2017 Dallas Cowboys Mock Draft: Divisional Round

Updated: January 13, 2017

4. Cowboys: Carl Lawson DE Auburn

Round 4 The Cowboys take Carl Lawson. Carl Lawson offers decent size for the position, but more importantly offers freakish athleticism and a disgustingly good first step quickness. He is a true pass rusher. He may only be second to Tim Williams as a pass rusher in this draft. For a smaller DE, he shows surprising strength when he first engages with a player, and then uses his superior atheltic ability to get around a would be blocker. He has nice bend for the position. He is not a good run defender, because he is not patient as a player, and will get fooled by PA, misdirection, and end arounds. Not a reliable tackler. This isn’t necessarily due to poor technique, just that his speed and momentum tend to carry him past the ball carrier. With all his strengths and weaknesses, I still consider Lawson a top 20 type of player. However, the reason he could potentially fall this far is due to an extensive injury history. He has only played 18 games his whole career, that is less than two full seasons, he missed time with an ACL injury and hip injuries, that not only derailed his career, but took away valuable experience that he could have used to improve in some areas. If he somehow falls and figures out a way to stay healthy, Carl Lawson could be the biggest steal of this draft.

5. Cowboys: Travin Dural WR LSU

Round 6 Dallas takes Travin Dural from LSU. Terrance Williams and Brice Butler will be FA going into this offseason. While it’s unlikely they let both enter FA, it will come down to price. They need to find a guy that can block effectively at the WR position if Williams does leave in FA. Dural is that guy. He’s got good size and body weight to be effective. He is also a tenacious blocker, probably due to his time at LSU where they had no passing offense. He’s also a very fast receiver, being able to stretch the field. He can one hand catch passes and does a good job of grabbing catches out of the air. The problem is that while he does possess good height and weight, he is a bit lanky without a lot of room to add much more mass. This can lead to injuries. He doesn’t do well with strength as he can get beat up in press coverage. Doesn’t do a good job of going in the middle of the field to catch passes, which leads to bad drops. He has inconsistent hands. He isn’t a twitchy player, meaning he’s relegated to passes down field that do not force him to make quick cuts. He is overall a better athlete than Williams, but is not the refined route runner Williams is. He will need time, but would hopefully replace what Dallas lost in Williams.

6. Cowboys: Josh Tupou DT Colorado