While it’s paramount that NFL teams hit on their early draft picks, the best drafting teams tend to separate themselves in the event’s later stages: Rounds 5-7.

Although the Dallas Cowboys have a robust history of finding diamonds in the rough in undrafted free agency, they’ve been a bit hit-or-miss when it comes to finding talent late in the draft. The Cowboys have hit a couple of home runs in the sixth round recently (Anthony Brown and Xavier Woods), but they haven’t done a great job of improving their depth overall in these later stages.

Let’s look at a few late-round prospects who could help improve Dallas’ hit rate in Rounds 5-7. To keep things somewhat realistic, every player mentioned below is currently trending as a late-round pick according to Grinding The Mocks, which compiles mock drafts from all over the industry to create a stock report for each prospect.

James Morgan, QB, Florida International

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy may have played tight end in college, but as an NFL coach, he’s become revered for his ability to develop quarterbacks. Aaron Rodgers is his star pupil, but Matt Flynn is the best example of McCarthy developing a late-rounder into a competent NFL quarterback.

Flynn never turned into a starting-caliber player, but he was an effective backup during his two stints with the Green Bay Packers. Flynn’s play during his first stint earned him a free agent contract from the Seattle Seahawks in 2012, which helped earn a fifth-round compensatory pick for the Packers in 2013. During his second Packers stint (signed November 2013), Flynn proved to be incredibly valuable, as his 2-2 record with Rodgers injured helped Green Bay sneak into the playoffs after a Week 17 win with Rodgers back in the fold.

McCarthy’s ability to develop quarterbacks is a big reason why Green Bay continued to take late-round prospects during his tenure despite the fact the starting spot was secured. Instead of paying a good chunk of change for a veteran backup, McCarthy typically prefers young, developmental quarterbacks to back the starter.

So despite Cooper Rush being the team’s current young, developmental backup, the Cowboys could draft a quarterback in the late rounds, where Florida International’s James Morgan is one of the most intriguing options.

Currently trending as a fifth-rounder, the Cowboys have shown interest in the small-school quarterback during the pre-draft process. Yahoo Sports’ Eric Edholm reported that Dallas is one of the teams showing “legitimate” interest in Morgan. It’s tough to know what exactly legitimate interest really is, but it’s easy to see why Dallas would be intrigued by Morgan after watching his tape.

Morgan transferred to FIU after three years at Bowling Green. At FIU, he posted 5,312 passing yards, 40 touchdowns and just 12 interceptions in two seasons while averaging 7.8 yards per attempt. Morgan was much more productive in his junior season (2018), as an ankle injury suffered in Week 1 appeared to hinder his play throughout his senior year. He was much more efficient when fully healthy, putting up more yards and touchdowns despite fewer attempts.

Though his senior season saw a step back in his play due to injury, Morgan has made the most of the pre-draft process. He was especially impressive during his performance at the Shrine Game, where he finished 9 of 14 for 116 yards and a touchdown.

Listed at 6-4, 229 pounds with 9 3/4-inch hands, Morgan possesses coveted NFL size that translates to the field. Given he is a late-rounder, he’s still a very raw prospect who needs to fine-tune his mechanics, footwork and decision-making, but his size, physical traits and fearlessness under pressure make him someone worth developing.

Morgan’s arm strength allows him to whip passes into tight windows before defenders can converge on the ball. He can drive the ball on passes outside the numbers with ease from a proper base, and he loves a steady diet of deep shots to keep defenses honest.

Though he doesn’t do it with enough consistency, Morgan has shown some ability to throw with touch by varying the trajectory of his throws, displaying the ability to drop a pass in the bucket over a receiver’s shoulder by putting more air underneath his pass.

Morgan does have a nasty tendency to drift back when holding the ball, which makes him very susceptible to edge pressure, but he shows promising pocket mobility to avoid interior pressure. The problem is when he escapes pressure, Morgan tends to make ill-advised decisions that can lead to turnover opportunities for the defense (above clip).

He also checks the intangibles box in his evaluation.

Overall, Morgan isn’t someone who’s ready for NFL game action right now, but his size, toughness, arm talent and fearlessness make him a great option to be McCarthy’s next developmental project at quarterback.

Reggie Robinson II, CB, Tulsa

It’s tough to find well-rounded players late in the draft, so teams are looking for players with draftable traits that are worth developing.

If you are looking for a late-round player with such traits, look no further than Tulsa’s Reggie Robinson II. Listed at 6-1, 205 pounds with 31 1/2-inch arms, Robinson has outstanding size to go with his bully mindset at the line of scrimmage. He is an explosive player with impressive straight-line speed for his size but does struggle some when it comes to change of direction.

One of Robinson’s most impressive performances last season came against Oklahoma State, when he matched up primarily against stud receiver Tylan Wallace, who led the nation in 20-plus-yard catches and should be a relatively high draft pick when he declares.

