The Dallas Cowboys were one of an amazing seven teams to come away with more than one player from the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, but just one of two along with the Kansas City Chiefs to draft two defensive players. The opportunity to do so in a big way was staring the Cowboys in the face after the run on defense started just a little bit later than anticipated. The Cowboys need a makeover led by young talent on defense, and coming away from night one of the draft with Caleb Downs and Malachi
Lawrence is one of the best possible starts to achieving this.
After the Arizona Cardinals made a wild card pick at running back with Jeremiah Love third overall, and the Tennessee Titans followed it up at fourth overall with wide receiver Carnell Tate, the New York Giants started the run on defense – and specifically Ohio State defenders – by drafting pass rusher/linebacker Arvell Reese at five.
Coming into the draft, there was a lot of smoke that the ensuing sixth overall pick was a spot the Cowboys would be interested in trading up to with the Cleveland Browns. With both Sonny Styles and Caleb Downs from Ohio State still on the board, the reasons to make such a trade up may have been there, but the Browns ended up trading it to the Kansas City Chiefs instead. When the Chiefs used the pick on the draft’s top cornerback, Mansoor Delane from LSU, filling the void left by trading Trent McDuffie to the Rams, it became clear very quickly that the Cowboys best option could be just letting the board come to them.
The rival Washington Commanders kept another top Ohio State defender in the NFC East one pick later with Sonny Styles, a true middle linebacker type that will join a familiar Dan Quinn defense and add much needed athleticism and speed. Cowboys fans will be familiar with how Quinn undervalued the linebacker position for years in Dallas, a trend that has continued in Washington, bucking this trend with a prospect too good to pass up in Styles, but perhaps ignoring bigger overall roster needs for the Commanders.
The next three picks all went offense with wide receiver Jordan Tyson to the New Orleans Saints, tackle Spencer Fano to the Cleveland Browns, and the Giants using the pick they got from the Bengals by trading away Dexter Lawrence on tackle Francis Mauigoa.
In almost any other recent Cowboys draft in memory, tackle and wide receiver would be first round needs that Dallas would be interested in. The Giants getting Reese at five instead of Styles or Downs may have been a big part in why they passed on Downs at 10th overall, as well as their perpetual need at tackle, but teams moving up to fill needs on offense remained a story all night even after Downs became one of the best picks of the night to Dallas.
The Cowboys can go into day two and three still targeting needed depth on offense, where tackle and wide receiver will begin to make a lot more sense, but starting off the draft with Downs became such a no-brainer that the team traded up one spot from 12 to 11 with the Miami Dolphins to get their guy. Any chatter of potential “wipe out” scenarios for the Cowboys that would force them into an offensive pick if they couldn’t trade up higher than they did from 12 were put to bed definitively by landing a top-rated defender.
This 11th overall pick capped the run on the Ohio State trio that led them to the college football playoffs in consecutive seasons under former NFL defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. Versatility and football IQ were plus traits for all three of Reese, Styles, and Downs, but the Cowboys likely got the most versatile with a player they envision at the nickel spot with Downs. Cowboys fans do not have to look far to see the impact a top nickel defender can make in a Christian Parker defense, as it was a highlight of recent Philadelphia Eagles defenses.
Downs is comfortable making plays from the box against the run, coming down from depth as a sure tackler, and covering in man like a nickel cornerback with fluidity. This is a defender that started his college career playing for Nick Saban, and then the NFL factory that is Ohio State, where he was the “quarterback” of a defense that saw two teammates drafted ahead of him – both to teams he’ll now play against twice a year.
The Cowboys getting Downs to start their draft was truly a best case scenario, even beyond most mock drafters dreams. The cost of trading up one spot to do it left work to be done though, as the Cowboys gave away both of their fifth-round picks in the process. Trading up only one spot also allowed the Cowboys to keep their 20th overall pick, which was one of their clear pre-draft goals. Using this pick as another trade chip may not have been as premeditated, but yet again their strengths on offense compared to other rivals needs made it possible. So too did having Ahkeem Mesidor, Keldrick Faulk, Cashius Howell, Jacob Rodriguez, C.J. Allen, and Chris Johnson all still on the board, all as potential options to continue bolstering the defense.
