The Cowboys need a host of defensive reinforcements, and one star comes through the draft.
Entering the offseason, it is clear to most that the Dallas Cowboys' defense requires urgent attention.
With new defensive coordinator Christian Parker taking over from Matt Eberflus, he's gone about selecting his staff.
Once that is done, the job of fixing this awful defense takes center stage.
Free agency will be upon us in a little over a month, and we have already listed just some of the names the Cowboys could go after to plug some holes.
Alex Singleton, Devin Bush, Reed Blankenship, and Nakobe Dean, just to name a few, are a couple of players who would be nice additions.
But then we get to the NFL Draft, and this is where Cowboys Nation gets excited.
Two first-round draft picks (No. 12 and No. 20) give the Cowboys lots of firepower to address whatever needs they don't get to in free agency.
So, where could the Cowboys go?
Linebacker, safety, pass rusher, and corner are the glaring choices, and for CBS Sports' Ryan Wilson, Ohio State's Caleb Downs hears his name called.
"Downs could be a Troy Polamalu-level talent in the NFL," Wilson wrote. "He's only 5-foot-11, and he may not end up running a 4.35-second 40-yard dash, but I don't care. Not even a little bit. Both Kyle Hamilton and Brian Branch Jr. slipped on draft day because of mediocre 40 times.
"They're two of the best young defensive backs in football. Downs is a run-game enforcer and has the sideline-to-sideline juice, coupled with the short-area burst, to excel in pass coverage."
His diagnostic ability is what jumps out for most draft experts, with Downs a heat-seeking missile once he gets a read on the play.
A game-wrecker at the line of scrimmage, Downs is also stout in the run game, due to his incredible ability not to be fooled by misdirection, something that the Cowboys' defense did routinely under Eberflus.
We know of the Cowboys' thoughts on safeties via our own Mike Fisher, as Dallas thinks it can simply plug-and-play at the position.
But if Downs is available at No. 12, it would be hard to pass on the Ohio State stud.