The 2020 Dallas Cowboys draft may be the most unpredictable in several years. A new coaching regime with new philosophy and an unusually long list of free agents are the biggest reasons why. There are a ton of unknowns leading up draft day such as which players will and will not be resigned, which players will be retained, and who the Cowboys will target in free agency. Until that is determined it is impossible to surmise which position groups will be the biggest priorities for the 2020 Dallas Cowboys draft. Making the assumptions that the Dallas Cowboys sign both Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper, Jason Witten retires once again, and Leighton Vander Esch is fully healthy to start the season, this is order of which position is the highest priority need.
1. DEFENSIVE TACKLE
The Dallas Cowboys have gained a reputation for not using premium draft picks at the defensive tackle position during the Jason Garret era. This is especially true when considering a run stuffing, nose tackle type player since the Rod Marinelli led defense only placed a premium on the quicker pass rushing 3 technique DT’s. Last year was the first year under Garrett that the Cowboys used a second round pick (albeit it a late second round pick) to select a defensive tackle. The player they selected was Trysten Hill with 58th pick overall and his rookie season was underwhelming. There is reason to believe that the Dallas Cowboys under Mike McCarthy and new defensive coordinator Mike Nolan will not be as averse to drafting a DT early. Primarily, this has been a position of weakness for the Cowboys for years now and the need still exists. In addition, depth is seriously lacking with Maliek Collins an unrestricted free agent, Michael Bennett likely not returning, and Antwuan Woods a restricted free agent. More importantly, both McCarthy and Nolan have indicated that they prefer to get talented players and mold their scheme around their roster. This is the exact opposite philosophy of the previous regime who would only target players that fit their scheme. Dallas Cowboy fans have longed for a dominant big man on the defensive front for several years and perhaps this year a player like Derrick Brown (Auburn), Javon Kinlaw (South Carolina), or Raekwon Davis (alabama) will be on the Cowboys radar.
2.SAFETY
Along with defensive tackle, safety is another position that the Dallas Cowboys front office appears to devalue and the quality of safety play over the last decade in Dallas is a direct result of that. They attempted to land top safety Earl Thomas via trade and in free agency last year and now they have been linked to disgruntled young safety Jamal Adams of the New York Jets. Other than that they have shown little interest in upgrading the position. Last year, the Dallas Cowboys had an opportunity to draft their choice of top safeties with the 58th pick in the draft but instead went with the aforementioned Trysten Hill. They also passed on several options who were available late in free agency such as Eric Reid and Tre Boston the past couple of years. It appears that most other NFL teams have adopted a similar philosophy since these talented players continue to fall in the draft and remained unsigned free agents deep into the offseason year after year. For the Dallas Cowboys however, they cannot afford to ignore the position any longer. Xavier Woods is a good player, but he did not take the next step that Cowboys fans were hoping he would last season. Jeff Heath is one of the most polarizing Dallas Cowboys players ever. Fans either love Heath or hate his guts. Whatever their opinion of him is, he was a starter and now he will be a free agent along with Darian Thompson and Kavon Frazier. The Dallas Cowboys are dangerously thin at safety and have not had an impact player at that position since the early years of Roy Williams career. Grant Delpit (LSU), Xavier McKinney (Alabama), and Kyle Dugger (Lenoir-Ryhne) could all be early round targets for the 2020 Dallas Cowboys draft.
3.CORNERBACK
Whether or not the Dallas Cowboys are able to re-sign Byron Jones, cornerback is a major draft day need. CJ Godwin and Anthony Brown are also free agents and Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis will be free agents next season. The past two season, the Dallas Cowboys went thin at cornerback without losing too many man games to injury. That is a big gamble at a position where you can never have enough depth in today’s pass heavy NFL. The Dallas Cowboys need bodies at cornerback and they also need to prepare for the future. Cornerback is indeed a major offseason priority and If Byron Jones departs in free agency, suffice to say cornerback may arguably become priority #1.
4.TIGHT END
When Jason Witten retired on the second day of the 2018 draft, the Cowboys were left high and dry with no warning. In the second half of that season, Blake Jarwin and Dalton Shultz started to emerge as viable options in the passing game only to have Jason Witten blindside Cowboys fans once again by announcing he would come back from retirement for the 2019 season. No disrespect to the legend and future hall of famer, but Jason Witten needs to move on and quite impeding the future of the Dallas Cowboys franchise. I anticipate that the Cowboys will sign one of the several veteran free agent tight ends available in the offseason and continue to develop Jarwin and Shultz. Either way, they will most likely have to address the position in the draft as well. Unfortunately, the 2020 tight end class is expected to be one of the weaker tight end classes unlike the talented and deep 2019 class. Dallas Cowboy fans can thank Jason Witten for the team deciding not to draft a quality tight end from last years draft class.
5. WIDE RECEIVER
Amari Cooper is currently an unrestricted free agent but he is expected to remain with the Dallas Cowboys in 2020. Even if a long term deal isn’t reached Cooper could potentially be given the franchise tag. Even with Cooper on the team next season, wide receiver remains a priority drafrt day need for the Dallas Cowboys. Cooper is not the only unrestricted free agent the Dallas Cowboys could lose at the WR position. There is also Randall Cobb and Tavon Austin. Unlike this years tight end class, the 2020 wide receiver class is very deep and very talented. That is very fortunate for the Dallas Cowboys as they are almost guaranteed to be able to land a quality pass catcher in the 3rd round or even beyond that. That is exactly what happened in 2018 when Michael Gallup fell to the Cowboys in the 3rd round. Gallup was arguably the Cowboys best draft pick over the past three seasons. If by some unforseen circumstances Amari Cooper is lost in free agency, then wide receiver will vault up the list of priority draft day needs for the Dallas Cowboys.
Defensive Tackle, Safety, Cornerback, Tight End, and Wide Receiver. Those are the top 5 Dallas Cowboys draft day needs for 2020. They are by no means the only positions of need for the team. Edge rusher is still a priority. Robert Quinn provided an explosiveness that the Dallas Cowboys have lacked in their pass rush and they may have to replace him. Linebacker is a position that requires additional depth especially with health concerns for Leighton Vander Esch and the age and injury history of Sean Lee. Finally, offensive line depth is another area of concern with Tyron Smith having missed games in each of the past 4 seasons and Joe Looney and Xavier Su’a-Filo with expired contracts. With so many positions of need on the roster, the Dallas Cowboys are in a great spot to draft the best player available with pick #17. Whoever that player may be, I hope the Mike McCarthy Dallas Cowboys can continue the recent success of first round draft picks.
*Photo by Joe Glorioso All Pro Reels https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/legalcode
