Pass rush, tight end, quarterback among Cowboys' needs addressed on Day 3

Dorance Armstrong Jr. didn't think the Dallas Cowboys had much interest in him. In fact, he doesn't remember meeting with them much in the pre-draft process.

But Armstrong thinks they made the right decision with their first pick in the fourth round (116th overall), taking the Kansas pass rusher.

Armstrong adds depth to a unit that saw Benson Mayowa depart in free agency.

Armstrong had a big season in 2016, registering 20 tackles for loss and 10 sacks. Three of those tackles for loss and two sacks came in the Jayhawks' upset of the Texas Longhorns.

"I definitely remember coming out with that win in overtime," Armstrong said about beating Texas. "That was one of my biggest games as a unit, one of the biggest games from myself in my career. I don't think I will ever forget that game."

This past season, though, Armstrong saw his production drop. He had 9.5 tackles for loss and two sacks.

"Honestly, I just missed a lot," Armstrong said. "At the same time, I got more double teams, more attention to my side. It kind of limited what I was doing for the team as well. Not being on the edge as much as I wanted like in 2016."

Armstrong, who is from the Houston area, declared for the draft early. He felt he'd be a second- or third-round selection, believing the Kansas City Chiefs and Tennessee Titans had the most interest in him.

But he's happy to land with the Cowboys.

"It feels great to be a Cowboy," Armstrong said. "My journey, it’s been real crazy, real busy. The wait is finally over."

Witten's replacement?

Get ready for the Jason Witten comparisons, Dalton Schultz.

The Cowboys drafted Schultz, a Stanford tight end, with the final pick in the fourth round (137th overall) on Saturday. Schultz becomes the highest-drafted tight end on the Cowboys roster, assuming Jason Witten follows through on his plans to retire and head to ESPN's "Monday Night Football" broadcast booth.

Schultz is familiar with Witten, of course.

"He is definitely a guy that I have watched on film and learned from and tried to emulate in my own game throughout college," Schultz said. "We have a lot of NFL tape that we will pull up on Saturdays in the off-season and bring in some of the young tight ends and go through and watch film, so I’ve seen a lot of his film. I know he is the all-time [Cowboys] leader in receptions and a hell of a player. He has had a Hall of Fame career.

"I think those comparisons are things that some people like to do, but at the end of the day you go in with that same mindset that you are going to approach every day the same way and dominate everything you do. I think going forward that is going to be how I approach the Cowboys and the Cowboys' offense."

Schultz, who is 6-foot-6, 244 pounds, had 22 catches for 212 yards and three touchdowns for Stanford last season. In three seasons with the Cardinal, Schultz had 55 receptions for 555 yards and five touchdowns.

Schultz doesn't feel his stats do him justice in the passing game.

"I would say I am very underrated in the pass game," said Schultz, who was named to the first-team All-Pac-12 squad in 2017. "I didn’t get a lot of production, but I just wasn't asked to do that stuff in our offense, being a very run-first and play action over the top offense. I would say I am very underrated and I’m really excited to get out on the field and show everybody that I can be a threat in the man game as well as the middle of the field."

Quarterback depth

The Cowboys found a quarterback in the fifth round on Saturday, drafting Western Kentucky's Mike White.

White becomes just the sixth quarterback drafted in the Jerry Jones era — Troy Aikman (1989), Bill Musgrave (1991), Quincy Carter (2001), Stephen McGee (2009), Dak Prescott (2016).

White joins a quarterback room with the Cowboys that includes Prescott as the starter and Cooper Rush as the incumbent backup. The Cowboys needed another quarterback with Kellen Moore transitioning from player to coach this off-season, and White had the Cowboys at the top of his wish list.

"Waking up today I was hoping so because it's the Dallas Cowboys," White said. "Who in the heck wouldn't want to play for the Dallas Cowboys?"

White is a prototypical NFL quarterback at 6-foot-5, 223 pounds, and threw for more than 4,000 yards in each of his past two seasons with the Hilltoppers. He completed 368 of 560 passes for 4,177 yards with 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions last season.

Later rounds

The Cowboys added linebacker and wide receiver depth in the sixth round by taking Indiana LB Chris Covington and Boise State WR Cedrick Wilson.

Covington started his college career as a quarterback, but showed promise in his first season starting at linebacker last season. Wilson, meanwhile, is another Boise State product on the roster. His dad, Cedrick Wilson Sr., was a sixth-round pick in 2001 by San Francisco and went on to win a Super Bowl with Pittsburgh in 2005.

In the seventh round, the Cowboys added running back depth by taking Alabama's powerful Bo Scarbrough.

This story was originally published April 28, 2018 at 8:59 PM with the headline "Pass rush, tight end, quarterback among Cowboys' needs addressed on Day 3."