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Like most NFL teams, the Dallas Cowboys follow a clear path heading into the draft. Use free agency to fill any glaring needs so that when they are on the clock at the draft they have a lot more options; instead of picking purely on need they can also consider the best player available.
About a week ago, OCC did a fantastic job of laying out the historical data of what positions are usually chosen at what time in the draft. If you haven't read that yet, you really need to, it's a great primer.
OCC's look follows historical trends. Instead, let's look at positions groups being drafted based on 2015 mock drafts. We can get an early idea of what positions might be available at the 27th pick by looking at what positions are projected to come off the board in as many mock drafts as we can reasonably track and categorize. As the draft approaches, I will continue to add more and more mock drafts to my table, but for now I have taken just six drafts and put together a very preliminary table with the positions and how many are picked from one to thirty two.
Draft Source | Link |
---|---|
Daniel Jeremiah | http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/mock-drafts/daniel-jeremiah/215603 |
Mel Kiper | http://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/2sj2n6/mel_kipers_2015_nfl_mock_draft_10/ |
Jason McIntyre | http://thebiglead.com/2015/01/08/2015-nfl-mock-draft-jameis-winston-marcus-mariota-bucs-jets/ |
Matt Miller | http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2269369-2015-nfl-mock-draft-matt-millers-latest-projections/page/2 |
Dan Kadar | http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2015/1/12/7529945/2015-nfl-mock-draft-jameis-winston-buccaneers-marcus-mariota-titans |
WalterFootball | http://walterfootball.com/draft2015.php |
Jeremiah | Kiper | McIntire | Miller | Kadar | WalterFootball | Positions Per Draft | Total Points | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | WR | 4,8,11,18,19,26 | 4,11,15,18,26,29,31,32 | 12,15,18,24,32 | 5,10,15,18,22,29, | 4,6,11,18, | 6,12,15,18,32 | 6,8,5,6,4,5 | 34 |
2 | DE | 5,7,24,32 | 3,5,8,13,17,21 | 4,5,7,9,17,30, | 2,12,16,25, | 5,8,13,26,28, | 4,5,21,27,29 | 4,6,6,4,5,5 | 30 |
3 | OT | 12,16,25,28 | 9,10,19,25, | 2,8,25,29,31 | 7,8,20,30, | 7,9,10,12,17,25, | 9,10,11,23,25, | 4,4,5,4,6,5 | 28 |
4 | DT | 13,15,17 | 12,23,27,30 | 3,11,14,23,28 | 1,24,27,31, | 3,16,19,30, | 3,14,31 | 3,4,5,4,4,3 | 23 |
5 | CB | 10,23 | 16,20,22, | 10,20,22,26, | 17,21,23,26, | 20,22,27 | 13,20,22,26, | 2,3,4,4,3,4 | 20 |
6 | OLB | 2,3,21,29 | 6,14, | 13,21, | 9,11,19,32 | 14,15, | 8,24,30, | 4,2,2,4,2,3 | 17 |
7 | QB | 1,6 | 1,2, | 1,6, | 3,4,13, | 1,2, | 1,2, | 2,2,2,3,2,2 | 13 |
8 | ILB | 14,30 | 28, | 19, | 28, | 24,29, | 2,1,1,1,2,0 | 7 | |
9 | RB | 27,31 | 24, | 27, | 16,17, | 2,1,1,0,0,2 | 6 | ||
10 | SS | 20 | 7, | 16, | 6, | 21, | 7, | 1,1,1,1,1,1 | 6 |
11 | FS | 22, | 14, | 1,1 | 2 | ||||
12 | NT | 9 | 19, | 1,1 | 2 | ||||
13 | OG | 23,31 | 2 | 2 | |||||
14 | C | 28, | 1 | 1 | |||||
15 | TE | 32 | 1 | 1 |
Notice that free safety, nose tackle, offensive guard, center and tight end may have either the best or second-best player at that position available when the Cowboys are on the clock.
I like the idea of the top free safety being available or perhaps even taking the top offensive guard. If the Cowboys are going to be able to draft the best player available they will need to address those positions that they feel can be filled with good players during the up coming free agency period which begins at 4 PM on March 10th.
Could the Cowboys take a run at Ndamukong Suh? We have Tyrone Crawford but we could use a real dominant guy, and while we may not like some of the emotional antics that he has he sure would make a huge addition to the Cowboys. But, if things continue like they have been, Will McClay will find some more gems to fill those kind of needs such as the true "ball-hawking" free safety we all would love to see to compete with J.J. Wilcox, and perhaps a few more corners to compete with the current group.
Here is a list of the defensive tackles that are going to be free agents according to this source:
Player | Team |
---|---|
Terrence Cody | Baltimore Ravens |
Colin Cole | Carolina Panthers |
King Dunlap | San Diego Chargers |
Dwan Edwards | Carolina Panthers |
Kenrick Ellis | New York Jets |
Nick Fairley | Detroit Lions |
Andre Fluellen | Detroit Lions |
Letroy Guion | Green Bay Packers |
Nick Hayden | Dallas Cowboys |
Tommy Kelly | Arizona Cardinals |
Karl Klug | Tennessee Titans |
Terrance Knighton | Denver Broncos |
C.J. Mosley | Detroit Lions |
Jared Odrick | Miami Dolphins |
Stephen Paea | Chicago Bears |
Corey Peters | Atlanta Falcons |
Ryan Pickett | Houston Texans |
Ahtyba Rubin | Cleveland Browns |
Pat Sims | Oakland Raiders |
Ndamukong Suh | Detroit Lions |
Kevin Vickerson | Kansas City Chiefs |
Dan Williams | Arizona Cardinals |
Kevin Williams | Seattle Seahawks |
Corey Wootton | Minnesota Vikings |
I, for one, am feeling good about what Will McClay can do with those free agents and what our front office can do with the new additions that we will certainly see from this years draft.
So, which of the above defensive tackles do you think McClay might recommend?