FRISCO – “Urgency’’? The Dallas Cowboys aren’t hiding the fact that they feel it as they attempt to build a defense in a way that puts their awful 2025 showing in the rear-view mirror.

And because of what they did early in NFL free agency, one position screams “help me!’’ louder than the others.

Dallas enters the 2026 NFL Draft with the most urgent linebacker need in the league. Kenneth Murray was a flop and is a free agent. Jack Sanborn was a flop and has moved on. Logan Wilson was a flop and retired in March.

The Cowboys tried to fix it in free agency but missed out on Nakobe Dean, Quay Walker and Devin Lloyd.

This week’s NFL Draft provides the next answer. Two prominent paths exist.

When Mel Kiper, Todd McShay and Dane Brugler all release mock drafts on the same day predicting the same trade, I say it is not a coincidence. (More like a “leak.’’) All three had the Cowboys trading up with the Cleveland Browns from No. 12 to No. 6 to select Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles.

Kiper and Brugler both project Dallas sending picks No. 12 and No. 20 to Cleveland in exchange for No. 6 and No. 39. McShay keeps No. 20 in Dallas but adds No. 92 and a 2027 second-round pick to the package alongside No. 12.

The player justifies the cost.

Styles is 6-foot-5, 244 pounds and ran a 4.46 40-yard dash at the combine. He posted a 43.5-inch vertical, the highest by any player 6-foot-4 or taller since at least 2003. He is the No. 6 overall prospect on the consensus big board. The next linebacker sits at No. 34. There is no alternative at his level. He would start from Day One and wear the green dot as a rookie while becoming a “face of the franchise’‘ on defense.

If the price for Styles is too steep, Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez offers a familiar alternative. He won the Butkus Award, the Bronco Nagurski Trophy, the Lombardi Award and the Bednarik Award this past season and tied an NCAA record with seven forced fumbles.

Rodriguez projects as a late first- to early second-round pick. If Dallas trades back from No. 20 into the 27 to 39 range, they could land him while picking up extra capital.

He is a former QB, a high-IQ, high-production player who fits the scheme and plays sideline to sideline.

At one point, the Cowboys were worried about his physical “traits,’‘ as I reported in this space months ago. But his successful work at the Scouting Combine, including his 40 time of 4.57, soothed those concerns.

The drop-off from Styles is real, but so is the value.

I don’t mean to suggest here that other draft weekend options aren’t in play. What about Texas’ Anthony Hill or Georgia’s C.J Allen? Oh, and if the draft comes and goes without a solution? Dallas can (and I think, will) turn back to the idea of a veteran (with names ranging from Jordyn Brooks in Miami via trade to Bobby Wagner of Washington via free agency.)

But first things first. I think Styles and Rodriguez are top-of-mind here inside The Star.

One path to rookie success costs Dallas two first-round picks. The other path costs them almost nothing but carries real risk.

Both are better than walking out of this ammo-loaded draft without a new leader at linebacker.

Like what you see? Try the Fish Report!