Regardless of what happens with Robert Quinn, the Dallas Cowboys should still be in the market for an EDGE defender in the 2019 NFL Draft. Like quarterback and left tackle, pass rushers are held at a premium in the NFL for a reason. They are hard to come by and expensive to keep, as we all know.
There's a lot of unknown surrounding the future of the Dallas Cowboys defensive end position. Tyrone Crawford is entering the last year of his contract, Dorance Armstrong is pretty much an unknown, and no one knows what to make of Randy Gregory's future. Then there's this whole contract situation with DeMarcus Lawrence. I think you would agree there's a lot of uncertainty at the DE position.
Keeping all of that in mind, it certainly makes sense the Dallas Cowboys could be in play to draft one of the EDGE defenders with their first selection in the second-round of the 2019 NFL Draft. That's why today I decided to share with you my Top 10 rankings in the hopes that one of them will slide right into the lap of the Cowboys at 58.
Here's my Top 10 EDGE rankings:
- Nick Bosa, Ohio State
- Brian Burns, Florida State
- Josh Allen, Kentucky
- Clelin Ferrell, Clemson
- Montez Sweat, Mississippi State
- Chase Winovich, Michigan
- Jachai Polite, Florida
- Christian Miller, Alabama
- Ben Banogu, TCU
- L.J. Collier, TCU
You may or may not have noticed, but Rashan Gary and Charles Omenihu didn't make the cut for my Top 10 EDGE defenders. That's because I project them as defensive tackles in the NFL, although they could play a hybrid DE/DT role similar to what Tyrone Crawford plays with the Dallas Cowboys. You of course may disagree, but that's my take away after watching their film.
Now that we've settled why some of the names may have been omitted in my Top 10 EDGE rankings, we can get back to which of these prospects could slide to the Dallas Cowboys when they are on the clock in the second-round with the 58th overall selection.
I think we can all agree that the Top 5 will all be drafted well before the Cowboys have a chance at them. But, starting with Chase Winovich, I think each one of the next five could slide all the way to 58 with a little luck.
Of the next group of five, Winovich is probably the safest pick of the bunch. He is someone the Cowboys could plug and play as a rookie and pretty much know exactly what they're going to get. Because of that though, he's also the most likely to be gone before Dallas has a chance at him.
Jachai Polite unfortunately completely bombed at the NFL Combine, which is why he could still be in play for the Cowboys. He doesn't exactly fit the criteria (size/length) Dallas typically looks for in their DEs, but his talent is undeniable. He falls into that category of risk/reward, much like Randy Gregory in 2015.
If you've read any of my previous work, you know that I may big a fan of Christian Miller. He is one of my “pet cats” in this year's draft class and would be a great fit with the Cowboys. Unlike Polite, he fits Dallas' DE type to a “T”. The only concern with him is his injury history, but I'd be ecstatic if he's the selection at 58.
That brings us to the two TCU EDGE defenders. A lot of people have L.J. Collier ahead of Ben Banogu, but I personally like the latter better. Regardless of how I have them ranked though, either one of them would be a good fit with the Cowboys. Fortunately, Dallas should know all about them since they played right down the road in college.
