Cowboys NFL Draft Needs by Position: Confidence In Amari Means No Need at Receiver?
The April NFL Draft will soon be upon us. The Dallas Cowboys have of course already started the process in preparation for the re-loading of the roster, with new coach Mike McCarthy set to blend his philosophies into the big board to be built by personnel boss Will McClay.
Today: Cowboys NFL Draft Needs by Position: Cowboys NFL Draft Needs by Position: Confidence In Amari Means No Need at Receiver?
2020 DALLAS COWBOYS DRAFT NEEDS: WIDE RECEIVERS
CURRENT PLAYERS AT POSITION: Amari Cooper (starter), Michael Gallup (starter), Tavon Austin, Ventell Bryant, Randall Cobb, Devin Smith, Tevin Jones (reserve/future), Jon'Vea Johnson (reserve/injured), Cedrick Wilson(reserve/injured), Noah Brown (physically unable to perform), Cyril Grayson (practice squad).
2020 FREE AGENTS: Cooper, Cobb, Austin.
DRAFT NEED: Medium.
THE BREAKDOWN: Wide receiver always seems to be one of those positions the Cowboys are constantly looking to upgrade. With Cooper, Cobb and Austin all set to hit the market in 2020, wide receiver seems to be a position the Cowboys might want to draft early. But Cooper is not an equal free agent to Cobb and Austin. Cooper is highly unlikely to go anywhere. The Cowboys will either sign him long-term or franchise him. The Cowboys rightly see him as a career-long WR1 and, when paired with Gallup, the Cowboys have a tandem to be reckoned with.
Cobb and Austin are veteran players who could find more lucrative deals on the open market. In fact, based on the landscape I could see both departing, though the hiring of Mike McCarthy as head coach — who coached Cobb in Green Bay — changes that dynamic. McCarthy specifically shouted-out Cobb at the coach's introductory presser, which was attended by a smiling Cobb.
If Austin and Cobb leave, though, that would leave the Cowboys with four active wide receivers, given all of the receivers that finished the season injured or on the practice squad. Do any of those players have a chance to make it on the active roster? Wilson and Brown have both been there and would get the first available shots in 2020, assuming the Cowboys want them to return.
So, assuming Cooper stays, and Cobb and Austin go, the Cowboys would probably look for a wide receiver in the middle rounds that could work as a No. 3 or No. 4 to Cooper and Gallup. That makes this need a medium, with another newcomer to learn McCarthy's offense and to be tutored by the new position coach, Adam Henry. All in all ... a "medium'' need.
