Dallas Cowboys 7-round 2021 mock draft gives defense a major facelift

With their first of two picks in the fourth round, Dallas decides to get an edge rusher who they can start to groom behind DeMarcus Lawrence and Aldon Smith (assuming they can re-sign Smith). Charles Snowden from Virginia is the pick, and they land him at No. 105 overall.

Snowden is an intriguing player who has great length at 6-7 but is on the thin side at 235 pounds. He was starting to come into his own before breaking his ankle but the sky is still the limit for him. Mike Nolan likes to mix in stand-up pass rushers and Snowden could provide them a player capable of filling that role.

With their next pick, No. 136 in Round 4, Dallas throws a curveball as they take Javian Hawkins. The Lousiville running back is a home-run waiting to happen and could be a player to sprinkle in the offense when they need a burst out of the backfield. Sure, the Cowboys have Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard but the offense still hasn’t had many plays from those two where they score from the other side of the field.

Hawkins offers them someone who has the chance to do that — plus, it’s only a matter of time before this coaching regime wants to start taking the ball out of Elliott’s hands more often to keep him fresh (or maybe try and prove to the Jones family they can move on and be just fine).

With the 174th pick in the fifth round, the Cowboys add a big nose tackle in Robert Cooper. The 332-pound Cooper has been a beast for the Florida State Seminoles. The Cowboys experiment with Dontari Poe was an epic failure but they do have Atwaun Woods who has been playing well. If Woods is re-signed, Cooper can be a rotational player with the ability to start in the near future.