BTB: Mel Kiper's First Mock Draft: Cowboys Choose A Defensive Tackle

[NewsBot]

Well, I guess it officially is the offseason if we have a Mel Kiper mock draft.

Mock drafts? Yes, mock drafts. The Dallas Cowboys season is over so that means mock drafts. I know the polarized feelings about them but they are a staple of offseason discussion and they will be here at BTB. So with that preamble, let's check out the first Mel Kiper mock draft of the 2015 offseason. More specifically, let's check out who he has selected for the Cowboys.

27 Jordan Phillips Dallas Cowboys (12-4)

COLLEGE: Oklahoma Class: Soph HT: 6-5 WT: 334 POS: DT

Analysis: The Dallas defensive line held up reasonably well this season with merely OK talent, but a lot of that had to do with how much the efficient offense was able to keep it off the field and fresh. The unit isn't going to simply get better unless it adds more talent. Phillips is still pretty raw, but he's got tremendous upside. At 6-foot-6, when you see him run you can barely fathom that he's carrying more than 330 pounds. Put a kid like this under the tutelage of Rod Marinelli and you could end up with something truly special. Dallas needs to prioritize defense in this draft after getting the offense where it needs to be, and Phillips is a reasonable upside play.
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Interesting choice, Phillips comes mainly from a 3-4 scheme where he played nose tackle. He certainly will got a lot of looks from teams looking for a traditional nose tackle in that scheme. In the Cowboys system under Rod Marinelli, he would probably transition to a 1-tech defensive tackle. As Kiper mentions above, he is raw but has physical gifts that create speculation about a very high upside. I've even seen his name mentioned among the top-15 picks, especially if he shines at the combine drills. He certainly is a physical talent. Below you can see he moves very well for such a big man.

Via ABC

Enjoy a tape of his game against Tennessee courtesy of Draft Breakdown.


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