Mel Kiper is back with a new mock project. This is conference championship weekend for four NFL teams, which means there are three games left in this NFL season. This is all well and good, but the reality is that the majority of the league is concerned with coaching recruiting and off-season preparation. This means there are mock drafts everywhere.
Mel Kiper released its first simulation of the year on Wednesdayy and he has the Dallas Cowboys with heavy hitters on defense.
12 – Dallas Cowboys
Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State
If you wanted to score points in 2025, all you had to do was take on the Cowboys defense. They allowed a league-high 30.1 points per game. This is another spot where Jermod McCoy could make sense, although DaRon Bland (foot) will be back in 2026. And I think Keldric Faulk could fit in here if he’s still on the board. But Dallas could really use an impact player in the middle of the defense. Styles is a former security guard, and that’s no surprise once you see his speed. He can close in on ball carriers and pass receivers in a flash. With 174 tackles over the last two seasons, he’s top 10 for me.20 – Dallas Cowboys (via GB)
Akheem Mesidor, DE, Miami
Miami lost in Monday’s national championship game, but have you watched Mesidor? He had two sacks, bringing his season total to 12.5. He has been around college football for a long time, playing at West Virginia in 2020 and 2021 before transferring to Miami. Mesidor has battled injuries, but his toolbox is full. His curvature, burst and power could help the Cowboys regain some of the pass rush they lost in the Micah Parsons trade in August. Mesidor can get into the backfield quickly and finish, recording 17.5 tackles for loss and four forced fumbles last season. Taking Sonny Styles at No. 12 and then Mesidor here would help Dallas’ defense greatly – but Jerry Jones should figure out the secondary on Day 2 or in free agency. This is yet another hole on this side of the ball.
Sonny Styles is a very popular pick for the Cowboys at 12th overall. Most of the mockery you see has Dallas taking him there and someone like Jermod McCoy (who Kiper notes he considered there) or Avieon Terrell with Green Bay’s pick.
Advertisement
Kiper zigzags against that zag, though. While he gives the Cowboys a top talent in the heart of their defense with Styles, he goes with Miami’s Akheem Mesidor at 20th overall. It’s certainly true that Mesidor had a great national championship game and the Cowboys need a passer (ironic given how they acquired that pick!), so the logic makes sense.
As Kiper notes at the end of his article on Mesidor, the Cowboys are not approaching the secondary with any of these picks. He mentions that Dallas could look to consolidate this on Day 2 or in free agency, which presents some interesting issues:
-
The Cowboys aren’t exactly known for seriously diving into free agency
-
Right now, the Cowboys don’t have any Day 2 picks because they traded them both (the second round as part of the Quinnen Williams trade and the third round for George Pickens).
Having multiple first-round picks is a luxury, there’s no doubt about that, but the Cowboys still have a lot of work to do to make the most of their overall draft capital. An argument can be made that Kiper’s approach is the right one if the Cowboys were hypothetically taking care of the secondary, but you never know.
What do you think?
