Dallas Cowboys Draft Needs 1.0

This isn't a mock draft for the Cowboys; we have plenty of time to get to that. This is the first installment of the Cowboys' most pressing needs regarding the draft.

As we all know, the Cowboys have a solid core of players so there's nothing crazy below, but just some ideas on what the Cowboys will do.

Offensive Tackle

Doug Free played well enough in place of Marc Colombo to gain the Cowboys trust in him for the future. Now Wade Phillips and his staff need to figure out what side he's going to play in the future. Marc Colombo is 31, but Flozell Adams, 35, doesn't have many days ahead.

Robert Brewster was drafted last season and turned heads before he got injured so he'll  have a clean slate coming into OTA's and training camp.

However, I still think the Cowboys see this as a pressing need and will draft at this position both early and late in the draft.

Wide Receiver

The Cowboys will sign Miles Austin and make him their No. 1 receiver; however,  including Austin is a group of receivers (Patrick Crayton, Sam Hurd, and Kevin Olgetree) who have all been drafted in the fifth round or later. 

And Roy Williams? He plays like he should've been drafted in the fifth round or later.

I'm not saying the Cowboys need to draft a receiver in the first round because they don't, but a slot guy in the second or third round could be an option. The Cowboys said that they haven't given up on Williams, but I'm pretty sure almost everyone else has.

Safety

Ken Hamlin has a big contract so expect him to stay. The Cowboys like Gerald Sensabaugh so they'll try to work something out with him.

Patrick Watkins is a great special teamer, but that's not what the Cowboys had in mind when they drafted him. He's an unrestricted free agent, so they might let him talk to another team to either get draft compensation or so they can talk to someone else.

Mike Hamlin played special teams last season and could take Watkins' spot as the lead special teamer, prompting the Cowboys to draft someone to groom alongside him.

Defensive End

Marcus Spears' days as a Cowboy could be over as he never lived up to his draft hype like DeMarcus Ware. Jason Hatcher produced more in the same amount of playing time than Spears and the Cowboys could give him more playing time, and draft someone to play under him. 

The Cowboys could also draft a nose tackle and move Jay Ratliff to defensive end to give him more opportunities to get to the quarterback, but that's a stretch.

Kicker

According to Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News , the worst decision the Cowboys made all season was to cut Nick Folk. Fraley was convinced that he would've been fine next season after an entire year to heal from his hip surgery.

Whether or not Folk will return to his old form isn't an issue; there are always kickers around. Expect David Buehler to spend the entire offseason with the Cowboys' special teams coach Joe DeCamillis working on kicking field goals.

The Cowboys also signed Connor Hughes to their futures list last week. Hughes tried out during the season when Folk was struggling and holds the record for most points at the University of Virginia.

However, you can still expect the Cowboys to at least look at a few kickers during the combine to see if they can draft someone.

It's very early in the draft process with both agency and the combine. We're still a few weeks away so we'll be revisiting this subject a few more times.