Dallas Cowboys Mock Draft Roundup 4.0

It will be fascinating to see where JSN lands after injuries derailed his 2022 campaign. The Cowboys badly need receiver help, though, and could consider ending his slide here.

Between trading away Amari Cooper and committing to Michael Gallup, the Dallas Cowboys had some miscalculations at the wide receiver position. Rashee Rice is a do-everything weapon that would pair perfectly with CeeDee Lamb to get the receiver corps around Dak Prescott right.

The change in offensive coordinator should mean one thing — more help for Dak. The Cowboys need an elite talent on the other side of CeeDee Lamb.

As good as the 'Boys were, they were severely depleted in the secondary when games mattered the most. Johnson provides some much-needed versatility while providing a nice bit of size for Dan Quinn's defense too.

This pick could be a dynamic running back: Bijan Robinson or Jahmyr Gibbs. The best player available, though, is Siaki Ika. If you're stacking players purely on impact at their position and you get to 26, Ika would be sticking out like a sore thumb. He's not Vita Vea, although he's had Vea-like flashes as a space-eater who can move. Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn would have fun with this pick.

Here is a little inside baseball.

Prior to starting full-time here at SB Nation, I co-hosted the "Talking the Star" podcast with my good pal, and long-time Cowboys fan, Connor Livesay. Since going full-time, I have made some occasional guest appearances on the show with Connor, something that we will be ramping up during the draft season.

You can find the takes from the summer, but Connor and I expressed concern over the Dallas wide receiver room all off-season. Those concerns only increased after the team traded Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns.

And while Connor and I both had hopes for Jalen Tolbert, from where I sit, Dallas still needs to add at receiver.

Hyatt exploded onto the national stage with a five-touchdown performance in Tennessee's win over Alabama. His speed is a huge asset, and while there will be questions about the offense he played in at Tennessee — and how his game translates to the next level as a result — playing across from CeeDee Lamb should give him the kind of space he saw on Saturdays.

Jalin Hyatt wasn't in the first-round conversation heading into the season, but he's a great example of a player who took advantage of his opportunities, thanks in large part to Hendon Hooker's Heisman Trophy campaign. Hyatt is a bona fide deep threat who consistently runs past defensive backs who were helpless to do much about it all season.

Cornerback feels like an area the Cowboys could go after at the backend of the first round if there isn't a tempting wide receiver left on the board. Clark Phillips III is undersized for an outside cornerback at 5-foot-10 and 185 pounds, but he is such an instinctual player. He earned an 83.7 coverage grade this past season with six interceptions and seven forced incompletions. When you let him sit back and watch the quarterback, he's a master at baiting throws and jumping routes.

This just makes sense, right? Team owner Jerry Jones loves star running backs, going back to his days of drafting Emmitt Smith in Round 1 in 1990, and he repeatedly has said Ezekiel Elliott is the Cowboys' most important player. Well, Elliott could be a salary-cap casualty this offseason, and Tony Pollard -- who made the Pro Bowl this season -- broke his left leg in the divisional round and is a free agent. Could Jones and the Cowboys start over and take Robinson, the best back in this class, here? Robinson also is a great pass-catcher, so he's more than just a between-the-tackles runner. He could also take some of the pressure off quarterback Dak Prescott.

I thought hard about defensive tackle with this pick, with Bryan Bresee (Clemson) and Mazi Smith (Michigan) as two possibilities. Dallas struggled at times stopping the run.

Finding a partner for two-time Pro Bowler Trevon Diggs is imperative after watching Dallas CB2s struggle this season.

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