Round 2, Pick 58: Juan Thornhill, S, Virginia
It seems all but certain that the Cowboys are going to end up taking a safety with one of their two selections in the top-100. It would also be a safe bet to assume they’ll take one with their 58th pick. The best indicator for this was the amount of time they invested in scouting the position.
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Of their allotted 30 pre-draft visits, the Cowboys had six safeties come in for a visit according to Jon Machota of Dallas News. And Machota seems to think No. 58 is the best spot to make the move with four of the visitors likely gone before they come back to pick again at No. 90.
"Judging by this group, it’s apparent that safety will be heavily considered at Pick 58. None of the top four in this group (Abram, Rapp, Gardner-Johnson, Thornhill) are expected to still be around when the Cowboys pick again in the third round."
The hardest thing here is trying to guess which player will still be around when Dallas does pick. In this mock, that ends up being Juan Thornhill out of Virginia. Thornhill checks off all the boxes for the Cowboys. He tested off the charts and has the versatility to play in the box as well as in coverage — and we all know how much this staff values positional flex.
Most importantly, Thornhill is a ball hawk. In 2018 alone, he had six interceptions which is something that’s been painfully absent from the Dallas secondary for years. Thornhill could push free agent pick up George Iloka for the starting job right away and there should be no hesitation if he remains on the board to this point.