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The month of March is coming to an end which means the 2021 NFL Draft is going to be here before we know it. Thinking about who the Dallas Cowboys are going to wind up selecting is an exciting exercise, and one that includes a number of different possibilities. While Dallas was not involved, Friday saw a bevy of action concerning the selection process as a number of picks changed hands between the San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins, and Philadelphia Eagles.
In the aftermath of the draft’s newly-realigned order a fresh batch of mock drafts were ordered up by the internet. NFL.com took a stab at a four-round mock draft and had the Dallas Cowboys coming away with some serious defensive help.
10. Dallas Cowboys
Patrick Surtain II
Alabama · CB · Junior
Team need and player value merge at the 10th overall pick, with the Cowboys getting the kind of physical outside corner they could have had in Jalen Ramsey a few years ago. Surtain is a technician who plays the ball as well as any corner I’ve seen over the past 20 years.
- 44: Jalen Mayfield, OT, Michigan
- 75: Joseph Ossai, EDGE, Texas
- 99: John Bates, TE, Boise State
- 115: Frank Darby, WR, Arizona State
- 138: Tommy Togiai, DT, Ohio State
There is very little to quibble with when it comes to the Patrick Surtain II selection. You would be hard-pressed to find a Dallas Cowboys fan that wouldn’t be happy should that be the case when all of this actually happens. The rest of this is a little suspect, though.
While the NFL Draft can take you in a number of directions it is hard to see the Cowboys spending a top 100 pick on a tight end that is not Florida’s Kyle Pitts. 2021 is a contract year for Dalton Schultz so there is certainly that to consider, but at that point in the process Dallas would need to be more focused on improving their defense.
The Cowboys are fortunate to have six picks inside of the top 100 and this mock only has them devoting 50% of those resources to defense. Given the way that Mike McCarthy and Stephen Jones have spoken about that being a priority for them, it feels like things might not exactly be perfectly balanced when the fourth round really does come to an end.