Mauricio Rodriguez talks about the latest mock draft projection from Mel Kiper Jr., who says that the Dallas Cowboys will take North Carolina RB Omarion Hampton in the 1st round this year.
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00:00So the same man that predicted out of left field that the Cowboys would select Tyler Smith in 2022
00:06is pointing towards one man and one man only when it comes to the Cowboys number 12 overall pick in
00:13the 2025 NFL draft. Hey what's up everyone it's Mauricio Rodriguez here at ADZ Sports Dallas.
00:22Remember 2022 out of nowhere the Cowboys began being linked to Tyler Smith. Now at the time
00:29heading into the draft Tyler Smith was supposed to be a top 50 prospect but a little bit closer to the
00:3750 than towards the first round and pretty much no one had him as early as the Cowboys picked him
00:43which was 24th. Mel Kuyper Jr. from ESPN predicted that he was on top of the Cowboys selecting Tyler
00:50Smith since early in the draft process. He started mocking him to Dallas a whole lot and now in 2025
00:57that's what I think about when I see Mel Kuyper mock the same player to the Cowboys in three
01:04consecutive mocks on Marion Hampton running back from North Carolina. I'm not saying Kuyper Jr.
01:12is absolutely gonna be correct but it is definitely noteworthy especially because on Tuesday he mocked
01:20Hampton to the Cowboys even though every wide receiver was available at that moment excluding
01:26Travis Hunter who's obviously gonna go in the top five picks but Kuyper Jr. has been insistent in Hampton
01:32going to the Cowboys and I guess it checks out when you look at it from several layers and we'll break
01:38them down right here. Number one the Cowboys need a running back that much is obvious they only have
01:44Javante Williams and Miles Sanders as of now in addition to Deuce Vaughn but neither of those two
01:50veterans has averaged over four yards per carry since three years ago which is obviously not great.
01:57Now additionally they did hire Brian Schottenheimer as head coach they've talked about implementing a run
02:03game and you just know the Cowboys are looking at what Philadelphia Eagles had with Saquon Barkley and
02:09what the Baltimore Ravens had with Derrick Henry and they want some of that they absolutely do so
02:15running back should be in play early on however at first it was only Ashton Jinty and the Cowboys
02:21being tied together but now that Jinty is expected to go even earlier in the NFL draft Hampton has
02:27burst into the scene now this is important as well it's not only that the Cowboys seem interested in
02:35Hampton according to insider Jordan Schultz from Fox he is going to go very early Hampton is and
02:42according to him the stock is rising he is perceived by the league as someone who is closer to Jinty's
02:48caliber than he is to whoever the running back three of this class turns out to be but the league
02:54likes Hampton it seems and the Cowboys might be a strong example by the way and this is important
03:01because here was my whole theory going into this year's draft was maybe the Cowboys don't value the
03:07running back position as much as they did early on why because they signed Ezekiel Elliott to a
03:13massive extension and then they regretted it admittedly regretted it they talked about this
03:18publicly then they allowed Tony Pollard to walk in free agency and then this year the same with
03:25Rico Dowdle who ended up heading to the Carolina Panthers so my theory was well if they allowed those
03:32two guys to walk do they want to pay a premium pick on for a running back the answer might be yes
03:39if we look at their top 30 visits ahead of the draft these matter when you're looking at what the Cowboys
03:44do in the draft they're up there's always a link uh with that being said the Cowboys did host Omar and
03:51Hampton on a top 30 visit not only that though they also hosted Trayvon Henderson from Ohio State
03:57and Quenchen Judkins from the Buckeyes to Ashton Jim today didn't host but because he was a attendee to
04:04the Dallas local pro day so they don't have to host him in the top 30 visit but the interest for
04:09running backs specifically early round running backs is there this is to say even if we don't like it
04:16Hampton is a very realistic choice for the Cowboys at number 12 overall I cannot say that I'm a super fan
04:22of it but I can see the justification for it one of the big ones is that there are not a lot of
04:29players considered first round talents in this year's class so Hampton might turn out to be the
04:33quote-unquote safe pick for the Cowboys this is a realistic choice brace for it and Mel Kuyper Jr.
04:40seems to believe it will happen
04:42so