It's going to be a busy week for the Dallas Cowboys staff, especially the defensive coaches.
The club will host 18 draft prospects this week, 17 of them on the defensive side of the ball, led by some of the top talent available in the 2017 NFL Draft. The list, per Albert Breer of MMQB, includes USC CB Adoree' Jackson, Ohio State CB Gareon Conley, Tennessee DE Derek Barnett and Michigan DE Taco Charlton. The lone offensive player in this week to see the Cowboys is USC WR JuJu Smith-Schuster.
The Cowboys hold the No. 28 overall pick of the draft and have defensive needs both in the secondary and at defensive end. NFL clubs are permitted to host only 30 prospects on pre-draft visits, so Dallas will burn through more than half of theirs this week alone.
Other defensive prospects visiting the Cowboys this week include Washington CB Kevin King, UConn DB Obi Melifonwu, UCLA CB Fabian Moreau, Clemson CB Cordrea Tankersley, Louisiana Tech S Xavier Woods, Oregon State CB Treston DeCoud, Florida CB Teez Tabor, Colorado CB Chidobe Awuzie, Colorado S Tedric Thompson, Ohio DE Tarell Basham, UCLA DE Takk McKinley, Florida CB Quincy Wilson and Villanova DE Tanoh Kpassagnon.
If you were counting along, that was nine cornerbacks and five defensive ends. Although he's not visiting the Cowboys this week, Wisconsin pass rusher T.J. Watt has been scheduled as well. It might be premature to say the Cowboys are going to emphasize defense in the draft, but it's fairly obvious that they'll explore that possibility this week.
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