Cowboys News: It’s the final countdown to the NFL Draft and rumors are swirling

Ex-NFL scout: If Cowboys want to bolster pass rush, K’Lavon Chaisson is likely the ‘best option’ at No. 17 - SportsDay Staff, Dallas Morning News

Ex-NFL scout Jim Nagy likes Chaisson or Henderson for the Cowboys.

Who is a better fit for the Cowboys: Florida CB CJ Henderson or LSU DE K’Lavon Chaisson?

Nagy: “The league feels stronger on Henderson than I think some of the media has. I think he’s making a late push now because it’s getting out a little bit, how high the league is on him. Going through this process, it’s been Ohio State’s Jeffrey Okudah as the presumptive No. 1 corner. In the league, that’s not the case. There’s been a lot of teams that have Henderson No. 1, so I don’t know if he’ll be there for Dallas. He’s an elite cover player. I think press-man teams, teams that like to get up and rough you up are going to like Okudah more. He’s a more physical player, he’s a stronger player. But off-man teams, CJ Henderson has just the sweetest feet, he’s got easy speed, he’s got that hip pocket ability that’s really hard to find... CJ Henderson could tie his hands behind his back and still cover people... So I don’t know if he’ll be there.

“Chaisson is a really interesting player. He has all the tools. He has a lot of ‘wow’ moments on tape just athletically for a guy that’s that impressive looking. If you got to see this guy up close in his pads, he is a beautiful looking dude on the hoof. To see him move and to see him do some of the things he does in space for a guy that size, some of the things he does — countering as a pass rusher — really, really gets you excited. I know some people have pointed to the stats, people will look at the sack totals and question why he didn’t have more sacks. But to me, this guy is just scratching the surface. LSU’s had plenty of pass rushers come through there that have been more productive in the pros than they were in college... I think Chaisson’s got a huge upside, so if they want to bolster the pass rush, he would probably be, in that range where they’re at, he would probably be the best option.”

Dallas Cowboys: Is K’Lavon Chaisson another Taco Charlton?- Steven Mullenax, The Landry Hat

Could the Cowboys miss on another first-round high-upside defensive end?

As for the prospect in question, Chaisson is 6-foot-4, 250-pounds. He recorded 13.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks in 13 games last season for the Tigers. The Draft Network’s Joe Marino believes Chaisson, although a touch inexperienced, has an incredibly high ceiling and noted his lack of physical restrictions.

NFL.com analyst Bucky Brooks believes the young speed rusher actually has Pro Bowl potential but is concerned that Chaisson’s sack production didn’t match his talent. Brooks recently ranked him as the fourth-best EDGE prospect in this draft class, behind Young, Epenesa, and Gross-Matos respectively.

In the end, there’s no way to tell if K’Lavon Chaisson will have a similar career trajectory as Taco Charlton if he’s selected by the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night. There are certainly many unanswered questions surrounding his potential, as there are with every prospect.

2020 NFL Draft: Cowboys reportedly have done “a ton of recon work” on Penn State EDGE Yetur Gross-Matos - RJ Ochoa, BTB

Looks like another trade back option is on the table for the Cowboys.

The Cowboys doing recon work shouldn’t exactly be breaking news. If the Cowboys aren’t doing a ton of recon work on draft prospects then there is a larger problem at hand.

Gross-Matos has seen his name pick up a little bit of steam as the draft has begun to approach. He is seen as someone who can go late in the first round, so perhaps the Cowboys want to grab some extra draft capital and still land someone that can help them. During an SB Nation mock draft this past week he went to the Tennessee Titans at 29th overall.

Analysis: A pass rusher, or someone who blocks pass rushers? That’s the decision the Titans will have to make in the first round this year. In our mock draft, there are several good offensive tackles available who can replace the departed Jack Conklin on the right side. Veteran Dennis Kelly shouldn’t be relied on to be a full-time starter.

But if the choice is a pass rusher, Gross-Matos is a good one. In Tennessee’s defense, there would be situations where Beasley, Gross-Matos, and Landry would all be on the field at the same time. Good luck getting your quarterback enough time with that type of speed.

FMIA 2020 NFL Mock Draft: Three Trades, a Tua Stunner and a Round 1 Full Of Hope - Peter King, ProFootballTalk

Two first-round draft picks and two potential starters for the Cowboys.

17. Dallas—Xavier McKinney, safety, Alabama

Trading down low into the round, or even high into round two, and taking Michigan center Cesar Ruiz as a long-term replacement for the retired Travis Frederick wouldn’t surprise me. But there’s a big hole at safety that must be filled, and McKinney’s the top safety on most boards (apologies, Grant Delpit). McKinney is a sure tackler, proficient in coverage and a very smart player. He’s the type of back-end player who could be the leader of a needy secondary for five or six years.

31. Dallas (trade with San Francisco)—Cesar Ruiz, center, Michigan

I said at pick 18 that the Cowboys wanted to replace Travis Frederick with a solid rock in this draft, and it could well be that he’d be on the board midway through the second round with the 51st overall pick. But the Cowboys surrender their third-round pick (82 overall) to move up for a long-term center. The Niners wanted two picks—possibly one for a big-body plugger in the middle of the defensive line, one for a receiver—and this deal does the trick.

