You wouldn’t exactly be surprised if I told you that ESPN’s Todd McShay has Tyron Smith pegged as the Dallas Cowboys’ most likely scenario in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft. McShay is just one of many pundits who believes that the Cowboys will be interested in obtaining a blue-chip offensive tackle in this year’s draft. Let’s take a look though at some other scenarios that McShay mentioned as possible scenarios for the Cowboys in round one ($)next Thursday night.
.Scenario 2: This is another spot where a trade with St. Louis is possible, and moving back to No. 14 would allow the Cowboys to still get one of the top three offensive tackles on the board (Smith, Boston College’s Anthony Castonzo, Wisconsin’s Gabe Carimi).
Scenario 3: Dallas could fill a need on defense with Amukamara or Wisconsin DE J.J. Watt.
My sense is that the Cowboys might be wise to explore scenario No. 3. I really think J.J. Watt is going to be outstanding at the NFL level, and if I absolutely had to wager on either Watt or Smith being a disappointment in the NFL, I’d place my money on Smith. There’s some intriguing upside with Smith. He certainly has the prototypical frame to be great at left tackle, and at just 20 years of age, he’s got plenty of development left in him before peaking physically. But I think there are other Tackles in the draft — James Carpenter and Marcus Gilbert for example — that would be good picks in rounds two or three.
We’ll see what happens just over a week from now when the 2011 NFL Draft finally gets underway after months of speculation, but while we wait, let the debate continue! For more Cowboys draft coverage, analysis, mock draft discussion, be sure to check out Blogging the Boys and SB Nation’s Mocking the Draft.