How many DL?

[Tejano15]

I see some mocks where people are saying more DL, how many to make you happy and how many do you realistically think we will take?

I say if we get 3 in the draft we are doing good. There are so many holes that other positions need to be addressed, not to mention BPA may not be DL.

Just curious.

 

[CF74]

4-5 would be cool..

 

[tm1119]

Well when you think about it there's a pretty good chance that we will carry 9 d lineman this year. 4 DE's, 4 DT's + Crawford as a swing between both. Melton, McClain, Selvie, and Mincey are all locks for the roster. And I would say its almost guaranteed that at least 1 of Bass or Hayden will also make the roster. So that's 3 DT's and 2 DE's + Crawford that are locked in for 6 of the 9 spots. So realistically at most 3 rookie d lineman are going to make the roster come week 1.

But to answer the question, I would probably draft 2 in rounds 1-5 (DE in round 1 or 2 and DT in 4 or 5) and then grab another 2 or 3 with the 6 picks in the 7th/comp round.

And I agree that people are being a little unrealistic with their expectations for how we are actually going to draft.

 

[jobberone]

Generally it's approximately 3 STers and 25 offensive and defensive players. You know they are going to keep at least 3 safeties and 5 CBs. Normally we carry about 9-10 DBs, 8-9 DL so we'll say 18 between them. That leaves 6 LBers for 24. Give or take 0-2 more players. Obviously we don't have to split 25/25.

I think we'll keep 9 or possibly ten DL. And Wilbur could possibly be a swing player as could Carter and perhaps a new guy. I'd say 4 Ss and 5 CBs. One or two DBs might be able to play either esp in SPs. That leaves 6-7 LBs.

 

[Tejano15]

Well when you think about it there's a pretty good chance that we will carry 9 d lineman this year. 4 DE's, 4 DT's + Crawford as a swing between both. Melton, McClain, Selvie, and Mincey are all locks for the roster. And I would say its almost guaranteed that at least 1 of Bass or Hayden will also make the roster. So that's 3 DT's and 2 DE's + Crawford that are locked in for 6 of the 9 spots. So realistically at most 3 rookie d lineman are going to make the roster come week 1.

But to answer the question, I would probably draft 2 in rounds 1-5 (DE in round 1 or 2 and DT in 4 or 5) and then grab another 2 or 3 with the 6 picks in the 7th/comp round.

And I agree that people are being a little unrealistic with their expectations for how we are actually going to draft.

Who do you see as targets in later rounds?

 

[tm1119]

Who do you see as targets in later rounds?

Ken Bishop DT Northern Illinois
Zack Kerr DT Deleware
Jay Bromley DT Syracuse
Bruce Gaston DT Purdue

Ethan Westbrooks DE West Texas A&M
Larry Webster DE Bloomsburg
Ik Enemkpali DE LA Tech
Zach Moore DE Concordia
Kerry Wynn DE Richmond

 

[Oh_Canada]

I'll be shocked and disappointed without three dlineman at minimum.

One has to be taken in the first two rounds. One of Donald, Barr, Ealy, Jernigan, Crichton or Lawrence will be a Cowboy.

I think Bishop, Westbrooks, Cassius Marsh, Barnett and Bromley will all be targets late.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Well when you think about it there's a pretty good chance that we will carry 9 d lineman this year. 4 DE's, 4 DT's + Crawford as a swing between both. Melton, McClain, Selvie, and Mincey are all locks for the roster. And I would say its almost guaranteed that at least 1 of Bass or Hayden will also make the roster. So that's 3 DT's and 2 DE's + Crawford that are locked in for 6 of the 9 spots. So realistically at most 3 rookie d lineman are going to make the roster come week 1.

But to answer the question, I would probably draft 2 in rounds 1-5 (DE in round 1 or 2 and DT in 4 or 5) and then grab another 2 or 3 with the 6 picks in the 7th/comp round.

And I agree that people are being a little unrealistic with their expectations for how we are actually going to draft.

I don't see the Cowboys drafting more than 3 DL.

It's going to take more than this draft to fix the defensive line. And in the mean time other positions will need to be addressed (in addition to the DL).

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I'll be shocked and disappointed without three dlineman at minimum.

One has to be taken in the first two rounds. One of Donald, Barr, Ealy, Jernigan, Crichton or Lawrence will be a Cowboy.

I wouldn't be shocked if the Cowboys do not have the opportunity for drafting a defensive lineman early (rounds 1 & 2) due to how the draft flows. At the moment I think the chances are better than a good value DL will available in round 2, than in round 1, but it's far from a sure thing a DL will be drafted in either rounds 1 or 2.

This defensive line problem isn't going to get fixed in this draft. It's going to take this draft, next year's FA period and next year's draft to get all the pieces in place.

 

[Fredd]

I see 3 at the most, that they hope to keep (I hope 2 of the first 3 picks as long as value is there), and then once the June 1st cuts occur, if they don't feel they have the right mix, they could go out and grab someone on the DL....I could actually see them doing 2 of the first 3 on DL and then up to 2 more by the end of the draft, but that all depends on if they use 11 picks...if they happen to do a trade down in the first to get an extra pick, then I would say that they could draft 4

 

[Biggems]

If the stars aligned......

1. DT Donald
2. DE Crichton/Attaochu
7. DT Kerr
7. DT Bishop
7. DE McAllister

 

[waving monkey]

I wouldn't be shocked if the Cowboys do not have the opportunity for drafting a defensive lineman early (rounds 1 & 2) due to how the draft flows. At the moment I think the chances are better than a good value DL will available in round 2, than in round 1, but it's far from a sure thing a DL will be drafted in either rounds 1 or 2.

