Cowboys 7-Round Mock Draft Headlined by Preston Smith, DE, Mississippi State

We are roughly 8 weeks away from the NFL Draft, and it’s time to roll out our 7-round Cowboys centric mock drafts. I’ll be using the mock simulator over at Fanspeak, this site was introduced to me by our friend DCFanatic last season. Just as DC did, I fully encourage you to try this tool and post your results here if you would like.

I’ll do these mock simulations with a single, continuous pass to avoid starting over to get the results I would desire. Doing this will give me the “wrenches” that all teams have to deal with during the real draft, there are no redo’s.

This year the Cowboys will not have any compensatory draft picks since we signed Henry Melton in place of Jason Hatcher who we lost to the Redskins last year.

Let’s take a look at my 7-round mock draft 1.0

1st Round (#27): DE Preston Smith, Mississippi State

The Cowboys will be looking at filling an immediate need at a nearly vacated LE position. Selvie and Spencer will test free agency, it’s possible one of them may come back, but the Cowboys will be adding another body for the LE regardless. Smith. I liked what I saw from Smith at the Senior Bowl, so I went back to take a closer look at some of his game tapes over at DraftBreakdown. He’s not a speed rusher, but does have speed to hold his own, and plays the run well, and that’s a trait you like at a LE. He had a productive career and under Marinelli’s watch his game will be limitless.

Proday is March 4

2nd Round (#60): CB Kevin Johnson, Wake Forest

I expect Kevin Johnson to be moving up draft boards after his very impressive Combine. He looked very fluid, and like everyone else noted, he was smooth in his hips. Johnson looks like he can be a day one starter, and it could be what the Cowboys ultimately end up going with in either the 1st or 2nd round. Free agency will have the biggest impact with the Cowboys taking a CB. Will Brandon Carr actually accept a paycut and remain in Dallas or will he be gone? Johnson is another Scandrick, but taller. He’ll get physical and he go after the runner. I’m more impressed with Johnson than most the other highly projected corners.

Johnson is a tall cornerback (6-foot-1) who is loose in his hips and has excellent flexibility in his lower half. The result is that he has the most natural man coverage skills in this year’s class. Johnson also displays strong eyes, anticipation and recognition skills to find and make a play on the ball. (ESPN)

Proday is March 2

3rd Round (#91): DE Carl Davis, Iowa

The Cowboys could go to the well again by taking Davis. There’s a sure bet Davis has been scouted by the Cowboys over the past couple of seasons. There are very opinions that Davis runs hot and cold at times, but when he’s on, he can be unblockable. Davis would be an instant upgrade at the 1-tech and lineup next to Tyrone Crawford. That could be a nice middle to collapse the pocket and let Lawrence go to work. Davis had a solid Senior Bowl. The Cowboys will likely need to take a couple of defenders in this draft and if Davis is still there in the 3rd round, that could be a steal.

Proday is March 23

4th Round (#124): OT Rob Havenstein, Wisconsin

I fully expect the Cowboys to add some more bodies on the offensive line even if Free or Parnell are signed. The Cowboys need to build up their quality depth on the offensive line. Bernadeau will be a free agent next season, so he’s our swing guard for at least another season, but what about tackle? I took Havenstein here because he comes from a proven offensive line factory in Wisconsin and I really liked how he stoned a bunch of the defensive ends at the Senior Bowl. I’m a fan of Havenstein’s game. He could potentially come in a start if needed. Havenstein played in 54 games a record amount of starts for the Badgers, so you have to love that durability, and 41 starts at RT since his sophomore year. Sounds a lot like Zack Martin in that regard, so if he can play at a similar level, we’re set for years.

Proday is March 11

5th Round (#155): RB Terrance Magee, LSU

Magee is my later round back to keep an eye on. I like the low mileage, but he is a player. In the games I saw of Magee, he ran better than Hilliard who has the bloodlines. I’m taking Magee here and adding him into the mix and protecting us from more of Randle’s stupid off field issues. I like what Magee did in the East-West Shrine game, pretty shifty running style and will catch the ball. We’ll see how he does at his proday

Proday is March 27

7th Round (#211): DE Ryan Russell, Purdue

I just started watching some games of Russell, so I can’t say much on this pick outside that he graded out pretty good at the Combine with numbers closely similar to Preston Smith.

Russell’s rudimentary pass rush understanding shows when he doesn’t win with his first step, but he understands how to hold contain and leverage gaps vs. the run. The Boilermakers are well represented in the NFL at the pass rush position (Cliff Avril, Ryan Kerrigan, Anthony Spencer, Mike Neal, Rob Ninkovich and Shaun Phillips to name a few) and Russell will be the next Purdue alum to get a chance to star at the next level, especially if he takes the next step in his development as a senior. – Dane Brugler, NFLDraftScout.com

Proday is March 4

7th Round (#218): LB J.R. Tavai, USC

I didn’t have many other options this late, but he’s a player I remember at the Combine. He seemed to do the drills thoroughly, but his 40 was scary slow for a LB 4.91, so it’ll be interesting if he can lower that number significantly at his pro day. He’s tweaked his knee and ankle during his time at USC.

Tavai is powerful, relatively light on his feet and plays with a high-revving motor but his ‘tweener traits and medical concerns mean that he needs a strong cap to his collegiate career to earn a draft selection.
–Rob Rang (9/1/14)

http://widgets.sports-reference.com/wg.fcgi?css=1&site=cfb&url=%2Fcfb%2Fplayers%2Fjr-tavai-1.html&div=div_defense

Proday is March 11