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In our inaugural mock draft database of the season, published during Senior Bowl Week on January 23, we surveyed 35 different mock drafts by some of the better-known draftniks on the interwebs and found that 63% of the mocks had the Cowboys taking a defensive end, while 23% had the Cowboys taking a cornerback.
In our second, pre-Combine edition of the mock draft database, this time with 40 different mocks, defensive ends remained the top choice at 64% of all mocks, while defensive backs dropped slightly to 20%.
Today's edition of our mock draft database features 50 different mocks, all of which were published after the mass exodus of Cowboys defensive backs in free agency.
| Mock Draft Database (click blue column headers to sort) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mock Draft | Player |
Position |
College | Last Updated |
| CBS Sports (Wilson) | Evan Engram | TE | Ole Miss | 4/5 |
| DraftTek | Kevin King | CB | Washington | 4/5 |
| ESPN (Kiper) | Jabrill Peppers | S | Michigan | 4/5 |
| ESPN (McShay) | Taco Charlton | DE | Michigan | 4/5 |
| SI.com (Burke) | Obi Melifonwu | S | Connecticut | 4/5 |
| The Sports Bank | John Ross | WR | Washington | 4/5 |
| Walter Football (Walter) | Takkarist McKinley | DE | UCLA | 4/5 |
| B/R (Gagnon) | Taco Charlton | DE | Michigan | 4/4 |
| ESPN (Grossi) | Marlon Humphrey | CB | Alabama | 4/4 |
| NFL.com (Jeremiah) | Adoreé Jackson | CB | USC | 4/4 |
| PFF (Palazzolo) | Taco Charlton | DE | Michigan | 4/4 |
| SB Nation (Kadar) | Gareon Conley | CB | Ohio State | 4/4 |
| Toronto Sun (Bilicky) | Chidobwe Awuzie | CB | Colorado | 4/4 |
| Draft Analyst (Pauline) | Adoreé Jackson | CB | USC | 4/3 |
| Draft Countdown (Wright) | Charles Harris | DE | Missouri | 4/3 |
| Draftseason (Falk) | David Njoku | TE | Miami | 4/3 |
| Draftwire (Easterling) | John Ross | WR | Washington | 4/3 |
| Pro Football Weekly (Talon) | O.J. Howard | TE | Alabama | 4/3 |
| Rotoworld (Norris) | T.J. Watt | DE | Wisconsin | 4/3 |
| Sporting News (Iyer) | David Njoku | TE | Miami | 4/3 |
| The Huddle (Bonini) | Tre'Davious White | CB | LSU | 4/3 |
| Walter Football (Charlie) | Tre'Davious White | CB | LSU | 4/3 |
| Draftblaster | Jabrill Peppers | S | Michigan | 4/2 |
| Houston Chronicle (Wilson) | Marlon Humphrey | CB | Alabama | 4/2 |
| Houston Chronicle (McClain) | Gareon Conley | CB | Ohio State | 4/1 |
| Inside The Pylon (Alexander) | Tre'Davious White | CB | LSU | 4/1 |
| LA Times (Farmer) | Jabrill Peppers | S | Michigan | 4/1 |
| Chicago Tribune (Biggs) | Tre'Davious White | CB | LSU | 3/31 |
| Denver Post (Wolfe) | Obi Melifonwu | S | Connecticut | 3/31 |
| Foxsports (Kurtenbach) | Charles Harris | DE | Missouri | 3/31 |
| Star-Telegram (Williams) | Jabrill Peppers | S | Michigan | 3/31 |
| CBS Sports (Brinson) | Charles Harris | DE | Missouri | 3/30 |
| CBS Sports (Prisco) | Takkarist McKinley | DE | UCLA | 3/30 |
| NFL.com (Reuter) | Josh Jones | S | N.C. State | 3/30 |
| San Diego Union Trib. (Brown) | Taco Charlton | DE | Michigan | 3/30 |
| Atanta Journal-C. (Ledbetter) | David Njoku | TE | Miami | 3/29 |
| Big Lead (McIntyre) | T.J. Watt | DE | Wisconsin | 3/29 |
| Newsday (Klopsis) | Jabrill Peppers | S | Michigan | 3/29 |
| Real GM (Risdon) | Obi Melifonwu | S | Connecticut | 3/29 |
| NFL.com (Casserly) | Marlon Humphrey | CB | Alabama | 3/28 |
| The Ringer (Kelly) | Obi Melifonwu | S | Connecticut | 3/28 |
| Sports On Earth (Arthur) | O.J. Howard | TE | Alabama | 3/28 |
| CBS Sports (Brugler) | Takkarist McKinley | DE | UCLA | 3/27 |
| CBS Sports (Rang) | Chidobwe Awuzie | CB | Colorado | 3/27 |
| NFL.com (Zierlein) | Derek Barnett | DE | Tennessee | 3/27 |
| Pro Football Weekly (Arkush) | T.J. Watt | DE | Wisconsin | 3/27 |
| Draft King (Pickney) | Carl Lawson | DE | Auburn | 3/25 |
| USA Today (Davis) | Tre'Davious White | CB | LSU | 3/25 |
| CBS Sports (Dubin) | David Njoku | TE | Miami | 3/24 |
| NFL.com (Brooks) | Charles Harris | DE | Missouri | 3/20 |
Here's a further breakdown of the mocks, showing which positions appeared in how many mocks, and how that has changed over time.
| Summary Results |
|||||
| By Position | Jan 23 | Feb 14 | April 5 | ||
| DE | 63% | 63% | 32% | ||
| DB |
23% | 20% | 50% | ||
|
CB |
23% | 15% | 30% | ||
|
S |
-- | 5% | 20% | ||
| TE |
6% | 3% | 14% | ||
| WR |
6% |
15% | 4% | ||
| LB |
3% | - - | - - | ||
Defensive ends take a bruising in today's mock draft roundup, while defensive backs see a strong surge in in the latest Cowboys mock drafts. Interestingly, while cornerbacks have been a staple in Cowboys mock drafts throughout the offseason, the real gainers are safeties, who were mocked to the Cowboys 10 time in the 50 mocks above.
The only problem is, even if the Cowboys were to decide to pick a defensive back, which one would it be? There are nine different defensive backs offered up as the Cowboys selection in the 50 mock drafts above. And what makes the mock draft picture for the Cowboys even murkier is that the 50 mocks suggest 19 different players would be a fit for the Cowboys.
There is no clear front-runner in these mocks. The two players mentioned most often, Jabrill Peppers and Tre'Davious White, show up in just five mocks each. Four more players (Taco Charlton, Charles Harris, Obi Melifonwu, and David Njoku) show up with four mocks selections each.
Could one of those six players be the Cowboys' 1st-round pick in the 2017 NFL draft? Which one of the six would be your choice?