Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli is against using a high pick on nose tackles. He believes teams can find those players in the later rounds.
The Cowboys drafted a pair of potential nose tackles in the seventh round last season – Joey Ivie out of Florida and Jordan Carrell out of Colorado – and neither even made the practice squad.
But could that theory change this season?
ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. has pegged the Cowboys as using the 19th overall pick in this year’s draft on Washington defensive tackle Vita Vea in his first mock draft released Thursday.