2020 ¾ season Cowboys mock

[KingintheNorth]

75% through the season and we find ourselves in a very familiar spot as the last decade plus, perfectly mediocre at 6-6. With the much discussed and anticipated coaching change, the theme of this draft will be trades. My premise is the new coach comes in, evaluates the roster, and feels the team is close to competing for a title. Some assumptions are made that we re-sign Dak Prescott, Amari Cooper, Robert Quinn, and Randall Cobb. Outside free agents brought in are Texans DT D.J. Reader (6’3”, 347, Age 25) and Chiefs CB Kendall Fuller (5’11”, 198, Age 25).

The Trades
Trade #1 March 18th
The Cowboys revisit the Jamal Adams trade talks the day the NFL new year begins. The Jets still want the moon, but they’ve lost some leverage with Adams stating he no longer wants to play for Adam Gase and the Jets stubbornly giving Gase another year. After some back and forth, the teams agree on a deal.

The Cowboys get safety Jamal Adams (6’1”, 218, Age 24) and the Jets 2020 4th round pick.

The Jets get offensive lineman Connor Williams, the Cowboys 2020 1st round pick, 2020 2nd round pick, and a conditional 2021 4th round pick.

Cap room implications for Cowboys: Adams (+$3,500,292) C. Williams (-$461,001) Overall (+3,039,291).

Trade #2 Draft Day Weekend
The 49ers have a lot of cap room invested in the defensive line and go into the draft with no 2nd, 3rd or 4th round picks. The teams agree to a deal for former 3rd pick overall Solomon Thomas who the Cowboys envision at 3Tech in their defensive front.

The Cowboys get defensive tackle Solomon Thomas (6’3”, 280, Age 24) and the 49ers 5th round pick.

The 49ers get the Cowboys 2020 3rd round pick and a conditional 2021 6th round pick.

Cap room implications for Cowboys: Thomas (+$4,304,235)

Draft
4a -105 (from Jets) Chase Claypool (6’4”, 229) Notre Dame
4b -117 Albert Okwuegbunam TE (6’5”, 255) Missouri
5a -148 Lamar Jackson CB (6’3”, 215) Nebraska
5b -158(from 49ers) Benito Jones DT (6’1”, 326) Ole Miss
7 – 212 Kyle Dugger S/LB (6’2” 220) Lenoir-Rhyne

Claypool has been a dangerous weapon for the Fighting Irish this year (59 receptions, 891 yards, 12 TD), but concerns about his speed made him available to the Cowboys in the 4th round. Okwuegbunam or Albert O. as he will be referred to save time, is a bit of an enigma. Great size and big, powerful hands, but lacks explosiveness and can be a sloppy route runner. Only 26 receptions this year (down from 43 in 2018) but that could be the result of Missouri having a down year. Jackson is a big physical corner who needs to win at line of scrimmage. May need to transition to safety but at 6’3” and 215 pounds, he fits the size the Cowboys look for in corners. Jones is light on his feet for a man his size, he will occupy blockers and cog up gaps. Dugger is a bit of a gamble; he’s a D2 player and will be 24 when he enters the league. He’s played WR, LB, S, and returned kicks at Lenoir-Rhyne and possesses unique athleticism. Could project to linebacker in the NFL but should be an elite special-teamer.

Projected Starters:
LT Tyron Smith
LG Connor McGovern
C Travis Frederick
RG Zack Martin
RT La'el Collins
TE Blake Jarwin/Albert O.
WR1 Amari Cooper
WR2 Michael Gallup
WR3 Randall Cobb
QB Dak Prescott
RB Ezekiel Elliott

LDE Demarcus Lawrence
LDT D.J. Reader
RDT Solomon Thomas
RDE Robert Quinn
SAM Luke Gifford/Joe Thomas
MIKE Jaylon Smith
WILL Leighton Vander Esch
CB1 Chidobe Awuzie
CB2 Kendall Fuller
NB Jourdan Lewis
SS Jamal Adams
FS Xavier Woods

Previous mocks this year:
¼ season
1st Javon Kinlaw DT South Carolina
2nd Kenny Willekes DE Michigan State
3rd Ashytn Davis S Cal
4th Aaron Fuller WR Washington
5th Cole Kmet TE Notre Dame
7th Lavonta Taylor CB Florida State

½ season
1st Derrick Brown DT Auburn
2nd Cole Kmet TE Notre Dame
3rd Kenny Robinson S St. Louis (XFL) formerly West Virginia
4th Caleb Farley CB Virginia Tech
5th Chase Claypool WR Notre Dame
7th Hamilcar Rashed Jr DE Oregon State

 

[KingintheNorth]

New faces:

 

[JIMMYBUFFETT]

Still not giving up that much for Adams. Love the player, like to have him, not at that price. Love the Okwuegbunam and Benito Jones picks. I'm afraid Jones will be a 3rd or 4th round prospect by draft time though.

 

[Bigdog]

If I had to go with what mock I like best it would be your first quarter mock. I love the first 3 picks.

 

[exciter]

Huh! Season is over, as is the delusion of this team being a super bowl contender. Why would you now trade a 1st and a rapidly improving OL starter for someone with 2 years left on there contract, assuming they don't hold out, when there are 3 legitimate 1st round talents at that position who would be under contract for 5. At this point the chance Adams will be traded here is less likely than unicorns magically mysteriously appearing from the sky and spreading fairy dust!

 

[KingintheNorth]

Huh! Season is over, as is the delusion of this team being a super bowl contender. Why would you now trade a 1st and a rapidly improving OL starter for someone with 2 years left on there contract, assuming they don't hold out, when there are 3 legitimate 1st round talents at that position who would be under contract for 5. At this point the chance Adams will be traded here is less likely than unicorns magically mysteriously appearing from the sky and spreading fairy dust!

Right now we'd be drafting 21st. I'm not seeing a player at 21 that impacts the team the way Jamal Adams would. The whole premise of this mock (definition: not authentic or real, but without the intention to deceive) was the new HC coming in and thinking the team is close. 5 years of a draft pick is a great thing and I love the draft probably more than anyone here (I said what I said), but Adams is the leader and difference maker this secondary desperately needs. Connor Williams is a nice young player, but I think Connor McGovern is a better fit. Williams' inclusion in the (mock) deal was a reaction to the Jets allegedly asking for Zack Martin or Tyron Smith.

I think your fairy dust analogy is a tad off seeing how we literally tried to trade for him about a month ago.

 

[Future]

This team would be worse, older, and more expensive. I'm not sure you could even fit it under the cap after this season.
.
I like Adams, but he doesn't fix anything for this defense. The biggest problem is that they don't create turnovers, and he has never proven to be able to do that.

Thomas is a downgrade from Collins.

 

[Sydla]

Outside the box and I kind of like it.

Claypool will go before the 4th IMO. His size, hands and ability to go get the ball are impressive and I suspect he's going to run faster than people think.

 

[Future]

Outside the box and I kind of like it.

Claypool will go before the 4th IMO. His size, hands and ability to go get the ball are impressive and I suspect he's going to run faster than people think.

He looks sooo slow in games, but that stride might get him to a good 40.

For Claypool to ever be effective in the NFL, he's going to have to be dominant at catching contested passes in the red zone. He'll have to be more Tyler Eifert than a true WR, I think.

 

[BigTimeBlues]

Are you retaining Brown and Bennett as well? Swapping Jones for Fuller..I like it..

All of this, of course, would be nice if Thomas and Adams come into the fight swinging.

Needless to say, I love it

 

[KingintheNorth]

Are you retaining Brown

No

Bennett as well?

Yes, if contract demands are reasonable