Dallas Cowboys 7-Round Mock Draft: Trade Downs and Double Ups

Benjamin St. Juste, CB, Minnesota Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Dallas Cowboys 5th Round, Pick 179

Benjamin St. Juste, CB, Minnesota

The next fifth-round selection is the 6-foot-3, 202-pound cornerback from the Twin Cities. The redshirt junior, by way of Montreal, Quebec, and the University of Michigan, found himself wearing the Golden Gopher jersey after the expectation was to medically retire after his freshman season.

In his two years in Minneapolis, he’s accumulated 62 total tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and eleven pass deflections. St. Juste didn’t have any interceptions which naturally leads to ball skill questions, but his transition quickness towards the ball in coverage is surprisingly good. At some point, the hands will have to progress if he has any hopes of staying in the league.

Unfortunately, his transition quickness is the best part of his game. His general coverage ability is adequate. In zone coverage, he doesn’t key the QB consistently and doesn’t quite understand how to use the boundaries when bailing. With Minnesota switching between a single-high and quarters look fairly often, it is possible that if he were to play consistently from one look the familiarity could help work on his mental processing and technique.

In man coverage, he isn’t great at keying the receiver’s hips and will get faked out easier especially considering the length of his body. If he can work on jamming, specifically his punch location, he could be a lot more effective in any press looks.

St. Juste is this year’s incredibly toolsy cornerback prospect. In years past, these types of prospects would end up being selected higher because of demand but in a very good cornerback class, he seems to have fallen where he should fall. Let’s hope the Cowboys can capitalize on that luck.