Dallas Cowboys re-tool roster in 7-round 2021 NFL Mock Draft

Dallas Cowboys. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr/The Tuscaloosa News via USA TODAY Sports

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Patrick Surtain II

CB, Crimson Tide

Full disclosure: There was a time when I defended letting Byron Jones walk. After eight games, it’s easy to see how foolish that opinion was. Jones might have earned a huge contract in Miami but what Dallas did with the money they saved amounted to nothing. At all.

That contract Jones got was similar to what the Cowboys spent on Gerald McCoy, Dontari Poe, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, and Daryl Worley. Two of those players never saw the field for Dallas and the other two were released after they proved to be terrible fits in this defense. Of course, this is without even jumping into the discussion about why they paid Jaylon Smith, but that’s for another day.

With all that out of the way, the Cowboys are on the clock with a top-10 pick and there’s no way they can’t address their porous secondary. While they should be encouraged by some of the plays Trevon Diggs has made, he would be better as a No. 2 cornerback, and adding a former teammate of his would allow that to happen.

This is exactly what happens as we land Alabama’s Patrick Surtain II here. Surtain has excellent size at 6-1 and 203 pounds and excels at reading routes and breaking on the ball. He’s also good at punching the ball out of the receiver’s hands, evidenced by his four careers forced fumbles. Dallas struggles when it comes to turnovers and Surtain is a player who can really help in this area.