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Cowboys Draft Big Board 1.0: Projected rounds for 89 prospects (and counting)

k.d. drummond
·7 min read
8

The Dallas Cowboys have been doing their due diligence, as usual. One of the league’s best drafting franchises has been steady at work, gathering intel on the 2023 draft class. As we always discuss with our annual look at the team’s Draft Commandments —a deep dive into the club’s trends and tendencies —the team is almost always direct in whittling down who they will consider come draft weekend.

We’ve compiled a tracker of who the Cowboys have spoken with, worked out privately, met with at Pro Days, or hosted either in person or through a virtual visit. Instead of forcing you to be familiar with each prospect, we’ve done the legwork and charted a big board of where those players are projected to go. As of now, we have 89 prospects the Cowboys hav been linked to in some capacity.

The database

The projection isn’t an end-all-be-all; these are simply based on rankings from the draft community. NFL Mock Draft Database scours the internet and pulls together a consensus big board from over 2,000 resources. We’re using that as our basis for where these players are expected to go. It only takes one team to evaluate a player differently for the projections to become irrelevant, but it’s the absolute best resource right now as opposed to picking just one outlet’s rankings.

 

11 Trends

Looking over the grid we’ve constructed, a couple obvious trends stand out.

  • So far, 23 of the 30 national visits have been identified. This number might be off as sometimes reports get mis-categorized. A private workout is listed as a national visit sometimes. Dallas normally saves 1 or 2 slots for the final days before the draft. As of this printing that leaves a couple weeks to identify 8 more.

  • Dallas is clearly in on wide receiver, which should put Michael Gallup and Jalen Tolbert on notice. 15 of the 89 names play wideout and they have their eyes on 12 guys who should be taken on Day 1 or Day 2.

  • The Cowboys are also in on cornerback, with 3 of their top 4 playing on expiring deals. 5 of the 10 guys they’ve linked with are projected to go in the first two rounds.

  • Dak Prescott has no concerns, which shouldn’t have to be spoken on but here we are. Even with a no-tag clause and a deal that expires in two years, the Cowboys are only looking at back-end guys on Day 3.

  • Dallas is prepared to take a running back, but looks can be deceiving. The prospects they’ve linked with are all in the Round 2 – Round 4 range, with a couple late-draft guys in case they can’t/don’t get one of the other guys.

  • The above is an asterisk because some times Dallas will stay away from a prospect they’re interested in to prevent the world from knowing they are heavy on a guy they hope fall to them. That happened in 2022 with Tyler Smith, who the Titans actually tried to trade with Dallas to move up for. If Dallas had leaked that interest, Tennessee may have tried to jump them.

  • For now, offensive line is not hot and heavy. There’s only one prospect on the 30-visit list for the first two days of the draft. They’ve met with several, but as there are five positions, 20 total prospects is pretty light considering most are clustered for later in the draft.

  • The Cowboys almost always take a DT and a LB but right now those are pretty thin on the interest spectrum. Five tackles, five linebackers at the moment.

  • Picking 26, while it’s not out of the question for Dallas to trade up, they haven’t shown much interest in players who would appear out of their range. Only three prospects of their 88 are considered top-15 guys, one WR and two CBs. Take that as an indication of desire (or lack of) to trade up as you see fit.

  • Dallas hasn’t shown much interest in edge defenders, which makes sense considering they have Micah Parsons and Sam Williams as their young core with a ton of veteran talent. Just four edge guys ID’d so far and only one 30 visitor; though that guy is likely a first rounder.

  • For all the tight end conversation among Cowboys’ Twitter, they don’t seem very interested in the position despite it’s noted depth in this class.

Top 15 Players

Here are players who are considered top of Round 1 candidates who would either have to slip or Dallas would have to trade up for.

30 Visits

  • None

Other meeting/interest

  • WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Ohio State (combine meeting)

  • CB Joey Porter, Jr., Penn State (combine)

  • CB Devon Witherspoon, Illinois (combine)

Round 1 Candidates

Here’s a list of players who would have a realistic shot at being available for No. 26. Players who are seen as top of Round 2 candidates will be placed here, as it’s unlikely they’d slide to Dallas’ pick No. 58.

30 Visits

  • WR Quentin Johnston, TCU

  • WR Zay Flowers, Boston College

  • OG Steve Avila, TCU

  • Edge Will McDonald, Iowa State

  • CB Emmanuel Forbes, Mississippi State

Other meeting/interest

  • WR Jordan Addison, USC (combine)

  • TE Dalton Kincaid, Utah (combine)

  • OT Broderick Jones, Georgia (combine)

  • OG O’Cyrus Torrence, Florida (combine)

  • CB Kelee Ringo, Georgia (combine)

  • Safety Brian Branch, Alabama (combine)

Bridge Round 1- Round 2

These are guys who could be selected in Round 1, but more so fit in between Dallas picks at No. 26 and No. 58.

