3 best moves that the Cowboys made in the NFL Draft

Going all-in on defense

What do Micah Parsons, Kelvin Joseph, Osa Odighizuwa, Chauncey Golston, Nahshon Wright and Jabril Cox have in common? Besides being the Cowboys’ first six picks in the draft, they’re all defensive players.

For the first time in franchise history, Dallas focused their first six picks exclusively on defense.

The reason for that is obvious. The Cowboys gave up the fifth-most points in the NFL last season, ranking 30th in rushing yards per attempt, 25th in yards per play allowed, 22nd in passing yards allowed and 21st in first downs allowed. Basically, they were bad against the pass and worse against the run.

The good news is they’ve addressed those problems in a big way over draft weekend. New defensive coordinator Dan Quinn landed a pair of linebackers who have the talent to start in the league. He made up for missing on Patrick Surtain and Jaycee Horn by grabbing Joseph in the second round. His ball skills could be of great value to a secondary in need of fresh blood. In the sixth, they picked up Wright as a 6-foot-4 presence before taking the chance on Mukuamu later in the round.

As for the run defense? They targeted that too with Odighizuwa, a disruptive DT out of UCLA. Kentucky’s 325-pound lineman Quinton Bohanna followed in the sixth round.  They also added Chauncey Golston from Iowa to beef up the pass rush.

This draft class could make all the difference for the defense.