Cowboys 2020 Draft: Jalen Reagor says the Cowboys are one of the teams that he’s spoken to the most - Cole Patterson, BTB

Looks like the Cowboys have focused on a second-round receiver.

Reagor is an electrifying athlete that is often the fastest, and most dangerous, player on the field. John Owning of the Dallas Morning News wrote that Reagor “displays rare acceleration ability”.

Much like Jeudy, Reagor does an excellent job of attacking leverage with his stem before using deception and excellent burst to run away from defenders out of his break. Reagor displays rare acceleration ability through his stem, quickly eating up and flying by a defender’s cushion in off coverage.

It is no secret that the Cowboys would like to add a receiver to its offense, either through the draft, in a trade, or even in free agency following the draft. Many assume that Dallas will not target a wide receiver early, but it is hard to predict how the draft will unfold.

NFL Draft: Are Cowboys Bluffing About LB Kenneth Murray at 17? - Mike Fisher, Cowboys Maven

Is there any truth to the Cowboys interest in Murray with the 17th pick?

What will Dallas do about Kenneth Murray?

Draft experts like him; Dane Brugler projects him as a top-20 pick and Bryan Broaddus rates him as his 15th-best prospect overall. We believe the Cowboys’ personnel department shares some of those views of the three-year starter who served as a team captain in both his sophomore and junior seasons.

Those “Right-Kind-of-Guy’’ traits (yes, coach Jason Garrett is gone, but every coach likes “RKG’’s) wouldn’t be enough by themselves. OK, Murray is even the son of a pastor. And last year he literally saved a motorist’s life last year by performing CPR. And he dazzled Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in a Video Visit when he responded to Jerry’s question about tough times by saying:

”Around the age of 11, my parents adopted three special-needs kids,” Murray responded. “So that pushed my parents into more than 25, 30 doctor’s appointments a week just to be able to get the kids the proper help that they need.”

2020 NFL Draft: Trent Williams, Yannick Ngakoue among 17 veterans who could be traded on draft day -Cody Benjamin, CBS Sports

Here are two names floated as Cowboys draft day trade targets.

Anthony Harris MIN • DB • 41

The Vikings rewarded Harris for his nine interceptions between 2018-2019 by placing the franchise tag on the veteran safety, but talks on a long-term deal have been up and down, per reports, with lots of speculation about a potential trade. Minnesota almost needs to retain Harris in order to even field a secondary in 2020, but who’s to say they can’t add a few hybrid DBs with their own draft picks?

Potential fits: Browns, Cowboys, Giants

Jamal Adams NYJ • SS • 33

It’s not often a team still building a youth movement looks to deal a 24-year-old two-time All-Pro safety, but the Jets haven’t had a clean relationship with their former first-rounder for a while now. All signs are GM Joe Douglas is in no hurry to pay Adams, who’s after a big deal sooner rather than later, and local reports indicate a trade can’t be ruled out. Now would be the time to sell high.

Potential fits: Browns, Buccaneers, Cowboys, Dolphins, Eagles

How the Dallas Cowboys could Make a Jamal Adams Contract Work - John Williams, Inside The Star

They have the money, but do you pull the trigger before paying your quarterback?

First, if they were to trade for Adams, they could structure a long-term contract extension to have a year one cap hit low enough to get him under the salary cap and still have some money to work with. Remember, while the salary cap is a hard cap in the NFL, the contracts are pliable and can be molded to pay the player and work for the team.

Secondly, they could sign Dak Prescott to a long-term contract.

Though Dak Prescott has yet to sign the franchise tag, once the Cowboys place the tag on Prescott, that put a hold on $31 million on the cap, per OverTheCap.com. Until a long-term agreement is reached, the Cowboys have to account for the franchise tag.

When the Cowboys and Prescott reach an agreement, they could structure the contract in such a way to lower the year-one cap hit to be significantly less than the $31 million in cap space he currently counts for 2020. They could structure his year one cap hit at say $26 million, and that would help them save $5 million on their 2020 salary cap freeing up space to pay Jamal Adams.

A Dak Prescott update, sort of.

Glitches already happening in trial runs for virtual NFL Draft - Leigh Oleszczak, Fansided

It’s never a good sign when the test run starts glitching during the first pick in the draft.

Football fans are thrilled the draft is going on as normal, but now this will be the trade off: We get the draft as we normally would, but it could be very flawed when it’s all said and done.

Having the NFL Draft go on as scheduled is a nice sense of normalcy for the rest of us, but this glitch is likely very concerning to the higher ups at the NFL. It’s good to see they’re running mocks to try and work out the kinks now, but what if something like this happens on Thursday night?

Worse yet, what if a team is greatly impacted by a hacker hijacking their draft choice? What if a trade is voided as a result of this or a team is stuck with someone they don’t want? Will Roger Goodell step in and set things straight or will the team be stuck with the pick they might not have made?

BTB Podcast

We launched a brand new show on the BTB podcast feed on Monday - Girls Talkin ‘Boys with Kelsey Charles and Meg Murray. They discuss the latest Cowboys headlines on their first episode, and 105.3 The Fan’s Bryan Broaddus joins to talk about the upcoming draft.

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