Cowboys' Draft Needs 2.0

With the draft a little more than a month away, the Cowboys are lining up who they're taking with the #27 pick, as well as the five other picks they have. Here are some prospects for their first round selection. 

1) Taylor Mays, Safety, USC NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Tuesday, March 2, 2010. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)">

The Cowboys are interested in drafting Mays, especially if they don't bring back Gerald Sensabaugh. Mays is an athletic freak; he's got the size and speed to be one of the best players in the draft. 

However, there are questions about the angles he takes, his tackling, and the fact that he's not a ball hawk considering his skills. To me, he's just another Roy Williams; someone who beats up running backs and gets burned in coverage.

Before the combine, it looked like he would fall to the Cowboys, which scared me. Now, with his fantastic combine, including running one of the top five 40 times of the entire combine, there's a good chance someone is going to grab him before he falls to the Cowboys. 

2) Mike Iupati, OL, Idaho 

This is the guy the Cowboys want. Unfortunately, before the combine, everyone said he was going to get picked up before he fell to the Cowboys. Then he went to the combine and impressed everyone, turning rumors into facts. 

Scouts love his toughness, ability to play more than one position, and he could start right away for just about every team. Every mock draft I've seen has him going to Pittsburgh. 

If he doesn't go to Pittsburgh, someone will grab him before the Cowboys pick. The Cowboys could trade up, but that's not the Cowboys' style; they're notorious for trading down, not up. 

3) Jared Odrick, DT, Penn State 

Odrick has good size at 6'5", 296 pounds and somehow got in the backfield a lot in college (I watched him first hand when I was a student at PSU).

If the Cowboys don't hold on to Marcus Spears, Odrick could be picked to replace him and would produce more in the Cowboys 3-4 scheme. Spears did well, but didn't produce what was expected for a first round pick and the Cowboys' other two defensive linemen who restricted free agents have more upside at this point. 

If this happens, the Cowboys have options with him. They could move Odrick to DE, or they can use him to spell Jay Ratliff at DT. 

4) Charles Brown, OT, USC 

This, for now anyway, is who the Cowboys will most likely end up with. Brown had an excellent combine and worked his way into the late first round, early second round spot.

He won't start immediately but, Brown along with Doug Free could be the bookends of the Cowboys future. The only knock on Brown is his size; he'll seriously need to bulk up. At just 290 lbs, he's way too small for the Cowboys' offensive line (every starting lineman for Dallas weighs at least 310 lbs).

The Cowboys won't have a problem drafting Brown and spending a season or two adding weight and muscle to him. This will be the type of guy you won't hear from for a season or two, then he'll burst on the scene. 

That's it for now. I'll have the rest of the Cowboys draft for you soon.