The Dallas Cowboys entered the 2026 Draft with a lot of noise surrounding them, but the topic of that noise quickly shifted to how well the team drafted.
Dallas started the draft with two first-round picks and made two trades on Night 1 that helped the team land promising defensive prospects safety Caleb Downs and edge defender Malachi Lawrence. Those two picks, plus the other five selections the Cowboys made, are why they are believed to have aced the draft.
Longtime draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. recently made that case in an ESPN piece, grading all 32 teams. Kiper had Dallas tied for the best grade with an A.
Mel Kiper gave the Dallas Cowboys' 2026 NFL Draft an 'A'
The reason Dallas graded so well is that the team paid attention to its needs, and it addressed those needs with some really promising prospects.
Kiper highlighted how poorly Dallas played defensively last season, listing several metrics to drive the point home. That explains why the Cowboys used their first three picks, and five out of seven total, on defense.
The team didn’t just draft defenders, though; they took really exciting ones. Dallas started things off with Caleb Downs, arguably the best player in the entire draft, then followed up with three productive edge defenders and another corner. If these players can deliver on expectations, the Cowboys could improve significantly in 2026.
Dallas had one of the league’s best offenses in 2025, scoring 27.7 points per game, which was seventh in the NFL, and averaging 391.9 yards per game, which ranked second in the league. The defense, on the other hand, was abysmal, allowing 377 yards a game, which was 30th in the league, and a league-worst 30.1 points a game.
With a good offense and horrid defense, Dallas managed to go 7-9-1, finishing second second in the NFC East.
While it’d be great if the rookie additions and new defensive coordinator Christian Parker turned Dallas into a top defense overnight, that kind of jump usually takes time. Still, improvement should come quickly, and if this unit is even average, the Cowboys should win plenty of games.
Parker will get the bulk of the credit if that happens. But Cowboys fans will look back on the 2026 draft as what kick-started the turnaround.
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