You remember the hype that was flowing from the Dallas faithful after the NFL Draft this year? The addition of Caleb Downs fired the fans up and has them anticipating this as the most impactful Cowboys draft class in years.
With the aforementioned Buckeyes star, an extra first-round pick, and a slew of other defensive additions, it is hard to blame fans for their excitement.
My only question is this: will the 2026 draft class be the most impactful of the Cowboys’ recent classes this season? After all, the two that preceded the Downs class have NFL experience and development that this group hasn’t received quite yet.
Here, I’ll go over each of the last three Dallas classes and judge them by their expected on-field impact this coming season.
This class is, unfortunately, known for the tragic loss of second-round pick Marshawn Kneeland during the 2025 NFL season. His death is still hard to process today, and Dallas has aimed to remember his memory even as the months have gone by.
One main goal of this class was to fix the offensive line, and this is really the quintessential year to see if that was accomplished.
Tyler Guyton and Nate Thomas are in a battle for the left tackle job, while Cooper Beebe stands firm as the expected starting center come September. The Cowboys need a big year from Guyton, or a sudden emergence from Thomas to replace him.
Other than that, Ryan Flournoy is really the bright spot of this class. He will be the WR3 this year, and I think his ceiling is extraordinarily high.
Marist Liufau and Caelen Carson are not expected to make much of a difference this year, and if camp goes badly, they could even see their Cowboys tenure end after a couple of seasons.
All in all, this class has roughly three expected starters as we come into 2026. Their overall impact is hard to project, but Guyton is definitely the biggest mover of that needle.