This defensive line problem isn't going to get fixed in this draft. It's going to take this draft, next year's FA period and next year's draft to get all the pieces in place.

This is correct. Plus you not want all your same position players coming up together on the same contract year. Which some will .

 

[xwalker]

I see some mocks where people are saying more DL, how many to make you happy and how many do you realistically think we will take?

I say if we get 3 in the draft we are doing good. There are so many holes that other positions need to be addressed, not to mention BPA may not be DL.

Just curious.

I'm not sure that I would count 7th rounders, especially the comp picks because they are basically similar to UDFAs. When UDFA types are included, teams will always bring more players to training camp at a position than they can keep.

I think the real question is how many can make the active roster.

I see 5 players as near-locks:

Melton DT
McClain DT

Selvie DE
Mincey DE

Crawford DE/DT

They will probably keep 9 DL; although, it could be 8 or 10. If they keep 9, that leaves 4 spots available. Probably 2 DE and 2 DT.

I could see 2 DL in the top 5 rounds. That would still leave 2 spots available. They could draft 1 or 2 DL in the 7th to compete with the remaining DL currently on the roster:

Hayden, Nick
Kearse, Frank
Wilson, Martez
Bass, Ben
Spears, Quinton
Okpalaugo, Tristan
Rayford, Caesar

 

[tm1119]

I don't see the Cowboys drafting more than 3 DL.

It's going to take more than this draft to fix the defensive line. And in the mean time other positions will need to be addressed (in addition to the DL).

With 3 comp picks and 3 7th's (regardless of what they do with them) there's no reason to not take a few a few extra d lineman. Even if they are only intended for the practice squad. No harm in bringing in more bodies for competition. How many other positions on this team could a 7th round pick really make the roster?

 

[Oh_Canada]

I wouldn't be shocked if the Cowboys do not have the opportunity for drafting a defensive lineman early (rounds 1 & 2) due to how the draft flows. At the moment I think the chances are better than a good value DL will available in round 2, than in round 1, but it's far from a sure thing a DL will be drafted in either rounds 1 or 2.

This defensive line problem isn't going to get fixed in this draft. It's going to take this draft, next year's FA period and next year's draft to get all the pieces in place.

Agree to some extent, but the team needs higher end talent on the dline and you aren't going to find that later in the draft.
They have to make an early investment on this group. I personally don't believe there is a single NFL team who subscribes to BPA every pick. It's best player meets team need generally, that doesn't necessarily mean you go dline immediately as the team has other primary needs, but just don't see how they don't pick one fairly high.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

With 3 comp picks and 3 7th's (regardless of what they do with them) there's no reason to not take a few a few extra d lineman. Even if they are only intended for the practice squad. No harm in bringing in more bodies for competition. How many other positions on this team could a 7th round pick really make the roster?

I think you stick to your draft board... even in the 7th round. Yeah the DL is in dire need, but there are "what ifs" all over this roster when it comes to guys getting older (Romo) or on their contract year (Free) or needing guys to bounce back (Carter) or starters who could be released after this season (Carr)... And then you have positions (Safety) where there are several unproven players who may not advance any further or where there is virtually no depth (Center/Card).

In other words don't take a lower rated DL, when a higher rated OLB or Safety is sitting there.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Agree to some extent, but the team needs higher end talent on the dline and you aren't going to find that later in the draft.
They have to make an early investment on this group. I personally don't believe there is a single NFL team who subscribes to BPA every pick. It's best player meets team need generally, that doesn't necessarily mean you go dline immediately as the team has other primary needs, but just don't see how they don't pick one fairly high.

You're right I'm sure BPA doesn't rule in every pick for every team, but if you deviate too far from that principle you're going to dig a talent hole for yourself.

Again, this defensive line can not be fixed in one draft.

Let the draft come to the Cowboys rather than force defensive linemen.

 

[50cent]

I'll be disappointed if we don't come away with 3 DL minimum, but I'm really hoping for 4 (1 at each spot). With 11 picks and a lack of productive talent on the line, it would be in our best interest to grab some depth at every spot on the DL. I'd do flips if we could come away with Crichton (2nd), Sutton (3rd), Aaron Lynch (5th) and Ken Bishop (7th) and I think this is very possible.

 

[jobberone]

With 3 comp picks and 3 7th's (regardless of what they do with them) there's no reason to not take a few a few extra d lineman. Even if they are only intended for the practice squad. No harm in bringing in more bodies for competition. How many other positions on this team could a 7th round pick really make the roster?

Best to turn those picks into higher picks. Either buy extra picks or move up in a round. I wouldn't expect them to draft more than 7 or 8 players. They can do better with targeted UDFAs generally than they can picking at the bottom of the barrel although you can find gems in there.

My guess is we will end up with 5-7 players in the first six rounds. They will use up 4-6 picks moving around and possibly move some into next year if possible. There's only so much rookie money to play with. I'd expect 5-6 draft picks to make the roster and 1-2 UDFAs.

 

[jobberone]

They need one to two LBs. They need 2-4 DL with at least one DE. They need one decent prospect at CB and I'd say better than that. You can't win without pass defense just as you certainly can't without pressure. Add in a safety if a decent one falls to us. That's 6 picks. And nothing on offense which needs a #2 WR which is most likely coming in the first three rounds. Add in an interior guard, RB, and maybe OT and you get the picture. You can't fill all the holes. Someone will unexpectedly show up somewhere you need someone and someone will falter or get injured who you were depending on.