The Dallas Cowboys start rookie minicamp this weekend, and with that, the team took care of all but one of their newly drafted players.
The only rookie who has yet to sign is second-round selection Marshawn Kneeland, Todd Archer of ESPN was the first to report on the news.
The Cowboys have signed draft picks Tyler Guyton, Cooper Beebe, Marist Liufau, Caelen Carson, Ryan Flournoy, Nathan Thomas and Justin Rogers. Only second rounder Marshawn Kneeland left to sign.
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) May 10, 2024
Mel Kiper Jr. gave the Cowboys a B – in this year’s draft.
He liked what the boys did with the first few selections but did not like the selection of Marist Liufau, the linebacker they drafted with one of their two picks in the third round.
Mainly because the team has a glaring weakness at running back, and plenty of decent rookies were staring them in the face.
I have not seen why Kneeland is still unsigned, but it is May 10th. I would like to think they will get a deal done with him as they need the depth at the position in 2024.
The 2024 #Cowboys rookies report to the practice field this morning — for the first time in the NFL career — at around 11 am CT.
Two walkthroughs today + meetings.
It’s about to become very real for them, and very quickly.
— Patrik [No C] Walker (@VoiceOfTheStar) May 10, 2024
My Favorite Pick
I believe the Cowboys hit a home run with Cooper Beebe. I loved the value of this pick.
Dallas drafted Beebe 73rd overall. A player who most had a second-round grade comes at a great value for Dallas.
At Kansas State, Beebe played games at left tackle, left guard, right tackle, and right guard, but none at center, although he did take snaps in practices.
Cooper Beebe is a soul eater. #Cowboys pic.twitter.com/derEwO6qUB
— Patrik [No C] Walker (@VoiceOfTheStar) April 27, 2024
That said, Beebe will compete for the starting center position next season but also provide depth as I noted above.
Beebe won back-to-back Big 12 Lineman of the Year awards. He was also the first Kansas State lineman to have first-team All-American honors. He is 6’3, 322, a flat-out stud.
Among draft-eligible guards, Beebe had the highest career grade at 88.3. Although he may make the change to center, which is very likely, what a grade value the Cowboys got at pick 73.
The Cowboy’s offensive line is going to be young, but they should be at worst at the same level they were a season ago.
Questions Remain
Marshawn Kneeland was the only pick I have questions about.
He’s a defensive end from Western Michigan. Kneeland had a career-high 57 tackles this past season at WMU along with 7.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.
In four seasons, he had 28.0 tackles for loss and 13 sacks. He also blocked a kick as a redshirt sophomore.
We have to be honest with ourselves here. Most of these rookies are going to have the chance to step right in and make an impact.
Other rookies such as fifth-round pick Caelen Carson, sixth-round pick Ryan Flournoy, and seventh-round pick Nathan Thomas might not even see the field.
Although if Dallas does not end up signing Zay Jones who they had in for a visit this week, I’ve heard some buzz around Flournoy.
Ryan Flournoy, the #Cowboys sixth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, is preparing to join the rookies in his first-ever minicamp.
He and I talked about several things, but what stood out was, first, his admiration of Jerry Rice — who also hailed from a small school (expand for… pic.twitter.com/7cTd2r8RjA
— Patrik [No C] Walker (@VoiceOfTheStar) May 9, 2024
Dallas lost a lot more than they gained this offseason, and once again, Jerry Jones is hoping the young draft class can provide a spark.
I am not saying it won’t work, but when you have yet to get deals done with your two best players in CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons and clear cap space, it makes you think.
We will see how this weekend goes at rookie minicamp, but we probably won’t get much other than them learning the way of being an NFL player.
The NFL schedule gets released next Wednesday, so we aren’t even sure when the Cowboys will play.
Let’s see how the rest of this offseason goes. The hope is at least CeeDee Lamb gets a new contract before Jerry Jones let’s Justin Jefferson sign. If he continues to wait, Lamb is going to be asking for even more money.
