Mel Kiper is back with a new mock draft. It is Conference Championship Weekend for four teams in the NFL which means that there are three games left in this NFL season. That is all fine and dandy, but
reality is that the majority of the league is dealing with coach hirings and offseason prep. This means that there are mock drafts everywhere.
Mel Kiper dropped his first mock of the year on Wednesday and he has the Dallas Cowboys going with some heavy-hitters on defense.
12 – Dallas Cowboys
Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State
If you wanted to score points in 2025, all you needed was a matchup with the Cowboys’ defense. They allowed 30.1 points per game, the most in the league. This is another spot where Jermod McCoy could make sense, though DaRon Bland (foot) will be back in 2026. And I think Keldric Faulk could fit here if he is still on the board. But Dallas could really use an impact player in the middle of the defense. Styles is a former safety, and it’s no surprise once you see his speed. He can close on ball carriers and pass catchers in a flash. With 174 tackles over the past two seasons, he’s a top-10 prospect for me.20 – Dallas Cowboys (via GB)
Akheem Mesidor, DE, Miami
Miami lost in Monday’s national championship game, but did you watch Mesidor? He had two sacks, bringing his season total to 12.5. He has been around college football for a long time, playing at West Virginia in 2020 and 2021 before transferring to Miami. Mesidor has battled injuries, but his toolbox is full. His bend, burst and power could help the Cowboys recapture some of the pass-rush juice they lost when they traded Micah Parsons in August. Mesidor can get into the backfield quickly and finish, registering 17.5 tackles for loss and four forced fumbles this past season. Taking Sonny Styles at No. 12 then Mesidor here would help that Dallas defense in a big way — but Jerry Jones would have to figure out the secondary on Day 2 or in free agency. That’s yet another hole on that side of the ball.
Sonny Styles is a really popular pick for the Cowboys at number 12 overall. Most mocks you see have Dallas taking him there and somebody like Jermod McCoy (who Kiper notes he considered there) or Avieon Terrell with Green Bay’s pick.
Kiper zigs against that zag, though. While he gives the Cowboys a top talent in the heart of their defense with Styles, he goes with Miami’s Akheem Mesidor at 20 overall. It is certainly true that Mesidor had a great national championship game and that the Cowboys are in need of a pass rusher (ironic given how they acquired this pick!), so the logic tracks.
As Kiper notes at the end of his Mesidor write up though, the Cowboys are not addressing the secondary with either of these picks. He mentions that Dallas could look to shore that up on Day 2 or in free agency which presents some interesting problems:
- The Cowboys are not exactly known for dabbling in free agency on a serious level
- At the moment the Cowboys do not have any Day 2 picks as they traded them both (the second-rounder as a part of the Quinnen Williams trade and the third-rounder for George Pickens)
Having multiple first-round picks is a luxury, there is no question about that, but the Cowboys still have a lot of work to do to get the most out of their overall draft capital. An argument can be made that Kiper’s approach is the right one if the Cowboys did hypothetically take care of the secondary, but you never know.
What do you think?
