2020 NFL Draft: Late-round sleeper targets for the Dallas Cowboys
1. Devin Duvernay, Wide Receiver, Texas
The Dallas Cowboys do need to focus on the defensive side of the ball, but they also need to create some depth in their receiver room. They did retain star wideout Amari Cooper with a big-time contract worth $100 million, but they did lose slot receiver Randall Cobb to the Houston Texans.
Devin Duvernay is one of my favorite prospects in the entire 2020 NFL Draft. He’s a firecracker with the ball in his hands and the long speed to break away from the defenders. He has fantastic hands, but there are questions whether he could create separation at the next level due to poor route running.
Duvernay projects to be a solid slot receiver, but I could see him being a swiss army knife for the Dallas Cowboys. He’s very strong and powerful with the ball in his hands and has the ability to bulldoze through defenders. His best chance to get open is using his speed to simply run past defensive backs on deep balls. I could see him lining up in the backfield at times as well.
Throughout mock drafts, I have seen Duvernay last as late as the fifth round, but I would not be surprised to see him off the board as high as the third round. He has nice traits that coaches will fall in love with, but this receiver class is so talented that guys like Duvernay could be had later in the draft.
2. Shane Lemieux, IOL, Oregon
The Dallas Cowboys lost one of the best centers in the game after Travis Frederick announced his retirement. That was a big blow to the Cowboys offensive line especially since they already had some questions on the inside. However, they did bring back Joe Looney who now figures to start at center.
Shane Lemieux was a stalwart for the Oregon Ducks offensive line starting 50-plus games at left guard in four seasons. He’s a hard-nosed lineman with the strength to battle in the trenches. He’s well versed in different run-blocking schemes and has enough athleticism to adjust to them.
The Dallas Cowboys could pick up Lemieux early on in day two and he’ll be ready to compete right away. They do have second-year lineman Connor McGovern from Penn State and incumbent starter Connor Williams, so there could be a nice friendly competition for both the starting left guard spot as well as the backup spot.