Coming into the 2026 offseason the linebacker position in Dallas was among the biggest problem on the Cowboys roster. To the shock of some, the Cowboys went through free agency and night one of the 2026 NFL draft without addressing the linebacker position. On day two of the draft, the Cowboys added some new blood to the linebacker room by trading for San Francisco 49ers LB Dee Winters and drafting Michigan LB/EDGE Jaishawn Barham in the third round.
While many still think that may not be enough, there’s
reason to believe they will be just fine there. Unlike other positions on defense, linebacker play in the NFL has a lot to do with what goes in front of you. If the defensive line is playing assignment sound football and handling their blocks, life gets a lot easier for the second-level defenders filling holes and making tackles.
In recent years. the Cowboys defensive line was built on creating chaos. Under Matt Eberflus and Dan Quinn, the job of the interior defensive line was more about shooting gaps, creating negative plays, and getting into the backfield in a hurry. That boom-or-bust style of defense can be very effective when it works, and very ineffective when it doesn’t.
In 2026, early signs point to this defense playing much cleaner football up front with their newly built defense. While the Cowboys defense will still want to create negative plays, the theme may be more focused on creating less explosive plays for opposing offenses.
Linebackers Kenneth Murray, Jack Sanborn, and even DeMarvion Overshown were heavily scrutinized last season, and while that unit needed to play better, it wasn’t all on them. Not only did the linebacker unit improve in 2026, but the defense as a whole seems to be more bought in on working as a unit.
With the defensive line expected to focus more on leveraging their gap, that should allow these linebackers to play cleaner in between the tackles and use their speed and explosiveness to make tackles for limited gains on the edge. That in itself could have this linebacker group play well above the expectation and help limit big plays by opposing offenses throughout the regular season.
If Overshown is able to stay healthy, Winters is able to be the player he was on film in 2025, and Barham makes an impact in year one, this unit could surprise many, which would be a big win for the Cowboys defense.
