RustyBourneHorse
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So, here we are. Draft week. This may be my last mock draft for 2026, though I'll probably try to squeeze one last one in on Wednesday if I can. While I do not think the Dallas Cowboys will be a Super Bowl team in 2026, I think the below draft puts the Cowboys into a position to at least be able to make it to the division round. I think it gives us the tools we need to have a real window in 2027. Plus, it will give us the flexibility to take a QB round 1 if that's what ends up being necessary.
Before I begin, next year, we on paper have 2 first round picks. However, the better of the two will go to the Jets as part of the Quinnen Williams deal, leaving us with the worse of the two. However, the terms of the deal never said what happens if we were to obtain an additional first round draft pick from a trade. Therefore, in this mock draft, much like other trade mocks I've done, I started with trading George Pickens to the Raiders. We all know that the Raiders (barring a highly unlikely change of mind) are going Mendoza. So, I traded George Pickens to them in exchange for the following picks:
2026:
Pick #67 (3rd Round)
Pick #185 (6th Round)
2027:
1st, 3rd, and 7th
I then traded back from the 12th pick with the 49ers. In exchange, I received the following picks: 27 (1st), 58 (2nd), 127th (4th), and a 2027 3rd round pick.
With all these established, here's how the draft played out. The site used was https://www.profootballnetwork.com/mockdraft
Peter Woods DT Clemson
https://www.nfl.com/prospects/peter-woods/3200574f-4f54-6776-1e31-85779d355391
I think he's a player in our 3-4 system who would be able to play the edge opposite Justin Houston. Between him, Clark/Williams, and Houston, we'd have a nice dline setup. That's critical for the rest of the defence. This helps get the trenches addressed.
27.
Jacob Rodriguez LB Texas Tech
https://www.nfl.com/prospects/jacob-rodriguez/3200524f-4465-3823-d3f0-11b0f291f513
After Sonny Styles and Reese, I think he might be the next best linebacker in the draft. He's excellent in pass rush, so, while he can play MLB, he also would be a solid choice at Olb option for pass rush. If he stays at MLB, then he and another pick later will allow Overshown and Eze to just focus on rushing the QB.
58.
Josiah Trotter LB Missouri
https://www.nfl.com/prospects/josiah-trotter/32005452-4f47-4324-c143-3e3f9ccc0c32
Yes, I went LB back to back. Let's face it, we need all the LB help we can get. So, Trotter and Rodriguez back to back would be excellent choices.
67.
Kamari Ramsey S USC
https://www.nfl.com/prospects/kamari-ramsey/32005241-4d45-1449-626e-e46224e19f2c
Hard hitting safety who also has good covers skills. When is the last time we had a physical safety with the kind of coverage skills he shows? So now, to recap this mock draft so far, we'd have a good edge capable pass rush to complete our dline in our 3-4 defence, then we'd have two excellent MLBs, followed by a hard hitting physical safety who will learn from a DB specialist DC and a safety in Locke who knows Parker's system. That is how you set a physical culture on defence. A physical defence is a fun defence to watch, and it should set our offense up with extra opportunities to score. That makes a huge difference in winning and losing.
92.
Davison Igbinosun CB Ohio State
https://www.nfl.com/prospects/davison-igbinosun/32004947-4218-5397-a4db-abd45daa53cc
CB who's willing to tackle in the run game and has good coverage skills. He'd give us a good CB option to go with the defence we'd be building.
112.
Jude Bowry OT Boston College
https://www.nfl.com/prospects/jude-bowry/3200424f-5768-8689-7fea-bb3f689abb07
https://youtu.be/KO6BKzaOhI0?si=eD-zEgo6AW0Jisc0
After a heavily defence dominated draft so far, let's then the attention to offense for a bit. Firstly, let's go Oline here. Bowry is primarily a LT, which is good because he'd be at the very least quality depth for Guyton with the ability to unseat Guyton as a starter if Guyton doesn't step up.
127.
Malik Benson WR Oregon
https://www.nfl.com/prospects/malik-benson/32004245-4e60-1117-7f60-ef2e546c424a
https://youtu.be/-UAPJZ49wN8?si=8QQaRwrbNNLDb602
Would give us a solid WR threat to replace Pickens. He'd give us a trio of Lamb, Benson, and Flournoy, which would actually be a solid WR trio. I love what I see on highlights of him, and I think he'd be a nice option if we trade Pickens.
152.
Fa'alili Fa'amoe OG Wake Forest
https://www.pff.com/ncaa/players/faalili-faamoe/131930
https://youtu.be/Kl1WAideil4?si=bFzBqnhbzF97nVOK
Player who can play RT or guard. So, he'd be depth for us if we need someone to either step in for Steele or if we need help at guard. Good versatility and good depth at oline. So, we'd have had a little more depth at oline between him and Bowry. Never a bad thing to have oline depth.
