FRISCO, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys kept the focus on defense in the second round of the NFL draft Friday night, taking Kentucky cornerback Kelvin Joseph with the 44th overall pick.
Cornerback was arguably the greatest need on a unit that allowed the most points in franchise history while going 6-10 in coach Mike McCarthy’s first season in 2020.
Dallas lost a starter in Chidobe Awuzie to Cincinnati in free agency, a year after 2015 first-round pick Byron Jones signed an expensive contract with Miami.
It was the first pick of a busy second day for the Cowboys, who had three third-round selections, at 75, 84 and 99 overall. The middle pick came from Philadelphia in a trade down in the first round on opening night, when Dallas dropped two spots and selected Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons at No. 12 overall.
Joseph will face questions about character after LSU suspended him for the bowl game during the 2018 season for a violation of team rules. Joseph transferred to Kentucky, sat out 2019 and played the first nine games last year for the Wildcats before opting out of the final two games of the coronavirus-altered season.
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