2018 Draft Needs for the Dallas Cowboys

By DeAndre Smith

What direction should the Dallas Cowboys go for the 2018 draft, what positions should they target? Here’s my opinion.

After a long season for the Dallas Cowboys in 2017, they look ahead to this offseason to tackle a lot of problems that they need to address. One of the questions is what is the draft strategy going into this 2018 draft? Will they draft based off need, or will they go best player available. Last year they addressed the defensive back issue in the draft and as a result of that the Cowboys have a promising future in the secondary, where will they go this year?

The Cowboys lacked a big play WR this year as Dez Bryant and the rest of the receiving core took multiple steps back in production. Drafting a WR in the 1st round might not be on everyone's wish list, but I’m here to tell you that it wouldn’t hurt if Dallas decided to go in that direction. James Washington out of Oklahoma State was the best big play WR in college this year, he led the country in receiving yards with 1549 and averaged 20.9 yards per reception. If the Cowboys went in the WR direction I would think he has to be the pick.

Another problem they can address in the draft, was the lack of depth at the LB position. We all watched that defense collapse when Sean Lee was off of the field, with Jaylon Smith still improving back up to speed and Anthony Hitchens being a free agent the Cowboys can’t afford to have the lack of depth they have. Roquan Smith from the University of Georgia was the best linebacker in the country this year and will be an automatic 1st round pick. Now depending on how he finishes his season, the Cowboys would be lucky to have him fall into their lap, if he does they can’t pass on him.

The Cowboys can also go with drafting the best player possible, that is never a bad option especially after a team that had the expectations they had and failed to reach them. Safety Derwin James from Florida State might be the most talented defensive player in the draft, but his stock dropped as the year went on because of some struggles he had this year. If the Cowboys are not be sold on having Byron Jones back at Safety, Derwin James deserves a look if he is still there at 19. Offensive Tackle also might be a necessity after the way that offensive line looked periodically during the 2017 season. Mike McGlinchey from Notre Dame was phenomenal this year and drafting him to play RT and moving La’el Collins to LG would bolster that O Line to its 2016 form.  The Dallas Cowboys have a lot of directions they can go, these are just some of my suggestions.