That was the same draft responsible for giving a first-year defensive coordinator Dan Quinn the pieces he needed to be successful, and obviously landing Micah Parsons, Osa Odighizuwa, and Chauncey Golston (with Nahshon Wright and Kelvin Joseph also drafted) went a long way in achieving this – with Parsons being the cream of the crop.The Cowboys were in a similar position looking to stock new DC Christian Parker’s pantry with the groceries needed to fix this defense yet again, and they hope they found another ‘cream of the crop’ type player with Caleb Downs. Starting the draft with Downs, Malachi Lawrence, and Jaishawn Barham was a full court press on the Cowboys top defensive needs, and they were able to continue going after these needs with athletic scheme fits on day three.

Devin Moore joined the class as a cornerback with the team’s middle of three fourth-round picks, and defensive tackle/end LT Overton concluded the fourth round.For anyone that watched the Cowboys defensive disaster with Matt Eberflus at the helm in 2025, there was only one possible solution to getting this ship righted – throwing as much of it out as possible and truly starting all over. The Cowboys achieved this in free agency and the draft at an unprecedented level: Of the 27 [defensive] players on the opening-day roster against the Eagles in 2025, 15 are no longer with the Cowboys. Rosters in the NFL churn about 30% each year, the churn for the Cowboys defense is almost twice that at 56%.The churn among the starters is even higher at 64% with seven of the 11 listed starters already off the team.Of course, there are still some mainstays on the Cowboys roster they’ll be depending on heavily, and others that saw the usual fresh influx of new competition brought in to ensure each roster spot goes to the best player for the job.

Of these players on the roster from before the draft, who are some of the winners and losers at the conclusion of draft weekend? Let’s break it all down.Winners: Every single pass catcher and running backHead coach and offensive play-caller Brian Schottenheimer joked at the end of day two, with the Cowboys sitting on three defensive picks, that all of their remaining four picks on day three would go to the offense. Schottenheimer and Parker ended up in a draw with two picks each for their sides of the ball, but more importantly the Cowboys waited until their very last pick in the seventh round to add a skill position player.Deep into the portion of the draft where a singular trait is enough to take a chance on, the Cowboys added a speedster receiver, Anthony Smith, from East Carolina.

Without special teams experience despite six seasons in college, it’s very hard to see Smith climbing the depth chart ahead of KaVontae Turpin, Ryan Flournoy, Traeshon Holden, and Jonathan Mingo enough to make a real impact in 2026. Even all of these players listed will have to scrap for their playing time behind CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, who absolutely need to be the bulldogs of the Dallas pass offense and hardly ever – if at all – come off the field. Moving on from some very faint smoke on night one about the Cowboys ending up in a wipe out scenario that would make wide receiver a first round target, the receivers are obvious winners as expected following the completion of the draft.The Cowboys also didn’t draft any more depth at running back, after taking two last April and re-signing Javonte Williams as the starter this offseason.

This makes Malik Davis, Jaydon Blue, and Phil Mafah winners with a real chance to carve out a role alongside Williams for year two of Schotty and Klayton Adams’ offense.Losers: Pass rushers Isaiah Land, James Houston, Tyrus Wheat and Marist LiufauThe fact there can be any talk at all of the Cowboys making cuts off the depth chart at pass rusher is pretty mind blowing, less than a full year removed from trading away Micah Parsons and seeing their pass rush production expectedly nosedive as a result. Changing from a 4-3 to a 3-4 base under Parker is a major shift in how the Cowboys will look to get more pass rush though, and the Cowboys went to work in this draft getting outside linebacker type rushers that fit the bill.

It will be a good goal for Dallas not to rely on first-round pick Malachi Lawrence too much in pass rush too soon, but his upside as a designated rusher and knack for creating turnovers around the ball may prove undeniable. The same sense of patience should apply to Donovan Ezeiruaku, working through offseason surgery at the moment and