The Cowboys trade partner for the 20th overall pick was the Philadelphia Eagles, who are working through a cluttered depth chart at wide receiver which for the moment still includes A.J. Brown. Their third offensive coordinator in three seasons, Sean Mannion, saw the team add yet another receiver with the 20th pick in USC’s Makai Lemon. Mike McCarthy and the draft-hosting Pittsburgh Steelers were reportedly set to take Lemon with the 21st overall pick. McCarthy’s first draft with the Cowboys, his previous team, saw Dallas take CeeDee Lamb in the first round. The Steelers did stick with offense and drafted tackle Max Iheanachor, but helping create the need for Philly to trade up to get Lemon was the bigger deal.
The contrast here is that the Cowboys already signed their 1A wide receiver George Pickens to his franchise tag just hours before the draft, which kept his future with the team in place should the team stick to that being their plan, but also left a trade possibility for Pickens on the table.
The short wait from 20th overall to 23rd didn’t come without the Chargers snagging Mesidor one pick before the Cowboys would have had a chance at the Miami edge rusher, but they still got an impact pass rusher with Malachi Lawrence. Out of the list of options at 20 above, Faulk and Johnson went on to be drafted in the final nine picks of the first round, but Howell and both linebackers remain on the board. Yet again, two more wide receivers a bit surprisingly coming off the board following the Cowboys pick at 23 helped set this up, as the Browns took KC Concepcion 24th overall immediately following the Lawrence pick, and the Jets made their third pick of the round and second on offense with Indiana WR Omar Cooper Jr. with the 30th pick.
The Cowboys still don’t have a second round pick to get in on the start of day two action for now, but with their wheeling and dealing in the first round still have six remaining picks, four of which are in the top 150 of this draft.
With consensus being that Dallas has already added two quality defensive starters, these remaining picks loom large to continue building depth not just for the defense, but likely at the positions their rival teams had to address in the first round. They also drafted specifically at positions they addressed earlier in the offseason with trades and free agent signings, adding Downs to a secondary with newcomers P.J. Locke, Cobie Durant, and Jalen Thompson, and Lawrence to a front seven with Rashan Gary, Jonathan Bullard, and Otito Ogbonnia in the fold – as well as Quinnen Williams for his first full season as well.
The comparisons between Reese, Styles, and Downs all playing in the NFC East will be fascinating, but the Cowboys first round was about them being a team with the highest level of trust in their quarterback and what’s been built around him on offense. Their most desperate need was for players that can help bring down the level of opposing quarterbacks to maximize the consistent play-making ability of Dak Prescott, which the Cowboys not only got in Downs but Lawrence as well. Brian Schottenheimer specifically mentioned Lawrence’s speed rush ability and consistent motor as a factor in drafting him to get after other mobile NFC East quarterbacks like Jayden Daniels, Jaxson Dart, and Jalen Hurts.
The Schotty/Prescott battery also being the only unaffected QB/play-caller duo in the division could go a long way here too, as the Eagles move forward with Mannion, the Commanders will go from Kliff Kingsbury to David Blough in 2026, and Matt Nagy taking the reigns on John Harbaugh’s initial staff with the Giants.
The Cowboys regressing at positions they don’t give enough attention to in the offseason has been a trend that’s hurt them multiple times under multiple head coaches the last several years. For the immediate future though, their foundation and “house” on offense is built around Schottenheimer, Prescott, Lamb, and Pickens, as well as an offensive line with ascending players Tyler Smith at left guard, Cooper Beebe at center, and Tyler Booker at right guard.
What new defensive coordinator Christian Parker’s foundation could be built on was much more of a question coming into the draft, but by landing Caleb Downs, Parker has a house in Dallas now – with Stephen Jones also revealing at the post-draft presser that Parker had been so busy with draft preparation, he was yet to buy a home in the DFW area, but could do so in confidence now with the nickel defender everyone in the organization wanted wearing a star.
The Cowboys became a more complete, complementary, and certainly athletic team on defense with their picks in the first round of this draft, and when compared to the teams that will make up six games on next year’s schedule, potentially made the biggest difference with their choice off the Ohio State lot, Caleb Downs, plus Lawrence.
