Dallas Cowboys: 2021 NFL Draft redo shifts focus, gets it right

Round 2, Pick 44: Azeez Ojulari, EDGE, Georgia

Actual pick: Kelvin Joseph, CB, Kentucky

At pick No. 44, the Dallas Cowboys took cornerback Kelvin Joseph from Kentucky. The kid has a lot of upside but the problem is, he’s very inexperienced and the Cowboys will be expecting him to start right away. Or, at least they will be very desperate for him to be able to do so.

Perhaps it pays off but the fact is, there was another player on the board who again should have been graded higher — Georgie EDGE Azeez Ojulari. Last season, Ojulari broke out and had 31 tackles with 9.5 sacks for the Bulldogs and was widely considered a first-round talent.

In Dallas, he would have split time with Randy Gregory and DeMarcus Lawrence but he has the talent to eventually supplant one of those players — and while the secondary would still be hurting, having an elite pass rush would make up for some of their shortcomings.

As an added bonus, this would have kept OIjulari out of New York as he ended up being taken by the Giants a few picks later at No. 50.

Last season, Dallas showed they were willing to go with the best player regardless of the position as they took CeeDee Lamb despite having Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup. They could have gotten similar praise had they been willing to turn their pass-rushing duo into a trio.

Then again, the Cowboys are often beholden to measurements to a fault and even though it burnt them when they took Taco Charlton over T.J. Watt, they still seem unlikely to admit their error, so this one might be quite the pipe dream.