NFL Draft this, NFL Draft that, I feel like everything has been so repetitive when it comes to draft coverage that I’m going to go crazy. All jokes aside, I’m very excited for NFL Draft Night because it’s one of my favorite days of the year and all of the crazy scenarios that could materialize are limitless.
I mean remember when Ole Miss Offensive Tackle Laremy Tunsil, who was projected to be a Top Five Pick, fell down draft boards quickly because a video surfaced of him smoking out of a bong during the draft. Crazy times, huh?
Anyways, while I’m not hoping that exact situation happens for another prospect, I wanted to write up a piece on two topics that have been linked to the Cowboys Draft and determine if I’m buying or selling on them.
With that in mind, let’s get to the piece.
1. The need for a Cornerback increased with the Kelvin Joseph news.
To start, I want to send my condolences to the family of Cameron Ray because it’s a very devastating situation. While I’m not going in-depth about Kelvin Joseph’s legal matters, I wanted to address the panic attack that some Cowboy fans had over the idea of losing Joseph.
Entering this draft, you could argue that the Cowboys needed CB help, but it was lower on the totem pole of their overall needs. On one side, you had fans telling you that Joseph was going to be the starting corner across from CB Trevon Diggs, so it didn’t make sense for them to draft someone.
On the other hand, people saw Joseph as a solid piece in their CB rotation but they didn’t mind if the front office signed a veteran corner to pair with Diggs, or added someone later in the draft.
So, what’s the answer?
Although Joseph was a 2nd-Round Pick in last year’s draft, I’m not buying that the need for a Corner has increased because of the recent news. Yes, it’s a sticky situation that we as fans may not know the answer to right away, but he’s still on the team.
While I’m not crossing my fingers and hoping he gets off “scotch-free”, but the team would be fine if they ended up losing him. You would still have Diggs as the CB1 and CBs Anthony Brown, Jourdan Lewis, and Nahshon Wright, who have all shown to be serviceable corners.
Could they add more talent to their CB room? Yes.
However, because of Joseph’s current legal situation, it shouldn’t mean the front office needs to reach for one of the top corners. I understand that if some fans read my article that predicted a trade-up and I threw out LSU CB Derek Stingley Jr. as a possible target.
But my justification for a trade-up is in the scenario if they feel he or any other prospect is the BPA (Best Player Available) on the board, and they’re getting them at a great value.
So if you haven’t figured out whether I’m buying or selling, well, I’m SELLING on this topic. It wouldn’t hurt if the franchise did draft a CB at some point in the draft, but they shouldn’t shift their plans to accommodate for one player.
If you’re going into the draft close-minded that you need to go CB only in the first round, you could lose the chance of filling a more important need. I mean if you remember in last year’s draft, everyone knew they were in the market to grab one of the top corners in the first round, but got beat out by the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers.
While you could argue that it did hurt them by not landing a highly-touted corner, they were able to trade down a few picks, gain extra draft capital, and instead of reaching for another CB they instead landed Penn State Linebacker Micah Parsons, who has been a game-changer for them.
2. The club needs to target only OL prospects in the first round.
Ah, the good ole’ “the Cowboys need to go OL no matter what” debate has emerged and I feel like it’s one of those arguments that will never end. While most mocks have either targeted an OL or WR prospect for the franchise at Pick 24, I see fans every day debating with others on why the selection has to be offensive line only.
Some examples that I saw went like this:
Username– dAkisTrash1996: “We gota go O-Line no matter what bc Jerruh wants to get all da help for Dak! Man, we should have never paid dat bum, and let’s go after Kyler! It makes no sense to get Mr.Prescott more weapons, HOW MUCH HELP DOES HE NEED BC ROMO NEVER HAD THAT MUCH HELP?! Let’s go bak to upgrading the O-Line and running da ball so Prescott doesn’t lose us games!!!”
Username– CowboysFanSinceThe80s: “It makes no sense for the franchise to target a WR or go defense when they need to beef up their O-Line and get Dak some protection. Also, Jerry is delusional when he says they could trade up because we need all the picks we can to fill the holes, and our WR group is fine. Overall, if Jerry doesn’t target O-Line, then he should be fired. #FireJerry”
As I do agree that the OL needs to be addressed in this draft, I’m SELLING on the topic. And before any fans freak out, just hear me out.
No matter how many mocks are created, no one knows what’s going to happen until the picks are made. Almost every year you see prospects either slide, get chosen earlier than expected, or go undrafted. Yes, I get there may be some obvious picks that are near locks but come Draft Night, the Cowboys could go many different routes.
While I don’t consider myself a draft expert, I would go along the lines that I’m more of an opportunist. And if we translate that to the franchises’ plans, the odds of Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones passing up the opportunity to land a homerun prospect are slim-to-none.
If we try to break down the impact of the team drafting any other position, then you’re likely going to hear me ramble on for another 1000+ words. However, the franchise has proven to sway away from going after their immediate needs, so fans shouldn’t expect anything different on Draft Night.
So, what do you think Cowboy fans? Are you Buying or Selling on these two topics?
