Top 5 draft options for the Cowboys in the second round
By Connor Green
3. Greg Newsome II, CB (Northwestern)
The Dallas Cowboys secondary was pitiful last season. The unit was one of only seven that allowed opposing passers to throw for a passer rating higher than 100. It also struggled, like most of the Dallas defense, to get takeaways.
The Cowboys have done embarrassingly little to address this need thus far outside of re-signing cornerback Jourdan Lewis. In fact, the team arguably got worse in the unit after another one of Dallas’s free agents, cornerback Chidobe Awuzie, was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals earlier this offseason.
The team is widely expected to use its first-round pick to address this need by selecting either Virginia Tech cornerback Caleb Farley or Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain II. However, in this scenario, the team decides to draft the best player available instead and is forced to try and address this dire need in the second round.
Fortunately, the team is able to nab Northwestern cornerback Greg Newsome II, one of the top-rated defensive backs in this draft class.
The young defender posted one interception and seven pass deflections in his three games played last year before getting hurt with a groin injury. In his three-year collegiate career, Newsome II struggled with a handful of injuries but managed to accrue an impressive 20 pass deflections while developing a reputation as one of the top cornerbacks in college football.
The speedy defender reportedly ran an unofficial 4.38 40-yard dash and is a little bigger than the average NFL cornerback at six-foot-one. His combination of above-average size and blazing speed allowed him to become one of the most intriguing cornerback prospects in the upcoming draft.
The Dallas Cowboys are able to address what is arguably their biggest need here and get someone who could develop into a shutdown corner given his rare combination of size and speed. Newsome II could join second-year cornerback Trevon Diggs to give Dallas one of its most talented cornerback duos in recent memory.