Dallas Cowboys 7-Round Mock Draft: Drafting WR 1st (40-point offense)
By Reid Hanson
Round 4, Pick 123
DT, Leki Fotu
Utah
What? Another defensive player on this 40-burger mock draft? Yes. That’s how close the Dallas Cowboys are to being an unstoppable offensive force and that’s how much impact someone like Jerry Jeudy (or CeeDee Lamb, Henry Ruggs) can have on a team.
Investing in the 40-burger doesn’t mean neglecting the defense and in this this case, all the worthwhile defensive options were gone by Pick 17. Instead of insisting on defense with their first pick, Dallas took their gift of Jeudy and more than made up for it with the subsequent rounds.
With Leki Fotu here in the fourth round, Dallas grabs another significant piece to for the defense to build around. Fotu is the 6-foot-5, 337 lb behemoth in the middle. He can play 1-tech in an even man front and NT in an odd man front.
One of the best two-gappers in the draft, Fotu can eat up space and occupy blockers while play-makers like Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch operate cleanly. While Dallas doesn’t have a rich history of using draft capital in run-stopping defensive tackles, Mike Nolan does so it’s no stretch to think Dallas could use an early Day 3 pick on one here. Especially someone with a ceiling as high as Fotu’s.
Again, Fotu isn’t the guy who’s going to collect sacks for the Dallas Cowboys. He’s a run-stopper and therefore a 2-down player. Typically, defensive tackles take time to develop as pros, so chances are Fotu would take a backseat to Dontari Poe and Antwuan Woods in 2020. But by the time 2021 rolls around I expect Fotu would be a starter.