ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. has published his fourth mock draft of the year, and like two of the three mocks he put out previously, he has the Dallas Cowboys taking a defensive end with the fourth overall pick.
Unlike those earlier mocks, it isn’t Oregon’s DeForest Buckner that Kiper has coming to Dallas, but, via Todd Archer of ESPN Dallas, Ohio State’s Joey Bosa.
Bosa has been linked to the Cowboys in mock drafts before, just not by Kiper. Aside from the two mocks in which he had Dallas going with Buckner, he also had one where they addressed the quarterback situation in the first round and drafted North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz.
There have been reported concerns that Bosa has already reached (or come close to reaching) his ceiling, but that’s far from a unanimous opinion. Former Redskins and Texans general manager turned NFL Media analyst Charlie Casserly recently made the case that Bosa at No. 4 would be a fine pick for the Cowboys.
“Some people will say he's not an elite player; shouldn't be taken that high. To me he's better than Ziggy Ansah, who (was drafted) around that point, he's better than Leonard Williams, who should've gone by that point in the draft," Casserly told NFL Network’s Path To the Draft. "And guess what? He's a safer pick and will be more productive than Jadeveon Clowney has been. That answers that question to me."
