Dallas Cowboys love second round gambles. This one looks like a hit; the other a whiff
The second round of the NFL Draft has become the area where the Dallas Cowboys love to throw Risk and Gamble into their shopping cart.
We are talking about a group of players that includes, since 2015, Randy Gregory, Jaylon Smith, Chido Awuzie, Connor Williams, Trysten Hill, Trevon Diggs, Kelvin Joseph and Sam Williams.
Gregory and Smith were both rated as first round talents, but dropped to the second round because of injury, or character, concerns.
Joseph and Williams had their own “issues” that dramatically affected their respective draft stocks.
Gregory is in Denver now. It looks like Smith’s football career is over; he was cut last year by the Cowboys, and is currently a free agent.
Cornerback Kelvin Joseph, the Cowboys second round pick out of Kentucky by way of LSU in 2021, is trying impressively hard to end his career before it even begins.
Which leaves Sam Williams, the defensive end out of Mississippi who could be better than all of them.
The Cowboys concluded their fake season with a 27-26 win against the Seattle Seahawks at AT&T Stadium in front of fictitious attendance figure comprised of a lot of good people who had nothing better to do with their Friday night.
(Seriously, people, why were you there?)
Joseph, who was the the 44th overall pick in the ‘21 draft, had to leave the game on Friday night with a concussion he sustained in the first half.
Despite NFL-level talent, the DB who likes to rap and calls himself “Bossman Fat” needs to do just a bit more to prove stick in the NFL.
He’s probably going to make the roster, but do not be shocked if he’s cut.
Ranking Cowboys corners, Joseph would be behind Diggs, Jourdan Lewis, Anthony Brown, rookie DaRon Bland and likely Nahshon Wright.
Unlike those players, Joseph handed the Cowboys a reason to cut him.
This offseason, he was a passenger in a car that was used during a drive-by shooting in Dallas where a person was killed. Joseph was cleared of any wrong doing.
He is talented, but there are maturity issues. This was a talented player who did the impossible when he was kicked off the LSU football team.
Do you know how hard that is?
There are also some maturity issues for Sam Williams, but in his first training camp with the Cowboys the rookie looks like he could make significant plays in his first NFL season.
Because of need, Williams should get some decent opportunities in pass rushing situations opposite Micah Parsons and Tank Lawrence.
Those players should create 1-on-1 matchups for Williams.
Because of his size, 6-foot-4, 270 pounds, Williams should see some time inside at defensive tackle, in running situations.
It’s the preseason, so take this all with a few truck loads of salt, but Williams looks like a rookie could make a difference in six to eight games during the regular season.
That’s about all the Cowboys should expect from a rookie who was drafted in the second round.
If Williams develops, he should make some plays in six to eight games as a rookie; 10 to 13 games in his second year, and throughout the season in his third year.
Do not expect him to make the type of impact that Parsons did last season when he made a strong case to be the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year as a rookie.
Sam Williams is a tremendous athlete, but Micah Parsons is the freak among freaks.
This all assumes that, unlike the other Cowboys second round gambles since 2015, it all works out.
On Friday night, Williams registered a sack. He also had two unnecessary roughness calls.
Overall, however, this young man looks like a player.
“I love the way he plays,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said after the game. “I love his play style. I love the way he responded to those penalties.”
Parts of the risk/reward worked out for Gregory and Smith, but not to the level the Cowboys wanted, or needed.
The gamble that is Kelvin Joseph isn’t looking good, which leaves Sam Williams, who may just end up being better than all of the above.
This story was originally published August 29, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
