First things first, I poppa…. no wait. That’s a Biggie Smalls lyric. First things first, it’s important to reiterate that mock drafts are exercises meant to explore the various possibilities of what a draft may look like. While those who take mock drafts quote-unquote seriously like to be as realistic as possible, no mock is going to perfectly capture a team’s thinking nor the opportunities that become available to them.
In our quasi-weekly exercises, we look at multiple scenarios which could present themselves for the Dallas Cowboys in the 2021 draft. Not every mock attempted makes it to publication, but the ones that do we attempt to show various ways things can play out. In this exercise, the list of preferred targets was wiped out by the time Dallas came on the clock at No. 10. This week, all of the top candidates save for one were gone. OTs Penei Sewell and Rashawn Slater both went top five while Kyle Pitts and Patrick Surtain sandwiched Ja’Marr Chase from six through eight. Denver took Micah Parsons leaving Jaycee Horn as the default selection for the Cowboys at 10.
Normally this would be the pick, and in the mock world Horn is an easy and obvious choice. But what happens if for whatever reason the Cowboys don’t feel he’s neck-and-neck with Surtain as Draft Twitter does? What happens if they don’t see much, if any gap between he and the other cornerback prospects? What happens if he’s not even CB2 on their board?
Most observers feel that there will be a run on QBs in the top 10, with as many as five being selected. Only three went in this exercise, with no teams moving up to select Justin Fields or Mac Jones. This opened up a unique opportunity for Dallas to capitalize on other team’s needs and to trade down.