Getty Taco Charlton
Speaking freely on the player who marred his sterling first-round draft record, Dallas Cowboys general manager Jerry Jones pulled no punches.
Appearing on 105.3 The Fan, Jones spilled the beans on now-former defensive end Taco Charlton, whom the team waived Wednesday and was claimed by the Miami Dolphins on Thursday.
For example, Charlton’s bad days at practice were disastrously bad, as the No. 28 overall pick of the 2017 draft would self-implode — often visibly.
“He just wilted,” Jones said Friday, adding that defensive linemen must “eat a lot of raw meat” to adequately play the position. Apparently, Taco, of all appropriately-named people, didn’t have enough protein in his diet.
Beyond that, his lack of production (four sacks in three seasons) and inflexibility (can’t kick inside) contributed to his anticipated pink slip, a rare admission of failure for the Cowboys, who have become a model of consistency in building a club from within rather than through free agency.
“You can’t have your No. 1 pick, for talent reasons or compatibility reasons, not make it. We depend on motivation,” Jones said on The Fan.
This jibes with what Charlton relayed to Maven Sports’ Mike Fisher prior to his release, that some Cowboys coaches disliked his personality, and what was reported after his departure, that he was labeled “soft” by those within the organization.
It was also the impetus for an apparent disconnect between Taco and Cowboys defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli, whose “man talk” earlier this summer, centered around Charlton’s consistency, was lost on the 24-year-old.
“Here it is. You don’t beat around the bush. Here’s what we’ve got to do,” Marinelli said last month, via the Dallas Morning News. “Here’s what you have to do to be the type of player you want to be and we want you to be.”
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Stephen Jones Adds Two Cents
Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones wasn’t as blunt as his father in characterizing Charlton’s brief tenure with the franchise. But he did reveal that incompatibility issues on- and off-the-field ultimately led to his demise.
Despite whispers regarding his unflattering standing within The Star, however, Jones took a classy approach to his exit, expressing hope that Charlton has a better go in Miami than he did in North Texas.
“I think sometimes the chemistry just doesn’t work with a player,” Jones told the Cowboys’ official website on Thursday, via The Fan. “With Rod, he has certain standards that he looks for in a player. I just don’t think they ever saw eye-to-eye in terms of what that standard should be. We wish Taco nothing but the best, and I think he’ll go on to be a productive player in this league. A change of scenery will probably do him some good.”
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Follow Zack Kelberman on Twitter: @KelbermanNFL