Dallas Cowboys: A best player available mock draft to fill needs
By Richard Ball
The 2020 NFL draft starts on Thursday. The Dallas Cowboys have seven selections – here’s one of a billion ways the draft might go.
With the 2020 NFL draft on the horizon, the Dallas Cowboys are bunkered down in their virtual war room making their last minute preparations. I wrote yesterday about the impact this draft will have on the 2020 season – spoiler alert: it’s not much.
But that doesn’t mean that the draft is not important. The Cowboys should be looking to 2021 to develop 2020 draft picks to replace impending veteran free agents.
No where is this more important than the quarterback position. Both quarterbacks from the 2019 roster have question marks for the 2021 season. Will Dak Prescott sign a long-term deal and is Cooper Rush a viable backup and worthy of a second contract.
Assuming the two suspended edge rushers are reinstated, the Cowboys will have three veteran free agents at the defensive end position in Tyrone Crawford, Aldon Smith and Randy Gregory. The safety position has two potential free agents in Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Xavier Woods.
Corners Jourdan Lewis and Chidobe Awuzie will also look for their second NFL contracts before the 2021 season. For these reasons, quarterback, defensive end, corner, and safety are needs.
There are still holes on the Cowboys roster that have not been adequately filled in free agency. Center Travis Frederick retired and a viable option for slot receiver/punt returner Randall Cobb has still not surfaced. While it will be a challenge for any rookie to deliver value immediately in these roles, the Cowboys would be wise to look for these positions in the draft.
I chose to use the Pro Football Focus mock draft simulator for my draft as the tool allows trades and blends PFF metrics with wisdom of the crowds draft boards. I had two rules for my trade proposals. The trade needed to give up more points on the traditional draft pick value chart and I needed to recover more picks than what was traded.
The PFF tool allows you to select how the other teams draft – for need or best player available. It also utilizes a range of randomness to provide variability.
I used a best player available strategy when making my selections. The chosen player needed to be in the top five names from the draft board.