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With the draft exactly 100 days away, NFL.com opened their mock draft season with a vengeance on Monday. Five NFL Network analysts unveiled their first mock drafts simultaneously in a veritable mock draft bonanza.
The five picks were: Stanford OG David DeCastro, Boston College ILB Luke Kuechly, Alabama OLB Courtney Upshaw, Nebraska CB Alfonzo Dennard and South Carolina DE Melvin Ingram.
After the break, read what the analysts had to say about each of the five prospects
| Analyst | Pick | NFL.com comments | Next five available players | My Take |
| Elliot Harrison |
ILB Luke Kuechly, Boston College |
The Cowboys could have really used DeCastro. And although safety is a HUGE area of need, Jerry Jones just re-signed Gerald Sensabaugh and doesn't want to take Mark Barron this high. Therefore, the Cowboys select Luke Kuechly to replace Bradie James and form a sick inside linebacker tandem with Sean Lee. | ILB Vontaze Burfict, SS Mark Barron, CB Alfonzo Dennard, OLB Courtney Upshaw, WR Michael Floyd | On the long list of Cowboys draft priorities, a first-round ILB first appears in a footnote on page 374. |
| Chad Reuter | Courtney Upshaw, OLB, Alabama | Upshaw is not an explosive sack-master like Demarcus Ware, but he can get after the QB and hold the edge against the run as well as any player in the draft. He would be the perfect pickup to play across from Ware if scheduled free agent Anthony Spencer ends up leaving Dallas this offseason. | ILB Luke Kuechly, OG David DeCastro, RB Trent Richardson, DE Nick Perry, WR Michael Floyd | This guy's production ratio has been through the roof the last two years, but Reuter describing him as basically a Spencer clone is not reassuring |
| Charles Davis | CB Alfonzo Dennard, Nebraska | The back end of the defense continues to need attention, and this cover guy from Nebraska is someone the Cowboys need to help defend the NFL's new-age passing attacks. | ILB Luke Kuechly, DE Nick Perry, CB Janoris Jenkins, WR Michael Floyd, OG David DeCastro | Meh. If Claiborne or Kirkpatrick are off the board, I'm not sure I'd take a corner in the first. |
| Bucky Brooks |
Melvin Ingram, DE, South Carolina | The Cowboys' secondary woes are real, but Rob Ryan needs another pass rusher to align opposite DeMarcus Ware to fully incorporate his blitz-happy schemes. | WR Kendall Wright, RB David Wilson, CB Janoris Jenkins, OT Cordy Glenn, WR Michael Floyd | If you believe the pass rush is at the root of the Cowboys' defensive ills, Ingram is your man. |
| Albert Breer | David DeCastro, OG, Stanford | Breer doesn't have any comments | SS Mark Barron, DE Whitney Mercilus, CB Janoris Jenkins, DE Melvin Ingram, WR Michael Floyd | The safe pick, the popular pick, but I'm not convinved the Cowboys take a guard that high. |