If there is one thing that you can point to that Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys have done well as an organization, at least over the last several years, it has been drafting collegiate talent and hitting on some impactful players. This has been particularly true in the first round.
Look no further than guys like Micah Parsons, Tyler Booker, Tyler Smith, and CeeDee Lamb as a few of the high picks to become Pro Bowl-caliber assets almost immediately. On Thursday, in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, they came away with some really solid plug-and-play picks.
After trading up to the 11th slot, they got their man, Ohio State safety Caleb Downs. And they followed that up with another ascending defender in Malachi Lawrence after trading down three spots with their bitter rival Philadelphia Eagles.
By swapping picks with the hated Eagles, however, Dallas missed out on a guy who is going to be a true stud defensive player in the NFL: Akheem Mesidor out of Miami. The Chargers took him with the 22nd pick, a slot ahead of Dallas, and the Cowboys may regret this decision down the road.
Akheem Mesidor is a game changer as both an edge rusher and interior DL
After having one of the worst defenses in franchise history during the 2025 NFL season, everybody and their dog knew that the Cowboys were going to invest their first-round picks in a pair of defensive studs.
They got the field general and ball hawk in Downs, but could have made it a truly special start to the draft by also getting Mesidor, who many project to be even more promising than teammate Reuben Bain Jr., who went at No. 15 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Mesidor is a Dee Ford-type of twitchy defensive lineman who can beat guards in the A and B gaps. He also exceeds going high with tremendous tilt to get around the tackle, showing excellent bend and closing speed, using heavy hands at the point of contact.
The 6-foot-3, 270-pounder showed during the draft process how serious and completely focused he is on being a dominant NFL defender by working with a personal trainer to shed unnecessary weight and to add muscle.
Moving up to snatch Downs was a nifty move, but choosing the pure pass rusher, Lawrence, out of UCF, where he didn't face top-tier tackles in the Big 12, instead of keeping the 20th selection and taking the battle-tested Mesidor was a miss by Jerry Jones and the Cowboys' front office.
Lawrence could end up just like former Cowboy greats DeMarcus Ware and DeMarcus Lawrence and turn into a sack machine. He's clearly who the new defensive coordinator Christian Parker has been angling toward over the last several weeks.
And with former UCF defensive staffer Demetriene Brim brought on board as well, it almost felt like a fait accompli. Also, Mesidor is at least headed way out west to the AFC. Fans should be thankful he didn't land in the city of brotherly shove with their already formidable defensive unit.
Still, the Cowboys will rue the day they didn't get Mesidor at 20.
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