Dallas Cowboys: Travis Frederick’s value highlighted in 2013 re-draft

No one has questioned that the Dallas Cowboys got a star lineman in 2013 by taking Travis Frederick and a recent re-draft proves as much.

With the 31st pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys continued to invest in the offensive line, taking center Travis Frederick from Wisconsin with that selection. Meanwhile, the New England Patriots were able to wait until the third round to nab cornerback Logan Ryan out of Rutgers, now of the Tennessee Titans.

In The Draft Network’s 2013 re-draft, however, Jordan Reid has the Cowboys taking Ryan with the 31st pick. However, it’s important to note that Frederick was taken with the seventh selection in this re-draft.

Back in April 2013, the Cowboys were initially looking at a defensive tackle or safety to help fill the void on defense. After a front office collapse, though, it was leaked who the Cowboys were targeting which sent the organization into a panic. That led to them trading out of the 18th pick and taking Frederick at No. 31.

Frederick, who is now an All-Pro and Pro Bowler, was projected to go in the second or third round but showed the Cowboys it was worth taking a chance on him in the first round. Considering that Reid had the Arizona Cardinals taking Frederick with the No. 7 pick, you see what tremendous value Dallas ultimately got with the lineman.

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The Cardinals’ original pick was another offensive lineman, Jonathan Cooper, who was actually on the Cowboys in 2017. Cooper turned out to be another offensive line bust for the Cardinals. They have been trying to figure things out in the trenches for a while now but have failed. Taking Frederick definitely would’ve helped fixed those issue, though.

Luckily for the Cowboys, Frederick was under-valued and Dallas ended up with a perennial All-Pro caliber center — when healthy as he currently works his way back onto the field after sitting out 2018 due to medical issues.

With Frederick off the board in Reid’s re-draft, the Cowboys took Ryan with the 31st pick. Had Ryan been the selection and if he were still in Dallas, he would have alleviated the safety issues they’re having now. Ryan has been a key contributor on the Titans defense and is probably their best defensive back behind Kevin Byard.

Assuming the Cowboys hadn’t traded out of the 18th pick, Jordan Reid had the 49ers (who traded with Dallas) standing pat and still selecting safety Eric Reid.  Even though both Reid and Ryan are great players now, I would still take Frederick at 31. Having a solid offensive line as your foundation is a great thing to build around.

It’s clear looking at this re-draft that the Cowboys got tremendous value in Frederick as an underrated prospect at the time. Though Reid and Ryan would be valuable, Dallas’ recent defensive resurgence suggests that the center was the right selection.