2020 Cowboys Draft: NFL.com’s latest three-round mock has Dallas going defense, defense, defense

Part of the fun of draft season is seeing the types of mock drafts that NFL Draft analysts are able to come up with.

Accurately predicting anything when it comes to the National Football League is difficult so when someone takes a stab at guessing the first 32 picks correctly they are really stepping out on a limb. What’s always interesting is when analysts factor in things like trades as that adds yet another level of difficulty to the mock process.

Another way that mock drafts can be made more challenging is by doing more than 32 picks. Obviously the actual NFL Draft is seven rounds, three-round mocks are quite common throughout the month of March. NFL.com has put together their latest three-round mock draft and in it they have the Dallas Cowboys going defense not once, not twice, but a hat trick’s worth.

17: C.J. Henderson - CB

School: Florida | Year: Junior

Byron Jones may depart in free agency, leaving a void at corner for Dallas. Henderson is a fluid mover and can play the ball.

51: Marlon Davidson - DT

School: Auburn | Year: Senior

82: Brandon Jones - S

School: Texas | Year: Senior

It has become somewhat common for Florida’s C.J. Henderson to be linked to the Cowboys and the seemingly inevitable loss of Byron Jones is reason number one as to why. There is no denying that cornerback would make sense for the Cowboys in a Byron Jones-less world.

Adding Auburn’s Marlon Davidson and Texas’ Brandon Jones would help Dallas shore up the front and back ends of their defense. Davidson is graded as a second-round prospect by many and has a fun personality among future draftees, plus the Cowboys don’t exactly have much at defensive tackle at the moment. Seeing them take one in the second round two years in a row would be somewhat frustrating, but talent is undoubtedly necessary.

There are many that believe that the Cowboys could take a safety with their first pick (Alabama’s Xavier McKinney, LSU’s Grant Delpit, and Minnesota’s Antoine Winfield Jr. are the hot names right now), but it is definitely possible that there could be higher-graded players on their board. Such is the way of the NFL Draft.

If Dallas does wait on taking a safety then they could take someone like Texas’ Brandon Jones as this mock lays out. Jones has been highly thought of for a while now and has a lot of versatility.

It was seven years ago that the Cowboys last spent a third-round pick on a safety and everybody remembers how things worked out with J.J. Wilcox (not great!). Should the first three rounds go in this sort of direction then the Cowboys will suddenly have significantly more options on the defensive side of the ball.