control of defensive players.. Also could gain some aggression in his play, as coaches say he is just a good guy..
When Round 6 rolled around the Cowboys used a future pick to move up in the draft to the 178th overall spot.. and they used the pick to select Eric Scott, Jr of Southern Mississippi University..
Scott is a cornerback and is six foot two and 202 pounds...He is big and physical... In three years at Hattiesburg he recorded 60 tackles, 5 interceptions, 16 passes batted away, and two fumbles recovered.. Two of those interceptions were returned for touchdowns. Great athletic traits and a nose for the ball, but sometimes takes bad angles to the ball carrier. His coaches say he will fight for a spot on the Dallas roster..
Dallas also had its regular pick in the 6th round (212 overall) and with it they tugged in the heart strings of Cowboys fans across the country...
The Cowboys picked running back Deuce Vaughn of Kansas State University.. His father is a member of the coaching staff of Dallas and got to call his son with the good news... Deuce is five foot five and weighs 179 pounds.. His quickness and ability to turn on a dime has given him the nickname of Houdini...
Deuce is a two-time First Team All-American and to call him quick is a gross understatement. He ran and caught passes for 1,936 yards in 2022,. 1558 yards rushing alone to finish 8th in the country..As a junior, he scored 22 touchdowns for the Jayhawks.
The 7th round had the Cowboys with the 244 overall pick and they selected another wide receiver in the person of Jalen Brooks of the University of South Carolina..
Brooks is six foot one and weighs in at 201 pounds.. He is an aggressive player but had a very poor showing at the NFL Combine.. His 4.69 in the 40 yard dash was the worst among wide receivers..
That rounds out the drafted players for this draft.. Now it will be up to the coaching staff to fan out and seek undrafted players to become free agent acquisitions. That is the route that Tony Romo and Drew Pearson traveled to become All=Pro members of the Dallas Cowboys...
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