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7-round Cowboys mock draft: Dallas finds good defensive value on Day 2, a potential steal even later

Once again, cornerbacks Patrick Surtain II and Caleb Farley come off the board before the Cowboys can select them at No. 10.

As NFL draft season continues to roll along, we offer our second seven-round Dallas Cowboys mock draft.

Given the team’s needs, there are a several ways the draft could play out for the Cowboys. Some are good, others are better and a select few should to be avoided. Where does this one land? You be the judge.

Note: As always, I used The Draft Network’s Mock Draft Machine as a guide for determining available players for the Cowboys’ picks in order to keep it as realistic as possible. Also, Dallas is projected to add as many as four compensatory picks, but those are not included in this mock draft.

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Round 1, pick 10: Rashawn Slater, OL, Northwestern

I’m not sure what I’ve done to anger the draft simulation deities, but it seems every time I sit down to do a mock draft for publishing, Alabama’s Patrick Surtain II and Virginia Tech’s Caleb Farley are off the board. I’m not too upset, though, because Slater is an excellent prospect in his own right.

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Everyone agrees Slater is a stud, but there is some disagreement over where he’d best fit on the offensive line. Slater was an outstanding tackle during his Northwestern career, however, insufficient length has many projecting him inside at guard.

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While the 6-foot-3 and 314-pounder’s best spot in the NFL is at tackle, as I believe he possesses the high-end hand technique to make up for what he lacks in length (just watch his performance against Chase Young in 2019), I do think he also can be successful at guard, especially for a team such as Dallas that primarily uses zone-blocking schemes in the run game.

The Cowboys are in a unique spot where they can really find out where Slater fits best, as he could initially slide into competition with Connor Williams at left guard in addition to fulfilling the swing tackle responsibilities. Therefore, when Tyron Smith and/or La’el Collins inevitably get hurt in the future, Slater’s presence would give Dallas a viable tackle who should limit the drop-off the Cowboys usually see when Smith and/or Collins misses time.

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Round 2, pick 44: Richie Grant, S, UCF

Grabbing UCF’s Richie Grant in the second round is a boon for the Cowboys, as he not only fills a need but is also a great value in the early second round.

I went in-depth on Grant’s skill set (along with a couple other enticing safeties) earlier this week, but the 6-foot and 194-pounder can do it all from the safety position. He possesses the range and instincts to thrive in a single-high safety role in addition to the man coverage and run defense ability to make an impact from the box or slot.

Pairing Grant with Donovan Wilson would give the Cowboys an excellent young safety tandem that could grow and thrive in new coordinator Dan Quinn’s defense.

Round 3, pick 75: Paulson Adebo, CB, Stanford

After skipping the position in the first two rounds, the Cowboys had to grab a cornerback here. Luckily, there was still good value on the board, as Stanford’s Paulson Adebo is a long, physical cornerback who would fit Dallas’ defense like a glove.

Listed at 6-1 and 190 pounds, Adebo is one of the more effective press-man cornerbacks in the class, possessing notable patience and a knack for disrupting receivers at the line of scrimmage with his length. In addition, Adebo has proven to be comfortable and capable as a deep-third defender using bail technique, something that will be used often in Quinn’s scheme. The cherry on top for Adebo is his ball skills -- eight interceptions and 24 pass breakups in two seasons -- as he possesses receiver-like ability to attack the ball and win in contested catch situations.

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Adebo would provide Dallas with another long, physical cornerback who can play press, protect the deep-third and make plays at the catch point. Not bad for a third-rounder.

Round 4, pick 106: Marvin Wilson, DT, Florida State

After writing about how the Cowboys needed to draft a nose tackle before the late rounds, it shouldn’t be a surprise that I have the Cowboys picking one of the most talented ones here.

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Florida State’s Marvin Wilson is one of the most powerful prospects in this class at the point of attack, as he possesses the ability to consistently hold his ground and put offensive linemen on their heels in the run game. Weighing in at 6-3 and 319 pounds at the Senior Bowl, Wilson has the size and lower body strength to occupy double teams long enough to keep his linebackers clean.

Wilson was regarded as a potential top-50 pick going into the 2020 season, as he was one of college football’s most dominant interior defensive linemen in 2019, posting 26 pressures and 25 stops. However, his stock has taken a tumble after a lackadaisical 2020 season that was ended by a leg injury.

If Wilson can regain his 2019 form, this may be one of the steals of the draft who develops into a Pro-Bowl caliber nose tackle. If Wilson plays more similarly to his 2020 form, then he could just be a nice rotational piece on Dallas interior defensive line.

Round 6, pick 168: Justin Hilliard, LB, Ohio State

While Ohio State’s Justin Hilliard is listed at linebacker, he was picked here with special teams in mind.

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While Hilliard had a hard time breaking into Ohio State’s starting lineup behind Baron Browning, Pete Werner and Tuf Borland (who will all get picked in the 2021 draft), he was a significant special teams contributor, accumulating 732 special teams snaps over his career -- more than 300 more snaps than he saw on defense.

Listed at 6-foot and 227 pounds, Hilliard is an impressive athlete who does have some future viability on defense even though he’ll primarily be a special-teamer at first. I like that he comes from an Ohio State defense that runs an eerily similar scheme to what Dallas will run with Quinn and has shown well as a zone dropper in coverage.

With Justin March and Joe Thomas scheduled to hit free agency, Hilliard could come in and earn a spot as a reserve LB through his work on special teams.

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Round 7, pick 202: Malcolm Koonce, EDGE, Buffalo

While I was initially going to have the Cowboys grab a developmental QB here, Malcolm Koonce’s availability made me change course, as I think he is too talented to be available in the seventh round.

Normally, the edge defenders available in the seventh round are scarce on projectable traits; however, at 6-3 and 250 pounds, Koonce possesses much better hand technique than players typically available here. Koonce leveraged those effective hands into three straight seasons with 30-plus pressures. In fact, in 2020, Koonce accumulated at least three pressures in every game he played.

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Grabbing that kind of player in the last round was too good of an opportunity to pass up, as I believe he could develop into an adequate rotational pass rusher in the future.

Previous mocks

Mock 1.0With top CBs off the board, Dallas uses first pick on best player available

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