NFL Draft: SI Pinpoints CBs and WRs for Cowboys Rounds 1 and 2
FRISCO - NFL Free Agency has largely moved to the back burner now, most of the sales shelves having been raided. All along, of course, NFL teams, including the Dallas Cowboys, have had two "burners'' running - the other one being the NFL Draft, which is fast-approaching ... and has SI's Andy Benoit analyzing team needs for every club.
Benoit's 32-team take can be found here, and his thoughts on the Cowboys roster overall, including the changes to it that befit the wishes of new head coach Mike McCarthy, are valuable and insightful.
But that "front burner''? It's about the first couple of rounds in the NFL Draft, where Dallas owns Picks Nos. 17 and 51 ... and where Benoit sees Cowboys answers at cornerback (early) and wide receiver (later). To wit:
Top-100 Targets: In the unlikely event South Carolina DT Javon Kinlaw fell to them, the Cowboys would likely pounce. Otherwise, they’ll likely select from an interesting but flawed group of corners.
Florida’s C.J. Henderson has the length and speed to play the boundary, but his inconsistent tackling might be too much for a Dallas defense that was plagued by it late last year. Utah’s Jaylon Johnson might make more sense, or even undersized but feisty Jeff Gladney of TCU, who might be able to hold his own on the boundary.
They could certainly wait for Day 2 with this receiver class, where they could go with the polished Michael Pittman Jr. of USC, raw catch-and-run monster Brandon Aiyuk of Arizona State, or a big red-zone force in Notre Dame’s Chase Claypool or Baylor’s Denzel Mims.
Our boots-on-the-ground responses from here in Frisco: We think Andy is right-on regarding what Dallas thinks of Kinlaw and Henderson. We think that waiting on a receiver is wise. And we think that a first-round safety (Grant Delpit?) or edge rusher (?) should be tossed on the pile of names worth mentioning. ... and these ideas have been expressed nicely, by the way in our own CowboysSI.com mocks by Matthew Postins.
Again, get Andy Benoit here, for his Cowboys Draft outlook and for his thoughts on the other 31 as well.
