NFL Draft: Does Cowboys Meeting Mean Pinpointing of Baylor WR Mims?

NFL Draft: Does the Dallas Cowboys 'Virtual Meeting' With Baylor WR Denzel Mims Mean He's Being 'Pinpointed'?

FRISCO - One thing about the COVID-19-driven alterations in the 2020 NFL Draft process: Given that there are essentially no limits regarding "30 Visits'' and the like (because there are no face-to-face visits at all) and given that technology is now the way teams are "meeting'' with players ... If a report says "the Dallas Cowboys have 'met' with so-and-so''?

It's probably true. Because given the lack of limitations, there is no reason to not "virtually visit'' with every so-and-so a team can grab hold of.

Content is unavailable

That doesn't entirely explain away Dallas' visit with Baylor wide receiver Denzel Mims. He tore up the NFL Scouting Combine. He's got size at 6-3, 216. And he can fly, as demonstrated by his 4.38 40-yard dash time at Indy. ... and those numbers at Baylor (in his final season, 66 catches, 1,020 yards and 12 TDs) are the real deal.

It's no secret that Dallas is (while all along using "Best Available Player'' as a guideline) leaning toward defense with its No. 17 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. ... but that receiver is also on the wish list. The Cowboys locked up Amari Cooper with a new long-term contract and they believe two-year-vet Michael Gallup has WR1 promise, too.

So they will certainly flirt with the idea of taking a Jerry Jeudy (Alabama) or a CeeDee Lamb (Oklahoma) if they're available with the first pick ...

But Mims embodied one of the truths of this draft class: It is receiver-heavy. There are steals to be had after Round 1 and sleepers to be had throughout. Our guy Dane Brugler recently projected Mims to go No. 33, with the first pick in the second round, to the Bengals. Our understanding is that the Cowboys will eventually put a second-round grade on the 22-year-old from Daingerfield, Texas. ... and then hope he's still there when they select at No. 51 in Round 2. (Our colleague Bryan Broaddus at 105.3 The Fan project Mims as a second-round NFL selection.)

The Cowboys know area prospects extremely well and have long had a pipeline to Baylor. (By the way: They don't get to have a "Dallas Day'' this year, either, which robs them of a definitive NFL edge.) They are continuing to learn about Denzel Mims in a way that is something well short of "pinpointing'' ... but also something worth watching on April 23-25 when Round 1 flips to Round 2.


Published
Mike Fisher
MIKE FISHER

Mike Fisher - as a newspaper beat writer and columnist and on radio and TV, where he is an Emmy winner - has covered the NFL since 1983 and the Dallas Cowboys since 1990, is the author of two best-selling books on the Cowboys.