Draft hint? Dallas Cowboys will be hosting nine first-round prospects this week
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and vice president Stephen Jones have let it be known that the offensive line and wide receiver are two of the team’s biggest needs heading into the this year’s NFL Draft.
The Cowboys have the 24th overall selection, the first of nine that they’ll make during the draft, which will be held between April 28-30 in Las Vegas.
And the team is offering a glimpse into their thought process for the first round with visits with 30 national prospects at the team’s headquarters in Frisco this week.
Nine of the scheduled visitors are first-round prospects and they include three receivers in Treylon Burks of Arkansas, who began his visit on Monday, Drake London of Southern California and Chris Olave of Ohio State. Four offensive linemen in tackle Charles Cross Tackle of Mississippi State, tackle Bernhard Raimann Tackle of Central Michigan, guard Zion Johnson of Boston College and Kenyon Green of Texas A&M, will are also first-round considerations.
Other potential first-rounders slated to visit are Georgia defensive tackle Georgia Davis and Utah linebacker Devin Lloyd.
Other potential draftees include four tight ends in Jeremy Ruckert of Ohio State, Jalen Wydermyer of Texas A&M, Cade Otton of Washington and Jelani Woods of Virginia. Ruckert and Wydermyer are the highest rated of the four prospects as potential third-round picks.
Tight end is also a big focus in the draft with Dalton Schultz playing on the one-year franchise tag of $10.9 million as of now.
And so is defensive line with the Cowboys hosting a total of five draft prospects in addition to Davis. The others are defensive ends Myjai Sanders of Cincinnati (second-round projection) and Sam Williams of Mississippi (third-round projection) and tackles DeMarvin Leal of Texas A&M (second-round projection) and Perrion Winfrey of Oklahoma (third-round projection).
Another prominent visitor is Georgia linebacker Quay Walker, who is projected to go in the second round.
But there is a good reason why the biggest focus of the first round is on the offensive line and receiver. The Cowboys released right tackle La’el Collins, who signed with the Cincinnati Bengals, and they let left guard Connor Williams walk in free agency. He signed with the Miami Dolphins.
The Cowboys traded receiver Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns and lost Cedrick Wilson to the Dolphins in free agency.
Although they signed receiver James Washington, Michael Gallup could miss the first two or three games rehabbing from a torn ACL. The position remains a huge need.
And list visitors is important when it comes to the Cowboys because it offers unique insight into who they might target in draft.
With the 24th pick in the first round, the Cowboys can’t target a specific player because they don’t know who will be available. And their goal will be to take the best available prospect.
Historically, the Cowboys have made their selections from the pool of those players who have visited the team headquarters during the pre-draft process.
