Dallas Cowboys 7-Round Mock Draft: Drafting WR 1st (40-point offense)

Round 5, Pick 164

WR, Devin Duvernay

Texas

I would even go a round earlier for Duvernay (or Lynn Bowden if he’s there in the fourth) because he would serve a vital role on the Dallas Cowboys offense. Duvernay, the 5-foot-11 202 lb rocketship from Texas is a field stretcher, pure and simple.

He’s not the guy you want to plug into the starting slot role on day 1 because he doesn’t have acceptable polish in his route running, but if he’s to come in as a complementary piece, he’s going to be in position to succeed. In that way, I’ve paired him with Van Jefferson (who’s usually off the board very early in Round 4) many times in my mock drafts.

Look at the best offenses in the NFL and they all have something in common. They all have a speed guy stretching the field. Whether it’s vertically or horizontally, elite offenses need players capable of opening the field up. With Cooper, Gallup, Jeudy, and Jarwin doing that vertically, they need someone like Duvernay to do it horizontally.

This plays to Devin’s skill set well too. As mentioned before, he’s not a nuanced route-runner. And he may never be. He’s a gadget guy like Tavon Austin. He’s the one who will be running jet sweeps and shallow drags. He’ll be a screen weapon. He’ll be someone you just want to get the ball into his hands (or pretend to) because he’s going to keep defenses honest.  He’s also going to open things up for Ezekiel Elliott and the running game.

If Dallas adds in some more RPOs (something McCarthy did often with the Packers) Duvernay could see a lot of quick strike opportunities.