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Cowboys Should've Drafted D Over CeeDee, Says Peter King

The Dallas Cowboys Should've Drafted Defense Over CeeDee, Says NFL Writer Peter King - And Yeah, He's Wrong
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FRISCO - NFL writer Peter King has positive things to say this week about the Dallas Cowboys (ranking them ninth in his Power Poll), about coach Mike McCarthy (having spent all that time with him in the barn) and about Dak Prescott's weaponry (good enough that King favors Dallas in the NFC East).

But my guy Peter confounds me when, tucked into his optimistic notes, he adds that Dak will "have much better weapons to use with the Cowboys, led by CeeDee Lamb, Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup at receiver and Ezekiel Elliott in the backfield. ... I still feel like the Cowboys would have been wiser to go defense with the pick that nabbed Lamb ...''

But ... why?

Let's bullet-point our way through this:

*King also notes that "even better'' than just drafting a defensive player instead of Lamb, Dallas should've engineered "a trade-down to get a corner and a safety in rounds one and two.'' This is easier said than done, and besides ...

*If Lamb is the No. 6-rated player on your board, and he's available at 17, how do you not take him? There is no defensive player at 17 who is better than an offensive player you ranked sixth. Nor is there a "trade-down'' that offers you more value than getting your sixth-ranked player.

*Who's who? Name names! What is the identity of the magical player Dallas could've nabbed who will be better than Lamb - who Peter himself lists (first!) as being among Dak's premium, division-winning weapons?

*Speaking of winning the division, which would make a team a contender: Isn't that the idea? If the acquisition of Lamb makes Dallas the favorite to win the division ... and this team (with Byron Jones and Robert Quinn mentioned by King as major losses) last year failed to do so ... isn't that a step forward? Isn't that the point?

*Peter says the Cowboys should've used the draft to replace Byron and Quinn. Dallas' answer? We did. We used all avenues to do so, the draft giving us second-round cornerback Trevon Diggs (who the Cowboys viewed as worthy of a first-round pick) and with free agency bringing us Aldon Smith.

Why would any team think so lineally as to say it's The Draft And The Draft Only that must be utilized to fill spots?

*In fact - and we've written this so often, and we bet Peter King has written it, too - the NFL Draft shouldn't be about simply "filling spots.'' It should be about drafting the most talented players, virtually regardless of position. The fact that Dallas did exactly that on Lamb, and then in Round 2 nabbed a cornerback, and then in Rounds 3, 4 and 5 took defensive players they believe might be rotational contributors, makes all of this an awkward backhanded compliment.

The Dallas Cowboys are Peter King's favorites to win the NFC East. And if he's right, they won't do that despite selecting Lamb and the rest; they'll do it because they selected Lamb and the rest.