Dallas Cowboys Draft: 7 different cornerbacks in 7 different rounds

Nahshon Wright, Oregon State

Value: Excellent

You may recognize the name if you have watched Last Chance U Season 5. Nahshon is the older brother of hot-headed but uber-talented cornerback Rejzohn Wright. At 6-foot-4, 188 pounds Wright has tremendous length, ball skills, and athletic ability.

Odds are come draft day Wright is scooped up much earlier than the seventh round. In two years in Corvallis, Wright caught five interceptions and defended five passes. Pass deflection numbers are low but it’s hard to be productive when quarterbacks aren’t willingly throwing it in your direction.

Oregon State played a lot of man coverage which played into Wright’s skill set well enough. Even though he is fairly light, he was long and strong enough to jam receivers at the line displaying solid punch location and timing. He displayed the change of direction to match opposing wide receivers footwork at the line of scrimmage and through their route stem.

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In off coverage, he displayed solid explosiveness and change of direction to mirror receivers out of breaks and he uses his length to contest the ball at the catch point. The consistency with which he plays is impressive because 6-foot-4 cornerbacks shouldn’t move as well as him.

Perhaps the biggest question surrounding Wright will be his instincts in zone coverage. Not having much exposure to covering an area of the field as opposed to mirror an individual receiver. He displays the athletic ability to have good transition quickness and overlap routes in deep thirds, he just needs to sharpen his instincts to read and react to the quarterback better.

In all, this collection of cornerbacks isn’t in the order I’d draft them in, it was following the Pro Football Network big board. Every team’s big board is different but their big board allowed me to draft players in order of how they’re perceived by teams. What this collection of cornerback also proved was that you can likely find productive players in every single round.

With the Cowboys having 10 picks and multiple in the third, fourth, and sixth, double upping at cornerback feels inevitable. Hopefully some luck finds its way to Dallas so the team can get the best guys from the draft class.