Cowboys Draft 2020: PFF’s latest analytics-based mock has Dallas landing an elite cornerback

It has been almost two weeks since Byron Jones joined the Miami Dolphins, and the gigantic contract he received was hardly surprising news to Cowboys fans. We have all been largely operating over this offseason as if Jones would be playing elsewhere in 2020, and that places cornerback near the top (if not at the very top) of needs that the Cowboys have. Pick at interception numbers all you want, but Jones’ production in terms of coverage will need to be replaced.

Nobody was shocked to see the Cowboys and their typical frugality throughout free agency. That means the primary method of addressing the gaps on their roster is going to be the NFL Draft. That’s the Cowboys way.

With the draft approaching quickly we are near the days of mock drafts ending; however, this year has seen some interesting spins on the annual prediction exercises as different people have applied analytics towards their forecasting. NFL Media’s Cynthia Frelund put together an analytics-based mock and had Dallas taking wide receiver Laviska Shenault with the 17th overall pick. If the Cowboys were to ultimately take a wideout in the first round, many believe it would be someone like CeeDee Lamb, but all of that remains to be seen.

PFF’s latest analytics-based mock has the Cowboys landing Trevon Diggs

PFF also put together a mock based on analytics and had the Cowboys landing safety Antoine Winfield Jr. in the first round. They’re back with a second go and have Dallas drafting a cornerback - Alabama’s Trevon Diggs.

17. DALLAS COWBOYS – TREVON DIGGS CB BAMA

EE: The Cowboys play a ton of press coverage and a lot of cover 1 and cover 3 concepts, which is exactly the environment we’d expect the long, rangy Diggs to thrive in. Diggs had a tremendous final season at Alabama, and while some are choosing to focus on his limitations, we’d rather take advantage of his tremendous production.

If you are unfamiliar with Diggs, yes, he is the younger brother of new Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs. he is regarded as one of the top cornerbacks in this year’s draft and in this mock is the fourth one going off of the board. CJ Henderson, who has been mocked to Dallas plenty of times, goes one pick ahead of the Cowboys here to the Atlanta Falcons.

It is going to be interesting to see how the Cowboys handle their first pick in the draft as cornerback is such a huge area of need. Trading back continues to be an option, but if the Cowboys landed Diggs then there are certainly worse ways that it could all end up.