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With the first round behind us, it's time to get into the meat and potatoes of the Mock Draft. The second round is upon us, and due to the NFL's policy of rotating teams with similar records, Dallas gets the eighth selection of this round. You'd expect there to be a lot of movement here, as the teams look to maneuver for those players whom they gave a first round grade, but have fallen within reach.
We'll continue with the snake style assignments of writers to teams, only now we are going to go to the three-man weave.
To review, here are the players that have come off the board already.
QB: Blaine Gabbert, Cam Newton, Jake Locker, Ryan Mallet
RB: Mark Ingram
WR: AJ Green, Julio Jones
OT: Anthony Castonzo, Derek Sherrod, Gabe Carimi, Nate Solder, Tyron Smith
DT: Corey Liuget, Marcel Dareus, Nick Fairley, Phil Taylor, Stephen Paea
DE: Cameron Jordan, Da'Quan Bowers, JJ Watt, Muhammad Wilkerson
LB: Akeem Ayers, Aldon Smith, Justin Houston, Robert Quinn, Von Miller
CB: Brandon Harris, Jimmy Smith, Patrick Peterson, Prince Amukamara
Follow the jump to find out who the first eight picks of round 2 are, including the Dallas Cowboys' second selection with blurb.
| Draft Pick | Team | Previous Selection | 2nd Round GM |
2nd Round Pick | Team Needs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33 | New England | DE JJ Watt, RB Mark Ingram | OCC | OG Mike Pouncey, Florida | 3-4 DE, 3-4 OLB, CB, RB, WR, OG, OT |
| 34 | Buffalo | CB Patrick Peterson | KD | LB Martez Wilson, Illinois | Everything except RB and WR, Kitchen Sink |
| 35 | Cincinatti | DT Marcel Dareus | Rabble | QB Christian Ponder, Florida St | QB, 4-3 DT, WR, 4-3 DE, FS, 4-3 MLB, OG, OC |
| 36 | Denver | DE Da'Quan Bowers | Rabble | LB Mason Foster, Washington | 4-3 DT, 4-3 DE, FS, SS, 4-3 OLB, 4-3 ILB, TE, ROT |
| 37 | Cleveland | LB Von Miller | KD | WR Jonathan Baldwin, Pittsburgh | 4-3 DE, 4-3 OLB, 4-3 MLB, WR, FS, CB |
| 38 | Arizona | QB Blaine Gabbert | OCC | LB Brooks Reed, Arizona | QB, 3-4 OLB, CB, OG, LOT |
| 39 | Tennesee | WR AJ Green | OCC | CB Aaron Williams, Texas | QB, CB, 4-3 DE, 4-3 OLB, 4-3 MLB |
| 40 | Dallas | CB Prince Amukamara | KD | OL Marcus Cannon, TCU | ROT, FS, OG, SS, CB, SILB, WILB, 3-4 DE, 3-4 OLB |
I have to admit, I set the order so that I could make this pick for Dallas. Sue me! I had to make sure that Dallas got a top tier offensive lineman and was very worried that Marcus Cannon would come off the board before it was time to turn in the card. Cannon is by far the largest of the linemen, weighing in at 358 lbs to go with his 6'5" frame. Even with his size, he shows tremendous athleticism and has quick feet. Cannon has the ability to play both right guard and right tackle, right now for the Dallas Cowboys. He would instantly upgrade Tony Romo's pass protection, allow the Cowboys to run right again (pun intended), and would be a great piece of clay for Hudson Houck and Mike Woicik.
With a top-tier cornerback in Prince Amukamara and a top-tier lineman with Cannon, Dallas is now free to target positions of value in the middle rounds. The Cowboys still need a FS, SS and 3-4 DE badly. Lesser needs are another OL, 3-4 ILB, 3-4 OLB, and FB. Dallas would still be looking at another lineman later in the draft (hopefully) to keep to their new dedication to youth along the line. Free-Kosier-Gurode-Bigg-Cannon works for me next season, but a young free agent to replace Davis wouldn't hurt.