177.
Kendal Daniels LB Oklahoma
https://soonersports.com/sports/football/roster/kendal-daniels/19456
https://youtu.be/Y-zcYm4bCuM?si=SEQb45LvVbcP96De
More linebacker depth. We are always rail thin at linebacker depth. Now, we'd have an abundance of quality talent and depth.
180.
Delby Lemieux OC Dartmouth
https://www.pff.com/ncaa/players/delby-lemieux/159313
https://youtu.be/RjHNauhp_8k?si=pBbwUGGOAcIuG_QG
A little more oline depth. Specifically, C depth, but can also play across the board too. So, we'd now have plenty of oline depth along with a lot of LB help (including pass rush help at LB)
185.
Thaddeus Dixon CB North Carolina
https://www.nfl.com/prospects/thaddeus-dixon/32004449-5867-0855-34ed-40f0f8b87ccc
https://youtu.be/ZeL97d97gdA?si=eh01SeONrGbVOX5p
Dixon would give us quality CB help. He reminds me a bit of a slightly taller Jourdan Lewis. What I see of him is a tenacious ball player who is not afraid to be physical.
218.
Bryce Boettcher LB Oregon
https://www.nfl.com/prospects/bryce-boettcher/3200424f-4568-7650-6550-48a249762040
https://youtu.be/14MKkUpKTXE?si=SzkgTvTeZKR8p5_J
Rounding out the draft with a nice extra bit of LB depth. From what I've seen, getting him this late would be amazing for us. He's a solid athlete who could have played baseball, but turns out to be also a very capable LB. So, with this, we'd have a lot of linebacker depth, and he also shows the ability to be an excellent pass rush option.
Therefore, with how this mock draft has turned out. We'd have a complete dline. We'd have a lot of linebacker options, including for pass rush at OLB (Rodriguez is technically a MLB, but he could play OLB too, along with Boettcher). Heck, even if all 4 play MLB, we'd still have a lethal LB group who would be incredibly hard to run against, and they'd allow Eze and Overshown to focus on being elite pass rushers because we'd have a drastically improved dline and set of linebackers, which means we'd be incredibly difficult to run against, as well as pass against. Then, we'd also have a lethal secondary with a physical safety and two good CB options taken in this draft. Finally, we'd have boosted our oline depth and replaced Pickens. Oh, and we'd have an extra 1st round pick and 2 3rd round picks (along with an extra 7) for next year. So, we'd have options for next year too.
Before I begin, next year, we on paper have 2 first round picks. However, the better of the two will go to the Jets as part of the Quinnen Williams deal, leaving us with the worse of the two. However, the terms of the deal never said what happens if we were to obtain an additional first round draft pick from a trade. Therefore, in this mock draft, much like other trade mocks I've done, I started with trading George Pickens to the Raiders. We all know that the Raiders (barring a highly unlikely change of mind) are going Mendoza. So, I traded George Pickens to them in exchange for the following picks:
2026:
Pick #67 (3rd Round)
Pick #185 (6th Round)
2027:
1st, 3rd, and 7th
I then traded back from the 12th pick with the 49ers. In exchange, I received the following picks: 27 (1st), 58 (2nd), 127th (4th), and a 2027 3rd round pick.
With all these established, here's how the draft played out. The site used was https://www.profootballnetwork.com/mockdraft
20.Peter Woods DT Clemson
https://www.nfl.com/prospects/peter-woods/3200574f-4f54-6776-1e31-85779d355391
I think he's a player in our 3-4 system who would be able to play the edge opposite Justin Houston. Between him, Clark/Williams, and Houston, we'd have a nice dline setup. That's critical for the rest of the defence. This helps get the trenches addressed.
27.
Jacob Rodriguez LB Texas Tech
https://www.nfl.com/prospects/jacob-rodriguez/3200524f-4465-3823-d3f0-11b0f291f513
After Sonny Styles and Reese, I think he might be the next best linebacker in the draft. He's excellent in pass rush, so, while he can play MLB, he also would be a solid choice at Olb option for pass rush. If he stays at MLB, then he and another pick later will allow Overshown and Eze to just focus on rushing the QB.
58.
Josiah Trotter LB Missouri
https://www.nfl.com/prospects/josiah-trotter/32005452-4f47-4324-c143-3e3f9ccc0c32
Yes, I went LB back to back. Let's face it, we need all the LB help we can get. So, Trotter and Rodriguez back to back would be excellent choices.
67.
