Inside The Star
In yesterday’s post, I mocked the entire first round of the NFL draft with Dallas taking a wide receiver with the 12th pick.
As an interesting aside, I had the Cleveland Browns taking WR/CB Travis Hunter instead of his Colorado teammate, quarterback Sheduer Sanders. Six hours later, this happened:
https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1909290522142789669
Hey, Adam, thanks for reading. I’ll be breaking down the NFL draft over the next week or so. Feel free to get your latest news right here.
Hey, I report, Adam repeats, and you decide, right?
Back to the point at hand.
While my mock, and most of the others I’ve checked out, have Dallas taking either an offensive lineman or a wide receiver in the first round, a few pointed at the defense.
Specifically, the Cowboys’ defensive backfield. More specifically, at safety.
While I think Dallas needs a playmaker on offense, opposite CeeDee Lamb or in the backfield, I can see the other side of this. Dallas could use some help at safety.
But should they go get that position on the first night?
Probably not. But who would be the target if they did?
If the Cowboys are thinking about safety in the opening round, there are two candidates they should be looking at.
South Carolina’s Nick Emmanwori and Georgia’s Malaki Starks.
Emmanwori is a strong tackler who is excellent in coverage and strong in run support. That checks all the “what Dallas lacked in 2024” boxes nicely.
In 36 starts for the Gamecocks, he had 244 tackles and six interceptions.
Starks is not quite the tackling machine that Emmanwori is and his pass coverage is rated slightly lower.
But he, too, is a nice run stopper. That is definitely something the Cowboys are in need of.
Dallas could hold off until the second night and grab either Notre Dame’s Zavier Watts or Texas’ Andrew Mukuba.
Watts started playing football as a receiver, which probably explains why he’s a terror when it comes to pass coverage.
He needs work in run defense, however. As that is something Dallas needs to address, they’d have to put in a lot of work to bring him up to the level they need.
Mukuba, who played at Clemson before transferring to Texas for his senior year, also is weaker against the run.
However, his efforts in the SEC Championship game caught a lot of people’s attention. He had 11 tackles, two for a loss, and forced a fumble.
Or, should Dallas choose, they could even wait a little later on Friday until the third round. Alabama’s Malachi Moore and Penn State’s Jaylen Reed should be waiting at overall pick #76.
Moore is a solid, all-around safety and would be something of a steal in the third round if he’s still there.
He is coming off of surgery, which would account for his drop into the middle rounds. But he’d still be a solid pick.
Reed would...
