Cowboys pick CB Caelen Carson in fifth round of 2024 NFL Draft, compared to former No. 3 overall pick
After a long wait until making their first pick of Day 3 of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys selected Caelen Carson with the 174th pick in the fifth round. Carson brings solid size to the table and he projects as a future starter after starting four seasons at Wake Forest if he stays […]
After a long wait until making their first pick of Day 3 of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys selected Caelen Carson with the 174th pick in the fifth round.
Carson brings solid size to the table and he projects as a future starter after starting four seasons at Wake Forest if he stays healthy and improves his ball skills, as he leaves many opportunities for interceptions on the field.
James Foster, whose scouting report on Carson can be read below, compares Carson to Jeff Okudah, who was picked No. 3 overall back in the 2020 NFL Draft. He grades Okudah as a fifth-round talent while The Athletic's Dane Brugler graded him as a third-fourth rounder.
This was another "best player available" pick for the Cowboys as they add much-needed depth at one of their strongest positions (starters wise). Although running back was the position considered the team's likeliest path, the board received many hits to begin Day 3 and the Cowboys had very few options at the position.
Caelen Carson Scouting Report from A to Z Sports Film Room's James Foster
Strengths:
- Solid build with good play strength
- Urgent click & close to eliminate cushion & blast into contact
- Smothers vertical routes & restricts catch space
- Twitchy short-area movements
- Fires hands & clogs releases with a stiff 2-hand punch
- Playes with edge & physicality as a run defender
- Quick feet to stay attached to WRs' hips through the break
- Can open & reset hips with the route as it develops
- Annihilates WR blocks & shuts down screens
Weaknesses:
- Poor hands/ball skills
- Faceguards at the catch point & makes little effort to play the ball
- Excessively grabby in his recovery
- Gets tunnel vision & takes poor tackling angles
- Relies on physicality over technique at the top of the route
- Stalled recovery burst from off coverage
- Drapes himself over the receiver & loses control when the ball is in the air
- Poor route anticipation & field awareness from a side-turn
It’s clear Ezekiel Elliott is affecting the Dallas Cowboys’ overall draft plan
The Dallas Cowboys need a running back, but they haven't taken one in any of the first three rounds of the NFL Draft. So what gives? According to owner/general manager Jerry Jones, the Cowboys are still figuring out exactly what a reunion with former first-round pick, Ezekiel Elliott, looks like and how it impacts the […]