Kamari Ramsey S USC
https://www.nfl.com/prospects/kamari-ramsey/32005241-4d45-1449-626e-e46224e19f2c
Hard hitting safety who also has good covers skills. When is the last time we had a physical safety with the kind of coverage skills he shows? So now, to recap this mock draft so far, we'd have a good edge capable pass rush to complete our dline in our 3-4 defence, then we'd have two excellent MLBs, followed by a hard hitting physical safety who will learn from a DB specialist DC and a safety in Locke who knows Parker's system. That is how you set a physical culture on defence. A physical defence is a fun defence to watch, and it should set our offense up with extra opportunities to score. That makes a huge difference in winning and losing.
92.
Davison Igbinosun CB Ohio State
https://www.nfl.com/prospects/davison-igbinosun/32004947-4218-5397-a4db-abd45daa53cc
CB who's willing to tackle in the run game and has good coverage skills. He'd give us a good CB option to go with the defence we'd be building.
112.
Jude Bowry OT Boston College
https://www.nfl.com/prospects/jude-bowry/3200424f-5768-8689-7fea-bb3f689abb07
https://youtu.be/KO6BKzaOhI0?si=eD-zEgo6AW0Jisc0
After a heavily defence dominated draft so far, let's then the attention to offense for a bit. Firstly, let's go Oline here. Bowry is primarily a LT, which is good because he'd be at the very least quality depth for Guyton with the ability to unseat Guyton as a starter if Guyton doesn't step up.
127.
Malik Benson WR Oregon
https://www.nfl.com/prospects/malik-benson/32004245-4e60-1117-7f60-ef2e546c424a
https://youtu.be/-UAPJZ49wN8?si=8QQaRwrbNNLDb602
Would give us a solid WR threat to replace Pickens. He'd give us a trio of Lamb, Benson, and Flournoy, which would actually be a solid WR trio. I love what I see on highlights of him, and I think he'd be a nice option if we trade Pickens.
152.
Fa'alili Fa'amoe OG Wake Forest
https://www.pff.com/ncaa/players/faalili-faamoe/131930
https://youtu.be/Kl1WAideil4?si=bFzBqnhbzF97nVOK
Player who can play RT or guard. So, he'd be depth for us if we need someone to either step in for Steele or if we need help at guard. Good versatility and good depth at oline. So, we'd have had a little more depth at oline between him and Bowry. Never a bad thing to have oline depth.
177.
Kendal Daniels LB Oklahoma
https://soonersports.com/sports/football/roster/kendal-daniels/19456
https://youtu.be/Y-zcYm4bCuM?si=SEQb45LvVbcP96De
More linebacker depth. We are always rail thin at linebacker depth. Now, we'd have an abundance of quality talent and depth.
180.
Delby Lemieux OC Dartmouth
https://www.pff.com/ncaa/players/delby-lemieux/159313
https://youtu.be/RjHNauhp_8k?si=pBbwUGGOAcIuG_QG
A little more oline depth. Specifically, C depth, but can also play across the board too. So, we'd now have plenty of oline depth along with a lot of LB help (including pass rush help at LB)
185.
Thaddeus Dixon CB North Carolina
https://www.nfl.com/prospects/thaddeus-dixon/32004449-5867-0855-34ed-40f0f8b87ccc
https://youtu.be/ZeL97d97gdA?si=eh01SeONrGbVOX5p
Dixon would give us quality CB help. He reminds me a bit of a slightly taller Jourdan Lewis. What I see of him is a tenacious ball player who is not afraid to be physical.
218.
Bryce Boettcher LB Oregon
https://www.nfl.com/prospects/bryce-boettcher/3200424f-4568-7650-6550-48a249762040
https://youtu.be/14MKkUpKTXE?si=SzkgTvTeZKR8p5_J
Rounding out the draft with a nice extra bit of LB depth. From what I've seen, getting him this late would be amazing for us. He's a solid athlete who could have played baseball, but turns out to be also a very capable LB. So, with this, we'd have a lot of linebacker depth, and he also shows the ability to be an excellent pass rush option.
Therefore, with how this mock draft has turned out. We'd have a complete dline. We'd have a lot of linebacker options, including for pass rush at OLB (Rodriguez is technically a MLB, but he could play OLB too, along with Boettcher). Heck, even if all 4 play MLB, we'd still have a lethal LB group who would be incredibly hard to run against, and they'd allow Eze and Overshown to focus on being elite pass rushers because we'd have a drastically improved dline and set of linebackers, which means we'd be incredibly difficult to run against, as well as pass against. Then, we'd also have a lethal secondary with a physical safety and two good CB options taken in this draft. Finally, we'd have boosted our oline depth and replaced Pickens. Oh, and we'd have an extra 1st round pick and 2 3rd round picks (along with an extra 7) for next year. So, we'd have options for next year too.
