In our inaugural mock draft database of the season, we take a peek at 25 different mock drafts published over the last two weeks to see whether we can get a better feeling for the early names mocked to the Cowboys.
As it currently stands, 21 of the 25 mocks are projecting the Cowboys to take a linebacker, with Sonny Styles (17 mocks) the clear favorite ahead of Arvell Reese (2) and C.J. Allen (2). The second most popular position is cornerback, but the consensus here is less clear with Avieon Terrell
(7) ahead of Colton Hood (5) and Brandon Cisse (3). Edge rushers come in third overall with the mocks defaulting to Keldrick Faulk (6) with Akheem Mesidor (2) and Cashius Howell (1) also getting some consideration.
The early consensus here seems to be LB Sonny Styles with the 12th pick and a CB with the 20th pick, a combo offered by 10 mocks.
But keep in mind, it’s still January, and a lot of things can still happen. When we did a similar exercise last year, Ashton Jeanty (13 of 25 mocks) and Luther Burden (9) were the favorites. Not a single mock had the Cowboys taking an offensive lineman.
The table below lists this year’s 25 mocks by their publication date and shows which player is mocked to the Cowboys in which spot.
body .sbnu-legacy-content-table td, body .sbnu-legacy-content-table th, body .sbnu-legacy-content-table { border: 1px solid #000 !important; border-collapse: collapse !important; }| Mock Draft | Player (12th) | Position | College | Player (20th) | Position | College | Last Updated |
| Huddle Report (Williams) | Sonny Styles | LB | Ohio State | Colton Hood | CB | Tennessee | 28-Jan |
| NFL (Brooks) | Sonny Styles | LB | Ohio State | Keldric Faulk | Edge | Auburn | 28-Jan |
| Yahoo (McDonald & Tice) | Sonny Styles | LB | Ohio State | Brandon Cisse | CB | South Carolina | 28-Jan |
| NFL Spin Zone (Scataglia) | Sonny Styles | LB | Ohio State | Avieon Terrell | CB | Clemson | 27-Jan |
| Sportsbook Review (Paul) | Sonny Styles | LB | Ohio State | Colton Hood | CB | Tennessee | 27-Jan |
| CBS (Brockermeyer) | Jeremiyah Love | RB | Notre Dame | Sonny Styles | LB | Ohio State | 26-Jan |
| NFL (Jeremiah) | Colton Hood | CB | Tennessee | Keldric Faulk | Edge | Auburn | 26-Jan |
| Sporting News (Iyer) | Carnell Tate | WR | Ohio State | Avieon Terrell | CB | Clemson | 26-Jan |
| Tankathon (Staff) | Keldric Faulk | Edge | Auburn | C.J. Allen | LB | Georgia | 26-Jan |
| Draftwire (Popejoy) | Sonny Styles | LB | Ohio State | Cashius Howell | Edge | Texas A&M | 25-Jan |
| NFL Spin Zone (Bedinger) | Sonny Styles | LB | Ohio State | Avieon Terrell | CB | Clemson | 25-Jan |
| PFF (Wassermann) | Sonny Styles | LB | Ohio State | Avieon Terrell | CB | Clemson | 25-Jan |
| Foxsports (Staff) | C.J. Allen | LB | Georgia | Brandon Cisse | CB | South Carolina | 24-Jan |
| PFSN (Randall) | Arvell Reese | LB | Ohio State | Colton Hood | CB | Tennessee | 24-Jan |
| Essentially Sports (Pauline) | Sonny Styles | LB | Ohio State | Avieon Terrell | CB | Clemson | 22-Jan |
| SD Union Tribune (Brown) | Caleb Downs | S | Ohio State | Akheem Mesidor | Edge | Miami (FL) | 22-Jan |
| CBS (Edwards) | Keldric Faulk | Edge | Auburn | Colton Hood | CB | Tennessee | 21-Jan |
| CBS (Renner) | Sonny Styles | LB | Ohio State | T.J. Parker | Edge | Clemson | 21-Jan |
