![\"BOISE,](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2024\/12\/24054216\/GettyImages-2181655530-1024x683.jpg?width=1920&quality=70&auto=webp\")
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The Dallas Cowboys were officially eliminated from playoff contention Sunday. With two games remaining in their season, it\u2019s not difficult to begin shifting focus to April\u2019s NFL Draft. If the season ended today, Dallas would have the 15th overall pick. It would be the Cowboys\u2019 first top-15 pick since drafting Micah Parsons 12th overall in 2021.<\/p>\n
Judging by what we\u2019ve seen this season and how little Dallas has recently done in free agency, there are some areas that seem like a good bet to be possible first-round targets for the Cowboys. The current top five would be defensive tackle, running back, offensive line, cornerback and wide receiver.<\/p>\n
Factoring all of that in, we reached out to Dane Brugler, The Athletic<\/em>\u2019s NFL Draft expert, to get his thoughts on a player at each of those position groups who could be a fit for Dallas around Pick 15. We\u2019ve trimmed the conversation down to the following responses from Brugler on each player.<\/p>\n Expected to be back next season: <\/b>Mazi Smith<\/p>\n Possible key losses in the offseason: <\/b>Osa Odighizuwa<\/p>\n Potential first-round target: <\/b>Mason Graham, Michigan, 6-3, 320<\/p>\n Brugler: <\/strong>He\u2019s much more disruptive than what Mazi Smith was in college and what he\u2019s been so far in the NFL. Graham was a five-sport athlete in high school, including a heavyweight champion wrestler. You can see it with the way he plays. Leverage is a premium for him. He has natural leverage and he knows how to win. He\u2019s got twitch in his upper half, so using his hands, getting underneath blockers, and he\u2019s relentless with the way he plays. He\u2019s up and down the line. He\u2019s a guy that has explosiveness. It\u2019s controlled explosiveness. He\u2019s not playing out of control in any way.<\/p>\n He\u2019s not the longest player. That\u2019s maybe the biggest knock on him. But he skillfully destructs blocks. That\u2019s strength, quickness, motor, play recognition. I think he\u2019s a versatile interior guy. If you want him to line up at nose tackle, he could do it. He\u2019s not the best versus double teams but he\u2019s a natural three-technique. When you think of some of the top three-techniques to recently come out, Graham isn\u2019t Quinnen Williams (third overall pick by the Jets in 2019), but he projects as an above average starter and you love his floor. None of these guys are bust-proof. You really like his floor as an NFL starter and a guy that\u2019s going to be a quality defensive lineman for you.<\/p>\n Mason Graham was a unanimous All-American selection this season. (Imagn Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Expected to be back next season: <\/b>There could be a complete overhaul of the position group.<\/p>\n Possible key losses in the offseason:<\/b> Rico Dowdle<\/p>\n Potential first-round target: <\/b>Ashton Jeanty, Boise State, 5-9, 215<\/p>\n GO DEEPER 2025 NFL mock draft: Predicting all 32 first-round picks in polarizing class<\/p>\n Brugler: <\/strong>I think you could make the argument that after Travis Hunter, Jeanty is the best player in the draft. Obviously positional value and drafting a running back \u2014 that\u2019ll be something that every team looks at a little bit differently. A lot of teams don\u2019t have a need at running back. The ones that do have a need, they\u2019ll be split on whether or not they feel comfortable drafting one that early. Jeanty and where he falls will be very similar to the conversations we had when Bijan Robinson was coming out. We\u2019re trying to figure out: Where in the first round is he going? He ended up going top 10, so Jeanty could absolutely go in the top 10, but there\u2019s still a high likelihood that he\u2019s on the board when the Cowboys pick as well. He\u2019d be a hard guy to pass on because of how dynamic he is.<\/p>\n He\u2019s built low to the ground. He has exceptional strength. He runs like he\u2019s doused in vaseline. Anything less than a strong wrapped tackle is going to get him on the ground. He\u2019s just so elusive. He can cut, accelerate. His contact balance is exceptional. In terms of him as a pass catcher, that\u2019s what I really think separates him as well. It\u2019s kind of like LaDainian Tomlinson. Yeah, he\u2019s a really good runner, but then you add in the pass-catching element and that just adds another way that he can beat you and another way that defenses really have to game plan for you. What he\u2019s done this past year with the big plays and the broken tackles, that\u2019s going to translate to the NFL.<\/p>\n If he\u2019s still on the board for the Cowboys, I think he would be tough to pass up. At the same time, I understand if they feel like they need to go with a different position. The other thing that factors into this too is this is a deep running back class. You could argue it\u2019s the strongest position in this draft class. So passing on Jeanty to get another quality running back on Day 2 is something that I think a lot of teams will consider.