NFL Mock Draft: PFF Hands Cowboys Instant Help at DE, WR and CB

FRISCO - The 2020 NFL Draft is the one (and only?) sporting event grabbing attention right now, and the Dallas Cowboys are in the middle of it all - and in the middle of the actual order of the draft, starting with Pick No. 17 in the first round on April 23.

Pro Football Focus wants a piece of this in their latest mock draft, and what PFF predicts for the Cowboys is defense, wide receiver, defense. There are PFF's picks ... and our comments:

17. LSU pass-rusher K'Lavon Chaisson: “Not even 21 years old yet, Chaisson is a player who has a good deal of perceived upside with his athletic traits. He’s got a long way to go to fulfill that, though, as he earned only a 78.9 pass-rushing grade this past season and racked up 35 pressures on 370 pass-rushing snaps.”

CowboysSI.com: Dallas got itself D-line help in free agency. Still ... Here, depending on how the first 16 picks go, yes, the Cowboys view this as a match. But ... they have some concern he won't be there at 17.

51. Penn State wide receiver KJ Hamler: “Hamler brings an explosive element that doesn’t really exist outside of Amari Cooper in the Cowboys’ offense. Get him matched up on safeties downfield, and it’s game over.”

CowboysSI.com: Hamler is not one of the handful of receivers (seven names, actually) who we are tying to Dallas. (We'd tuck somebody like TCU's Jalen Reagor, or hoping he slips, Baylor's Denzel Mims in here instead.)

And irrespective of that, we question PFF's apparent evaluation of Cooper running mate Michael Gallup as a player who is not "explosive.''

82. Ohio State cornerback Damon Arnette: "Arnette has NFL-ready coverage ability on the outside that the Cowboys need after going edge and receiver with their first two picks. He allowed a 44.6-percent completion rate last year despite playing with a cast on his wrist.”

CowboysSI.com: Dallas likes big-school prospects, needs to add help in the secondary, and, we bet, thinks of Arnette as a top-50 talent.

How much could these three, or any threesome atop the Dallas draft class, immediately help the Cowboys? While long-term prospects are part of the equation, of course, Chaisson and Arnette could become instant rotation players. And if Dallas finds a receiver high up? That guy - whomever it might be - could do the same.