| Draft Countdown (Bosarge) | Sonny Styles | LB | Ohio State | Akheem Mesidor | Edge | Miami (FL) | 21-Jan |
| ESPN (Kiper) | Sonny Styles | LB | Ohio State | Akheem Mesidor | Edge | Miami (FL) | 21-Jan |
| SB Nation (Staff) | Keldric Faulk | Edge | Auburn | Sonny Styles | LB | Ohio State | 20-Jan |
| Draft Network (Eisner) | Sonny Styles | LB | Ohio State | Brandon Cisse | CB | South Carolina | 19-Jan |
| PFF (McGuiness) | Arvell Reese | LB | Ohio State | Keldric Faulk | Edge | Auburn | 19-Jan |
| USAToday (Middlehurst) | Sonny Styles | LB | Ohio State | Avieon Terrell | CB | Clemson | 19-Jan |
| The Athletic (Brugler) | Sonny Styles | LB | Ohio State | Avieon Terrell | CB | Clemson | 15-Jan |
The early data here suggests LB, CB, and EDGE will be the focus for the Cowboys. But how likely are which players to be available at pick 12 or 20, including players not listed here?
You could look up the player ranking on your favorite big board, you could make up your own ranking, and you could even use a consensus big board for such a player ranking. Or we could look at the average draft position for the key defensive prospects based on the 25 mocks above, and how often they were available at pick 12 or 20, which is exactly what you see in the table below.
| POS | Avg. rank | Player | Available at No. 12 | Available at No. 20 |
| LB | 3.4 | Arvell Reese | 8% | — |
| 12.9 | Sonny Styles | 92% | 8% | |
| 27.4 | C.J. Allen | 100% | 84% | |
| CB | 12.2 | Monsoor Delane | 40% | — |
| 13.8 | Jermod McCoy | 68% | 4% | |
| 20.4 | Avieon Terrell | 100% | 52% | |
| 28.6 | Brandon Cisse | 100% | 92% | |
| 29.4 | Colton Hood | 100% | 96% | |
| EDGE | 5.4 | Rueben Bane | 4% | — |
| 6.8 | David Bailey | 8% | — | |
| 13.2 | Keldric Faulk | 60% | 16% | |
| 23.2 | Cashius Howell | 96% | 56% | |
| 28.1 | T.J. Parker | 100% | 84% | |
| 28.8 | Akheem Mesidor | 100% | 96% |
Within the narrow confines of this 25-mock list, that gives the Cowboys some options, with the big caveat that it’s January and there’s still a long way to go to the draft.
- The Cowboys can always hope that Arvell Reese, Rueben Bane, or David Bailey miraculously drop all the way to No. 12. Very unlikely to happen, even if five mocks (20%) have one of the three dropping to No. 12.
- Pick between Sonny Styles and the two top-ranked corners, Monsoor Delane or Jermod McCoy. 24 of the 25 mocks (96%) have one of the three available at No. 12.
- If you’re hell-bent on picking a pass rusher, Keldrick Faulk is your only option at No.12 and that feels like a bit of a reach for a perceived need.
- There’s also an interesting trade-down option here. You’ll probably want to stick around at No.12, or perhaps do a Micah Parsons and trade down no more than two spots, and still have a chance at Styles, Delane, McCoy, and Faulk. But looking at the table here, there may be value in a Travis Frederick-style trade down from No. 20 to about 28: Many of the players you might like at 20 might still be available at 28, like LB C.J. Allen, CB Brandon Cisse, CB Colton Hood, DE T.J. Parker, or DE Akheem Mesidor. That trade might conceivably give you the Texans 3rd round pick (69) if you throw in the 5th-round comp pick, though I have no idea if the Texans would be interested in moving up.
What would be your choice right now, based in these 25 mocks?