30 Visits

  • WR Josh Downs, UNC

  • WR Jalin Hyatt, Tennessee

Other meeting/interest

  • Edge Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Kansas State (combine)

Round 2 Candidates

These are players generally considered to be ranked between 50 and 75. Certainly Dallas would consider anyone from the above categories who fall into range (see Trevon Diggs in 2020). That should go without saying, but here we are saying it.

30 Visits / Dallas Day

  • CB Tyrique Stevenson, Miami

  • LB Trenton Simpson, Clemson

  • WR Marvin Mims, Oklahoma (Dallas Day)

Other meeting/interest

  • RB Devon Achane, Texas A&M (Private Workout)

  • WR Cedric Tillman, Tennessee (Private Workout)

  • WR Tyler Scott, Cincinnati (combine)

  • OT Anton Harrison (combine)

  • OL John Michael Schmitz, Minnesota (combine)

  • Edge Derick Hall, Auburn (combine)

  • DT Gervon Dexter, Florida (combine)

  • CB Julius Brents, Kansas State (combine)

Round 3 candidates

These are all the remaining Top 100 candidates.

30 Visits / Dallas Day

  • WR Rashee Rice, SMU

  • WR Jonathan Mingo, Ole Miss

  • DT Jaquelin Roy, LSU

  • LB DeMarvion Overshown, Texas

  • RB Zach Evans, Ole Miss

  • CB Tre’vius Hodges-Tomlinson, TCU (Dallas Day)

Other meeting/interest

  • RB Tyjae Speare, Tulane (Private Workout)

  • RB Roschon Johnson, Texas (Private Workout)

  • WR Tank Dell, Houston (Private Workout)

  • RB Tank Bigsby, Auburn (combine)

  • OL Tyler Steen, Alabama (combine)

  • Safey J.L. Skinner, Boise State (combine)

Round 4 Candidates

30 Visits

  • RB Kendre Miller, TCU

Other meeting/interest

  • RB Israel Abanikanda, Pittsburgh (combine)

  • RB Eric Gray, Oklahoma (combine)

  • WR Rakim Jarrett, Maryland (combine)

  • TE Luke Schoonmaker, Michigan (combine)

  • OT Wanya Morris, Oklahoma (combine)

  • OG Andrew Vorhees, USC (combine)

  • OL Jarrett Patterson, Notre Dame (combine)

  • DT Byron Young, Alabama (combine)

Round 5, Round 6 Candidates

30 Visits / Dallas Day

  • OL Ilm Manning, Hawaii

  • OL Mark Evans II, Arkansas Pine Bluff (Virtual)

  • DT Tyler Lacy, Oklahoma State

  • QB Clayton Tune, Houston

  • QB Max Duggan, TCU (Dallas Day)

  • LB Dee Winters, TCU (Dallas Day)

  • Punter Michael Turk, Oklahoma (Dallas Day)

Other meeting/interest

  • QB Aidan O’Connell, Purdue (Private Workout)

  • TE Payne Durham, Purdue (Private Workout)

  • OL Juice Scruggs, Penn State (Private Workout)

  • OT Ryan Hayes, Michigan (combine)

  • OT Asim Richards, UNC (combine)

  • OL Alex Forsyth, Oregon (combine)

  • CB Mekhi Garner, LSU (combine)

  • Safety Trey Dean III, Florida (combine)

  • Safety Jay Ward, LSU (combine)

Round 7, UDFA Candidates

30 Visits / Dallas Day

  • TE Brayden Willis, Oklahoma

  • OL Atonio Mafi, UCLA

  • Safety Marte Mapu, Sacramento State

  • Safety Tanner McCallister, Ohio State

  • Edge B.J. Thompson, Sam Houston

  • LB Durrell Johnson, Liberty

  • QB Logan Bonner, Utah State (Dallas Day)

  • WR Malik Knowles, Kansas State (Dallas Day)

  • Keilahn Harris, Oklahoma Baptist (Dallas Day)

  • OL Alan Ali, TCU (Dallas Day)

  • DT Calvin Avery, Illinois (Dallas Day)

  • LB Jimmy Phillips, Jr., SMU (Dallas Day)

Other meeting/interest

  • QB Lindsey Scott, Jr., UIW (Private Workout)

  • CB Eric Scott, Soutern Miss (Private Workout)

  • RB Tiyon Evans, Louisville (combine)

  • RB SaRodorick Thompson, Texas Tech (combine)

  • WR Mitchell Tinsley, Penn State (combine)

  • OT Anthony Bradford, LSU (combine)

  • OT Connor Gavin, Baylor (combine)

  • OL T.J. Bass, Oregon (combine)

  • CB Myles Brooks (combine)

  • CB Arquon Bush, Cincinnati (combine)

  • Safety Chamarri Conner, Va Tech (combine)

  • Safety Brandon Hill, Pittsburgh (combine)

Big Board Grid as of 4/5/2023 930pm Central

Story originally appeared on Cowboys Wire