Dallas Cowboys 7-Round Mock Draft: Operating in Balance
The Dallas Cowboys proved last year they were farther from championship contention than we thought and a long list of injuries only furthered that narrative. With ten picks in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Cowboys should have enough chances at the lottery to come away with good players.
Most of the holes on the team are on the defensive side. Outside of rookie CB Trevon Diggs and veteran CB Anthony Brown, the rest of the cornerback depth chart is up in the air. The same could be said for the interior defensive line with the exception of Neville Gallimore and Trysten Hill and the safety depth with the exception being second-year player Donovan Wilson who played well down the stretch.
Then there are the linebackers. One gets talked about a lot more than the other, however, that doesn’t change the fact that both are equally bad and likely need a good defensive line in front of them to deal with some of their liabilities.
In this Dallas Cowboys 7 round Mock Draft, we go hard on the defensive players and end with a nice group of offensive skill players.
1st Round, Pick 10
Caleb Farley, CB, Virginia Tech
No trades today, just a haul of good players. In the past, the Cowboys haven’t necessarily overcomplicated their first-round picks; I wouldn’t expect them to do anything different here. The team needs some cornerback help and Farley is pretty much a plug and play starter even after being away from the sport for a year.
In a previous article, I evaluated Caleb Farley and Patrick Surtain II, the Alabama cornerback, detailing their strengths, their not-so-strengths, and who I thought the Cowboys would draft based on defensive coordinator Dan Quinn’s track record and the front office’s draft ideology. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound cornerback from North Carolina likely has the speed, explosiveness, and man coverage ability Dan Quinn wants from a cornerback, especially so early in the draft.
Caleb Farley’s size, athletic ability, and man coverage ability are top of the class and quite easily put him above Surtain II and South Carolina cornerback Jaycee Horn. Concerns likely exist about his range, more so his instincts in zone coverage, but that is something he will likely work on at the next level with most NFL defensive coordinators not varying their coverages as much as Bud Foster did at Virginia Tech.
Farley has a higher ceiling, as a prospect and as an athlete, and already has a relatively high floor. How he performs after being away from the game for a year will be the biggest question but at his best, he is helping the defensive line get to the quarterback for sacks because he is “sticky” in coverage. Hopefully, this front office can finally fix the mistake they made by not re-signing Byron Jones to a second contract with the selection of Farley.