Role Call: Curtis Robinson gives Cowboys depth, experience at LB – Tommy Yarrish, DallasCowboys.com
The Cowboys could use a Justin Durant-level player to emerge in training camp. Maybe it’s Curtis Robinson.
How He Got Here:
A California native, Robinson played five seasons with the Stanford Cardinal from 2016-2020 before going undrafted in 2021. Since then, Robinson has carved out a role on multiple NFL rosters with a lot of work on special teams, with a career 432 special teams snaps.
After the 2026 NFL Draft, the Cowboys signed Robinson, who was the only free agent Dallas added at the linebacker
position. They also traded for Robinson’s teammate with the 49ers and LB Dee Winters, giving the Cowboys two of San Francisco’s more experienced linebackers from 2025 after both Winters and Robinson saw increased playing time due to injury.
What’s Next:
Going into the 2025 season, Robinson had taken just three total snaps on the defensive side of the ball since 2022. He would take 248 for San Francisco last year, the most in his career, and ended up being a good depth piece at the position for the 49ers while also continuing his role on special teams, with a career high 194 snaps in the third phase of the game.
Not only can Robinson give the Cowboys a player that can help on special teams, but with a lot of unknowns in the linebacker room, he’s now shown that he can step in and take those defensive snaps if Dallas needs him too. It would seem that guys like DeMarvion Overshown and Winters are higher on the depth chart, but Robinson’s experience can help separate himself from some of the younger players he’ll be competing with.
Cowboys and Lions Could Link Up For Trade After Terrion Arnold Release – Mike Moraitis, Cowboys on SI
Maybe by the end of training camp, Dallas will feel good enough about their cornerback room to trade one away.
Cowboys could have excess at cornerback
After what we saw last season with injuries and ineffective play, it’s hard to envision a world where the Cowboys could have an extra cornerback available for trade, but it’s possible.
The Cowboys have DaRon Bland at one boundary spot and he figures to be locked in to that job, at least to begin the season. Whether or not he keeps it or stays healthy remains to be seen.
At the other boundary spot, Dallas has Cobie Durant, Shavon Revel and Caelen Carson competing for the starting job. Then, Dallas has Caleb Downs set to man the slot, with Durant likely serving as the backup there.
All of that and we haven’t even mentioned the presence of fourth-round pick Devin Moore, who is a total wild card but could still carve out some semblance of a role for himself. How fast the rookie develops could determine how willing the Cowboys are to part with one of their cornerbacks.
But if all goes well and Moore is looking ready to contribute, Dallas may have five viable cornerbacks with Moore, Bland, Revel, Durant and Carson, which could make one of them expendable, although we certainly wouldn’t rule out Dallas leaving nothing to chance after last year’s issues and keeping all of them.
Who is most likely to be traded?
There are many reasons to believe why Carson would be the guy who gets moved, and first and foremost because he’s the least likely to win the starting competition on the boundary.
We also just don’t see the Cowboys giving up on a third-round pick like Revel that quickly, and the team just added Moore and Durant this offseason. Take Bland off the table, also, as his contract is simply too big to move.
Carson’s NFL sample size is small because of injury and he only has 14 games under his belt, but he does have some promising numbers in his limited opportunities.
In 2025, Carson gave up a completion rate of 57.9% and a passer rating of 88.9 when targeted on 19 attempts. He also posted a strong Pro Football Focus run defense grade of 76.3.
20 Questions: Aside from Downs, which rookie makes the biggest impact? – Dallas Cowboys Staff Writers
We can only hope the 2026 draft class can replicate the success of the 2016 class a decade ago.
20) Aside from Downs, which rookie makes the biggest impact?**
Patrik: My first instinct here is to go with Malachi Lawrence, and I don’t doubt he’ll make an impact in Year 1, but the first year in the league is rarely a breakout campaign for edge rushers — alongside the fact there are young veterans at the position who will get their shot (such as Sam Williams and James Houston). That said, I’m drawing a circle around rookie cornerback Devin Moore, and for a couple reasons.
Positionally speaking, Moore is more of a boundary cornerback than anything, and there have been serious availability issues with DaRon Bland. I am a firm believer Bland can return to form if he can stay healthy, but the foot injury has nagged him. If Bland misses time, it likely thrusts Moore in rotation with Caelen Carson (but Carson is in the final year of his contract). I believe Christian Parker and Ryan Smith want to develop the fourth-rounder to be a longterm solution at boundary CB, the same formula attached to Shavon Revel. Moore might be a pleasant surprise as early as Year 1, in my opinion.
Tommy: Go ahead and call me basic for picking the second first-round pick, but I do think that it’s Malachi Lawrence. This is a pass rushing unit that has a lot of youth spread around it, and Dallas is banking on that youth to grow up and formulate a strong combination of good pass rushers. Lawrence has all the traits you could want in a pass rusher but may need some time to grow accustomed to NFL play. If he ends up learning and developing at a quicker rate, I think there’s absolutely a world where he’s considered to be the Cowboys’ best pass rusher early in his career.
For the 2026 season, if there’s noticeable growth and he’s able to at the very least show the flashes of what made Lawrence a first-round pick based on the tape from UCF, I think that makes the biggest impact for Dallas outside of Caleb Downs. The good news for Lawrence in the learning process is I think he’s got a strong group of position coaches around him in OLBs coach Chidera Uzo-Diribe and pass rush specialist consultant BT Jordan to be able to tap into his skillset early and make the necessary tweaks to his game that’ll foster growth.
Nick: Immediately after the draft, I answered a question on here about my favorite Day 2/3 pick and I went with LT Overton. So I’m not going to change that answer here. I think it applies just the same because I really like the plan and vision the Cowboys have for Overton. Unlike the other rookies, the Cowboys do have players that play the same spots as Barham, Lawrence, Shelton and Moore.
But Overton is quite unique in that he’s pretty much the smallest and quickness of the defensive tackles. I get the sense the Cowboys are going to use him on passing downs and he can lean on his pass-rushing skills but from the inside. It won’t surprise me if he can get around the 5-6 sack range even as a rookie. That would be a huge impact and so for that reason, the fact that he already seems to have a carved-out role, that will be my selection here.
Daily discussion question: What has to happen for you to believe this team has a real shot this season?
