Dallas Cowboys 7-Round Mock Draft: Operating in Balance

Dallas Cowboys Mock Draft

6th Round, Pick 222

Tamorrion Terry, WR, Florida State

The next two picks are receivers, but allow me to provide some background on both players. In Mike McCarthy’s tenure as head coach, he has drafted 20 wide receivers. Of those 20, 17 of them are taller than 6-foot-1; 2020 first-round pick CeeDee Lamb falls in this list. In the later rounds especially, McCarthy seems to eye taller and longer players with the hopes that if developed they can provide athletic mismatches. This same line of thinking is how the Dallas Cowboys ended up with Aaron Parker, Stephen Guidry, and Kendrick Rogers as UDFAs after the 2020 draft.

Tammorion Terry is a 6-foot-4, 210 pound from Florida State who doesn’t play like a 6-foot-4 wide receiver. The Georgia native was a premier deep threat in 2018 and 2019 averaging 20.33 yards per catch for both seasons. The Seminole caught 18 touchdowns in 31 games with the team before opting out midway this season.

Terry displays good athletic ability with good explosiveness and good foot speed, which he uses regularly to stack defensive backs while going deep. He also displays good mental processing constantly testing the defensive back’s leverage on releases and through the route stem with hip, head, and foot fakes. He also has a knack for finding the soft spots in defenses in the intermediate areas of the field.

So how does someone this big, fast, and productive find himself in the sixth round? To put it simply, effort. He runs well but for someone of his stature, he should be dominating the catch point a little more. If the ball doesn’t drop into the breadbasket, he likely doesn’t make the play. He’s been responsible for some incredible plays but other times it feels like a slap to the face.

Other concerns consist of, but are not limited to: general play strength, releases against press coverage, adjusting ability on contested catches, and picking up yards after the catch. His frame is conducive to putting on mass, but in three years at FSU he doesn’t look like he’s gained a substantial amount of weight. What gives at the next level?

Him ending up in the sixth round after two productive seasons as a starter feels like the biggest slap in the face, but poor offensive line and quarterback play in a new scheme that doesn’t work the deep areas of the field like Kendall Briles did ultimately hurt his draft stock and he paid quite the price.

Terry would be so much fun in an offense with Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup, and CeeDee. If he develops alongside Mike McCarthy, Kellen Moore, and Dak Prescott, he could replace Michael Gallup if the team is not able to sign him to a long-term extension.

7th Round, Pick 234

T.J. Vasher, WR, Texas Tech

The Red Raider has been in Lubbock for 5 years. In that time he’s been through a changing coaching staff and a never-ending list of quarterbacks. Still, in those 37 games, he’s caught 146 passes for 1983 yards and 21 touchdowns averaging 13.6 yards per catch.

The  6-foot-5, 185-pound wide receiver has predominantly been an outside threat for Texas Tech making some unreal catches in his time with the Red Raiders. He displays solid athletic ability for his size and uses his frame and length to generate separation quickness deep down the field. Tech had a consistent contested-catch threat in Vasher they would try to take advantage of in critical situations in games.

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Unfortunately, outside of the height and catch radius, there isn’t too much about his game to get excited about. He’s also had his fair share of off-field issues with injuries, violations of team rules, and academic ineligibility but seemingly worked through all of those to play in 37 games for Tech over five years. Character concerns exist but it should mean something that he made an active attempt to fix these problems.

Vasher will likely be available as a UDFA but if the Cowboys felt he could provide value on special teams or take advantage of his ridiculous frame they might feel compelled to select him here. At this point in the draft around five years ago, the Cowboys draft Noah Brown and he turned out to have a solid season this year given the depth in front of him.

This mock draft put a serious emphasis on defense, however, that shouldn’t surprise anyone given how bad the defense was last season. The goal was to draft prospects who had solid college production in addition to good athletic ability. With the Cowboys having so many late-round picks and a relatively new defensive coaching staff, the idea was to give them good athletes for them to develop.