Cowboys 7-Round Mock Draft 2.0: How Many Starters?
1. My Cowboys Mock Draft 2.0
It’s time for my second Dallas Cowboys 2021 7-Round NFL Mock Draft. My first, two weeks ago, can be found by clicking here.
The nice thing about mock drafts is that you get to game things out. Lately, many mock drafters have attached Northwestern offensive lineman Rashawn Slater to the Cowboys. In fact, I wrote a piece last week about how Slater has become the ‘default’ offensive player when defensive players like Virginia Tech’s Caleb Farley and Alabama’s Patrick Surtain II are off the board.
So, I approached this mock draft like this. Slater is the first-round pick. What happens after that?
So, I did three different mocks at three different sites, taking Slater in the first round of all three. After that, I took four defensive players. Then, I alternated between offense and defense. The idea of doing three mocks was purposeful. Every mock would be different. Starting with the second round, I picked what I felt was the best player from that round from the three mock drafts. You can also find the three mocks below, along with the site I used to execute the mock. Plus, you find links to stories about these players throughout the Maven network and NFLDraftBible.com.
So, let’s go.
No. 10: OT Rashawn Slater, Northwestern: We’ve talked a lot about Slater already, but the logic of taking him here is this — the Cowboys’ offensive line was a train wreck last year, and if you’re going to commit at least $40 million per year to pay quarterback Dak Prescott, you need as much ammo as possible in front of him. He can play guard or tackle.
No. 42: EDGE Carlos Basham Jr., Wake Forest: The Cowboys have premium needs in the secondary and in the pass rush. We don’t know what they intend to do in free agency — it sounds like there could be a bidding war for Chidobe Awuzie — so this pick may change down the line. But, for now, I’ll grab Basham, a 6-foot-5, 285-pound edge rusher who would look at home as a left defensive end in a 4-3 defense.
No. 74: S Paris Ford, Pittsburgh: An athletic, hard-hitting safety who comes in at 6-foot, 190 pounds, Ford would give the Cowboys an immediate contributor on the back line of their defense. I’m not sure Ford completely solves the problem at safety, but he’ll be the best piece they’ve acquired to try and solve it in a while.
No. 99: CB Keith Taylor Jr., Washington: I’ll address the cornerback need here. Taylor is a 6-foot-2 corner with length, speed, the ability to stop the run, and good playmaking skills in the passing game. He impressed at the Senior Bowl and is worth a look here.
No. 115: EDGE Jordan Smith, UAB: This gives the Cowboys two different edge rushers in this draft. But he’s a completely different edge rusher than Basham. Smith is a 6-foot-6, 255-pounder who is more at home on the right side of the offensive line, making him a natural third-down specialist to start his career.
No. 139: RB Chuba Hubbard, Oklahoma State: The first offensive player off the board since Slater is a former 2,000-yard rusher with the Cowboys who could provide the Cowboys some valuable depth behind Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard.
No. 179: DT Darius Stills, West Virginia: Stills would be a heckuva get this late in the draft. He could play inside or outside.
No. 193: WR Jaelon Darden, North Texas: Selecting Darden this late would give the Cowboys an incredibly gifted athlete who was one of the best wide receivers in college football last year.
No. 236: QB Shane Buechele, SMU: This feels like a Cowboys kind of move — take the local college football QB late in the draft.
The Mock Draft Pool
Pro Football Focus
No. 10 OT Rashawn Slater, Northwestern
No. 42 EDGE Carlos Basham Jr., Wake Forest
No. 74 S Paris Ford, Pittsburgh
No. 99 IDL Osa Odighuzuwa, UCLA
No. 115 EDGE Jordan Smith, UAB
No. 138 WR Simi Fehoko, Stanford
No. 179 LB Garret Wallow, TCU
No. 194 TE Kenny Yeboah, Ole Miss
No. 226 EDGE Patrick Johnson, Tulane
The Draft Network
No. 10 OT Rashawn Slater, Northwestern
No. 42 S Trevon Moehrig, TCU
No. 74 IDL Marlon Tuipulotu, USC
No. 99 CB Keith Taylor Jr., Washington
No. 115 EDGE Patrick Jones II, Pittsburgh
No. 139 RB Chuba Hubbard, Oklahoma State
No. 179, S Divine Deablo, Virginia Tech
No. 193 WR Jaelon Darden, North Texas
No. 232 EDGE Joshua Kaindoh, Florida State
Pro Football Network
No. 10 OT Rashawn Slater, Northwestern
No. 42 LB Zaven Collins, Tulsa
No. 74 S Jevon Holland, Oregon
No. 99 EDGE Dayo Odeyingbo, Vanderbilt
No. 115 CB Rodarius Williams, Oklahoma State
No. 138 WR Austin Watkins, UAB
No. 179 DT Darius Stills, West Virginia
No. 194 RB Elijah Mitchell, Louisiana
No. 226 S Tre Norwood, Oklahoma
No. 236 QB Shane Buechele, SMU
Why the different pick numbers late in the draft? The NFL will announce the final compensatory picks late this month or early next month. Until then, the compensatory picks the Cowboys are expected to receive are a bit flexible.
