Will a first-round cornerback be available for Dallas to choose? I believe Devon Witherspoon, Christian Gonzalez, Joey Porter, Jr. and Deonte Banks will be long gone prior to pick 26. All had solid Combine results which will probably put the Dallas Cowboys in a familiar spot.
The Dallas Cowboys would be drafting against grain with these picks, but it may pay immediate and long-term dividends if they pan out.
In 2021, both Patrick Surtain, Jr. and Jaycee Horn were targets of the Dallas Cowboys, but both were gone before pick number 12. What initially looked like a devastating gut punch for America’s team ended up being a blessing in disguise. They missed out on a first-round cornerback, but they drafted the ultimate mismatch problem in Micah Parsons. I’m projecting something similar happen for Dallas this year as well and finding potential mismatches is the theme of this draft.
Now, with the Stephon Gilmore trade, I believe moving back in the draft is more than plausible. The Carolina Panthers traded for the first overall pick and jumped the line for a quarterback. The Las Vegas Raiders may be the odd man out and left holding the bag. Bryce Young, CJ Stroud and Will Levis will almost certainly be gone in the top seven picks. The Raiders are holding out hope that Anthony Richardson drops to them but in this mock draft the Seattle Seahawks get their quarterback of the future to sit behind Geno Smith for one year.
Who’s left? There is one quarterback still ‘potentially’ worthy of a first-round pick. The Raiders get a California kid, Tanner McKee from Stanford, at the back end of the first round to secure those fifth-year rights. He can sit behind the newly signed Jimmy Garoppolo for a couple of years before taking the reins.
More importantly, the Dallas Cowboys are positioned to move back into the early part of the second round, add some draft capital and pick their next mismatch prospect.
Trade Alert: Las Vegas Raiders receive pick 26 Dallas Cowboys receive picks 38 and 70
Round Two – Pick 38: Darnell Washington, Tight End, Georgia
With the 38th pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Dallas Cowboys select Darnell Washington, tight end from Georgia. Mike McCarthy can barely contain himself as he finally gets his Jermichael Finley/Mercedes Lewis type impact player. The incumbents, Jake Ferguson and Peyton Hendershot, are both fine players and this pick is not an indictment on their abilities. As I pick this player, I envision the trio of Washington, Ferguson and Hendershot and the damage they will cause to opposing defenses TOGETHER.
For Dallas, Big Mike is ready to play big boy ball. Everyone in the organization appear to be in lockstep with him on the plan to control the clock thru the run game. Here’s a cheat code to a dominant run game, draft a tight end who can dominate in the trenches. With the blocking ability of Ferguson and Washington, Dallas will load up on 12 personnel to out-physical teams.
Yes, from a receiving standpoint, he still has some developing to do. Georgia relied more on Brock Bowers for that piece of the puzzle. In this draft, you could even make the argument that Dalton Kincaid and Luke Musgrave are better pass receiving options than Darnell Washington. Maybe they are but Washington has the potential to be the best overall tight end and that’s taking into consideration the entire tight end class.
Darnell Washington from @GeorgiaFootball is a SPECIAL athlete 🔥 pic.twitter.com/T9sHX0J0mA
— NFL (@NFL) March 6, 2023
At 6’7″ 264 pounds, this kid is oozing with untapped potential. I understand physical testing is only a piece of the pie. However, it’s an important and very large piece of the pie. During the NFL Combine, Washington put up some eye-popping numbers for a guy his size. He ran a 4.64 in the 40-yard dash, 1.57 second 10-yard split, 31 inch vertical and 10’2″ broad jump. Reminder – this is at 264 pounds. He was definitely one of the winners of the combine and he is the Dallas Cowboys first pick of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Round Two – Pick number 58: JuJu Brents, Cornerback, Kansas State
Remember when the Dallas Cowboys desperately needed a cornerback in 2019 and waited until the second round. That year, they ended up with Trevon Diggs. I’m not saying Julius (JuJu) Brents is Diggs by any means. What I am saying, is that I’ve come around to the realization that a good cornerback will be available in the second round.
