The name of the off-season game for the Dallas Cowboys is reloading. There’s plenty of work to do with the amount of free agents ready to test the market in March. When players inevitably leave, the cheapest way to replace them will be through the draft. This edition of news and notes has several mock drafts for perusal and each one brings a different player into the fold.
Keeping up with draft prospects is exhausting, but it’s best to learn as much as possible about the players who could be available in the Cowboys’ range to feign outrage when your pet cat isn’t selected. Finally, be sure to check out the piece about head coach Mike McCarthy’s humble coaching beginnings on the defensive side of the ball.
2020 NFL Mock Draft: Matt Miller’s Post-Super Bowl Complete 7-Round Predictions :: Bleacher Report
Miller breaks down the Dallas Cowboys draft for 2020, focusing heavy on the secondary. With Anthony Brown and possibly Byron Jones leaving for free agency, and uncertainty about who will be the permanent starter opposite Xavier Woods at strong safety, will the Cowboys go heavy on defensive backs in April?
2020 Cowboys draft prospect: Defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw :: Blogging the Boys
New defensive coordinator Mike Nolan will definitely be looking to beef up the interior of the defensive line, which has been an area they’ve missed on for a while. A popular pick in mock drafts for the Cowboys has been defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw out of South Carolina. David Howman breaks down the DT’s skillset and how it can be help.
Mailbag: What’s The Plan for Zeke & Pollard? :: Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys have a two-headed monster at running back. All-Pro Ezekiel Elliott had a excellent season with 1,357 yards and 12 rushing touchdowns. Rookie Tony Pollard, in limited opportunities, showed flashes of what he could do, hence by his two 100-yard performances. The staff of DallasCowboys.com talks about what the plan could be in 2020 for this duo.
2020 Mock Draft 2.0: Dolphins Trade up For Tua :: PFF
The safety position has been one the Cowboys have tried to get right for quite a while. They have their free safety for the foreseeable future in Xavier Woods, but who will permanently play opposite of him is still up in the air. Pro Football Focus has the Cowboys addressing that need in it’s lastest mock draft.
2020 Mock Draft 3.0: Five plausible trades that could shake up round one :: The Athletic
The Cowboys are one of the five teams that traded in the first round of Dane Brugler’s most recent mock draft. The Dallas brain trust hasn’t made a trade in the first round since the Travis Frederick selection in 2013, however, this is the kind of scenario in which they could. In this version, the Cowboys still get the apple of many fans’ eye in LSU safety Grant Delpit while picking up an additional third round pick.
–TT
2020 Cowboys draft prospect: Safety Grant Delpit :: Blogging the Boys
Speaking of Delpit, here’s a breakdown of the safety from the National Champion LSU Tigers. The Cowboys have lacked the kind of play-making safety he has flashed the potential to be for too long. The concerns swirling around his tackling ability are certainly valid, though some believe it to be due to the nagging injuries he dealt with throughout the 2019 campaign.
–TT
Every NFL Team’s Biggest Need to Fill in 2020 Offseason :: Bleacher Report
BR identifies the secondary as the Cowboys biggest need heading into 2020. With cornerbacks Byron Jones and Anthony Brown slated for free agency combined with the largely overwhelming play from anyone on the back-end throughout their careers and this is a valid area to watch. The secondary concern noted is that of receiver, though the signing of Amari Cooper seems a foregone conclusion.
–TT
How a defensive graduate assistant position in 1987 launched Mike McCarthy’s coaching career :: The Athletic
Dave Gettleman, eat your heart out. The Dallas Cowboys decided to hire a computer guy to be their head coach. This, as much as anything, helped his ascent when he started as a graduate assistant on the defensive side of the ball at powerhouse Fort Hays State. In this piece he’s described by his former roommate as “a football coach … It just happened to be that as his career went, he became (known) as an offensive guy.” McCarthy didn’t come from a long line of coaches, he worked his way up from the bottom to sit atop the catbird’s seat in Dallas.
–TT
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