As expected, the Cowboys went heavy on defense in the 2026 NFL Draft, and we would have done the same based on our board.
Actual selections
1.11: S Caleb Downs
1.23: EDGE Malachi Lawrence
3.92: LB Jaishawn Barham
4.112: OT Drew Shelton
4.114: CB Devin Moore
4.137: EDGE LT Overton
7.218: WR Anthony Smith
Wolf Sports selections
1.11: S Caleb Downs
1.23: CB D’Angelo Ponds
3.92: CB Jermod McCoy
4.112: LB Harold Perkins Jr.
4.114: G DJ Campbell
4.137: DL Zane Durant
7.218: TE John Michael Gyllenborg
Thoughts
Dallas was clearly targeting Caleb Downs with their first selection last month, and giving up a couple of fifth-round picks was well worth moving up a spot to assure themselves of getting an elite prospect who dropped out of the top 10. Downs has the versatility to play all over the field, and he is set to begin his career by primarily playing the slot role in new defensive coordinator Christian Parker’s scheme—with a chance to completely transform the unit.
It was interesting to hear the Cowboys—based on the The Pick Is In draft special on ESPN—were deciding between Malachi Lawrence and Georgia linebacker CJ Allen with their second selection in Round 1, and getting both Downs and Allen might have been a bit scarier for the rest of the league as two of the most intelligent players in the class. Still, they have big expectations for Lawrence to boost the edge rush, and Dallas later added a versatile piece in Jaishawn Barham—who is set to play off-ball linebacker for them but also showed the ability to get after the quarterback from the edge.
We would have locked down the cornerback group with the selections after Downs by taking D’Angelo Ponds (our No. 4 overall prospect) over CJ Allen (No. 11), and then Jermod McCoy’s fall would have ended in the late third round; remember, there were talks of him being in play as early as No. 12 to Dallas in the pre-draft process, but he obviously slipped due to his knee injury. While perhaps that would have been overkill with DaRon Bland already on the roster, Ponds has the skillset to play inside (if Bland indeed wants to stay on the perimeter), and Downs could be used as more of a traditional safety—which is arguably a better fit anyway.
In real life, the fourth round began with a couple of upside swings for the Cowboys by taking Drew Shelton at offensive tackle and Devin Moore at cornerback. Moore in particular could pay huge dividends if he can stay healthy as a long, rangy, and athletic cornerback with outstanding ball skills. We would have gotten a linebacker in Harold Perkins Jr. who is similar to Jaishawn Barham in terms of off-ball/edge versatility, and DJ Campbell was too good of a value to pass up; he could back up Tyler Booker at right guard and potentially factor in on the left side if Tyler Smith were to play left tackle (though that’s not expected to happen).
The other fourth-rounder for Dallas was LT Overton as a prospect who can be developed as either an outside linebacker or defensive end in a 3-4 scheme, and we went with a penetrating three-technique with Zane Durant to provide juice inside behind Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark.
In the seventh round, both the Cowboys and our board would have went with a pass-catcher, as Anthony Smith will try to carve out a role behind CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, while John Michael Gyllenborg has exciting mismatch potential despite going undrafted.