Cowboys Double Down on Defense in Mock Draft

0:00On April 2nd, 7 months after shipping out Micah Parsons, the Dallas Cowboys are doubling down on their defensive line in ESPN's latest mock draft. For the 20-26 NFL season, in a 3-round projection, they snag two edge rushers on day 1. Ruben Bain Jr. at the 12 pick and Zion Young at number 20, using one. Of those picks from the Parsons deal with Green Bay, Bain would be a steal for Dallas, hitting as the 7th best player on the consensus bigboard and often mocked even higher. Young feels like more of a stretch at 36 overall, but he balled out last year of Missouri against SEC competition, posting 16 and a, half tackles for loss in 6 and a half sacks over 13 games. Since trading Parsons last August, the Cowboys have loaded up on the D-line, grabbing Quinn and Williams mid-2025 season, then Rashan Gary. In the off season, plus Kenny Clark straight from that initial Green Bay Swap, that's four new bodies up front in under a year.

1:01Their defense tanked last season, coughing up the most points in the league and tying for 20-second in sacks while the offense hummed along. Seventh and scoring thanks to Dak Prescott, George Pickens, and CD-LAM. If Dallas keeps stacking that front like this, they could flip their defense to league average and push hard as an NFC playoff threat, come 20-26.