Latest mock draft has the Cowboys giving up on young player

The NFL Scouting Combine is taking place this week, which leaves just enough time for another mock draft.

We reviewed one by A to Z Sports film/draft analyst James Foster last week where the Cowboys surprisingly took a cornerback.

This go around we have another one from A to Z Sports, only this time we have one from Destin Adams, who has boots in the ground in Indianapolis at the NFL Scouting Combine. 

Surprise, it is another pick that I don't agree with: Illinois defensive tackle, Jer'Zhan Newton.

I disagree with it for a primary reason. 

If you select him, you're giving up on two of your young players

The Cowboys have an emerging star at three-technique in Osa Odighizuwa. Osa hasn't had the most impressive of career if you are solely looking at the stat sheet, but if you watch the film you see he is getting better every year. I am under the assumption he is an integral part of the Cowboys' plans going forward. 

The next player you would be giving up on is your first-round pick last year, Mazi Smith.

Adams even addressed this in his reasoning for the mock:

The Cowboys just took a defensive tackle in 2023, but Mazi Smith struggled in 2023 and shouldn't be handed the starting job next season. While I don't think they should give up on him, I think Jer'Zhan Newton is simply better than him. Newton is my top DT in this year's class and has the power and speed to open up a lot of possibilities for the Cowboy's talented edge rusher duo. 

Mazi did struggle, that is no secret. But, as we have already addressed in previous articles, that fault is not his alone given the Cowboys asked him to drop weight. If you take Newton in the first round to play Mazi's role, what do you do with Mazi? 

At a lowered weight, and his tape as it currently stands, he wont fetch you much capital in a trade. 

Your best plan of action is to work with him to add the weight back and see what he can do.

If he successfully adds the weight back and still struggles, that should give you some ease of mind when moving on from him. If you move on from him at this point, you still don't know what you're getting from him as a player. Keep in mind, defensive tackle is usually a position in which players take long to develop and Mazi was a perceived as a athletic freak with a ton of upside.

If it were my mock draft, I would have had the Cowboys taking one of the offensive linemen in Tyler Guyton, or Amarius Mims. The Cowboys' offensive line needs help, as many of the stars of old are on the last leg of their careers.