Dallas Cowboys: Taco Charlton for Rookie of the Year?

The Dallas Cowboys hope to get a lot out of rookie defensive end Taco Charlton, and NFL.com analyst Elliott Harrison believes they will

Unsurprisingly, the Dallas Cowboys have been heavily criticized for their selection of Michigan defensive end Taco Charlton with the 28th pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. It’s not really warranted as he plays a position of tremendous need and was taken later than many mock drafts had him going.

The reason for the critique, though, isn’t so much a slight against Charlton, but people taking issue with Dallas not choosing Wisconsin edge rusher T.J. Watt or Washington cornerback Kevin King.

As for the Boys, their brass contends they wanted a known quantity. Watt had just one season of extended playing time for the Badgers, and King was a player that went from the second best corner on his collegiate team to a first-round talent after he was done playing.

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Charlton, on the other hand, was the best defender on a team that won many games thanks to their impressive defense. He also showed steady growth throughout his career, culminating in 10 sacks during his senior season. Where he was picked should offer some great value, and it could lead to Dallas having a Rookie of the Year for the second season in a row if NFL analyst Elliott Harrison is right.

While making bold NFC claims, Harrison selected Charlton as the recipient of the 2017 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award:

"No rookie is in a better position to help his team immediately than Charlton — and no team needs more help from a rookie than Dallas does from Charlton. The Cowboys recorded 36 sacks last season, a so-so figure made decidedly less relevant by the fact that opposing quarterbacks attempted 633 passes against them. Moreover, the team’s leading “edge rusher” (a term I use generously), Benson Mayowa, garnered six whole sacks."

In 2016, the Cowboys saw quarterback Dak Prescott come from nowhere to win the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award, but it also could have gone to running back Ezekiel Elliott, who led the NFL in rushing.

Like Charlton, both those choices in the 2016 NFL Draft were met with some level of criticism for Dallas. Elliott was said to be drafted too high since he played the running back position. He proved that wrong as he was a game changer and wound up getting votes for the MVP award thanks to his outstanding season.

As for Prescott, the team was criticized for failing to find a veteran backup and going into the season with him as the starter when their original option, Tony Romo, went down with an injury. Prescott, of course, kept the job full time and led them to a 13-3 record.

Next: NFL 2017: Ranking all 32 defenses from worst to first

While it would be overly optimistic to expect their 2017 rookie to be as transformative to their defense as Elliott and Prescott were to the offense, it isn’t crazy to think he will be afforded every opportunity to prove his worth as Harrison says. Should his award prediction come true, the criticism hurled at Dallas draft picks may finally begin to slow down.

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