It seems like almost every report about a potential first-round pick in the 2026 NFL draft refers to the player as a “future Pro Bowler,” and if the author is hedging his or her bets, it’s a “potential Pro Bowler.” Historically, the first round hasn’t produced quite as many Pro Bowlers as these reports would have you believe. In the 10 drafts between 2010 and 2019, the first round has produced an average of 14.6 players who made it to the Pro Bowl at least once in their career.
The Dallas Cowboys,
like every other team, would like to make sure they grab one of those future Pro Bowlers. Over the ten drafts from 2010-2019, six out of the ten players drafted at #12 made the Pro Bowl, and three out of ten at #20. That gives the Cowboys odds of almost 50% that at least one of their first-round picks makes the Pro Bowl.
That got me thinking: as nice as it would be to draft a future Pro Bowler, the next few Dallas Cowboys Pro Bowlers are probably already on the Cowboys roster.
This year, the Cowboys sent eight players to the Pro Bowl, including George Pickens, who made the Pro Bowl for the first time – and not just as a Shadeur Sanders-type alternate, but as a proper reserve player (#3 NFC WR).
So, which Cowboys players could make their first trip to the Pro Bowl following the 2026 season?
One way of approaching that question is to take our recent ranking of the 2025 Dallas Cowboys roster from top to bottom as a starting point, and picking out some candidates. I’ve augmented that ranking with the 2026 free agent/trade acquisitions and departures, and added the 2025 AV and PFF grade for each player. Here’s a short reminder of what the AV points and PFF grades mean:
body .sbnu-legacy-content-table td, body .sbnu-legacy-content-table th, body .sbnu-legacy-content-table { border: 1px solid #000 !important; border-collapse: collapse !important; }| Approximate Value | Pro Football Focus | ||
| Points | Description | Grade | Description |
| >19 | MVP- or Player Of The Year | >90 | Elite |
| 12-19 | All-Pro/Pro Bowl | 80-90 | High Quality |
| 6-12 | Starter quality | 70-80 | Above Average |
| 3-6 | Backup/limited playing time | 60-70 | Average |
| 1-3 | Role player | 50-60 | Below Average |
| <1 | Scrub | <50 | Poor |
I’m going to assume that regardless of where a given player is ranked specifically, the top 24 players on that list (plus a four-name “honorary mention” list) should provide somewhat of a shortlist for possible Pro Bowlers.
Here are the first 11 players.
body .sbnu-legacy-content-table td, body .sbnu-legacy-content-table th, body .sbnu-legacy-content-table { border: 1px solid #000 !important; border-collapse: collapse !important; }| Rank | Player | Approx. Value | PFF Grade | Pro Bowls |
| 1 | Dak Prescott | 15 | 86.9 | 4 |
| 2 | George Pickens | 14 | 85.9 | 1 |
| 3 | CeeDee Lamb | 10 | 77.6 | 5 |
| 4 | Quinnen Williams | 9 | 85.7 | 4 |
| 5 | Javonte Williams | 9 | 75.3 | — |
| 6 | Tyler Smith | 9 | 73.5 | 3 |
| 7 | Terence Steele | 9 | 63.6 | — |
| 8 | Cobie Durant* | 7 | 65.5 | — |
| 9 | Tyler Booker | 6 | 72.0 | — |
| 10 | Rashan Gary* | 6 | 68.9 | 1 |
| 11 | Kenny Clark | 6 | 67.6 | 3 |
Out of this top 11 list, only four players could be first-time Pro Bowlers in 2027.
Of the two offensive linemen, Tyler Booker is the clear front runner. He’s coming off a strong rookie season, has upside, and has a high draft pedigree. Former UDFA Terence Steele has none of that, and his six years in the NFL don’t give a lot of confidence that a sudden breakout to a Pro Bowl-level performance is imminent.
And what applies to Steele probably applies to Cobie Durant as well, except Durant’s first challenge may be getting a starting spot on defense. A three-year starter for the Rams, the fourth-round pick out of South Carolina State may be much more valuable for the Cowboys if he can play the slot like Orlando Scandrick or Jourdan Lewis did, neither of whom ever made the Pro Bowl.
Javonte Williams will likely need to eclipse 1,600 rushing yards to receive consideration, and that’s a tall order in the Cowboys’ pass-heavy offense. And even then, it’ll be hard to get a nomination at a position dominated by big-name players with high draft pedigrees.
