Dallas Cowboys disastrous rookie class could have lasting implications on entire team

Jerry Jones retained his head coach with the hope for a better January, a plan that is both grounded and riddled with holes.

Will the players buy a head coach who is on the final year of his contract?

The Cowboys are 1-for-2 doing this, both under Jason Garrett.

In 2014, the team finished 12-4, lost in the Dez Bryant “The Catch?” divisional playoff game in Green Bay, and Garrett was handed a five-year contract. In 2019, they finished 8-8, and Garrett was let go.

Will the Cowboys actually be good enough to again make the playoffs, for a fourth consecutive year? The Cowboys have not made the playoffs in four straight years since they had their run from 1991 to 1996.

Will the Cowboys actually be good enough to win multiple playoff games for the first time since 1995? Between the offensive line, defensive line and linebackers, the roster has issues.

And there is potentially the massive problem that lurks beneath this depth chart like some kind of gridiron kraken: A draft class that has shades of 2009.

No one can throw away the entire class of the Cowboys’ draft from 2023, but the first-year returns are a sign of potentially an issue that will linger.

The Cowboys selected eight players, and none of them look great. Or good. Or decent. When a team misses on an entire class it causes issues on your depth chart, your active roster, your record and your salary cap.

Mazi Smith, the defensive tackle selected with the 26th overall pick, thus far looks like your standard reach. He started twice, but was not the run-stopper the defense desperately needs.

Can’t write him off, but 13 tackles in 15 games is not encouraging.

There are also undeniable shades of 2017 first round pick Taco Charlton, and 2019 second rounder Trysten Hill. Both are defensive linemen, and neither did much with the Cowboys before they were cut.

Smith’s teammate at Michigan, tight end Luke Schoonmaker, enjoyed a better season. Slightly. Barely. A second round pick, he finished with eight receptions for 65 yards and two touchdowns.

Schoonmaker looks like to be on the lighter side, and the Cowboys may have over estimated his ability to be a competent blocker. He looks more like a wide receiver than tight end.

Again, can’t write him off.

The third round pick, Texas linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, looked promising in preseason. Naturally, he suffered a torn ACL just before the start of the regular season, and who knows what he will be?

The Cowboys need nothing more than Overshown to develop into a quality player, preferably yesterday; expect his development to be at least delayed only because he didn’t play a game in 2023.

The remaining picks:

Defensive lineman Viliami Fehoko (fourth round). 0 games played. Inactive for 10 games.

Asim Richards (fifth round). Appeared in eight games.

Defensive back Eric Scott (sixth round). Inactive for every game.

Running back Deuce Vaughn (sixth round). Played in seven games; he carried the ball 23 times for 40 yards, and caught seven passes for 40 yards.

Wide receiver Jalen Brooks (seventh round). Played in seven games; caught six passes for 64 yards.

A reminder that none of them should be tossed into the waste bin. Yet.

This is not 2009. Yet.

The last time the Cowboys had a draft class this unproductive as rookies was 2009; someone could do a dissertation on that Cowboys draft.

That year, they had 12 picks, none in the first two rounds.

They Cowboys’ rookie class “enjoys” the distinction as the group that survived the collapse of the team’s indoor practice facility during a practice in May of 2009 at Valley Ranch.

The only player from that class who did much of anything, ever, was tight end John Phillips, who scratched out 10 NFL seasons, three with the Cowboys.

Not finding two or three decent players from that class had lasting ramifications on the Cowboys; when you miss on an entire group, it forces management to spend more money on free agents, and your team suffers from the lack of production.

It’s too early to dismiss the entire class of 2023, but the early returns are ominous for a franchise that yearns a winning January of 2024.