Dallas blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead in Arizona and fell to 3-5, and the defense Jerry Jones rebuilt after trading Micah Parsons now allows the most yards in the NFL. A new 2027 NFL mock draft uses the pick that came back in that trade to add Tennessee defensive lineman Xavier Gilliam.
Going into Week 9, the Packers’ first-round pick that belongs to Dallas is slotted at No. 20, and that pick is going to Gilliam in Luke Easterling’s latest projection. Easterling wrote that the defense “still needs a ton of help despite plenty of recent investments at every level,” and that the problem “starts in the trenches.”
Quinnen Williams has been the anchor up front, and he’s been honest about what’s going wrong. Williams took accountability for the defense’s struggles this week, but he can’t control the line of scrimmage by himself.
The help hasn’t come from the edge yet, either. Rookie Malachi Lawrence played a season-high 40 snaps against Arizona, but his 47.7 run-defense grade from PFF ranks 101st among 110 edge defenders.
Gilliam needed no time to settle in at his new school. Easterling called him “one of the fastest-rising prospects in the entire class” and “an absolute game-wrecke...