Robinson did an excellent job of disrupting Wallace’s routes at the line of scrimmage with effective jams and squeezing his outside releases to the sideline, giving the quarterback minuscule throwing windows deep. On one snap, Robinson was even able to run Wallace out of bounds, which is a great illustration of his dominance at the line of scrimmage.

Unfortunately, Robinson’s physicality in coverage can lead to a lot of holding or defensive pass interference penalties in the NFL. College football is much more lax when it comes to the contact defensive backs are allowed to make on receivers, but Robinson was still called for eight penalties in 2019. This is worrisome for a player who relies so much on physicality to stay in-phase with receivers in coverage.

Outside of his ability to play press and jam receivers at the line of scrimmage, Robinson displays adequate zone awareness to go with promising ball skills, finishing 2019 with three interceptions and 13 pass breakups. He uses his size and 36-inch vertical to contest plays above the rim, as he does a nice job of meeting the ball at its highest catch point to either intercept or deflect it.

Unfortunately, Robinson does appear to be tight in the hips, which is why he struggled with the agility drills at the combine. This makes him very susceptible to hard angles (comeback, curl) and speed cuts (out, dig), when he has to throw on the brakes, drop his hips and explode out of the break.

Robinson also tends to give up too much cushion from off coverage. While it does make him tough to beat deep, it also causes him to give up a lot of cheap stuff on stop and quick-breaking routes.

Currently trending as a fifth-rounder, Robinson would be a worthwhile selection on Day 3 to improve future depth at the position. Even if the Cowboys select a cornerback early, Robinson warrants consideration late as someone who can come along slowly as he develops the finer details to his game.

Anfernee Jennings, EDGE, Alabama

While the first two players on this list are small-school sleepers who could be steals, Alabama’s Anfernee Jennings is a worthwhile target who fulfills Dallas’ tendency to target prospects from Power Five schools late in the draft.

In the last three years, the Cowboys have made 14 picks between Round 5-7 -- only two of whom played at non-Power Five schools (Louisiana Tech’s Xavier Woods and Western Kentucky’s Mike White). It’s safe to assume most of Dallas’ later-round selections will come from big schools.

Well, it doesn’t get much bigger than Nick Saban’s Alabama program, where Jennings developed into one of the star players on defense. After a gruesome knee injury ended his 2018 season early, he bounced back with a career year as a senior, posting 83 tackles, 12.5 for loss, eight sacks and five pass deflections.

Jennings isn’t a flashy player nor is he exceedingly athletic, which limits his upside, but at 6-2, 256 pounds with 32 7/8-inch arms, he is a tough, strong and smart player who will do the dirty work and provide value as a role player.

As a pass rusher, Jennings is at his best when identifying and taking advantage of inside counter opportunities. Given his lack of athleticism, it makes sense why Jennings would be adept at taking the more direct inside route than the longer path outside.

AJ does a great job of using the same initial footwork to setup multiple rushes. On both rushes, AJ steps to 77's midline before expanding vertically on 2nd step.



1st rush: Long arm that stalls out.

2nd rush: Inside swim where getting tackled prevents him from applying pressure pic.twitter.com/dK4u5MCG6Z — John Owning (@JohnOwning) April 13, 2020

Jennings does an excellent job of using the same initial footwork to set up multiple rush moves, which breaks a blocker’s rhythm and keeps him guessing. The above clip is a great example because Jennings uses the same footwork to set up moves that attack different edges of the blocker.

Alabama EDGE Anfernee Jennings times the snap perfectly and initiates with a long arm stab. He then uses his off-hand to control 76's outside wrist before using a rip to clear contact and corner. pic.twitter.com/xXOnviOMTL — John Owning (@JohnOwning) April 13, 2020

While he needs to deepen his pass-rush repertoire, he displays an adequate series of moves based on his long arm. When he gets a good jump on the snap, Jennings loves to use his long arm to maintain distance between him and the tackle, gaining the necessary space to corner once he defeats the hands (above clip).

As a run defender, Jennings is simply too strong and adept at close-quarters hand-fighting for tight ends. LSU’s Thaddeus Moss is one of the best blocking tight ends in this class, but he was taken to school repeatedly by Jennings at the point of attack.

Against tackles, Jennings’ lack of length tends to hinder his effectiveness. He does consistently play with proper pad level and leverage at the point of contact, but struggles to create necessary space to escape. This causes him to stick to blocks when he isn’t able to immediately shed.

Jennings played from a wide variety of alignments that included the line of scrimmage and off-ball. While his play style lends itself better to defensive end, his usage at Alabama suggests he could also be a hammer as a SAM linebacker in a 4-3 under front that lets him take on and destroy tight ends at the line of scrimmage and lead blockers in the run game.

Ultimately, Jennings, who is trending as a Day 3 selection, would be an excellent selection who could immediately provide value on special teams and as a role player on defense.

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