Dallas Cowboys: Draft Jalen Collins in the second round?

The Dallas Cowboys need help in their defensive backfield and improvement in that area would make them an even more formidable team than they were last season.

Even with the success of last season’s 12-4 record and NFC East title, the Cowboys must continue to add to the team. That’s because the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants and the Washington Redskins won’t be sitting back and watching for very much longer.

With the NFL draft being next month (April 30-May 2), will the Cowboys wait until the second round to take a cornerback? If so, one player on the team’s big board for a second-round selection should be Jalen Collins of LSU.

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Collins has nice height for a cornerback at 6’1″ and weighs in at 203 pounds. He left LSU after his junior season and has been timed with a 4.48 40-yard dash.

As Brandon Thorn of CBS Sports wrote in a NFL Draft Profile of Collins, the CB has: “prototypical size in terms of height, weight and length,” comparing him to Tampa Bay’s Johnthan Banks.

"Thorn wrote: “Collins and Banks are both 6-2, long, athletic players who could be similar pros. While Collins didn’t play enough to have nearly as successful of a college career as Banks did, he excels at man coverage and possesses the instincts to decipher plays quickly.”"

In 2013, I liked Banks coming out of Mississippi State and he was drafted by the Buccaneers. He finished , his rookie season finished with 50 tackles and four interceptions. If Collins compares with him, this is a player the Cowboys could use and not break the bank on – so to speak – with a second-round selection.

Though Thorn later wrote he’s not sure if Collins “will be a starter right away in the NFL,” I believe he still could be a nice selection with this choice for the fact he would give the Cowboys a player to work with this upcoming season and become the cornerback they need for maybe year two of his NFL career.

Either way, the Cowboys need to build depth at this position and with the real possibility of Morris Claiborne not starting the season on the field, the Cowboys must address the cornerback position via free agency or the draft.

Let’s face the facts on Brandon Carr. For most of the 2014 season, he didn’t play up to his contract. But he did eventually turn his season around when the games really mattered down the stretch. However, will the Cowboys be able to afford another slow start by theveteran or should they really focus on this aspect of their defense in the draft?

What are your thoughts on Collins and the current group of cornerbacks on the Cowboys roster? Is this a need where the Cowboys have to draft some depth at this position in the second round, or should they be looking elsewhere in the 2015 draft?

Next: 2015 NFL Mock Draft

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