2023 NFL mock draft: ESPN has Dallas selecting Oregon ILB Noah Sewell at number 30 overall

At the moment it is all we can do not to count down the minutes until the Dallas Cowboys leave for training camp. Once they get there they have a lot of work to do before the preseason starts and then, at long last, we will arrive at the start of the regular season.

That is still over two months from now, sorry about the reminder, and so often NFL seasons tend to fly by. When it ends the Cowboys may or may not have difficult decisions to make in a variety of places, but once the dust on the 2022 season, they will start looking forward to the 2023 NFL Draft.

We don’t know how free agency will go, or even where Dallas will be picking, but that doesn’t mean we can’t look just a bit ahead into the future.

ESPN has the Cowboys selecting Oregon ILB Noah Sewell at number 30 overall

This week ESPN put together a 2023 first-round mock draft with the draft order based on results from their Football Power Index. Their FPI has smiled kindly upon the Cowboys and has them holding the 30th overall pick in 2023 at present time.

We are already dealing with a number of hypothetical situations and sitting that far back in the draft order adds an entirely new set of them on top. Still, though, it is interesting to see where draft experts have the Cowboys going and here they have them taking Oregon ILB Noah Sewell.

30. Dallas Cowboys

Noah Sewell, ILB, Oregon*

Sewell’s play at Oregon has been amazing to watch as he developed into a true three-down defender. The 6-foot-3, 251-pounder has elite size to go along with great quickness and processing speed. And we can’t forget to mention his versatility. As is becoming so important, he’s as good rushing the quarterback as he is playing in coverage.

There were plenty of people who wanted to see Dallas establish some more legitimate linebacker depth in the draft this offseason, but the Cowboys “only” added Damone Clark and Devin Harper. The former is unlikely to play this season which means he could be part of the group in the middle of the defense in 2023 with Micah Parsons and Jabril Cox.

It is unlikely that the Cowboys will address linebacker in free agency next year based on the way they like to build their team. They declined to bring in players like Bobby Wagner this offseason and instead felt like Leighton Vander Esch returning would be enough to stabilizethe group that Parsons lifts.

Noah Sewell is the younger brother of Detroit Lions tackle Penei Sewell and will be a fascinating prospect to watch over the course of this college football season. He would mark yet another linebacker taken highly for the Cowboys, but perhaps the fit would be too good to pass up.