Cowboys' 3 Biggest NFL Draft Needs Following Free Agency

Jason Schandl
The Cowboys biggest 2020 NFL Draft needs following free agency.
The Cowboys biggest 2020 NFL Draft needs following free agency. / Tom Pennington/Getty Images
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The Dallas Cowboys entered the 2020 NFL offseason with a couple big priorities — keep Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper. They managed to do just that, even though it cost them cornerback Byron Jones in the process.

With most of the big-name free agents off the market, attention is quickly turning to the 2020 NFL Draft.

Keeping that in mind, here are three needs the Cowboys still have to address in the draft.

1. Edge Rusher

Iowa's A.J. Epenesa during a 2019 game.
Iowa's A.J. Epenesa during a 2019 game. / Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

With the caveat that the Cowboys could still bring in Jadeveon Clowney, Dallas needs an edge rusher. They lost Robert Quinn to free agency, and between Quinn, Michael Bennett and Maliek Collins, they've lost players that generated a full 50 percent of their sacks in 2019. Demarcus Lawrence is outstanding on the edge, but he can't do it all on his own.

2. Cornerback

C.J. Henderson running the 40-yard dash.
C.J. Henderson running the 40-yard dash. / Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Losing Byron Jones is a huge blow to the Cowboys' secondary, and most of the top cornerback free agents have already been signed. Dallas already struggled against the pass last year, ranking 23rd in Football Outsiders' pass defense DVOA metric, and they simply can't afford to head into 2020 without addressing that problem if they want to be in playoff contention.

3. Wide Receiver

Antonio Gandy-Golden during the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine.
Antonio Gandy-Golden during the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine. / Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Bringing Amari Cooper back doesn't mean Dallas is all set at wideout. Cooper and Michael Gallup are an outstanding duo, but they lost Randall Cobb to the Houston Texans, leaving big hole at the WR3 spot. This year's free agent wide receiver class was very shallow, and Dallas would be wise to bring in a mid-round rookie to compete for a role in the offense. Cedrick Wilson is currently penciled in for that job, and he didn't show much as a rookie in 2019.


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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.

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