Dallas Cowboys trade up for a unicorn in new mock draft
The Dallas Cowboys enter the 2021 NFL Draft with a whopping 10 selections. Yet, it seems very unlikely that the team will make all of those picks. Instead, we can expect the Cowboys to be movers and shakers once again in the league’s annual selection event.
Looking to use their massive draft capital to obtain a handful of difference-makers who can make an impact immediately, the Cowboys have the luxury of not staying patient and trading up to acquire the players they covet in our latest mock draft. And in this run, the trades take place early on.
According to the 2021 NFL Trade Value Chart on drafttek.com, the seventh overall selection is worth 1500 points. The tenth overall pick is worth 1300. Trading the Cowboys first of two third-rounders, 75th overall, is worth 215 points and makes up the difference.
Yet to trade up this high in the draft likely means you are competing with other potential suitors. So the Cowboys pay a premium here, giving up a future third-round selection in the 2022 NFL Draft to do so.
The Lions are in the midst of another rebuild with a whole new front office and coaching staff. After trading away quarterback Matthew Stafford, new general manager Brad Holmes, the former director of college scouting for the Los Angeles Rams, is stockpiling draft picks. In exchange, Dallas moves up three spots leapfrogging the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos in the first round.
. Tight End - Florida. Dallas Cowboys. Kyle Pitts. 7. player. 123
In this scenario, the rumors are true. Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones is infatuated with Florida tight end Kyle Pitts. And the Dallas brass agrees that he’s a generational talent. Believing Pitts will not fall to them at 10, the Cowboys use their draft capital to move up three spots to snag him.
Many view the Cowboys’ current tight end depth chart as fully occupied with Blake Jarwin, Dalton Schultz, Sean McKeon, and the newly-signed Jeremy Sprinkle. Yet, Jarwin is coming off an ACL injury that robbed him of 15 games in 2020. And both Schultz and Sprinkle are set to become free agents next offseason.
If Pitts lives up to his enormous potential, he’ll be a fixture in Dallas for the next decade. Imagine him becoming the Jason Witten to Dak Prescott’s Tony Romo. If the Cowboys see Pitts fall past the Altlanta Falcons at fourth overall, the Cincinnati Bengals at five, and the Miami Dolphins at six, the temptation to move up to snatch him may be too great.
Pitts racked up an incredible 43 receptions for 770 yards and 12 touchdowns averaging 17.9 yards per catch in a mere eight games in 2020. And at 6-foot-6, 246-pounds, he was able to run a lightning-quick 4.44 in the forty-yard dash at his pro day.