Cowboys fans in meltdown over Marshawn Kneeland pick: "Rico Dowdle RB1 for life" "This is such a bad draft" 

The Dallas Cowboys entered the 2024 NFL draft with some well-defined needs at running back and offensive tackle.

They had just lost Tony Pollard and Tyron Smith, among others, to teams in the AFC. And they nailed replacing the latter, bringing in former TCU Horned Frog Tyler Guyton to man Dak Prescott's blind side and ensure that the star quarterback could feed CeeDee Lamb consistently.

But as for the former? The Cowboys have so far been shocking at that task. They wanted Jonathon Brooks, but on Friday, the Carolins Panthers beat them to his talents with the No. 46 overall pick.

As a result, they were forced to settle for Western Michigan Broncos defensive end Marshawn Kneeland, who went 10 picks later. Most fans could not help but ridicule the decision:

Others, meanwhile, were despondent:

"WHY", a Cowboys fan asked.

"They don’t learn smh," another lamented.

"Jerry jones sucks they have no idea what they are doing", a third one complained.

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Why did Cowboys draft Marshawn Kneeland? Explaining rationale behind passing up on RB for DE

The Marshawn Kneeland decision is shocking for Dallas Cowboys fans, who were expecting an immediately productive running back like Jonathan Brooks or Blake Corum. But there are some factors that may have led to it, and they relate to DeMarcus Lawrence

The four-time Pro Bowler has been a dependable veteran presence for the team since 2017, having a truncated season just once in that span - in 2021, when he hurt his foot. But he has also accumulated much mileage on his body, and he is turning 32 tomorrow.

The Cowboys have him under contract until the end of 2025, but they have no guarantees as to how he will perform by then, leaving them with a potential depth problem at DE once he leaves. Hence, Kneeland provides an immediate solution to those problems while at the same time adding more help for Micah Parsons, whose fifth-year option recently became active.