There are a million mock drafts. Simulators allow us to play general manager for the Dallas Cowboys and wheel and deal our way to improving our favorite football team.
With all due respect to you and I, some mock drafts matter more than others. Those that come from plugged-in NFL insiders carry more weight and history tells us that the ones which drop right before the NFL draft (so now) are when the insiders throw the kitchen sink at the process.
Peter Schrager has the Cowboys dominating the first round
It is important to note that ESPN’s Peter Schrager has
correctly predicted who the Dallas Cowboys will take in the last two first rounds of the NFL draft. We recently spoke to him about this after he mocked Caleb Downs to the team. He has since backed off of the Downs possibility for what it’s worth.
Schrager released his final mock on Wednesday morning and had Downs going one pick before the Cowboys at number eight overall to the New Orleans Saints. You did not misread that. He has the Cowboys moving up to number nine with the Kansas City Chiefs. The trade in question requires Dallas sending picks 12 and 20 in exchange for 9 and 29.
9. Dallas Cowboys (via projected trade with KC)
Mansoor Delane, CB, LSU
OK, our first trade! I could see this happening. After allowing 377 yards per game and letting opponents convert on third down 47.3% of the time — ranking among the worst in the NFL in both — Dallas has to get one of the top defensive prospects. It’s a necessity. But there’s no guarantee any of them — Downs, Delane, Miami edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. et al — will still be there at No. 12. This is a chance to guarantee getting one of them and still have another first-round pick. Delane’s coverage ability should help stop some of the big plays that doomed the Cowboys in 2025.
It has felt for a while now that if the Cowboys want to come away with one of the blue-chip defensive prospects that they are going to have to move up to do so. LSU’s Mansoor Delane is certainly one of those players and the price paid here is really reasonable.
Interestingly the last time that Dallas moved up in the first round of a draft (2012) it was also for an LSU cornerback in Morris Claiborne. Mansoor Delane would transform Christian Parker’s defense and would specifically give Parker an all-world defensive back to tutor and develop. Huge win.
29. Dallas Cowboys (via projected trade with KC/LAR)
Malachi Lawrence, Edge, UCF
Lawrence has quietly risen the board over the past two months, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he hears his name late in Round 1. Dallas gets the defense-defense double up that has been predicted for a while, but it does it from two different picks than expected after the projected trade. Lawrence can boost the pass rush; he had seven sacks in 2025.
Schrager has the Cowboys addressing their edge rush issue with their second pick in the first round (the Chiefs picked this up in the Trent McDuffie trade with the Los Angeles Rams if you were curious). There has been a recent surge around Lawrence’s name, and while he may not be anyone’s preferred pass rusher there is a price to be paid in moving up from 12 overall. This feels like the best of both worlds.
How do you feel about this mock? Would you like to see it come to pass? Do you trust that Schrager is on point?
