Dallas Cowboys could have its eyes on these two former Alabama players
The 2021 NFL Draft is fast approaching, as we are getting deeper into the NFL Playoffs and the Senior Bowl is only a few weeks away. After a disappointing season, Dallas Cowboys fans are already circling prospects that they hope to be on the team's board come April. Dallas is picking inside the top-10 for […]
The 2021 NFL Draft is fast approaching, as we are getting deeper into the NFL Playoffs and the Senior Bowl is only a few weeks away. After a disappointing season, Dallas Cowboys fans are already circling prospects that they hope to be on the team's board come April.
Dallas is picking inside the top-10 for the first time since 2016, when the drafted running back Ezekiel Elliott fourth-overall out of Ohio State University. This year, it appears that the Cowboys will be focused on improving its defense — either in the secondary or across the defensive line.
The defensive back crop in this year's draft class appears to be strong at the top of the board. Virginia Tech's Caleb Farley, Alabama's Patrick Surtain II, and South Carolina's Jaycee Horn are just three names that have been linked at the position to the Cowboys.
Farley chose not to play the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns, Horn opted out late in the season after a strong campaign, but Surtain played every game this season in helping the Crimson Tide win a national title.
Alabama just completed one of the most dominant seasons in the history of college football. Nick Saban's squad ran the table against an all-SEC schedule before blowing out both Notre Dame and Ohio State in the College Football Playoffs. Wide receiver Devonta Smith won the Heisman Trophy, while quarterback Mac Jones and running back Najee Harris both finished in the top-5 of the award's voting.
The Crimson Tide did not have a vintage Nick Saban defense in 2020, but there were some stars on that side of the ball that could very well be on the Dallas Cowboys' radar. Surtain is one of them.
Patrick Surtain is a legitimate option for the Dallas Cowboys in the first-round.
Surtain, as mentioned above, decided to play each and every game this season admist a flurry of opt-outs around the country. The son of former NFL defensive back Patrick Surtain, the younger Surtain solidified himself as one of the best cornerbacks in all of football.
The former five-star prospect was hardly tested by quarterbacks during his final season in Tuscaloosa, but he still found ways to make an impact for the Tide. Surtain finished the 2020 season with 37 total tackles, 3.5 tackles-for-loss, nine pass deflections, and one pick-six.
The Athletic's Dane Brugler, perhaps the top draft mind in the industry, is high on the Alabama product. Brugler ranked Surtain as the eighth-best prospect in the class back in November.
Although he might not be an elite speed athlete, Surtain is a terrific cover man with his ability to pattern match from press and find the football downfield. He holds a master’s degree in subtle physicality, keeping receivers off balance without collecting penalties. Surtain will be an attractive prospect for an NFL defense looking for a press-man corner.
Dallas will almost assuredly be in the market to draft a defensive back early in the 2021 draft. Assuming that is indeed the case, Surtain will likely be at or near the top of the team's board.
Pairing the 6-foot-2, 202-pound corner with the lengthy and athletic Trevon Diggs — similar to their days in Tuscaloosa — in Dan Quinn's defense would not be a bad move for a team looking to make major improvements on the defensive side of the ball.
Defensive tackle Christian Barmore could be a name to watch for the Cowboys.
Another position that will likely be one of the team's biggest priorities of addressing this offseason will be defensive tackle. Dallas invested in the position through free agency last spring, but the results were not great. Gerald McCoy's season ended before it ever began, while Dontari Poe was cut halfway through the year.
Additionally, 2019 second-round pick Trysten Hill tore his ACL during the same game in which Dak Prescott's season ended. Hill had a downright awful rookie season before flashing a little bit in his second season. It remains to be seen how the UCF product will perform after suffering his knee injury.
Therefore, it would be smart to add a player at the position through the draft. Unfortunately, the defensive tackle class does not appear to have a dominant, clear-cut top guy this year. There is no Jeffery Simmons, Quinnen Williams, or Derrick Brown for the Cowboys to target.
Alabama's Christian Barmore is a player that the Cowboys could have its eyes on early in the draft. Barmore is a prospect that came on strong during the end of the 2020 college football season, flashing the potential that made Brugler include the Philadelphia native in his top-50 back in November.
There isn’t much debate: Defensive tackle looks like the most underwhelming position in the draft. Barmore is the only player at the position to make my top-50 list and even he needs a lot of work. But the explosion for a player his size is the type of trait NFL teams usually bet on.
The 6-foot-5, 310-pound defender totaled 10 tackles, three tackles-for-loss, and a pair of sacks in the final two games against Notre Dame and Ohio State. Those two peformances likely boosted his draft stock, making him a player that the Cowboys could potentially trade back in the first-round to grab.
He was constantly disrupting the line of scrimmage against the Buckeyes in the title game, an element that the Dallas Cowboys desperately need along their defensive line.
Barmore may not be worth a top-10 pick as it sits right now in January, but he still has the NFL Combine and team interviews as opportunities to continue to climb up draft boards. Nonetheless, it would be smart of the Cowboys to do their due diligence on Barmore, as he appears to have a high ceiling in the interior of the defense once he gets into the NFL after playing just two seasons on the collegiate level.
Nick Saban has had a lot of success producing NFL stars, and Patrick Surtain II and Christian Barmore appear to be next in line — assuming they both declare for the 2021 NFL Draft.
Featured image via Tuscaloosa News-USA TODAY Sports
