Blogging The Boys
The Dallas Cowboys received some fantastic news Saturday night, as the Chicago Bears made another miraculous comeback to end the Green Bay Packers season. In doing so, the Cowboys are now locked into the 12th and 20th overall pick with the Packers loss.
Now knowing when the Cowboys will be picking, we will look at three players that make sense for the latter of the two first-round picks for the Cowboys in the 2026 NFL draft.
The Cowboys desperately need to improve their pass rush over the next few months. Texas A&M’s Cashius Howell is expected to be a top five pass rusher drafted this April behind Rueben Bain Jr. and David Bailey, and in the mix with Auburn’s Keldric Faulk and Clemson’s TJ Parker as the third pass rusher drafted.
Howell is a little on the smaller side, but shows impressive explosiveness, awareness, and flexibility when turning corners. Howell is an older prospect and paired with his lack of size and length, we could see him fall a bit in this year’s draft class, but Howell has the production and tape to be a first-round pick and a borderline first-round-graded player in the 2026 NFL draft.
At the end of the season press conference, it was made clear that the front office’s focus will be on improving the linebacker and defensive back room this offseason.
Rookie CB Shavon Revel Jr. had plenty of struggles in his rookie campaign, and another offseason surgery for DaRon Bland leaves plenty of questions needing answers over the next few months. Clemson’s Aveion Terrell is a smaller-build cornerback, but his coverage skills and tenacity in run support is much needed in the Cowboys secondary.
Terrell has NFL bloodlines, with his brother, A.J., having a lot of success in Atlanta. Terrell has experience playing both inside and outside at Clemson, and his position flexibility and scheme versatility could be a win for the Cowboys new defensive coordinator.
There has been a lot of talk about Keldric Faulk over the last few months. Once viewed as a lock top 10 pick, Faulk’s hype has fizzled out a bit at the backend of the season for Auburn, making him an option for the Cowboys at some point in the first round.
Unlike Howell, Faulk was created in the EDGE factory. Faulk has ideal size at 6-foot-6, 285-pounds. For his size, Faulk moves around very well and is expected to test extremely well. He has similarity to Shemar Stewart from last year’s draft class, where all the traits are there, but the production just has yet to match the elite NFL level traits. Faulk impressed more as a run defender than a pass rusher in 2025, but his pass rush win rate is still above average. The traits over production line will be thrown around a lot over the next few months with Faulk, but at 20th overall the Cowboys may take...
