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FRISCO -- The Cowboys desperately needed a wide receiver and a tight end when they went on the clock at 50 in the second round of the 2018 NFL draft.
The release of Dez Bryant and the looming retirement of Jason Witten created a shortage of playmakers in the passing game. Instead, the Cowboys claimed a guard with their second-round pick.
Credit the Cowboys for understanding how the game of football has been evolving from the outside in.
Once upon a time the pass rush was all about speed. Defenses needed that speed off the edge to harass quarterbacks, and offenses needed the tackles to block that speed. So there was a premium on those players on both sides of the ball operating on the offense's perimeter. In 2011 there were six edge rushers drafted in the first round. In 2013 there were six offensive tackles drafted in the first round.
But passing games have been evolving. Quarterbacks have been taking shorter drops and throwing quicker passes. Get the ball out of his hand before the pass rush can get there. Bubble screens, slants and curls are turning the NFL into a shorter-passing league. The best way to protect your quarterback is to put the ball in the hands of your receivers quickly and let their legs do the work.
The edge rushers no longer have the luxury of those three seconds to get there. The ball is gone. Logically, the defenders with the best chance of getting to the passer now are those closest to the quarterback when the ball is snapped -- the defensive tackles.
Ndamukong Suh underscored that point. The Detroit Lions made him the second overall choice of the 2010 draft and collected 10 sacks as a rookie from his tackle position. He has since gone to five Pro Bowls. Defensive tackles Geno Atkins, Jason Hatcher, Jurrell Casey, Kyle Williams, Marcell Dareus and Aaron Donald have all had double-figure sack seasons since then, and in 2017 the elite defenses all seemed to line up a force on the inside.
Casey (Tennessee), Malik Jackson (Jacksonville), Fletcher Cox (Philadelphia), Linval Joseph (Minnesota) and Donald (LA Rams) all played in the postseason in January and all were voted to the Pro Bowl. Donald, in fact, was chosen the NFL Defensive Player of the Year following an 11-sack season -- the first tackle to win that honor since Hall of Famer Warren Sapp in 1999. Cam Heyward also collected 12 sacks from an interior rush position in Pittsburgh's 3-4 defense.
So, for the first time since 2001, there were more defensive tackles selected in the first round (three) of an NFL draft than defensive ends (two) Thursday night. Two of the tackles went on back-to-back picks at 11 and 12 -- Vita Vea to Tampa Bay and Da'Ron Payne to Washington -- and the third (Taven Bryan) went to the AFC South champion Jaguars at 29.
The Jaguars can now pair Bryan and Jackson inside, the Bucs can line up Vea next to Pro Bowl tackle Gerald McCoy, and the Redskins can bookend Payne and his former Alabama teammate and first-round pick Jonathan Allen in their 3-4 defensive front.
With dynamic pass rushers moving inside, offenses need to find interior blockers of equal ability to challenge them. For the first time since the 1990s, there were more interior blockers selected (four) in the first round than offensive tackles (two) Thursday night. This after not a single interior offensive lineman was drafted in the first round in 2017.
The draft reflects the fact they're coming up the middle on defense now and you'd better be able to block them.
Which brings us back to the guard selected by the Cowboys in the second round, Connor Williams of Texas. Why is he significant? First and foremost, there's a hole in the depth chart at left guard. The 2017 starter Jonathan Cooper left for the San Francisco 49ers in free agency. So you can pencil Williams in as a walk-in starter.
Secondly, if the Cowboys didn't draft Williams, they weren't going to get any help for a schedule that includes games against all three of the 2018 first-round defensive tackles plus Pro Bowlers Cox, Casey and Gerald McCoy. There were wide receivers and tight ends to be found after that 50th pick. Not so guards.
Williams was the fifth guard selected after two went in the first round and two more at the top of the second. When Williams cleared the board, the next guard wasn't drafted until late in the third round, 44 picks later, and that player was making the jump to the NFL from Humboldt State. The next guard after that didn't go until late in the fifth round.
So Williams was the last chance to address what loomed as a critical area of need for the Cowboys. Credit the Cowboys for not letting that moment pass.
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