READ MORE: Aikman on Dak and Cowboys: Rebuilding or Reloading?
READ MORE: Dak 'Second Surgery': How It Impacts Cowboys Contract
2. Trading Dak for Deshaun?
Only from the mind of Stephen A. Smith, right?
The ESPN.com opinionist —yes, he was a journalist for a long time, but let’s be honest about what he’s doing now — talked on First Take on Thursday about, well, the Cowboys trading Dak Prescott to the Houston Texans for Deshaun Watson.
Easy-peasy, right?
Well, Smith said it, but our Mike Fisher broke down what it would REALLY MEAN for the Cowboys and the Texans to swap Prescott and Watson.
Plus, there were plenty of other Dak bits this week:
The Cowboys left Prescott out of their 2021 Hype video, and thereby an intern’s digital portfolio takes a huge hit.
Prescott followed the Washington Football Team on social media, and, well, everyone overreacted.
Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson expressed his displeasure with getting sacked so much, so much so that the rumor mill started turning that Wilson might want out of Seattle. Of course, that engulfed the Cowboys, too.
And, then came talk of Dak never playing again. Yeah, OK.
An NFL insider says it’s going to take at least $40 million per year to keep Prescott. Um, duh.
Check out CowboysSI.com for all the latest Dak Prescott and Cowboys news.
3. Cowboys Draft Tracker
It’s 2021 NFL Draft season. And CowboysSI.com has its Cowboys Draft Tracker up and running. Throughout the ramp-up to the 2021 NFL Draft, we’ll be updating the tracker with mock drafts from around the Internet — ESPN, CBS, NFL.com, Fox Sports and all the others. You can find it all in one convenient place right here.
So click it, bookmark it and keep our Cowboys Draft Tracker with you wherever you go.
And some other Cowboys and NFL Draft related stories of note:
The Athletic’s Dane Brugler found the Cowboys facing a big choice in his latest NFL Mock Draft;
Our NFLDraftBible.com list of upcoming Pro Days (remember, there’s no scouting combing this year);
Alex Gilstrap published his latest Mock Draft, right after the Super Bowl, at NFLDraftBible.com.
Also, check out this player profile on Georgia’s Eric Stokes Jr., who represents a position of need for the Cowboys.
Our new partner, the NFL Draft Bible, now a part of Fan Nation and we’ll be bringing you great content from them leading up to the NFL Draft in April.
4. The Importance of the Offensive Line
Maybe there is something to Northwestern offensive lineman Rashawn Slater popping up for the Cowboys in the first round of many NFL Mock Drafts.
Our Richie Whitt, like you, watched the Super Bowl. He watched as Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes II ran for his life behind a leaky offensive line down two starters due to injury.
Whitt contrasted that to what the Cowboys did in their three Super Bowl victories in the 1990s and, well, it’s the offensive line, dummy.
5. The Market for a ‘Chido’
We haven’t written too much about free agency thus far this offseason, mostly because we know the Cowboys’ primary target — quarterback Dak Prescott. We also know that, beyond that, the Cowboys may not retain many of their expected free agents. But, cornerbacks always seem to skew the market, whether they’re elite corners or, well, the more average variety.
That got our Mike Fisher thinking about Cowboys free-agent corner Chidobe Awuzie. No one is going to confuse him with an elite corner. But will the overall cornerback market allow Awuzie to get an ‘inflated’ deal, should he leave Dallas? Fish tried to figure that out.
Meanwhile, Fisher also assessed the Cowboys’ interest in a couple of veteran corners that are big names, are expected to hit the market, but may not be what they used to be — Richard Sherman and Patrick Peterson.
6. Jerry Jones and Gas Station Wine
Sometimes, life just writes itself. Like the time Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones walked into a Prosper gas station and bought a couple of bottles of inexpensive wine.
But, as our Mike Fisher points out, there is always a purpose to what Jerry does (even if he could have just sent an intern to fetch the wine).
7. NFC East Roundtable
Our SI Network writers got together and held a roundtable — what are the three most pressing issues for each NFC East team this offseason. Click here for the breakdown.
8. JJ Watt, Dallas Cowboy?
You’re going to hear about that a LOT now that the All-Pro defensive end is on the market, after the Texans released him on Friday.
9. Cowboys Blitzcast on Tony Romo
This week the Cowboys Blitzcast took up an interesting topic — Tony Romo, Hall of Famer. Their thought process is that if Romo doesn’t get in as a player, he could get in if you combine his work as a player and as a broadcaster. If we’re being honest, I think this is the EXACT path Romo’s trajectory into the Hall of Fame will take, which will make it similar to former Raiders coach and NFL broadcaster John Madden. He had to wait WAY too long to get in, but finally got in on the veteran’s committee vote. At that point, most knew Madden more as a broadcaster than as a coach, and it burnished his credentials.
For what it’s worth, I don’t think Romo is a Hall of Famer on his play alone (but not for the reason you might think). But combine it with a stellar broadcasting career in which he becomes this generation’s John Madden? Now we’re on to something.
10. Tweet Of The Week
Finally, indeed.
Wanna talk Cowboys? Hit up Postins on Twitter at @PostinsPostcard or Mike Fisher on Twitter @FishSports
