Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy wouldn’t admit to Cowboys fans that the Eagles aced their first round picks.
To be fair, what was Mike McCarthy supposed to say?
The Dallas Cowboys head coach was tasked with talking about his own draft pick, Michigan’s Mazi Smith, who they selected with the No. 26 overall pick. Smith, a talented player in his own right, will surely make a difference in Dallas.
Unfortunately, Smith’s selection was overshadowed by an excellent start to the NFL Draft for the Cowboys’ rival, the Philadelphia Eagles. Philly paired Georgia teammates Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith. Those same Dawgs won a National Championship together just last season, and should wreak havoc on the NFC East for years to come.
Cowboys: Mike McCarthy didn’t want to talk about the Eagles
McCarthy didn’t want to discuss that fact. Just one night, McCarthy hoped to focus on his own pick in Smith, a player Dallas is excited to add.
Dallas figured their biggest need this offseason was run defense, and they addressed that with Smith.
“Clearly the focus when you go through evaluation in the postseason, it was clear that we wanted to improve our run defense,” McCarthy said. “So it was a focal point. And I think this clearly, clearly does that. I mean we love everything about Mazi.”
However, it doesn’t erase the fact that Philadelphia faced a similar issue and perhaps addressed it better. Carter was arguably the most talented player in this draft class, and were it not for off-field problems could have been selected first overall. Nolan Smith, a UGA teammate, is one of the better linebacker prospects in the class as well.
McCarthy and Dallas can hide it all they want — this didn’t go according to plan. The rest of the division was put on notice — the Eagles aren’t going anywhere.
