Dallas Cowboys 7-round 2020 NFL Mock Draft: Prioritizing the secondary
It’s no secret that the Dallas Cowboys need to address their holes in the secondary and should look into grabbing defensive backs early in the 2020 NFL Draft.
It is officially a new era for the Dallas Cowboys after they decided not to bring back former head coach Jason Garrett. They may have taken a while to make the decision after the season but it’s very understandable.
Garrett spent 21 years with Jones and the Cowboys, seven of which as a player from 1993-1999. He did leave after the 1999 season but would return in 2007 as an offensive coordinator where he climbed up the ranks in which he would ultimately be named interim head coach in 2011. Jones removed his interim tag the following year and the rest is history.
Jones considered Garrett family so it’s understandable why it was so tough to move on, but it had to be done.
Mike McCarthy was named the new head coach and has put together a respectable staff. He brought in Mike Nolan who has been serving as the Saints’ linebackers coach for the last three years. McCarthy also worked under Nolan as an assistant when he was the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers from 2005-2008.
McCarthy also announced that Kellen Moore would return as the offensive coordinator and still call the plays. That is important for Dak Prescott who had his best statistical year of his career with Moore calling the plays. He threw for the most yards in his career with 4,902 as well as touchdowns with 30.
The Cowboys still need to get Dak some more weapons. Amari Cooper should be locked up and I fully expect Jerry Jones to pay him. Michael Gallup as developed into a game-breaking number two option. But beyond those two there’s really nobody else to fear in the passing game. He still has one of the top running backs in the league with Ezekiel Elliott, but I’d like to see Dallas add some more pass-catchers. Most notably, they need more from the tight end position.
Blake Jarwin has been decent but isn’t anything special. He’s set to become a restricted free agent and they should definitely place a tender on him just for depth purposes. The Dallas Cowboys even had to convince future Hall of Fame tight end Jason Witten out of retirement.
Witten wasn’t bad at all, but at 37-years-old, he was severely limited. There’s been talk that Witten could return for another year or he could even follow Jason Garrett to New York with the Giants as an assistant on his staff or even as a player. There’s a ton of questions regarding him so Dallas would be wise to conduct business as if he’s not returning.
The biggest hole on the Dallas Cowboys roster is in the secondary. Do-it-all defensive back Byron Jones is set to become a free agent in March and is likely to demand a large contract. Everyone in the football world is aware he’s likely not coming back. Dallas already had holes to fill in the secondary before the exit of Jones, so they’ll have some work to do.
The Cowboys made some news during the trade deadline as they were aggressively pursuing New York Jets star safety Jamal Adams. Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys could revisit this in the offseason, but it seems as if everything is patched up with the Jets’ front office and their All-Pro safety. It would take a massive haul for the Jets to even consider moving Adams, so Dallas will likely look elsewhere.
The Dallas Cowboys’ best option would be to look at the draft to fill their holes in the secondary. The 2020 NFL draft has some intriguing options at corner and safety that could start from day one in the defensive backfield. Dallas needs to fill a spot at safety as well as cornerback so look for them to address this early in the draft.
Dallas could also look at an interior lineman on both sides of the ball. Their offensive line has had some injuries and it’s always important to have depth across the line. Now, it’s time to see who the Dallas Cowboys select in this 2020 seven-round mock draft.
This mock draft was completed using The Draft Network’s mock draft simulation