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3 Players the Cowboys Need to Avoid With Their First-Round Pick

By Jason Schandl

Three players the Dallas Cowboys must avoid in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Three players the Dallas Cowboys must avoid in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. / Michael Hickey/Getty Images
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The Dallas Cowboys are hoping to find themselves in Super Bowl Contention in the 2020 season, and that means they need to make every offseason move count.

The NFL Draft is always going to be a bit of a guessing game, even for the best-prepared teams. While knowing who to target is important, it can be just as crucial to avoid landmines.

With that in mind, here are three players the Cowboys need to avoid with their first-round pick in 2020.

1. K'Lavon Chaisson, EDGE, LSU

K'Lavon Chaisson during the national championship game.
K'Lavon Chaisson during the national championship game. / Don Juan Moore/Getty Images

K'Lavon Chaisson looks like an impressive prospect, and the Cowboys do have a need at edge rusher after losing Robert Quinn. There are still a handful of solid edge rushers (and one premier one in Jadeveon Clowney) on the free agent market, however. Chaisson would be a great pick if Dallas didn't have any other big needs, but edge rusher is one of the holes that can still be filled with a free agent.

2. Xavier McKinney, S, Alabama

Xavier McKinney during the 2020 Citrus Bowl.
Xavier McKinney during the 2020 Citrus Bowl. / Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Dallas needs help in the secondary, but 2020 isn't the time to go safety in the first round, especially where they're picking. Cornerback is a bigger need with Byron Jones gone, and McKinney is more of a late first-round prospect, not someone to take off the board at No. 17.

3. Henry Ruggs III, WR, Alabama

Henry Ruggs III at the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine.
Henry Ruggs III at the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine. / Joe Robbins/Getty Images

There have been some rumblings that Dallas could go wide receiver in the first round. This team's starting lineup isn't complete enough to have the luxury of a pick like that, even if a top player like Henry Ruggs III (or even CeeDee Lamb) falls to them at No. 17. They could use a No. 3 WR to pair with Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup, but the first round is not the time to address that need. If one of those top-end WR talents is still on the board, trading back would make more sense than pulling the trigger while they have much bigger needs to address.

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Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.