The Dallas Cowboys wrapped up their work in the 2026 NFL Draft by making East Carolina wide receiver Anthony Smith their final selection with the 218th overall pick. It is always exciting to see how these late-round fliers turn out, and the Cowboys are bringing in a player who can add some spice if his game translates to the professional level.
The Cowboys are getting a highly experienced player who spent six years at the collegiate level. He spent his first four seasons at NC State, where he struggled
to get on the field before transferring to East Carolina for his final two years, where his career truly took flight. He proved to be a big play waiting to happen, averaging a massive 19.5 yards per reception in 2024 and racking up an impressive 1,053 yards last season. By the end of his time at ECU, he was dominating the game plans and taking up a great majority of the team’s target share.
It is easy to see the traits that grabbed the attention of the Cowboys’ scouting department. Smith offers legitimate instant acceleration and true breakaway speed that allows him to function as a pure deep threat on the outside. He pairs that raw speed with good height and a wide catch radius, and he shows a natural knack for tracking the ball smoothly over his shoulder on those long vertical routes.
He can struggle with creating separation on shorter, more nuanced routes and needs to continue building his overall play strength. He has shown some ineffectiveness as a run blocker and has a tendency to catch the ball with his body rather than his hands, which can result in some frustrating drops. Additionally, he does not have much special teams experience, which is usually a requirement for players looking to secure a depth role on an NFL roster.
Smith enters a crowded receiver room in Dallas and will likely spend his summer competing for one of the final roster positions at the bottom of the depth chart. With the team losing Jalen Tolbert in free agency, the front office loves to bring in yearly late-round receivers just like this to battle it out for those final spots. He joins a unit where he will have to scratch and claw for every single repetition in practice to prove he belongs in the regular season rotation.
He certainly has a lot of work ahead of him if he wants to see any meaningful playing time during his rookie season, but his blow-by speed should make for a highly entertaining training camp. If he can polish up his route running and make an impact on coverage units, he could easily turn into a massive steal for the Cowboys. Get ready, because watching him stretch the field this summer is going to be a lot of fun.