Up next: the second group of Cowboys players ranked 12th – 24th, where the number of Pro Bowlers thins out considerably.
body .sbnu-legacy-content-table td, body .sbnu-legacy-content-table th, body .sbnu-legacy-content-table { border: 1px solid #000 !important; border-collapse: collapse !important; }| Rank | Player | Approx. Value | PFF Grade | Pro Bowls |
| 12 | Cooper Beebe | 5 | 67.9 | — |
| 13 | Jake Ferguson | 5 | 59.4 | 2 |
| 14 | Tyler Guyton | 5 | 57.5 | — |
| 15 | Ryan Flournoy | 4 | 80.3 | — |
| 16 | Jalen Thompson* | 4 | 68.7 | — |
| 17 | KaVontae Turpin | 4 | 61.6 | 3 |
| 18 | Donovan Ezeiruaku | 3 | 73.1 | — |
| 19 | T.J. Bass | 3 | 67.6 | — |
| 20 | DaRon Bland | 3 | 65.2 | 1 |
| 21 | Malik Hooker | 3 | 60.8 | — |
| 22 | Sam Williams | 3 | 57.5 | — |
| 23 | Jonathan Bullard* | 3 | 58.9 | — |
| 24 | Nathan Thomas | 3 | 39.2 | — |
Three names stand out to me in this group, and those three names my prove to be the saving grace for the underwhelming Cowboys drafts of the last three years: Cooper Beebe, Ryan Flournoy, and Donovan Ezeiruaku.
The case for Beebe is fairly simple. Tyler Biadasz made the Pro Bowl in 2022 (as an alternate, but still) with a PFF grade of just 60.5. Beebe is a better center than Biadasz. With a healthy season, and playing between Tyler Smith and Tyler Booker, the entire interior offensive line could be Pro Bowl-bound.
Playing on the same offense as CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, Ryan Flournoy will find it very hard to put up the type of numbers Pro Bowl voters like to see, despite his very strong PFF grade.
For Donovan Ezeiruaku, like for every Cowboys defensive player, a lot hinges on the defensive turnaround the Cowboys expect this year. In addition, Ezeiruaku should also benefit from playing as a 3-4 OLB, and he’s just one season removed from leading the nation in sacks (16.5) for Boston College in 2024. If the Cowboys coaches stop trying to make him a run-stopping DE and let him loose as a pass rusher, good things should happen.
Sacks are still the pass rusher’s currency of choice, and Ezeiraku fell short on that metric with just two sacks last year. But his pass rush win rate of 12.6% was second only to Abdul Carter’s 14.7% among the top 10 edge rushers drafted last year, so there is reason for optimism. Will it be enough to get a Pro Bowl nod at a position dominated by some of the biggest names in the game?
On to our final table, which is more of an honorable mention section.
body .sbnu-legacy-content-table td, body .sbnu-legacy-content-table th, body .sbnu-legacy-content-table { border: 1px solid #000 !important; border-collapse: collapse !important; }| Rank | Player | Approx. Value | PFF Grade | Pro Bowls |
| 27 | DeMarvion Overshown | 2 | 67.4 | — |
| 28 | Shemar James | 2 | 39.9 | — |
| 29 | Marist Liufau | 2 | 40.7 | — |
| 34 | Shavon Revel | 1 | 35.2 | — |
A healthy DeMarvion Overshown is a strong Pro Bowl candidate. During the 2024 season in particular, Overshown flashed a lot of potential, but a second knee injury set him back again in 2025. He’s already entering his contract year, but if the Cowboys find a way to play him to his strengths, he can still go places.
Shemar James and Shavon Revel had rough rookie seasons, and playing on the worst defense in the league didn’t help much. Along with Marist Liufau, the hope here is less about Pro Bowls and more about an improved performance in 2026 that will see them ranked much higher on these tables next year.
My picks as the most likely first-time Pro Bowlers are Tyler Booker, Cooper Beebe, and DeMarvion Overshown. These three, along with improved 2026 performances from Ryan Flournoy, Donovan Ezeiruaku, Shavon Revel, Shemar James, and Marist Liufau would also go a long way towards changing our collective perceptions of the last three drafts – even if that has no bearing whatsoever on what happens on the field. Add two 2026 first-round picks to the mix, and chances are indeed high that we’ll see at least one first-time Pro Bowler for the Cowboys next year.
Overall, a lot of young talent has been added to the Cowboys roster over the last few years, but injuries and inconsistent performance has kept many of these players from meeting expectations – and ultimately contributed to two consecutive losing seasons.
A Pro Bowl nomination by itself is meaningless of course for the product on the field. But it often signals that the underlying performance is among the best in the league, and that type of performance is what we want to see a lot more of in Dallas.
The good thing is that if previous seasons are anything to go by, the best chances all of the above players have of getting post-season honors is for the entire team to jump out to an early start – teams with the best records heading into December traditionally get the most Pro Bowl nominations.
Which Cowboys players do you think are most likely to make their first Pro Bowl trip next season?
