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Possibly a trade up in the first? If they fall, do we jump in to snag em?!

So, the Cowboys coming off an 8-8 disappointing season are slotted for the 18th pick. There's a consensus on this draft class not being as clear-cut in the top 10 as past years. So who do you grab?

Now here, I will assume that there's a handful of players that we really could want at 18, but a lot of them are getting drafted early. Suddenly you see a prospect fall from the top 10 to around 11-13, do you trade up for him?

FA:

Last year's additions of Bernie and Livings did not pan out the way I believe they would have hoped. Or did it? It seems this mindset under JG instruction is to fill gaps in FA so that you can have an open board for the "BPA" in the draft. Essentially just seems like a stop-gap method, and they provided that. Now I don't need to pull out stats to remind you how terrible the Oline was, and that a change needs to be made. Most people suggesting grabbing Cooper, putting him next to Free and assuming things will be A-Okay. But how does Costa hold up? Will he stay healthy all year, or play 3 games and get re-injured? The backups, Kowalski, Leary, etc will they finally make the push into the starting lineup? I mean at least compete for starting C&G respectively? Probably not, but there's a lot of buzz behind Leary coming along well, and how would drafting Cooper influence that progress?

There's still a chance that both Livings and Free become J1 cuts. Free makes the most sense to me. So what are the options? Now judging by what they brought in for their 30 visits, I'll have to assume they are addressing the guard position in the draft. But FA Right Tackles?

Options:

Andre Smith / Tyson Clabo / Winston Walter FB Ranks them

Personally, Andre Smith is rated the highest and the youngest, but he will require a contract that most likely will not happen. Clabo seems the most possible for a short term contract that can play at a high level.

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So here's the curve. Would you rather sit tight at 18, take BPA or move up in the draft to pick one of the players you have rated higher?

Naming a few I'd guess Dallas has high grades on include:

Sharrif Floyd / Star Lotulelei / Lane Johnson / Kenny Vacarro / Chance Warmack / Jonathan Cooper

I'll just make up a trade saying that we'll move up from 18 to 10 taking TENN 1st rounder just to get ahead of SD. You give up next years second rounder and swap. Who would you want in this scenario trading up the most?

Assuming you trade up and grab Lane Johnson at 10:

I've laid out two possibilities for Trading up in one scenario in this example.

1 10. Lane Johnson OT 10. Lane Johnson OT
2 53. Kawann Short DT
3 80. Phillip Thomas S 80. Phillip Thomas S
4 114. La'Veon Bell RB 114. Bennie Logan DT
4 118. Gerald Hodges OLB
5 151. Chris Gragg TE 151. Knile Davis RB
6 185. Everett Dawkins DT 185. Brandon Magee OLB
Trade 18; next year 2nd for TENN 10 Trade 18; 47 for TENN 10
Trade 47; for CINN 53; 118

In the next example, I'll assume Vacarro falls to 18, "the big 5" as well as the others that are in the poll suggest are taken by 18. SF calls up and offers a trade down scenario 34/61/128 for 18 as they want another Safety. Since there's so little drop off from Vacarro to the other S', we accept.

FA grabs Tyson Clabo for 2yr deal

2 34. Eric Reid S
2 47. Travis Frederick OC
2 61. Brennan Williams RT
3 80. Bennie Logan DT
4 114. La'Veon Bell RB
4 128. Gerald Hodges OLB
5 151. Josh Boyce WR
6 185. Everett Dawkins DT
Trade 18 for SF 34; 61; 128

Just in means of touching bases with possibilities. It's a definite possibility that we trade up with JJ at the helm. We've done it in recent past, so there's reason enough to discuss it. Let me know what your thoughts below!

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