Cowboys News: Trade? Top WR prospect fanboys Jerry, Irvin suspension extends to draft
After all the number-crunching and tape-analyzing, maybe the Cowboys don’t want the 26th pick after all. In today’s News and Notes, we start to entertain the possibility of trading the first-round draft pick. But up? Or down? We’ve got options for either direction (including the best college running back in the country)… but one team writer maintains that the front office could stay right where they are and wait for a big name to fall to them.
Meanwhile, a top wide receiver prospect says he had a “fanboy moment” meeting the owner of his favorite childhood team, and you’ll meet the likely first-round pick who reveals he didn’t get a single visit with an NFL team. Also, Dak Prescott is holding out hope for the return of his best friend, we’ve got sleeper picks at a position that Dallas will be looking at, we examine how early is too early for a defensive tackle, the NFL announces the musical acts to wrap up each night of draft weekend, and we say farewell to a former Cowboy who holds a unique place in franchise history.
McShay: 'Dallas is obsessed' with drafting RB; trading up for Bijan Robinson 'wouldn't shock me' :: Cowboys Wire
The ESPN expert thinks Robinson is the second-best player in the draft class. If he gets by Philadelphia at 10th, Dallas may be tempted to make a move up to the mid-teens to get him as a complement to Tony Pollard. “Mike McCarthy is dying for a big power back like that, wants to run the football. They want to be a run-based team, and they would love to bring the Texas star into Dallas and make him the star of their offense.”
2023 NFL mock draft with all trades: Deals for all 31 Round 1 picks :: ESPN
You want to get nuts? Let’s get nuts. The only rule in this mock from Bill Barnwell is that everybody must trade their first-round pick. But Barnwell does try to keep each trade transaction realistic. He has the Packers dealing the 15th selection to Dallas (who takes you-know-who-from-Texas) in exchange for Picks 26, 58, and a fifth-rounder in 2025. But since each trade exists in its own little multiverse, the Cowboys then trade down out of their 26th pick, letting the needy Colts jump into the first round and taking their 35th and 106th picks, plus a fourth-rounder next year. Finally, the Chiefs move up in a swap with the Cowboys (26 for 31), with the Chiefs also getting Pick 169 and the Cowboys taking over Pick 95.
Trading up may not be necessary to get a big name :: Kyle Youmans (Twitter)
The more I hear of first round scenarios, the more I believe multiple big names could slip to 26.
Possibly some that are thought to be inside the ‘top 15.’ Back of the first still looks like a prime spot. #NFLDraft
— Kyle Youmans (@Kyle_Youmans) April 19, 2023
Dak Prescott remains hopeful the Cowboys will re-sign Ezekiel Elliott :: ProFootballTalk
Prescott would still love a reunion with his recently-released draft classmate. “[Elliott has] been my locker room buddy for years and just a guy I’ll go to war with, and I’ll do anything for in this world,” Prescott said. “It’s tough not going to work with him now, but change is good as well, and I’ve got to embrace that and embrace what we’ve got moving forward, and I’m excited for it.” But he admitted that there are “a lot of people” within the Cowboys locker room and organization who would like the club to re-sign the running back.
Cowboys' Brandin Cooks wows Dak Prescott after first session: 'That is real speed' :: Cowboys Wire
A month after the trade, Prescott finally got the opportunity to throw some passes to his newest receiver. “It’s exciting, I’ll say that,” Prescott said. “It was very exciting to throw with him today. The guy is different. That is real speed.” Cooks’s 4.33 40 time makes him faster than nearly anyone on the roster… and definitely capable of being the deep-ball threat the offense has been lacking.
WR prospect Marvin Mims Jr. had 'fanboy moment' meeting Jerry Jones :: Up & Adams (Twitter)
“It was a huge fanboy moment for me… It was really an unbelievable moment”@OU_Football’s Marvin Mims Jr. on meeting Jerry Jones on his official visit with the @dallascowboys
📺: @FanDuelTV | @heykayadams | @marvindmims pic.twitter.com/2z654pMaTp
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) April 19, 2023
2023 NFL Draft: Top 5 sleeper wide receiver picks :: The 33rd Team
Greg Jennings was a second-round pick, but he knows that talent can be found anywhere in the draft. If the Cowboys don’t land one of the top wide receivers in this year’s class, they might keep the following names in mind as Jennings’s late-round sleepers: Parker Washington (Penn State), Michael Wilson (Stanford), Jonathan Mingo (Mississippi), Bryce Ford-Wheaton (West Virginia), and Andrei Iosivas (Princeton).
Cowboys selecting early DT would be draft-day shocker :: Cowboys Wire
Dallas isn’t exactly known for valuing interior defensive linemen early in the draft. (The failed Trysten Hill experiment in Round 2 is the lone exception over the past 10 years.) That’s probably bad news to anyone hoping Dallas will draft a player like Mazi Smith, Bryan Brecee, or Calijah Kancey in the first round. By Round 3, however, that’s where the Cowboys really start their DT shopping.
Calijah Kancey says he didn't have a single visit with any team :: Draft Wire
The Pitt defensive tackle is someone the Cowboys- and plenty of other teams- should absolutely have on their radar screen. But bizarrely, even though he’s widely projected to be a first-round selection, he revealed Wednesday that he didn’t get a single in-person pre-draft visit. That doesn’t count virtual interviews or quick get-togethers at the scouting combine, but it does mean the first NFL facility he’ll step into will be the one he’s already committed to.
Michael Irvin remains suspended, won’t take part in NFL Network draft coverage :: Dallas Morning News
He was booted from the network’s Super Bowl coverage; Irvin remains off the air for draft weekend. The former Cowboys receiver was not listed on NFL Network’s press release detailing over 75 hours of content. His $100 million defamation lawsuit against Marriott has seen no progress in recent weeks, after it was moved from Collin County and refiled at an Arizona state court in Maricopa County.
Don Mcllhenny, who scored Cowboys’ first rushing TD, dies at 88 :: Dallas Morning News
McIlhenny was selected by the Cowboys in the 1960 expansion draft, a former SMU star plucked from the Green Bay Packers’ roster. He scored the first rushing touchdown in franchise history in the team’s very first regular-season game, versus Pittsburgh. McIlhenny passed away peacefully on Tuesday after a ten-year battle with dementia and Alzheimer’s, his family said.
Fall Out Boy, Mötley Crüe, Thundercat to headline 2023 NFL Draft Concert Series :: NFL.com
The draft has become a three-day entertainment extravaganza, so big-name musical acts are now part of the lineup, too. Emo rockers Fall Out Boy will take the stage Thursday night after Round 1, with legendary glam-metal band Mötley Crüe punctuating things after the final pick on Friday. Day 3 will close out the weekend with Grammy-winning bassist/vocalist Thundercat, who will perform a special set paying tribute to Kansas City’s place in the American jazz scene.
