You could almost feel a Jerry Jones move coming in the days leading up to the draft. Roundly applauded for his selections in 2020 (conducted from what appeared to be a yacht in international waters) Jones largely managed to avoid the splashy moves he had become known for in previous iterations of the NFL draft..
By now we’ve all heard the infamous tale of Jones having to be physically restrained by Cowboys staffers from calling Johnny Manziel’s name in 2014 (for those blissfully unaware, here’s a quick read sure to bring a smile to your face). So it wasn’t a matter of if, but when Jones would become equally as enamored with a college prospect. We appear to have now reached that point.
Uttering a phrase most have never heard used outside of Christmas tales, Jones stated that the potential pairing of Dak Prescott and Florida Gators tight-end Kyle Pitts gives him “visions of sugar plums”. Dallas media reported several weeks back that Jones was “infatuated” with Pitts and it would appear that said infatuation has blossomed into a full on man crush.
To be fair, there isn’t a single team in the NFL who couldn’t use Pitts services, he’s that good. One of the most highly touted tight end prospects in recent memory, Pitts is a physical specimen and match up nightmare for opponents. While he may not have the pass protection skills of Gronk, the rest of his attributes are on par or even slightly higher than those of the former Patriot star.
Clocking in at an unofficial 4.4s 40yard dash time on his pro day, Pitts may very well be the first non quarterback taken in the 2021 NFL draft. With Jacksonville, New York, and San Francisco all virtual locks to take signal callers, Atlanta will be fielding a wide range of phone calls for the 6’6” 246lb pass catcher. And prime amongst them appears to be Jerry Jones. “Boy, I’ll tell you what — I’m excited to have you come into this league, and man, what a pair up we could do with ole Dak Prescott and some of these guys that we’ve got out there with options to get you the ball” Jerry said about Kyle Pitts on Wednesday.
Folksy southern charm aside, Jones isn’t just pandering to Cowboys fans when he gushes about Pitts. He’s genuinely exploring options to bring the Florida product to Dallas this year. Rumours are already swirling that Dallas may be entering preliminary trade talks to acquire more draft capital, including possibly trading 4x Pro Bowl wide receiver Amari Cooper. Failing that however, no one would put it past Jones to mortgage the Cowboys future by throwing as many picks as he needs into a package to move up in the draft.
The entire situation is worth monitoring, not only for the possible draft day drama which could unfold, but also as an experiment in how to win in the modern NFL. If you throw out the game in which he was injured, Dak was averaging 422.5 passing yards per game before he was lost for the year. If you add in an elite weapon like Pitts, could we see him average 400+ this year? Before you rule out that possibility all together (that figure would shatter the single season passing record by almost 1,000 yards) consider how poor the Dallas Cowboys defense was last year.
They gave up the 10th most yards per game, gave up the 2nd most rushing yards per game, the 5th most points allowed per game, and are losing their starting safety Xavier Woods and edge rusher Aldon Smith. They’re also rolling the dice on a new Defensive Coordinator in Dan Quinn who’s shown that when he doesn’t have an elite defense to work with (aka the Legion of Boom Seattle crew) that on field results aren’t a lock (see Atlanta and insert your own 28-3 joke here). All that translates to the Cowboys needing to put up points to win track meets as opposed to shutting down opposing offenses with a suffocating defense. And with questions surrounding Ezekiel Elliot and his future with the organization following the worst statistical season of his career, Dallas may be more comfortable attacking through the air than they are on the ground.
If Jerry does indeed need to package draft picks for both this year and beyond in order to move up and select their man in the top 10, that doesn’t leave many avenues to improve the Cowboys defense. While high scoring teams like Buffalo, Tampa, Green Bay, and Kansas City managed to pile up the points en route to payoff appearances, they all had middle of the pack to above average defenses to compliment their offense. If Dallas drafts Pitts, their offense suddenly becomes a bonafide top 10 unit in the league, but the same can’t be said about the other side of the ball. So the question becomes, can they outscore opponents all season long? Or would that be putting too much pressure on a freshly injured quarterback in his first season back? It’s hard to say.
With so many high level defensive backs likely to be available at Dallas’ current draft position, will the brass be able to sway Jerry away from opening the vault to acquire Pitts? Or will Jerry take his yacht back into deep waters and make a unilateral decision to trade up? There’s likely only one man who knows that answer for sure at this point, and he’s got exactly 1 week left to figure out which direction he wants to go. After all, it’s Jerry’s world and we’re all just living in it.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @dynessports