DeMarcus Ware comparisons? Cowboys' 1st-round pick 'Has some of those traits'

TL;DR

The Cowboys selected Central Florida's Malachi Lawrence with the No. 23 pick, despite internal disagreements about the choice. Team owner Jerry Jones revealed there was significant debate over Lawrence versus another unnamed player.

Key points

Cowboys selected Malachi Lawrence with the No. 23 pick
Internal disagreements about the choice within the draft room
Jerry Jones mentioned a heated discussion over Lawrence
Consideration was given to trading back further in the draft
Another player was favored but selected earlier

Malachi LawrenceDeMarcus WareDallas CowboysPhiladelphia Eagles

DeMarcus Ware comparisons? Cowboys' 1st-round pick 'Has some of those traits'

Not everyone agreed on the Cowboys using the No. 23 overall pick on Central Florida's Malachi Lawrence.

Not even within the Cowboys' own draft room.

Team owner Jerry Jones admitted there was "a heated discussion" prior to Thursday night's proceedings that pitted Lawrence against another player who went unnamed. When that player was selected "way earlier," Jones said, there was consideration given to letting "the decision on Lawrence go for about eight or 10 more [picks]" as Dallas looked to trade back even further than the three spots they had already ceded in a deal with the Eagles for No. 20.

But the compensation "wasn't there," Jones revealed, so they turned in Lawrence's card, confident they had gotten one of their top targets.

The 22-year-old spent five seasons at UCF, and even turned down more money from other programs to stay with the Knights, something Cowboys vice president of player personnel admits factored into their character evaluation.

Now he'll suit up alongside Pro Bowler Rashan Gary, rising star Donovan Ezeiruaku, and pleasant surprise James Houston in a new-look DE group for first-year coordinator Christian Parker.

"We feel great about what we have with RG and Ezeiruaku and James Houston," said Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer during the team's press conference to wrap up Day 1 of the draft. "But this guy's got tremendous upside. His first-step quickness is elite, the ability to turn his toe and run the edge, as we like to call is, is, we think, elite. And then, of course, one thing I love about the guy is he has an innate ability to attack the football while he's attacking the quarterback. And we feel like you need athletic edge pieces in this defense, in this division, because of the quarterbacks you're going to see: , , ."