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The 2019 NFL Draft is just a month away.
Over the next four weeks, suspense will build around who we feel the team will
take with their first draft selection - the 58th overall pick. This week, we
went through the top four positions where the team has the biggest need and
identified three potential candidates for their second-round pick.
On Monday, we looked at the safety
position. On Tuesday, we examined defensive tackles. On Wednesday, we checked
out edge rushers. And finally yesterday, we identified possible tight ends.
Each position, we offered up a long-shot candidate (blue), a player
that just might make it (green), and a player who stands a
good chance of being available (yellow). As promised, we have now
combined all these players together to create a mini-draft board. Here is our
12-player board for these four positions:
The long shots
The chance of one of these players being
available at 58 is very slim. Noah Fant most likely won’t make it out of the
first round and he could end up being the top tight end taken in the draft if
he beats out his Iowa teammate, T.J. Hockenson. And his chance of making it to
Day 2 just got worse with the recent news of Rob Gronkowski retiring. The New
England Patriots pick at the end of the first round. How convenient.
A player like Taylor Rapp or Dexter
Lawrence would be such a steal for the Cowboys should they fall. Both are star
caliber players who could immediately fill a big position of need on the
defense. While it’s easy to just scoff at the notion of these types of talents
being available that late, crazy things happen in the draft and every year
teams end up with great picks when players slide. Last year, Connor Williams
was 28th on Dane Brugler’s 2018 board and he made it all the way to 50 when the
Cowboys picked in the second round. That’s right in the same area where he has
Rapp and Lawrence ranked so you never know if one of these guys will fall.
Edge rusher Jachai Polite has the
greatest chance to fall. The talent is there, but there are some red flags with
him and it could cause his draft stock to slide. If he’s available, there’s a
reason for it and the team should proceed cautiously with their top selection
of this year’s draft.
Hold your breath players
This is where things get interesting. All
these players at this point are projected to go before the Cowboys pick, but
it’s not unrealistic to think one of them slips through the cracks. I would be
ecstatic if Irv Smith Jr. was still available as he’s one of the premium tight
ends in this draft. A year working under Jason Witten would be fantastic and he
has the talent to step in next year and play a big role in the offense. That
being said, he’s more than likely going to be picked before 58.
Jerry Tillery is another player that has
no business falling that far, but it’s a possibility. There are a lot of good
defensive tackles in this draft and some really good ones will still be there
on Day 2. This would be a great scenario for the Cowboys if the Notre Dame star
defender was still on the board.
Jonathan Abram is considered one of the
top safeties in the draft, however he’s a box safety and that could turn teams
away. The Cowboys need talent at both free and strong safety, but if they got
themselves a talented strong safety, they could just move Xavier Woods to free
safety and push Jeff Heath to the bench.
D’Andre Walker is more of a 3-4 outside
linebacker, but talent is talent. The team isn’t going to throw a blind eye at
a good edge rusher just because he’s not a perfect fit. With the recent
addition of Robert Quinn manning the right defensive end spot, the team has
time to develop a talented pass rusher that offers upside.
Reasonable chance players
If the Cowboys don’t catch a break and
get a player from these first two groups, then they’ll still have a good pool
of players to choose from. Deionte Thompson could end up being a sneaky-good
pick as he’s one of the top coverage corners coming out of the draft. It’s hard
to say how the team will rank the top safeties in this draft, but Thompson has
the talent to step in and be a starter. Just like the scenario with Rapp, Heath
would be pushed to the bench only Woods would be playing the strong safety
position if partnered with Thompson.
Jaylon Ferguson is the NCAA’s all-time
sack leader and he would be an interesting option in the second round. Any
rookie edge rusher will work behind Quinn and have time to learn his craft, but
a player like Ferguson could be a nice piece for their future.
Dre’Mont Jones is another talented player
that will be pushed down because of the deep class of defensive tackles.
Somebody has got to fall and if the team selected Jones, they’d get a good
player on the interior of their defensive line.
If the Cowboys were able to add Jace
Sternberger, they would have their tight end upgrade. The talent of the Texas
A&M star is enticing, but is it a bit of reach to go after him at 58? He
could climb the ranks and possibly be off the board before the Cowboys have a
shot at him and he’s definitely not going to make it to pick 90.
Prediction
It just feels like a talented defensive
tackle is going to be there when the Cowboys are up. All three on this list
give reasons to be excited and when you combine that with how much the team
needs help at that position - it’s a perfect fit. I’m going to split the
difference and say Tillery falls. If that happens, Cowboys fans are going to be
really happy and we can all talk about how this organization can still dominate
the draft despite not having a first round pick. Who’s with me?