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On Friday last week we launched our first 2016 BTB Mock Draft Challenge of the year in which we asked BTB members for their mock Cowboys drafts and then asked the community to vote on the mocks. But instead of simply asking for a list of randomly put together names, or copying something from Fanspeak, we limited the flexibility by establishing some specific rules: The mock draft had to be conducted according to the player rankings provided by the CBSSports.com big board. Only one trade-down was allowed, and trading up was only permissible if the trade value points given up were equal to or greater than the trade value points received.
This significantly limited the options in the mock drafts and forced the mockers to make decisions that they might not have had to make with a less rigorous approach. Also, the mockers were stuck with where a given player was ranked by CBSSports.
56 valid mocks were submitted in total, and 111 different players were picked in those mocks.
The CBSSports big board from January 28 had Joey Bosa, Laremy Tunsil, and Jalen Ramsey ranked as the top three players, and ranked ahead of the Cowboys' 4th overall pick. You would think that such a short hop would entice many Cowboys fans to move up, but that didn't happen. In fact, not a single mock moved up into the top three. Instead, almost all mock drafters moved down, collecting at least an extra second-rounder.
Here's the consensus full mock draft that emerged from our exercise, which includes a trade down in the first for an extra second-round pick, but does not include any compensatory picks. The comments for each pick are provided by the BTB-members who picked the respective players in their mock drafts.
| Rd |
Player | Comment (BTB-Member) |
| 1 | Carson Wentz, QB, North Dakota State |
Dallas falls in love and realizes that they can trade down, grab some value, and still draft Wentz (at least for this mock) - clinton333 |
| 2 | Kendall Fuller, CB, Virginia Tech |
I run to the podium to win day two by stealing the ballhawking Fuller here. He has NFL lineage (brothers Kyle, Corey, and Vincent preceded his path from VaTech to the NFL) to go with plus instincts, size, speed, physicality, change of direction, twitch to close, and supreme confidence. Can play outside early when Scandrick moves to the slot and fits the cover 2 mold better while still possessing man to man skills. I see Marcus Peters without the baggage, and his injury this year is the only reason we are getting a top 20 talent mid second round. - Dealataunt |
| 2 | Sheldon Rankins, DT, Louisville |
Finally the defense will have an opportunity to experience a dominant force at the point of attack. Rankins will shore up the middle, as he possesses the skill to not only plug the A-gap, but displays the agility to shoot gaps and disrupt plays. With his relentless effort, Rankins can stay on the field on obvious passing downs to collapse the pocket and pressure QBs. Day One starter alongside of Tyrone Crawford. The back half of the defense will benefit tremendously (even Carr and Mo may look good). - D.White |
| 3 | Braxton Miller, WR, Ohio State |
No way that Braxton makes it to the 80th pick in this draft. In my opinion the former QB will provide a different dimension to our Cowboys offense. May take him some time to develop and learn the position, but with the talent we already have in our receiving corps, I do not think he will be rushed in his development. I also hope that he can develop his returning skills and be a solid contributor on special teams.- rrparker |
| 4 | Scooby Wright, LB, Arizona |
An absolute gem. At the start of last year, was considered a 1st round pick before an injury took him all out for the year. and all the way down here. I honestly think he could be a starting MLB. Possibly not right out of the gate, but next year but could be a rotation player immediately. Great awareness, good tackling. Basically a lot like Sean Lee. - goldeneye101 |
| 6 | Kevin Byard, SS, Middle Tennessee |
I know this is late for our annual small school guy, but I’ll take a S that has 19 career INTs, 4 returned for TDs, on top of 300 career tackles. "He does an excellent job reading the eyes of the quarterback and gaining proper position with aggressiveness and timing at the catch point, showing strong hands and hand-eye coordination to pluck the ball." - Sir Robin |
Now back to our collection of mock drafts. Here's an overview of all the players who got at least 10% of the votes in rouns one to four, plus the three top vote getters for round six. 'Rank' indicates the position on the CBSSports big board from January 28, 2016.
| Rank | Player | POS | School | % of Votes |
| First Round (4th Pick) | ||||
| 11 | Carson Wentz | QB | N.D. State | 18% |
| 13 | Ezekiel Elliot | RB | Ohio State | 17% |
| 27 | Jaylon Smith | LB | Notre Dame | 15% |
| 15 | Andrew Billings |
DT | Baylor |
10% |
| 14 | Vernon Hargreaves | CB | Florida | 10% |
| 2nd Round (34th Pick) | ||||
| 43 | Kendall Fuller | CB | Virginia Tech | 24% |
| 36 | Sheldon Rankins | DT | Louisville | 22% |
| 62 | Kenneth Dixon | RB | Louisiana Tech | 12% |
|
3rd Round (67th pick) |
||||
| 80 | Braxton Miller | WR | Ohio State | 29% |
| 76 | Deiondre' Hall | CB | Northern Iowa | 11% |
| 70 | Su'a Cravens | LB | USC | 10% |
|
4th Round (98th pick) |
||||
| 111 | Scooby Wright | LB | Arizona | 17% |
| 98 | Shawn Oakman | DE | Baylor | 12% |
| 123 | Javon Hargrave | DT | S.C. State | 10% |
| 6th Round (17st pick) | ||||
| 213 | Kevin Hogan | QB | Stanford | 20% |
| 170 | Kevin Byard | SS | Middle Tennessee | 9% |
| 183 | Anthony Zettel | DE | Penn State | 8% |
And now it's time for you to vote on your favorite mock draft. Below is a mock draft summary of the consensus mock as well as four BTB member mocks from the weekend. Note that all but one of these mocks traded down in the first and got at least a second-round pick in return.
BTB Mock Draft overview
| BTB Member (No. of Rec's) |
1st Round | 2nd Round | 2nd Round | 3rd Round | 4th round | 6th round |
| Consensus Mock |
Carson Wentz, QB, N.D. State | Kendall Fuller, CB, Virginia Tech | Sheldon Rankins, DT, Louisville | Braxton Miller, WR, Ohio State | Scooby Wright, LB, Arizona | Kevin Byard, SS, Middle Tennessee |
| DalaiLuke (28 recs) |
Ezekiel Elliot, RB, Ohio State |
Kendall Fuller, CB, Virginia Tech | Jeremy Cash, SS, Duke |
Leonte Carroo, WR, Rutgers |
Scooby Wright, LB, Arizona | Kevin Hogan, QB, Stanford |
| Goldeneye101 (18) |
Robert Nkemdiche, DT, Ole Miss |
Kendall Fuller, CB, Virginia Tech | - - | Braxton Miller, WR, Ohio State | Scooby Wright, LB, Arizona | Kevin Hogan, QB, Stanford |
| Trev20 (18) |
Ezekiel Elliot, RB, Ohio State |
Austin Johnson, DT, Penn State |
Tyler Boyd, WR, Pittsburgh |
Su'a Cravens, LB, USC | Shawn Oakman, DE Baylor Maurice Canady, CB, Virginia |
Kevin Byard, SS, Middle Tennessee |
| The Lawman (15) |
Jaylon Smith, LB, Notre Dame | Sheldon Rankins, DT, Louisville | Kenneth Dixon, RB, Louisiana Tech | Braxton Miller, WR, Ohio State | Shawn Oakman, DE Baylor | Eric Murray, CB, Minnesota |
Which of these proposed mocks do you like the most? Tell us in the attached poll and in the comments section below.