The Dallas Cowboys’ season is over, and they have earned the 12th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. The Green Bay Packers’ season is also over. They have earned the 20th overall pick in the draft, but
that pick goes to the Cowboys thanks to the Micah Parsons trade. That gives Dallas the 12th and 20th picks in the draft. That’s a lot of first-round firepower.
The last time the Cowboys had two picks in the top 20 was in 2005. Some might remember that as the “defensive draft” as Bill Parcells and company loaded up on defenders. Six of the eight players they drafted that year played defense, with the two offensive guys being RB Marion Barber III (fourth round) and OT Rob Petitti (sixth round). The defensive players the Cowboys selected that year were:
- DE DeMarcus Ware (Round 1)
- DE Marcus Spears (Round 1)
- LB Kevin Burnett (Round 2)
- DE Chris Canty (Round 4)
- DB Justin Beriault (Round 6)
- DT Jay Ratliff (Round 7)
Some of those names should look familiar to you, as most of them hung around the league for a while. Five of those six players played at least nine seasons in the NFL. Three of them played at least eight seasons with the Cowboys. Two of them were All-Pro players with at least four Pro Bowls on their resume. And finally, one of them was a Hall of Fame edge rusher.
The Cowboys would love to come away with a similar haul. Oddly enough, the team’s draft picks line up similarly to where they were picking back in 2005. They have a top 12 pick, the 20th pick, no second rounder this year because of the Quinnen Williams trade, but then five picks on Day 3 outside the top 100.
What is also similar about this is that the three top edge rushers in the draft are currently projected to go in the top 12 picks: Miami’s Rueben Bain, Texas Tech’s David Bailey, and Auburn’s Keldric Faulk. The Cowboys are in a great position to snag one of the best pass rushers coming out of the draft with their 12th overall pick. Expecting him to be a Hall of Famer is quite optimistic, but the chances of landing a top-talent edge rusher the year after losing Parsons are pretty decent. How nice would it be to have a top college edge opposite second-year edge Donovan Ezeiruaku while having guys like Williams, Kenny Clark, and Osa Odighizuwa filling the interior?
While the 2005 defensive draft concentrated on beefing up the defensive line, the Cowboys have needs all over the defense. The team may target Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles at 20, or maybe one of the top corners, like Tennessee’s Jarmod McCoy. They have options.
For the team to match the success of the 2005 draft class, they also need to hit on a couple of players on Day 3. Fourth-round pick Chris Canty was a reliable starter for three straight years before signing with the New York Giants after his rookie deal was over. And the big win was seventh-round gem Jay Ratliff, who spent eight years with the team, including four-straight Pro Bowl seasons.
The Cowboys haven’t selected a player outside the top 100 who has turned into a starter in each of the last three seasons. The last time they did that was in 2022 when they selected both Jake Ferguson (129th overall) and DaRon Bland (167th overall). The team will need to hit on Day 3 if they hope to gain more than just a couple of defensive starters in this draft.
Having two top 20 picks is a great opportunity to add some huge help on defense, and hopefully, the Cowboys can produce a strong, contributing haul similar to what they got in 2005.