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Expected to be back next season: <\/b>DaRon Bland, Trevon Diggs (working back from knee surgery), Caelen Carson, Josh Butler<\/p>\n Possible key losses in the offseason:<\/b> Jourdan Lewis<\/p>\n Potential first-round target: <\/b>Will Johnson, Michigan, 6-2, 202<\/p>\n Brugler:<\/strong> He\u2019s a good player. He\u2019s an NFL starter. But there\u2019s absolutely a chance that he falls out of the top 10. If he runs a 40-yard dash, I think it will be like 4.46, 4.47, like an average time but not an amazing time. But he\u2019s fluid, he\u2019s long, he matches up really well. His route recognition is maybe what he does best. He understands route leverage, he can maintain his phase out of breaks. He has that anticipation to key, read, drive, that\u2019s why in three years he had multiple interceptions each year. He set the Michigan record with three pick-six touchdowns. And it comes from that anticipation and ability to read routes. He\u2019s a guy that the speed is more good than great and that\u2019s why he\u2019s not a lock for the top 10 and could still be on the board at Pick 15 or wherever the Cowboys end up. But he looks like a guy you can plug in as an NFL starter from Day 1.<\/p>\n GO DEEPER NFL Draft 2025 Big Board: Travis Hunter takes No. 1 spot, 4 QBs in updated top 50<\/p>\n Expected to be back next season: <\/b>CeeDee Lamb, Jalen Tolbert, Jalen Brooks, Jonathan Mingo, Ryan Flournoy<\/p>\n Possible key losses in the offseason:<\/b> Brandin Cooks, KaVontae Turpin (restricted free agent)<\/p>\n Potential first-round target: <\/b>Luther Burden III, Missouri, 5-11, 205<\/p>\n Brugler: <\/strong>The key with Burden is the run-after-catch. That is his bread and butter. In college there\u2019s been a high volume of quick-hitters, crossers, runway routes where he\u2019s able to get the ball in his hands and go create with his speed. He\u2019s got any-direction burst. He\u2019s physical. He\u2019s not quite running back size, but he\u2019s a pretty well put together athlete. As a route runner, he\u2019s still a little bit of a work in progress, but he\u2019s physical and he tracks the ball well.<\/p>\n I just think there\u2019s a lot you can do with a yards-after-catch weapon like that. He came in as a five-star guy. There\u2019s a lot of hype on him. He was a starter right away. Last year as a sophomore he put up big stats. This year the production wasn\u2019t necessarily there. It didn\u2019t jump off the page. But he was still first-team All-SEC because of the way defenses have to game plan for him because he\u2019s such a dangerous weapon. He\u2019s just a guy that really adds a different element to your offense.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Expected to be back next season: <\/b>Tyler Smith, Tyler Guyton, Terence Steele, Cooper Beebe, T.J. Bass, Asim Richards, Nathan Thomas<\/p>\n Possible key losses in the offseason:<\/b> Zack Martin, Chuma Edoga, Brock Hoffman (restricted free agent)<\/p>\n Potential first-round target: <\/b>Armand Membou, Missouri, 6-3, 314<\/p>\n Brugler: <\/strong>He was a right tackle at Missouri but some teams project him as a guard. He\u2019s a really interesting player. He\u2019s 20 years old. He\u2019s a three-year guy. He\u2019s a little bit of a late bloomer. He didn\u2019t really invest in football and blossom until his junior year of high school. That was five years ago and he\u2019s taken a big jump every single year since. This year he was All-SEC. He has just tremendous body control in his movements. He\u2019s explosive out of his stance. He\u2019s agile. He\u2019s patient in pass protection. His punch is sharp. He\u2019s well-timed. He\u2019s got an anchor that he can sit down and dig his cleats in and hold up against power.<\/p>\n There are areas where he\u2019s still learning and figuring things out, but what he\u2019s put on tape up to this point and where you project the board, he kind of reminds me a little bit of, not apples-to-apples comparisons, but when Tyler Smith was coming out of Tulsa. He\u2019s a young player that\u2019s a little but undisciplined, a little bit unpolished, but, man, the traits are outstanding. I think Membou has a little bit of that as well where maybe not be a finished product yet, but I\u2019m going to bet on these traits all day and his trajectory. He\u2019s a guy that not a lot of people are talking about, but, man, the tape is impressive. I think by the time it\u2019s all said and done, he\u2019ll be a first-round pick. His tools remind me of Troy Fautanu, the 20th overall pick last year.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If the season was over now, the Cowboys would own the No. 15 pick in Round 1. Dane Brugler looks at five players at five positions for them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[24],"class_list":["post-7746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dallas-cowboys","tag-dallas-cowboys"],"yoast_head":"\n1. Defensive tackle<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\n\n2. Running back<\/h2>\n
3. Cornerback<\/h2>\n
4. Wide receiver<\/h2>\n
5. Offensive line<\/h2>\n