The Dallas Cowboys spent over half of their draft capital on both sides of the trenches

It is evident that the Cowboys wanted to beef up the trenches during this year’s NFL Draft.

We officially have a draft class for the Dallas Cowboys and if you are like me you are rather pleased. Throughout the course of the weekend the Cowboys took several measures toward solidifying important areas of their football team, and for the most part achieved serious value each and every time. They did not draft a running back which remains a concern, but the team seems to have an opinion on that and we will leave that discussion for a different moment.

Right now we are focusing on the dudes in front of whoever the running back is both protecting and attacking him. Of the eight total picks that Dallas wound up making, five of them were within the trenches. That is (obviously) more than half.

• Tyler Guyton, OT
• Marshawn Kneeland, DE
• Cooper Beebe, OG
• Nathan Thomas, OT
• Justin Rogers, DT

All due respect to Nathan Thomas and Justin Rogers, but perhaps the more significant detail here is that the Cowboys spent their first three picks within the trenches specifically.

While the Cowboys have had high levels of regular-season success in each of the last three years, they remain a team that has a tendency to wilt away when the going gets tough. Addressing the offensive and defensive lines with some serious capital suggests that they are rather tired of that.

To be fair, the Cowboys lost some significant players in the areas where they just drafted their replacements. Tyron Smith, Tyler Biadasz, Dorance Armstrong and Johnathan Hankins are all gone. In their places we now have Tyler Guyton, Cooper Beebe, Marshawn Kneeland and hopefully Mazi Smith with some added help.

Football is a game that is dominated in the trenches, what happens at the heart of everything sets a rhythm for how things happen all around them. The Cowboys appear intent to set the tempo themselves and no longer wish to be reacting to the metronome of other units.

It is hard to argue with this philosophy and thankfully the team was able to still come away with value in the process. This may have all been by design which would make the value part of things even more impressive, or they may have simply stuck to their board and gone where the value was. Either way, prepare for things to be a bit different down on the line.