Dallas Cowboys 7-Round Mock Draft: Breaking from the norm
By Reid Hanson
Round 2, Pick 58
(S) Taylor Rapp
Washington
6’0″ 212lbs
Link to Dallas: official 30-visitor
This would never have been possible a couple months ago but after a very pedestrian testing at the NFL Combine in February, Taylor Rapp is covered in a cloud of doubt. His 4.77 40-time is far below industry standard at the position which many use to determine whether a player can survive at the next level.
The Draft Network has dropped Rapp to the 63rd player on their Big Board.
According to 3Sigma Athlete, Taylor Rapp graded out with a 113.7 pSPARQ score and finished with a 31.9 position percentile (with 50% being the average safety) rating him 53rd in the 2019 rookie safety class. Want to know who finished at the top of the class? Juan Thornhill.
So even though Taylor Rapp has reels of impressive film to watch, he projects to many draftniks as the lesser DB. Considering Thornhill’s ability to hawk the ball and even play cornerback, I think there’s a better chance he’s gone than he makes it to Dallas at 58 (Philly seems to have legitimate interest).It’s worth noting, the Draft Network has dropped Rapp to the 63rd player on their Big Board as well.
For the athletic reasons mentioned above, Taylor Rapp comes with risks. Additionally, he doesn’t look like a very optimal solution deep in coverage or matched up in man. But he’s a playmaking in-the-box safety and decent enough to be an upgrade over Heath in coverage (making a complete upgrade at safety).
Rapp’s film shows a first round pick but his numbers could very easily cause him to slide to the end of the second round. Despite his questions, this would be a great value pick for the Dallas Cowboys. He’d be a Day 1 starter and a clear upgrade at SS.
A playmaker in the 3rd round…