Inside The Star
The Cowboys hold picks 12 and 20 in the 2026 NFL Draft, and their track record in this exact range tells a story fans shouldn’t ignore.
I’ve watched enough Cowboys drafts to know when something feels different, and this one does.
The Dallas Cowboys don’t usually sit in the middle of the first round with leverage. We have watched the Cowboys either picking late, or scrambling to make up ground.
But in the 2026 NFL Draft, Dallas holding two first-round picks, No.12 and No.20, immediately stood out to me. Why?
Because I have seen this exact draft range work for the Cowboys before.
Over the last 15 years, the Cowboys have only drafted five times in the first-round between picks 10 and 20. I know it’s not a massive sample, but the results speak for themselves.
Those picks in that range were:
Three of those names became franchise cornerstones. I know one of three franchise cornerstones was traded, but was still considered a cornerstone at the time.
That matters, because league-wide, this part of the draft usually isn’t where stars live.
Across the NFL, picks 10-20 are expected to produce:
The Cowboys, I found they’ve doubled that. Zack Martin became one of the best guards of this era, CeeDee Lamb became the offense, and Micah Parsons was a weekly nightmare for opposing coordinators.
This was not luck, it is a pattern.
One thing I learned from this research was it wasn’t random, Dallas has very clear strengths when drafting in this range.
When the Cowboys take offensive linemen between picks 10 and 20, they almost never miss.
Zack Martin was an all-time hit, and Tyler Booker, albeit still early, but his floor projects as a long-term starter. This is where Dallas consistently creates surplus value.
Fans knew CeeDee Lamb didn’t need a break in period, his game translated immediately. He had separation skills, toughness, ball skills, and yards after catch.
Those traits age well, and Dallas identified them before the rest of the league fully caught up.
Micah Parsons succeeded because Dallas drafted disruption, not a position label.
I think that distinction matters.
When the Cowboys draft players capable of playing on the edge in this range, the ceiling is elite.
When they draft traditional linebackers, the risk spikes, not because of talent, but because of durability.
Leighton Vander Esch wasn’t a bad evaluation, his career was plagued by injuries.
This is where I think the 2026 draft gets interesting.
