New NFL.com mock draft is literal worse-case scenario for Cowboys

We are a little over a week away from the NFL Draft. After a maddeningly passive offseason, the Dallas Cowboys need to put together a robust draft class to fill the roster's remaining holes.

The Cowboys have pressing needs at offensive tackle, center, running back and linebacker. Those positions figure to be the main focus early in the draft. The front office needs to cross every 't" and dot every "i" so they aren't blindsided on draft night.

It would help also if they don't reach on a player like they did last April with tight end Luke Schoonmaker, the team's second-round pick. The Cowboys have little margin for error thanks thanks to how little they spent in free agency, but they'd be hard-pressed not to come away with a strong class.

Unless they follow the blueprint outlined by NFL.com analyst Peter Schrager, that is. Schrager just released his initial mock draft after weeks of working the phones with head coaches and GMs around the league.

Cowboys select Texas WR Xavier Worthy in Peter Schrager's mock draft

Worthy would be a fun pick for the Cowboys. He set the record for the fastest 40-yard dash in combine history and projects as an elite deep threat from day one. The Longhorns used Worthy in a variety of ways to get him the ball in space, including on crossers and screens.

The Cowboys could use more speed on offense and Worthy is a threat to score every time he touches the ball. However, he'd be more of a luxury pick in round one. In Schrager's mock, Dallas passed on multiple tantalizing offensive linemen, including Georgia tackle Amarius Mims, Duke tackle Graham Barton, Oregon center Jackson Powers-Johnson and West Virginia center Zach Frazier.

It's worth noting that OTs Roger Rosengarten (Washington), Kingsley Suamataia (BYU) and Jordan Morgan (Arizona) weren't taken in round one. However, they would come off the board early in the second. At that point, the Cowboys would be forced to dip into the third tier of tackles to replace Tyron Smith.

From there, do they settle on a guard/center with pick No. 87 in the third round? If so, they'd have to wait some 200 picks later in the fifth round (No. 174 overall) to address running back, which is a huge need. Remember, Dallas doesn't have a fourth-round pick thanks to the Trey Lance trade. They're also down an extra fifth-rounder after they traded up for Eric Scott. Jr last year.

As fun as drafting Worthy would be, we're not sure the Cowboys can afford to take a receiver that early, if at all. Jerry and Stephen Jones are obviously to blame for that, but passing on the caliber of offensive linemen that they did in Schrager's mock would be the worse-case scenario as it would back them into an even smaller corner than they're already in.

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