Dallas Cowboys NFL Draft Breakdown: Picks, Needs, and Predictions

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Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones,left, and son, team executive vice president Stephen Jones watch the NFL's draft show at the Dallas Cowboys war room at Valley Ranch Thursday May 8, 2014, Irving, Texas. (AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Ron Jenkins) MAGS OUT; (FORT WORTH WEEKLY, 360 WEST); INTERNET OUT

Dallas Cowboys 2021 NFL Draft breakdown… From team needs to when the big event kicks off. Everything you need to know about America’s Team all in one place. Dallas currently holds the 10th overall pick in the first-round and has a total of 10 overall selections at their disposal to hopefully upgrade the roster. Anything else you want to know you can find below.

Dallas Cowboys “War Room” Team

  • Owner/General Manager: Jerry Jones
  • Executive Vice President/Director of Player Personnel: Stephen Jones
  • Vice President of Player Personnel: Will McClay
  • Head Coach: Mike McCarthy
  • Offensive Coordinator: Kellen Moore
  • Defensive Coordinator: Dan Quinn
  • Special Teams Coach: John Fassel

2021 NFL Draft Details

  • Round 1: April 29, 8 PM ET (ESPN, ABC, NFL Network)
  • Round 2-3: April 30, 7 PM ET (ESPN, ABC, NFL Network)
  • Round 4-7: May 1, Noon ET (ESPN, ABC, NFL Network)

Cowboys’ Team Needs

  • Cornerback
  • Safety
  • Defensive Tackle
  • Defensive End
  • Linebacker
  • Offensive Tackle

Cowboys’ 2021 Draft Picks & Predictions

ROUND PICK PREDICTION
1 10 Jaycee Horn, CB, South Carolina
2 44 Payton Turner, EDGE, Houston
3 75 Tommy Togiai, DT, Ohio State
3 99 Pete Werner, LB, Ohio State
4 115 D’Ante Smith, OT, East Carolina
4 138 Ar’Darius Washington, S, TCU
5 179 Dazz Newsome, WR, Norrth Carolina
6 192 JaCoby Stevens, S/LB, LSU
6 227 Kene Nwangwu, RB, Iowa State
7 238 William Sherman, OG/C, Colorado

Day 1 breakdown: 

Depending on how the first nine picks play out, I think there’s a good chance Jaycee Horn is the top player on the board when the Dallas Cowboys are on the clock with the 10th overall pick. You can call it a gut feeling if you want, but I also think he could be Dan Quinn’s preferred CB1. Penei Sewell, Kyle Pitts, Rashawn Slater, and Patrick Surtain II are all options as well, but there’s a good chance most, if not all, of them don’t slide to the Cowboys. That leaves Horn to be the plug-and-play CB opposite Trevon Diggs for the foreseeable future if they don’t trade down.

Day 2 breakdown:

In the second and third round on the Day 2 of the 2021 NFL Draft I get the feeling the Dallas Cowboys will be targeting defensive ends and tackles as well as linebackers. There’s no way of knowing which direction they will go with each pick, but they’ve had coaches and scouts in attendance at Houston’s and Ohio State’s Pro Days to watch Cougars’ DE Payton Turner and Ohio State’s DT Tommy Togiai and LB Pete Werner. All three players play a position of need and should contribute early and often as rookies.

Day 3 breakdown:

On Day 3 in rounds 4-7 I have the Dallas Cowboys targeting players with starting potential in the not-too-distant future who would provide much-needed depth at several positions in the meantime. D’Ante Smith to be Tyron Smith’s eventual replacement, Ar’Darius Washington to compete for the starting FS job, Dazz Newsome for WR depth and special teams (punt returner), and a S/LB tweener for depth at both positions. With the final two picks the Cowboys get a RB with excellent special teams value and a versatile interior offensive lineman to potentially replace Joe Looney.

Brian Martin

Brian Martin

Level C2/C3 quadriplegic. College graduate with a bachelors degree in sports and health sciences-concentration sports management. Sports enthusiast. Dallas Cowboys fanatic. Lover of life with a glass half-full point of view.

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James Vargas
James Vargas
Apr 22, 2021 7:41 AM

Great analysis as always Brian. I see your preference on Horn over Surtain. It is a coin toss who will develop better IMHO. Either will be fine.

GhostProtocol
GhostProtocol
Apr 22, 2021 1:20 PM

Don’t love al the selections, but the explanations/reasoning are all solid. Nice work.

Cowboys fan
Cowboys fan
Apr 23, 2021 4:43 AM

I don’t think they’ll pick Ar’Darius Washington, he’s too small!! Dan Quinn likes the bigger and taller corners and safeties!! I think they’ll try to get Trevon Moehrig or Javon Holland…. Both players they have high interest in!!

Iran Claiborne
Iran Claiborne
Apr 25, 2021 1:05 AM

I’m sorry, I’m going with Caleb Farley at 10. Yes, he had the back surgery. However, he’s not the first player to come into the draft with injury concerns that teams passed on just to look up 5 years later kicking themselves on why they passed them. It’s simple, do you want the best corner in April or do you want the best corner in the draft. Up until the surgery, that’s who EVERYONE said Farley was. Jerry, don’t screw this up.

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