Dallas Cowboys trade back, shore up secondary in 7-round 2020 mock draft
By Randy Gurzi
Round 4. Pick 123. 848. Pick Analysis. Markus Bailey. LB. player. Scouting Report
An argument could be made that the Cowboys have the best linebacker corps in the NFL — when healthy. Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch are two young stars that have played at an elite level at times already in their careers. However, LVE has already had problems staying on the field and wasn’t as good in 2019 as he was during his rookie campaign in 2018.
More from NFL Spin Zone
- Dallas Cowboys made the trade everyone else should have made
- Pittsburgh Steelers rookie sleeper everyone should be talking about
- Anthony Richardson putting jaw-dropping talent on display immediately
- Denver Broncos’ stud wide receiver might be out for a while
- Washington Commanders: Three takeaways from win over Ravens
Then there’s their third linebacker, Sean Lee, who is their most accomplished defender. Lee has been to three Pro Bowls and during his prime, he was considered one of the absolute best in the NFL at the position. He could even be well on his way to a Hall of Fame career, had it not been for one major problem — durability.
Lee has missed time in every season except for one. The good news is, that one season was 2019. At 33 years of age, Lee finally stayed healthy for an entire season and he was able to record 86 tackles, one sack, and an interception. Before the season began, Lee was asked to primarily the SAM position but moved to WILL when Vander Esch was injured. His versatile allows him to move all over and the team never loses a step.
Having said all that, Lee is 34 years old and LVE’s neck injury is worrisome. For those reasons, the Cowboys use their fourth-round pick on another linebacker to groom in Markus Bailey out of Purdue. Bailey is another player who will have injury concerns. He missed time in 2015 and 2019 with knee injuries which is why he slides to the fourth here despite being a very good linebacker for the Boilermakers.
In his career, Bailey had 324 tackles with 14.5 sacks and six picks. Should he stay healthy, Dallas would have a steal on their hands here. However, there is some risk with this selection for sure.