News: BTB: Cowboys 2016 Draft: When Does Dallas Draft A Quarterback?

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The Cowboys must draft a quarterback in next week’s draft, but when that will happen is anyone’s guess. Here’s my guess.

The Cowboys have not done anything to better their quarterback situation in free agency so expect them to use the draft to strengthen this group. With seven quarterbacks on the invite list, the Cowboys can approach this in many different ways. Here are three options that Dallas could use in attacking the quarterback position.

Go Big Or Go Home

Carson Wentz or Jared Goff


The way I see it, there are three possible scenarios when pick #4 gets here.

Scenario #1 - both QBs are gone.

The Los Angeles Rams will be taking a QB with the first-overall pick. The Cleveland Browns may take the other one. Or, some other team might trade for the Browns pick so they can take the other one. It's very possible that the Cowboys may not even have a shot at either of these quarterbacks, whether they're interested in them or not.

Scenario #2 - one QB is left, but the Cowboys don't like him.

Dallas might be high on just one of these top two quarterbacks, but that player might be the same one the Rams want. Or it is possible that neither of these quarterbacks are that high on the Cowboys draft board. In both of those instances, the team will need to have a different plan for their number four pick. And those plans may include a trade-back deal if another team desires that leftover quarterback.

Scenario #3 - one QB is left, and the Cowboys love him.

Whenever there has been two standout quarterbacks in past drafts, there typically is one that is the clear-cut favorite to be selected first. That is not the case this year. Who the best quarterback is in this draft varies depending on who you're asking. Draft experts are divided. So it is not unreasonable that if both the Rams and Cowboys are high on a QB that they end up liking different ones. It is also possible that the Cowboys like both of them and would be happy if either one was still left.

Collectively, all these scenarios paint a picture and it doesn't look very favorable that this picture includes one of these quarterbacks.

The Right QB At The Right Spot

Dak Prescott


If the Cowboys don't take one of the top two guys, they will have their sights set on another player in later rounds. But there could be one guy they don't want to sleep on too long. Mississippi State's Dak Prescott has gotten a lot of buzz as a potential draft target for Dallas. And as OCC recently reported, he's now an official invitee. There are a lot of things to like about Prescott. He's a very smart quarterback and has shown improvement every season. If the Cowboys want someone to be Tony Romo's understudy for a couple years, he'd be a perfect candidate.

If the Cowboys love Prescott, then the question becomes - when do they pull the trigger on him? The answer to that question might be dictated as to when some of the other QBs go. There could be a run on QBs early where four of them are gone in the first round (Rams - Carson Wentz, Browns - Jared Goff, 49ers - Paxton Lynch, Broncos - Connor Cook). Something like this could lead to Dallas pulling the trigger a little early to get their guy. Drafting Prescott wouldn't surprise a lot of people, but where they take him, could.

Wait For It, Wait For It...

Cody Kessler


The Cowboys get to select four players in round six thanks to their compensatory picks. This could give them a jump on their top UDFA candidates. The quarterback from Southern California isn't projected to go very high in the draft and could be a nice option for the Cowboys late in the draft. Kessler has had a very effective college career, completing 68 percent of his passes with 88 touchdowns and only 19 interceptions.

Trojan's head coach, Clay Helton thinks he'll transition to the NFL quite nicely,


"I love his pocket awareness, especially his pocket feet, and he's a guy who grew up in a pro-style system," Helton said. "He knows how to ID the (defensive) fronts, ID the Mike (middle linebacker)."

The Cowboys coaches seem to like him as well as they selected him for the North squad that they coached in the Senior Bowl.


Tidbit of the day: #Cowboys had their choice of QBs for @seniorbowl & picked #USC QB Cody Kessler to coach. They'll grab a QB this draft.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 18, 2016

My Prediction: Jerry Jones wasn't lying when he said the Cowboys wouldn't draft a quarterback with their first round pick. One of the reasons for this is because the team has their eye on a particular someone. And that someone is Dak Prescott.

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