Here’s an early projection for the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive starters in 2026
After the Dallas Cowboys finished with the worst scoring defense in the NFL this season (30.1 points allowed per game), it was clear that major changes needed to be made to make that side of the ball at least half as competitive as the team’s seventh-ranked scoring offense (27.7 points).
Step one on that agenda? Hiring a new defensive coordinator. Consider that done and sealed with Christian Parker, who arrives in Dallas as a first-time coordinator and the youngest coach to hold that title in franchise history.
With three years of experience under longtime NFL defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, Parker is expected to have a scheme that shares the same Fangio principles but will differ with nuances that will be fun to track early in the season.
Creating that scheme in a way that can complicate opposing offenses, along with putting his staff together, will be the immediate tasks for the new coordinator. But once those tasks are done, there is still a lot of personnel work to put together to have the right players on the field.
Here’s one way the Cowboys could tackle those issues this offseason:
Take an intentional approach into free agency
Dare it be said, the front office deserves some credit for at least its approach to free agency in 2025. Was it completely successful? Absolutely not, but taking swings on players like Dante Fowler Jr., Javonte Williams and even Jadeveon Clowney after the season started signaled an intentional effort that maybe didn’t always manifest in previous years.
This offseason, that will need to be the case once again. Only two defensive ends — Donovan Ezeiruaku and James Houston — are under contract, the linebacker position desperately needs consistency, and the secondary is simply looking for healthy bodies.
Let’s start in the edge room. The Cowboys will need young and veteran bodies alike. Re-signing Clowney has already been pointed to as a priority for the front office. The team has also shown a tendency to sign former top-100 draft picks heading into a second contract. Names like Baltimore’s David Ojabo, Philadelphia’s Azeez Ojulari and Cincinnati’s Joseph Ossai exist as affordable options on the open market.
But even at the trade deadline in 2025, the Cowboys looked at names like Tennessee’s Arden Key, the Los Angeles Chargers’ Odafe Oweh and Atlanta’s Arnold Ebiketie. If the checkbook is willing to have an extra zero written on some pages, those options would provide immediate production without the need of an early draft pick at the position.
At linebacker, the team desperately needs a communicator. Nakobe Dean hits the open market after two years playing under Parker in Philadelphia, although he hasn’t had lead-communicator experience since 2023. The New York Jets’ Quincy Williams could look for a reunion with his brother, Quinnen.
But if there is any position on defense that needs valuable money spent, it has to be linebacker. Big names like Washington’s Bobby Wagner, New Orleans’ Demario Davis, Green Bay’s Quay Walker and Cleveland’s Devin Bush are durable, effective leaders in the middle who would provide day one efficiency.
The secondary has so many wild cards that it will be tough to predict who will return in 2026. Donovan Wilson is a free agent, DaRon Bland just had a second foot surgery, and Shavon Revel Jr. has yet to play at 100 percent health. Could Parker bring Philadelphia’s Reed Blankenship to Dallas with him in free agency? How about bringing in a veteran cornerback to provide reliability and consistency?
Options will present themselves in free agency. And after such a productive season on offense, the majority of the focus can be put on the defensive side of the ball to give Parker the pieces that are needed to compete.
Hit on both first-round draft picks
When team executive vice president Stephen Jones spoke at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, earlier this week, he emphasized that the team will focus on filling holes in free agency to allow the luxury of taking the best player available at picks No. 12 and No. 20.
Jones and vice president of player personnel Will McClay understand the luxury of having two first-round picks, and it’s rare to have the opportunity to improve a team with those resources. The pressure part of that, though, is actually hitting on those picks.
Ideal scenarios would see Ohio State safety Caleb Downs or Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles fall to the No. 12 pick. Both would be easy choices. LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane has similar high-end first-round value and was recruited out of high school by new cornerbacks coach Ryan Smith.
But in a scenario where the top-end choices are gone by pick No. 12, the pressure only ramps up. Do you trade out of the pick to acquire more capital on day two? Or, do you stick and pick a player who may not fit the No. 12 value but the war room has confidence in?
And that’s before we even start talking about pick No. 20.
Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy is an intriguing prospect, but he provides the same injury concerns that exist already in the secondary in Dallas. Big edge-setters like Clemson’s T.J. Parker and Auburn’s Keldric Faulk have boom-or-bust potential that require hard selling points.
All that is to say, hititng on these two picks won’t be easy. Talking to NFL scouts in Mobile this week, this class is expected to finish with anywhere from 12 to 16 first-round-graded players. That makes the job of hitting on them that much harder, but it’s required for Dallas.
Proposed 2026 Cowboys defense
Let’s play in a fantasy world, why not?
Let’s spend a healthy — but realistic in a Cowboys lens — amount of money in free agency filling holes. And let’s assume players like Downs and Styles are not available at No. 12 to provide immediate help to the defense.
Here is your reckless projection of 2026 Dallas Cowboys’ starting defense.
- DE Donovan Ezeiruaku
- DT Quinnen Williams
- DT Osa Odighizuwa
- DE Joseph Ossai (expected annual worth in free agency: about $9 million)
- LB DeMarvion Overshown
- LB Quincy Williams (expected annual worth in free agency: about $6 million)
- LB Nakobe Dean (expected annual worth in free agency: about $7.5 million)
- CB DaRon Bland
- CB Mansoor Delane (No. 12 overall pick out of LSU)
- S Malik Hooker
- S Dillon Thienemen (No. 20 overall pick out of Oregon)
There, it was that easy (kidding). Defense is fixed.
