With the fourth overall pick, the Dallas Cowboys select…

After months of speculation and hundreds of hours of deliberation, I believe the Dallas Cowboys will choose this player with the fourth overall pick.

Finally, the wait is almost over.

Just two more days before the best opportunity for the Dallas Cowboys to improve their roster becomes less speculation and more of a reality.

Thursday, April 28th at approximately 7:45 Central Standard Time, the Cowboys will announce to the world their selection with the fourth overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.

For now though, there seems to be plenty of people who cannot settle on just who that will be.

ESPN’s Todd McShay thinks the Cowboys go with running back Ezekiel Elliott from Ohio State.  His counterpart, long time draft guru Mel Kiper, Jr. says Dallas addresses the defense with cornerback/safety Jalen Ramsey.

Over at CBS Sports, there are three votes for Ramsey and two votes for Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa.

Meanwhile, at NFL.com, the four guys responsible for mocking are split evenly between Ramsey and Elliott.

Ezekiel Elliott, Jalen Ramsey or Joey Bosa.  Those seem like the three choices most likely to be debated in the war room as the draft unfolds.  The San Diego Chargers certainly have a lot to say about what happens with Dallas but by and large, the Cowboys will likely have at least two and possibly all three of these guys to decide upon.

If they land on Elliott, the Cowboys are basically saying that we are going to protect the defense by putting out one of the most unstoppable offenses in the league.  Make no mistake about it, Elliott is easily the most talented running back in this draft.

His presence in a Cowboys uniform, with Dez Bryant and Jason Witten in the passing game and Tony Romo leading the team behind one of, if not the best offensive lines in the game could produce some jaw-dropping video game esque point totals.

The argument against it, however, is that the 2017 Draft class is absolutely loaded at running back.  LSU’s Leonard Fournette, Florida State’s Dalvin Cook, Oklahoma’s Samaje Perine, Georgia’s Nick Chubb and Oregon’s Royce Freeman are all likely to come out next year.

There is also the least amount of need for Elliott as Dallas just signed Alfred Morris in free agency, resigned Lance Dunbar and have Darren McFadden returning off his best season since 2010.

For these reasons, I believe the Cowboys ultimately pass on Ezekiel Elliott.

That leaves Ramsey vs. Bosa or what basically amounts to the chicken versus the egg argument that has been around as long as footballs have been made from leather.

Do you go get someone to rush the passer or someone to lock down the opposing receiver?

If you choose Bosa, you’re going with the most complete defensive lineman in the draft.  Yes, there are those with more potential.  There are those with more explosiveness to their game.  There is no one more fundamentally sound.  In a lot of ways, Bosa is the most safe, boring pick that will likely get you somewhere between 7-9 sacks every year.

Essentially, he amounts to the white version of former Cowboys defensive end Greg Ellis.

Unfortunately, no one thinks of Greg Ellis as the guy who racked up all but seven of his career 84 sacks in a Dallas Cowboys uniform over ten seasons.  The first thing, the most potent memory of Ellis is being the guy the Cowboys chose instead of Randy Moss.

Cowboys fans in 2016 don’t want Bosa, largely because they don’t want to pass on Elliott who they believe could be the next Emmitt Smith or Ramsey who could be the next Deion Sanders.

To me, that’s not a good enough reason to not draft a guy.  On the flip side of that coin, drafting him solely because Randy Gregory and Demarcus Lawrence will likely both miss the first four games due to suspension isn’t a good thought either.

If you choose Bosa, you choose him because you believe with 100% conviction, he’s the best player who fills the biggest need.

In a similar vein, you cannot pass on Ramsey simply because four years ago Dallas used the sixth overall pick on Morris Claiborne which has resulted in twenty-four missed games and only three interceptions.

You also cannot be scared off of Ramsey because you don’t know if he’ll end up at safety instead of cornerback.  Who cares?  If Dallas chooses him and two years from now, he’s posting six picks a game and has joined Byron Jones to form the best safety duo in the game, are you really going to complain?

If you choose Ramsey, you choose him because you believe with 100% conviction, he’s the best player who fills the biggest need.

So is it the chicken or is it the egg?

Either way, I’ll be absolutely content.  I just can’t pass on the guy I believe is the best overall player in the entire draft.  With that being said, I believe you will hear the following words…

With the fourth pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys select Jalen Ramsey, cornerback from Florida State University.

Next: Dallas Cowboys 2016 Draft: Nine Full Mock Drafts

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