Dallas Cowboys 7-Round Mock Draft: Defensive Rebuild Amidst Big Trade
By Reid Hanson
Dallas Cowboys Mock Draft
Round 3, Pick 75
Alim McNeill, DT
NC State
The Dallas Cowboys have used top-100 draft picks on the DT spot the past two years in a row and given the state of the position group right now, I expect that pattern to continue this year. At the time of this mock draft, Dallas has added Carlos Watkins and Brent Urban to reinforce their interior defensive line ranks.
They join Antwuan Woods, Trysten Hill and Neville Gallimore as the DT rotation heading into 2021. That may not send shivers down the spines of opponents but it sure does for Cowboys Nation.
Urban and Woods are both strong forces against the run and Gallimore showed he has some 3-tech potential as an explosive 1-gap penetrator at the 3-tech, but all in all, the future is extremely unsettled at DT for Dallas and they need to add a high potential prospect to the mix they can groom for a big role in 2022.
Alim McNeill is someone draftniks adore across the league and someone the Dallas Cowboys should certainly have a keen eye on next month.
https://twitter.com/PFF_College/status/1362899766712049668
At first glance, 1-tech is not a position the Cowboys would normally be interested on Day 2 of the draft. But McNeill has traits that make him fit. McNeill, like the newly signed Urban, is a run stopping specialist with enough explosion that he can also be a 1-gap penetration player.
Yes, McNeill can hold his ground and 2-gap if you ask him to, but he can also explode through the hole and get into the backfield. What makes him particularly attractive to Dallas is his ability to mover laterally down the line and give chase, so to speak. Dallas doesn’t like immoveable objects at DT (mush to many fans’ dismay) because teams can just run away from you. Dallas wants guys who can move laterally in pursuit. McNeil is that guy.