2023 rookie review: Eric Scott looking to catch the eye of Mike Zimmer for valuable depth spot at CB

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What are your expectations for Eric Scott Jr. this season?

The Dallas Cowboys entered the 2024 draft with a lot of goals in mind, the foremost being replacing the multitude of starters they lost earlier in the offseason to free agency. The team feels they’ve certainly accomplished this by selecting Oklahoma’s Tyler Guyton 29th overall to take Tyron Smith’s spot at left tackle, Western Michigan’s Marshawn Kneeland to help replace Dante Fowler and Dorance Armstrong at defensive end, and Kansas State’s Cooper Beebe to convert from guard to center in place of Tyler Biadasz. The later rounds of any draft is when teams turn their attention more to future roster needs though, which the Cowboys did by adding to the well at cornerback in the fifth round with Wake Forest’s Caelen Carson and in the sixth with Southeast Missouri State’s Ryan Flournoy.

If their 2023 draft class taught the Cowboys anything, it’s that they can’t rely too much on any of these players right away, and sustaining success this upcoming season will be just as dependent on these draft picks from a year ago as well as other young players taking a further step up. Second-year draft picks on both sides of the ball had a hard time even seeing the field a year ago for the Cowboys, with Dallas adding an additional hurdle for their young defensive talent by replacing Dan Quinn with Mike Zimmer as defensive coordinator this offseason.

Whether or not this scheme change is beneficial to players just getting their feet wet in the NFL has been covered on a case-by-case basis for Mazi Smith, DeMarvion Overshown, and Villiami Fehoko, leaving just Southern Mississippi cornerback Eric Scott Jr. on the defensive side of the ball.

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The term “Quinn guy” was thrown around a lot during Dan Quinn’s tenure as the Cowboys DC, and this label was applied to Scott Jr. almost immediately as the Cowboys actually traded up to the very first pick of the sixth round to take the CB at 178th overall. Despite showing this clear interest in the three-year collegiate starter, Scott was never on the active roster in what turned out to be Quinn’s final season with the team. The Cowboys saw a historic season from DaRon Bland at one cornerback spot, but even with the loss of Trevon Diggs for the season with an ACL tear, the Cowboys got by without the services of Scott Jr. thanks to veterans like Jourdan Lewis and Stephon Gilmore.

Lewis remains on the roster in his eighth season with the Cowboys, as Dallas looks to make the combination of Diggs, Bland, and Lewis a strength of their entire defense under both Zimmer and Al Harris. Adding assistant head coach duties to his role with the team this offseason, Harris was a key part of the success the Cowboys found in the secondary under Quinn. Studying opposing receivers and having these cornerbacks prepared for their route trees while Quinn could unleash his front seven after the quarterback made the duo of Harris and Quinn a dynamic one that Dallas. They will now be counting on even more in Harris’ fourth season and first with Zimmer. Cornerback is also the position Zimmer is known best for developing, playing a “simple” man coverage style but getting results and longevity out of secondary players. As the Cowboys look to make this one of their overall team strengths, it will take more than just the top three at corner, but the depth chart behind these starters remains rather uncertain.

Scott Jr. has not only the latest fifth-round pick, Caelen Carson, to compete with as Zimmer’s first pick at the position, but also Nahshon Wright and Israel Mukuamu as a hybrid safety and cornerback. Scott Jr. is a player that tracks the ball well in man coverage, is comfortable in trail technique thanks to his length and change-of-direction skills, and showed the ability to finish at the catch point with strong hands in college. These are all traits that Zimmer has always been able to work with in defensive backs, and if Scott Jr. can add any kind of role on John Fassel’s special teams unit he can find a path to playing time in year two.

Though it’s still far too early to tell, the Cowboys roster on paper right now doesn’t have a position group that jumps out. The depth spots across the board are mostly filled with players just like Scott Jr., unproven young players that will have every opportunity to show they deserve to continue their development with the Cowboys through the rest of this offseason. Cornerback is always a spot where numbers will be needed in the attrition of the season, and the Cowboys have a lot of work to do in figuring out who they can trust in these all-important backup roles. If Zimmer and Harris are willing to give reps to Scott Jr. in his second season, he could easily go from a forgotten player on the 2023 team to a name fans will be familiar with later on in 2024.

By pairing Carson and Scott Jr. together as young cornerbacks ready to learn everything they can under Zimmer, the Cowboys are very hopeful they’ve done the work over the past two drafts to make cornerback a position group that’s solidified for years to come - starting with getting a full season of Bland and Diggs together in 2024. This is something BTB’s Matthew Lenix covered in this overview of the position, also mentioning Scott Jr. as a name to keep in mind:

Another name to remember is Eric Scott Jr., who was taken in the sixth round in 2023, who the Cowboys have high hopes for.

No team can have too many cornerbacks in today’s NFL, and the Cowboys have several that can play at a high level, which sets them up nicely for the foreseeable future.