(Editor's Note: With the Dallas Cowboys heading into the April 25-26 NFL Draft with 11 picks, DallasCowboys.com's 12-part Draft Series will break down the Cowboys position by position, analyzing what they have at the particular position, what their needs are and just who might be available, along with including some interesting draft nuggets. Part 5 will feature safeties.)

IRVING, Texas - Everyone has a mock draft this time of the year.

There could be a million of them available on the internet, and though they're all unique, not a single one can accurately predict the results of the NFL's selection process, coming up April 25-26. There aren't nearly as many mocks projecting the second round, but it seems like there's a consensus among those that do: The Cowboys will pick a safety, any safety, with the No. 51 overall pick.

Though the team swears it is set to pick the best player available regardless of position, a safety very well could be the choice. With Roy Williams now gone and Keith Davis' future still unclear, the team will need to pick a safety at some point during draft weekend, and a handful of players capable of addressing their need should be available at that point. The Cowboys already signed Gerald Sensabaugh from Jacksonville, but shouldn't stop there in an effort to solidify what was one of the team's biggest weaknesses in 2008.

What They Have: A six-year, $39 million contract was given to Ken Hamlin after a brief holdout last summer, and so far it hasn't looked like a great deal for the Cowboys. The former Seahawks second-rounder is coming off a down season, especially considering the Pro Bowl expectations he built during his first year with the Cowboys in 2007. His whiffs on Le'Ron McClain and Willis McGahee to close out Texas Stadium are fresh on a lot of minds, and he generally wasn't around the ball as much in 2008. But it didn't help that the Cowboys couldn't keep anyone healthy at the other safety position, and Hamlin was nicked up by the end of the year.

There's no way to know if he'll ever return to the Pro Bowl, but right now Hamlin is the best safety the Cowboys have, and the stability his contract insures has to count for something at a position the Cowboys have struggled to fill since Darren Woodson's retirement. Other than Hamlin, the Cowboys don't really know what they have at the position.

Sensabaugh has started 24 of 50 games in four NFL seasons, but he wasn't a prized free agent. Pat Watkins has had injury troubles and might be a career special teamer, and Tra Battle was on the Chargers' practice squad for most of last season, joining the Cowboys for the final five games. A seventh-round pick in 2007, Courtney Brown was a regular on subpackages last year, but finished with only seven tackles, just two more than running back Marion Barber.

The position is so weak the Cowboys have even considered transitioning Orlando Scandrick to a hybrid safety and cornerback role, and while that would mean getting one of their best defensive backs on the field, he would be among the smallest safeties in the league.

What They Need: The position of safety is changing in the NFL as the passing game continues to expand and offenses deploy extra receivers with greater frequency. The Cowboys had that in mind when they began to consider moving Scandrick, and it's partly to blame for the declining play of Roy Williams. Bigger, and thus slower, inside-the-box safeties like Williams could be extinct in a matter of years, especially those who are challenged to cover tight ends and running backs. When they draft a safety the Cowboys are going to have to be a little forward-thinking, but also mindful of what they have in Hamlin, who the coaching staff considers a natural free safety.

Unless they are comfortable moving Hamlin to strong safety, the Cowboys would need someone capable of coming up to play the run, but with coverage instincts and ability as well. The catch, of course, is that the Cowboys will be at the mercy of 50 teams picking in front of them, and a player with that kind of versatility and talent would probably be in high demand.

Even if the Cowboys do use their top pick on a safety, there's no guarantee he would be a starter this year. If the Cowboys go through with their Scandrick idea or Sensabaugh wins the starting job, a rookie would probably be relegated to the nickel and dime defenses next season, or maybe just special teams.

Who's Out There: The names of the second-round quality safeties in this draft should be pretty familiar by now since the Cowboys have been linked to each of them in one mock draft or another. Western Michigan's Louis Delmas is a popular choice, as are Missouri's William Moore, Oregon's Patrick Chung and Alabama's Rashad Johnson. Clemson's Michael Hamlin (no relation to Ken Hamlin) is in the second- and third-round mix with Wake Forest's Chip Vaughn and Darcel McBath of Texas Tech.

Many consider Delmas the best safety in the class. He was a four-year starter at Western Michigan, earning second-team All-MAC honors as a junior and a first-team selection last year. He was a team captain both of those years as well, led the Broncos in tackles in 2008 and finished the year with four interceptions. He measured 5-11, 202 pounds and ran the 40-yard-dash in 4.50 at the combine, third-fastest among safeties.

Moore was projected as a first-round pick after his junior season, but disappointed as a senior in '08. He measured 6-0, 221 pounds and ran the 40 in 4.51 seconds in Indianapolis. Chung may be the most polished safety in the class after starting 51 games during his Oregon career. The 5-11, 212-pounder was first-team All-Pac 10 during his junior season and declared for the 2008 draft before reversing course and returning for another all-conference performance.

Johnson is considered a centerfielder type, in part because of his slender frame. He was listed at 187 pounds in college, smaller than even Scandrick, which has created concerns about his durability. He showed up to the combine weighing 203 pounds, but many scouts apparently feel the weight gain was superficial and he'll play closer to his college weight in the NFL.

And if they're really looking for the next Woodson, TCU's Stephen Hodge was a college linebacker who many project as a safety in the NFL, the same as Woodson. He was among those attending the team's workout for local prospects Monday.

Draft Nuggets: Notre Dame safety David Bruton is the cousin of champion sprinter Tyson Gay . . . Delmas played defensive back, receiver, kick returner and long snapper in high school . . . Johnson arrived in Tuscaloosa as a walk-on running back, but left as a permanent team captain and second-team All-America safety . . . Moore had a difficult home life as a child and briefly spent time in a mental institution before he was eventually taken in by a teammate's family in middle school . . . Ole Miss safety Jamarca Sanford is the cousin of Rebels first-round defensive tackle Peria Jerry . . . Mississippi State's Derek Pegues is the cousin of former NFL linebacker Dwayne Rudd.

Look Back: There's a decent argument for the Cowboys to take more than one safety in this year's draft since the position is such a large need, but there's no way the team can equal the number it drafted in 1992. The Cowboys picked five safeties that year, spending one-third of their picks at the position. Two of the picks, 10th-rounder John Terry of Livingstone College and 12th-rounder Donald Harris of Texas Tech, never played for the team. Fifth-rounder Greg Briggs of Texas Southern and ninth-rounder Chris Hall of East Carolina made the squad but neither played more than one season for the Cowboys. Second-round pick Darren Woodson (No. 37 overall) of Arizona State worked out OK, so well in fact that the team is still trying to fill his shoes five years after his retirement.

Up Next: Cornerback

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