WR Jaylen Waddle should be strong draft consideration for Cowboys

The mock machines and NFL draft talk is currently at its height with the event rapidly approaching. Deciphering what the Dallas Cowboys will do with their first-round pick has become a fun exercise. The most common answers usually include drafting one of the following four players: top cornerbacks Patrick Surtain II and Jaycee Horn, or stud offensive linemen Penei Sewell and Rashawn Slater. There also the discussion of trading out of the 10^th overall selection and acquiring more picks.

All solid options when the Cowboys get on the clock. However, there should be a fifth player in the discussion and he might make the most sense out them all. Wide receiver Jaylen Waddle would make a great selection for Dallas when they make their first-round pick.

For all the talk about tight end Kyle Pitts being a difference maker for the Cowboys, he likely won’t be available, but Waddle should be and is a perfect fit. The Alabama WR would bring the missing element to the offense, speed.

Comparing Waddle to Kansas City Chiefs speedster and playmaker is a tall compliment and the Cowboys need that type of game breaking speed. Fellow WR’s Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb are outstanding players and can wreak havoc with the ball in their hands. They also possess other strong traits, Cooper is an elite route runner and Lamb excels from the slot, yet neither is the home run threat that Waddle is.

Waddle would make the Cowboys’ offense borderline impossible to stop. They are only missing the player who can take the top off a defense, which Waddle does.

How would defenses be able to line up with Cooper, Lamb and Waddle at receiver, while still having to deal with running backs Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard?

That feels like a rhetorical question.

Of course drafting Waddle means something has to be done about current third WR Michael Gallup. It’s no secret Dallas has a decision to make on Gallup, who’s in the last year of his rookie contract and questions remain about the team re-signing him. Adding Waddle covers the team for the future at the position and keeps the WR room the same for at least the next few years with quarterback Dak Prescott.

It also gives the Cowboys an option to possible trade Gallup for draft picks. Drafting Waddle doesn’t help the defense, but if the team could move Gallup for a third-round pick or a couple of picks in this year’s draft, they could then use those selections as ammunition to trade back up into the first or second-round to get defensive help.

Currently holding a high second-round pick, two third and two fourth-round picks, Dallas would hold some decent value if they traded Gallup. Couple a few of those picks in a trade up and they could add a highly rated defensive player without using up all of their draft currency.

It’s easy to look at the Cowboys’ roster and say receiver isn’t a need, but drafting the best players to maximize strengths is a better strategy. In a league that continues to maximize offense, the passing game and big plays, Waddle is someone the Cowboys should seriously be considering.

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