What should the Cowboys Draft 1st Round? OL, DL, LB, WR?

By Matthew Mackey

The Cowboys season was a rocky one, with lots of highs, but even more lows. They faced a lot of injuries with key players and people saw what would happen when those players go down. There are a lot of questions going into this years draft for the Cowboys. Everyone is wondering will they stick with their ritual, which is drafting an offensive lineman or a defensive stud?

If they decide to stick with the ritual, they need to go with a lineman. After the 2016 season, we thought the O-Line was in for a promising 2017 season, but injuries and a retire affected that. With Tyrone Smith getting injured, the Cowboys struggled a lot at the tackle possession. In this years draft, the Cowboys should go with Mike McGlinchey out of Notre Dame. He was a big run block man for that Notre Dame offense. He is listed at 6”7 and is physical as can be. He led the offensive line for Notre Dame to help them average 270 rushing yards per game. He’ll be a great help to the right side of the line so that Collins can be moved back to Guard. 

Another ritual pick is a defensive player. Last years draft the Cowboys heavily picked on defensive backs and each one played a role on the defense. So what help in defense does Dallas need? Well the answer is an interior linebacker or defensive lineman. The best one to choose for each is, Josh Allen-Linebacker from Kentucky, and Vita Vea-DLine from Washington. Josh is big physical linebacker and is able to make big plays when needed to. At Kentucky he finished his career with a total of 132 tackles, 1 INT, and 15 sacks. He was the leader of that Kentucky defense and would help Dallas defense. Vita Vea is an aggressive run stop defensive lineman. He clogs the holes really well and helped his linebackers make plays for Washington. In his career at Washington he had 66 tackles, 10 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles. He’s what you can call your “dirty lineman”. 

Now the pick away from the ritual would be to go for a playmaker on the offense. Everyone saw how the receiving core didn’t have playmakers this year and after the performance Dez had, he probably won’t be returning. Dak needs help when throwing the ball, so the best receiver to pick up would be, Equanimeous St. Brown out of Notre Dame. He is listed at 6”4 weighing 205 lbs. He is a great receiver and has excellent hands. He made the big plays for Notre Dame when they were in their 2 minute drill plays. He finished his career at Notre Dame with 1,484 and 15 TDs in the two years he played for them, he only played 2 games as a freshman. He would be a big key factor to that receiving core when Dez Bryant leaves.