Cowboys 7-round mock draft: How Dallas can get back to title contention

The Dallas Cowboys remind me a bit of myself in high school: bad student, good test taker.

It might drive everyone around you crazy, but you can usually mitigate your own inaction during the semester if you nail the final. And, as inactive as the Cowboys might be during the busy weeks of free agency, they do routinely offset that bad habit by hitting home runs in the draft.

Once again, that appears to be the strategy. The Cowboys made a handful of solid signings in March, but not nearly enough. As a result, they head into the draft with big-time needs on both sides of the ball. Wide receiver, running back, cornerback and both lines have holes. But truth be told, just about every position group on the roster except quarterback looks like it could use upgrading.

Adding a fun wrinkle to the proceedings is that the Cowboys' sense of urgency should be fueled by recent shortcomings. As good as they are at the draft in general, their past two classes have been disappointments by the lofty standard set in Dallas. 

They can't afford another dud if they're going to contend in the NFC this year. In fact, they need this draft class to be nothing short of an A+.

Let's dive into a seven-round Cowboys mock draft and see if we can ace the test.

I don't think you need expert analysis to know that the Cowboys are searching for a receiver at the top of this draft class. And if Arizona's Tetairoa McMillan falls to them, I think he'd ultimately be their pick here.

But I wanted this scenario to be tougher. For the purposes of this exercise, let's say McMillan went far earlier than many expected, and several of Dallas' other targets — Ashton Jeanty, Mykel Williams — were gone, as well.

What's the play in that scenario? Matthew Golden is