At 6’4″ 200 pounds, he is more than a prototypical corner. He is another player that blew up at the NFL Combine. He ran a 4.53 in the 40-yard dash, 1.57 in the 10-yard split, 41.5 inch vertical and 11’6″ broad jump. Now that’s an athlete you need to invest in. Dan Quinn has made a living in putting bigger defensive backs on the map and Brents is next in line.
From the analytical side of things, PFF graded him a 75.5 in coverage and 80 in run support. His snap distribution was practically all on the boundary which should be a preference for Dallas. Diggs is on one side with Daron Bland in the slot. I have not completely given up on Nahshon Wright, but I’ll admit he didn’t show enough on defense or special teams last season to feel good about his roster spot.
The 2021 tape does concern me to some degree. Quarterbacks were able to pick on his side. He was giving up a passer rating of a 101.9 for the season. That tells me that quarterbacks were comfortable throwing passes his way. DB Coach Al Harris will embrace this kid the same way he embraced Diggs. Brents has the ability to have a long NFL career and I believe that career will start in Dallas.
Round Three – Pick Number 70: Hendon Hooker, Quarterback, Tennessee
Well, well, well, Jerry has fooled us all. In this mock draft, the Dallas Cowboys front office finally adds legit talent to their quarterback room. No, this is not a replacement for Dak Prescott. Hendon Hooker is a backup quarterback with starting level potential. Yes, I took him with a top-100 pick. Will Dallas really do that? Only time will tell.
While his tenure at Tennessee ended on a sour note with the injury, it was a Heisman type of season for him. Even before he transferred, he was a legit starting quarterback at Virginia Tech. He had an up and down career early on with the Hokies, but the talent and live arm was always a plus for him. He’s a gifted passer who can make all of the throws with touch and zip on the ball.
According to PFF, his last three seasons he received overall grades of 81.5, 84.4 and 90.8. If you’re not an analytical person, he also threw for 3135 yards and 27 touchdowns in his final season at Tennessee. Bryce Young is the projected number one pick in this draft. However, head-to-head in their final season Hooker was the last man standing. He threw for 385 yards and five touchdowns against Brian Branch, Jordan Battle and Will Anderson Jr. all top 100 potential draft prospects.
Hendon has good size at 6’3″ 217 pounds and was pretty mobile before the injury. If Dak misses time this season, the Cowboys will be prepared with a cheaper option than Cooper Rush to steer this offense. He sat miserably on the sideline not able to participate in drills at the Senior Bowl nor NFL Combine. Maybe I’m wrong, but I believe he would have been the star or at least one of the stars of the show at both events if he was healthy. Well, with this mock, he will get to wear the star on his helmet.
Round Three – Pick number 90: A.T. Perry, Wide Receiver, Wake Forest
In this round, I am back looking for more help for Quarterback Dak Prescott. Last year, the Dallas Cowboys selected Jalen Tolbert in the third round. Early on, the return on investment has been disappointing to say it mildly. With that being said, Dallas has to go back to the well once again. Banking on Tolbert turning things around in year two is not a plan that the Cowboys should subscribe to.
Drafting A.T. Perry out of Wake Forest helps on two fronts. If Tolbert is a bust, you can move on to the next prospect to help your team. If Tolbert turns things around, then you can look to 2024 or 2025 to move on from Michael Gallup if he doesn’t return to form. This Wake Forest Demon Deacon is a stud at 6’5″ 205 pounds. He ran a 4.47 in the 40-yard dash. He’s not a complete burner but it’ll do. He also had a 1.59 second 10-yard split, 35 inch vertical and 11’1″ broad jump.
Make no mistake about it, this kid is a top 100 player and should be recognized as such. He and Sam Hartman made beautiful music at Wake Forest over the last few years. Once Perry gets a full head of steam going, it’s a beautiful thing to watch him run gracefully down the field. With the timed speed along with the long strides, he is going to be a matchup nightmare for a lot smaller or mid-size cornerbacks.
He’ll need to refine his route running abilities but that’s a project for a good wide receiver’s coach. He has the natural ability and the production to back it. Sign me up for A.T. Perry at pick 90 all day every day.
