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While it is only Monday, the level of excitement throughout the NFL universe is tangible. Welcome to 2021 NFL Draft week, my friends.
The draft is always an exciting venture, but it has a particularly sweet taste when you have a high pick like the Dallas Cowboys do this year (it takes a whole lot of bitter tastes the season prior to get here unfortunately).
At this point the options for Dallas seem to be a handful of particular players. It makes a lot of sense for the pick to be on the defensive side of the ball, but either Florida tight end Kyle Pitts (if he miraculously falls) or someone like Northwestern tackle Rashawn Slater (don’t forget about him by the way) could certainly be the choice if the team does go offense.
Defensively a cornerback feels like the strongest possibility at number 10 overall, and living in that world it will either be Alabama’s Patrick Surtain II or South Carolina’s Jaycee Horn. According to a Monday morning report, the Cowboys are the team most tied to one of these prospects which is certainly worth knowing as the draft creeps ever closer.
Dallas is reportedly the team “most connected” to Alabama CB Patrick Surtain II
How things shake out in the top 10 is going to be fascinating for the entire league as a whole and with the Cowboys at the very edge of it they are going to have to react to it all. We know that quarterbacks are going to go with the first three picks, and it is possible that one or two more go before Dallas is ultimately on the clock.
It is also possible that Patrick Surtain II goes before the Cowboys pick which would upset a few fans who want to see him with a star on his helmet. Chatter around Surtain and the Cowboys is picking up as on Monday morning it was reported that they are the most connected to him. ESPN separately reported that Dallas could trade back if he’s gone.
On the Cowboys being the team most-connected to Surtain:
Albert Breer of SI.com reported he’s “heard Dallas most connected to Alabama’s Patrick Surtain II, who would be a middle-of-the-fairway pick and an ideal fit for Dan Quinn’s new defense, though I’d assume South Carolina’s Jaycee Horn would be in play too.”
On Dallas potentially moving back if Surtain is off the board:
The strongest information that I’ve heard is that Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain II will be the pick at No. 10. He’d give Dallas a shutdown press corner. If Surtain is already off the board, a move back could be in play, per a different source. The Cowboys could slide back four, five or maybe even six spots and still end up with either South Carolina’s Jaycee Horn or Virginia Tech’s Caleb Farley as their cornerback of choice ... and some additional picks.
Trading out of 10 is hardly the worst idea in the world, especially if the Cowboys can still walk away with Jaycee Horn. There are some who feel that Caleb Farley could be the best cornerback in this class when it is all said and done, but his current medical status makes him a bit of a roll-of-the-dice. We all know it is not beyond the Cowboys to take that kind of risk, though.
It is hardly surprising to see that the Cowboys are the most-connected team to Patrick Surtain. They are right in the range of where he has been projected to go all along and with them having such a need in the secondary the fits is all too obvious.