If the Cowboys are going to have a lot of rookie buzz this summer, Drew Shelton may be the one getting lost in the noise.
Caleb Downs has already drawn plenty of attention in spring work, and first-rounder Malachi Lawrence will have his own spotlight as camp gets rolling. That leaves other newcomers like Drew Shelton, Devin Moore, and LT Overton trying to carve out space any way they can.
Shelton, Dallas’ first of three fourth-round picks, was the one selection that drew the most pushback. Fans were far more eager to see the team address running back in that range, which made a Day 3 offensive lineman a tougher sell. But the early returns are starting to make the pick look a lot better.
During minicamp, Shelton handled the backup left tackle reps, a sign he is already in the mix with former seventh-round pick Nate Thomas, who appeared in all 17 games last season. That alone is enough to suggest Dallas sees a real path for him to help sooner rather than later.
And Shelton may not be limited to one spot. Tommy Yarrish of DallasCowboys.com reported that the rookie could get looks at right tackle and even inside at guard.
"While Shelton has primarily played left tackle throughout his career, it sounds like he'll be tried on the other side at right tackle, and may even get some work inside at guard too," Yarrish wrote. "Shelton is a well-rounded player, but comes from a run-heavy offense at Penn State that should mesh well with the concepts that Klayton Adams and Conor Riley, who recruited Shelton out of high school, have instilled over the last year in the room."
That kind of versatility matters for a team with question marks at tackle. If Tyler Guyton or Terence Steele misses time or struggles, Shelton could become a much bigger part of the conversation than anyone expected when he was taken No. 112 overall.
There was also at least some internal belief that he could have gone earlier. ESPN reported that some people in the Cowboys’ war room wanted Shelton in Round 3, which lines up with the team’s confidence in his NFL tackle potential.
The athletic profile helps explain why. Shelton posted an 8.76 Relative Athletic Score, and his 31-inch vertical jump and 9-foot-4 broad jump were among the best numbers for offensive tackle prospects in the class. A former basketball player, he brings footwork and fluid movement that show up on film.
He still has work to do when it comes to functional strength, especially when anchoring against NFL defensive linemen. But he held up well in the Big Ten, and the production backs that up: according to Pro Football Focus, Shelton allowed just one sack and 18 pressures over 365 pass-blocking snaps in his final season at Penn State.
The path to meaningful rookie snaps is never simple for a Day 3 lineman, but the Cowboys have seen this movie work before. The best-case version of Shelton’s early career looks a lot like Tyler Biadasz, who made four starts in 12 appearances as a rookie before taking over as a full-time starter in Year 2.
Maybe Guyton and Steele keep him parked on the bench. That’s possible.
But Shelton has already done enough to make the pick look less like a reach and more like a smart bet. And with all the noise around Downs, Lawrence, and third-round pick Jaishawn Barham, Cowboys fans probably shouldn’t let Shelton slip by unnoticed.
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