Cowboys 2021 Re-Draft: No Parsons, No Problem?

Hindsight is always 20/20 and the NFL Draft is no different. Especially with an entire season to evaluate picks and personnel, and how they affected your team either positively or negatively.

With that in mind, let’s revisit the Cowboys' 2021 draft. Dallas was thinking cornerback at No. 10, but when their two primary targets Jaycee Horn and Patrick Surtain II went off the board at Nos. 8 and 9 respectively, the Cowboys traded back to No. 12 with Philadelphia to gain an additional pick in the third round. Of course, at No. 12 they selected Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons.

Some draft experts had Parsons as the best non-quarterback in the entire draft.

And we know how that worked out.

Parsons quickly showed himself to be one of the best players on the defensive side of the ball not just for the Cowboys, but in the entire league/ He accumulated 13 sacks, 64 solo tackles, and 3 forced fumbles on his way to NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.

But what if Parsons was off the board by the time Dallas was on the clock?

According to ESPN's Re-draft of the 2021 NFL Draft, Parsons is selected by the Falcons at No. 4. So Dallas stays at No. 10 and sticks with its original plan by taking South Carolina cornerback Jaycee Horn. Writes ESPN:

Had Horn been available when the Cowboys picked in April, I believe he would have been their pick. The fact that they ended up with Micah Parsons is in some ways pure luck, but he's not here in this scenario. Horn suffered a broken foot and played just three games as a rookie, but his ability to get the ball was one thing the Cowboys loved.

Missing most of the season with the foot injury, Horn's 2021 stats are thin but he still managed one interception in three games. There's no way to know what the tandem of Trevon Diggs and Horn would've done for the Cowboys last season.

Pretty confident the Cowboys don't want a do-over.