Dallas Cowboys Begin "Top 30" College Player Visits

ARLINGTON— With the draft fast approaching, the Dallas Cowboys have begun their “Top 30” visits and the list could be telling who they will target come draft day.

Over the past few seasons, this Top 30 list, which are draft eligible players who teams can bring in that are usually high-profile players.

The Cowboys’ list so far:

1. Quentin Johnston- WR- TCU (10)
2. Zay Flowers- WR- Boston College (20)
3. Trenton Simpson- LB- Clemson (34)
4. Emmanuel Forbes- CB- Mississippi State (40)
5. Josh Downs- WR- North Carolina (45)
6. Jalin Hyatt, WR- Tennessee (47)
7. Steve Avila- OL- TCU (50)
8. Jaquelin Roy- DT- LSU (83)
9. Zach Evans- RB- Ole Miss (105)
10. Tyrique Stevenson- CB- Miami (131)
11. Marte Mapu- DB/LB- Sacramento State (142)
12. Atonio Mafi- OL- UCLA (157)
13. Jonathan Mingo- WR- Ole Miss (192)
14. Brayden Willis- TE- Oklahoma (198)
15. Tanner McCalister- S- Ohio State (201)
16. Clayton Tune- QB- Houston (246)
17. Payne Durham- TE- Purdue (270)
18. Tyler Lacy- DL- Oklahoma State (307)

(This list is based off a CBS Sports ranking to give a sense of where each player will go in the draft)

After this, the Cowboys have about 10 more visits to set up. But this list could tell fans where Dallas is looking early in the draft. They appear to be looking at a wide receiver and a possible defensive back or linebacker.

Johnston, the TCU wide receiver, is one of the better receivers in the draft. The 6’3” junior Horned Frog looks like a prototypical “X” receiver in the NFL, and the Cowboys might need help at that position in the coming years.

Free agency is for “what the team need now,” while the draft is for “what the team will need later.” When the Cowboys took Ceedee Lamb in 2020, they did not need a receiver. They had Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup. Now, Lamb is the guy in Dallas. Also, his contract will come up, and wide receiver is a money position. Adding Johnston, Downs, or Flowers makes sense.

Forbes out of Mississippi State, Simpson out of Clemson, and Avila out of TCU are slotted just before the Cowboys second round pick, currently at 58th overall. One thing the Cowboys did last year was that it was known that they like Sam Williams, who was the Cowboys’ second round pick last season.

All three of those players make sense for the Cowboys. With Gilmore and Diggs along with DaRon Bland, makes up a solid base. But again, contracts come up and Diggs won’t be cheap, so Forbes makes sense.

Simpson makes a lot of sense to not only keep Micah Parsons free to be Micah Parsons and the Cowboys aren’t super stacked at the linebacker position.

TCU offensive lineman, Steve Avila, makes complete sense possibly in the first round. He can play any position on the offensive line and with some injury issues, no one will be complaining adding a lineman.

The 2023 NFL Draft is currently set for the end of April. The first round will take place on Thursday, April 27, 2023. The second and third rounds take place on Friday, April 28, 2023, and the fourth through the seventh rounds take place on Saturday, April 29, 2023.