Round Four – Pick number 129: K.J. Henry, Edge Rusher, Clemson
At pick number 129, I’m selecting K.J. Henry from Clemson. We got Dak some help earlier and now it’s time to help Micah as well. In the fourth round, the Cowboys understand they are drafting traits and Henry has plenty of them. While he has the slender frame for an edge rusher, it didn’t stop him from making plays on the collegiate level. He has some ability to drop in coverage, but his best attribute is going forward.
I’m projecting him to be a hybrid edge rusher at the next level. He isn’t the athlete that his fellow Clemson alum Vic Beasley was, but he can get the job done. He measured in at 6’4″ 251 pounds. In Dan Quinn’s scheme, the bigger bulkier defensive edges are not always the preference. Take for example Dallas Cowboys free agent Dante Fowler, Jr. He is a whopping 6’3″ 255-pounds. K.J. Henry is not far behind as it relates to the size aspect.
He was a decent playmaker at Clemson, but the numbers probably won’t support that. In five seasons, he collected 125 tackles and 13.5 sacks. I’m more interested in the 64 hurries in his career and 26 quarterback hits. That tells me he’s making more of an impact than the numbers show.
He didn’t test as an elite athlete, and he doesn’t have the ultra-productive numbers as a counterpoint. Two big reasons he’ll be available in the fourth round. He ran a 4.63 in the 40-yard dash, 1.65 in the 10-yard split, 31.5″ vertical and 9’4″ broad jump. Again, the numbers were not great but still someone worth a draft selection.
What will Henry bring to the table for the Dallas Cowboys? In his rookie season, special teams is going to be his calling card. That does sound so cliche but with the loss of Luke Gifford it may be a vital piece to the team success. Long term, his pass rush ability can’t be underestimated. We don’t know if Dante Fowler is returning, and we don’t know what Tak Mckinley will add to this team. K.J. Henry would be a nice insurance policy.
Round Five – Pick number 162: Jerrod Clark, Defensive Tackle, Coastal Carolina
The NFL Draft has some interesting defensive tackles in it and picking one here for the Dallas Cowboys seems like the smart play. With the 162nd pick in round five, the Cowboys get a big bodied defensive tackle from Coastal Carolina, Jerrod Clark.
Clark is a 6’4″ 340-pound human shadow creator that will provide the team some versatility and much needed strength on this defense. This is going to be another welcomed addition for Micah Parsons. He’s been pretty much begging for interior defensive line help since the season ended. Well, Jerry and Co. will give him the help he has been asking for.
Clark has enough explosiveness that if you need a sack or pressure on the quarterback, he’ll give that to you. Yes, his bulk is tailor made for the nose but lining him over a weaker guard similar to how Kansas City uses Chris Jones would cause nightmares for the offense. The same folks at PFF rated his pass rush in his final season as a 77.0 and his run defense as a 74.9. He threw in 10 sacks and 34 quarterback hurries over his past three seasons for good measure.
If you are tired of watching our defensive tackles get blown up off the line and I believe most Dallas Cowboys fans are, this is a long-term solution who will help the pass rush and the run defense. Dallas should bring Jonathan Hankins back for another season to help bring the young rookie along and teach him the finer points of the trade. From there, take the training wheels off and watch him give our offensive line all they can handle in training camp for years to come.
Round Five – Pick number 169: Guard, Chandler Zavala, North Carolina State
Now, with the second of their fifth-round compensatory picks at number 175, Dallas is adding to their offensive line depth with interior offensive lineman Chandler Zavala from North Carolina State. He started his college career at Fairmont State College where he wreaked havoc over the lesser competition. Similar to O’Cyrus Torrence, he wanted more competition and he decided to move to a major program and going against better competition didn’t slow him down.
At NC State, he played exclusively at the left guard position. While he doesn’t provide the position flexibility that the Dallas Cowboys covet, he would provide some badly needed depth. The expectation for him is to learn the nuances of the position at the NFL level. Unfortunately, he’s not going to be able to beat up on NFL defenders with just strength and pancaking them. These players are cunning and well trained at their craft. He’s going to need to do the same to make it in the NFL.
What will he help the Dallas Cowboys with? He is a big, bodied guy at 6’5″ 325 pounds which would make you believe he could kick out to a tackle position but that’s not his bread and butter. He is a phone booth type of guard that has enough power to keep the person in front of him at pay. Dallas just lost Connor McGovern to the Buffalo Bills. With Tyron Smith’s injury history, there will be offensive line reshuffling and there will always be a need for a healthy body.
Maybe he pans out like a McGovern, maybe he doesn’t. It’s a crapshoot but it’s definitely one you throw your compensatory picks at.
Round Six – Pick 211 – Eric Gray, Running back, University of Oklahoma
In my mock, still no Bijan Robinson. Jerry has been hinting that he wants Ezekiel Elliott back. More than likely it’s at a reduced rate. Tony Pollard is back on the franchise tag for at one more season. Not sure what the team plans to do with Malik Davis and Rico Dowdle. Neither of those two young running backs should feel like they’ve earned a roster spot. However, with all of that going on at the position, I’m not inclined to use a premium pick on a running back.
With the 211th pick, I’m picking Eric Gray out of Oklahoma. For the Dallas Cowboys, he just barely fits their physical profile. He measured at the NFL Combine 5’10” 207-pound with a 37.5″ vertical, 9’10” broad jump with 21 reps of 225. Those are all good enough numbers to make him a late round pick and he provides great value to a team that’s not overly needy for a running back but it’s still a sneaky need for this team. It’s still to be determined what his 40-yard dash and 10-yard split will be. His Oklahoma pro day may be the opportunity for him to rise out of the sixth round.
He is an all-purpose back who transferred from Tennessee to Oklahoma with four years of experience combined. For a lot of positions, that experience is great but at running back not so much. What we can say is that he was very productive in those four seasons. He accounted for 3089 rushing yards and 21 rushing touchdowns. He also adds some value in the pass game as well. Gray hauled in 99 receptions and 827 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns. Not over the moon results but for a team that will be dropping the ball down in the flats, it’s a perfect situation.
What exactly does Eric Gray bring to the Dallas Cowboys? He is a compact runner who has some good play speed. Once he plants and makes his cut, he is zero to sixty pretty quick. He is a balanced runner who doesn’t fall down at the first sign of contact. Gray is the type of talented runner that will project as a starter in the league. If Dallas and Elliott cannot come to an agreement on the pay cut, you want to have a player who does have the ability to step in and take on some of those carries from Tony Pollard. Long story short, in the 6th round, Dallas Cowboys are getting a steal in this draft.
Round Seven – Pick Number 245: Ricky Stromberg, Center, University of Arkansas
Dallas went into the Arkansas bag of tricks last year with the defensive lineman John Ridgeway. While he didn’t last long with the team, second times a charm with the offensive side of the ball. At 6’3″ 306-pounds, Ricky Stromberg has the adequate size to make it at the next level. This is that type of position, unlike running back, where the experience is a positive. He has played in the toughest (in my opinion) conference in college football and has started for four years.
Stromberg is another player that doesn’t give you the position flexibility but that will be the case for most centers. There probably won’t be many centers that project as a guard. For this season, Dallas needs him for depth. Last year, we lost Tyler for a few games and had to use some scotch tape to fix the problem temporarily. That’s not going to be the case this year. If he’s available this late in the draft, this should a no-brainer.
The center class isn’t great; however, they have players that will be starters in this league. At the last pick, if he gives us a little more than practice squad, that will be a win in my book. Dallas needs to continue to get younger and stronger on their offensive line. He can help you in both areas. He is a smart player that should not take long to acclimate himself to the faster pace of the NFL practices and games.
Dallas Cowboys: 4 blockbuster trade options to explore
It is time for the Dallas Cowboys to get ultra-aggressive with their draft capital in the first round rather than watching from the stands.
This isn’t the sexiest pick in the world. But it’s a pick I can see Jerry and Mike McCarthy being on the same page with. Mike loves his offensive linemen. Jerry loves his former Arkansas players. We could find worse players that Ricky Stromberg. He has the nastiness that we need on the offensive line that we so often lack. This is a dude, and he is the last pick for the Dallas Cowboys.