The 2026 NFL draft is a little less than a month away. As we get closer to day one of the NFL draft, the candidates for the Dallas Cowboys in the first round are becoming more and more clear. Today we will look at the best case scenario for the Cowboys\u2019 first of two first-round picks in this years draft.<\/p>\n
The top 11 in this year\u2019s draft could be pretty crazy. As of today, there are multiple teams inside the top 10 that could target both offense or defense ahead of the Cowboys. For the best case scenario for Dallas, we need as many offensive players to go in the top 11 as possible. Let\u2019s see how we can get there.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no secret that Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza is all but a lock to go number one overall to the Las Vegas Raiders. At this point in time, it would be an absolute shock if that does not happen. While there has been a lot of talk this week about the New York Jets being interested in Alabama QB Ty Simpson, that feels like more of a consideration with the 16th overall pick instead of the second. For now, it should be safe to assume the Jets will be drafting the first defensive player off the board at two, with Ohio State\u2019s Arvell Reese being the most popular pick.<\/p>\n
Arizona, sitting at three, are another team that could target offense or defense. Miami offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa makes a ton of sense here for the Cardinals. At fourth overall, the Titans could be an intriguing spot for Jeremiah Love, but the prediction here is the Titans will address the edge position with Texas Tech\u2019s David Bailey.<\/p>\n
To finish out the top five, the New York Giants have been linked to Jeremiah Love a lot here recently. With John Harbaugh now running the show in New York, we know how much he values a high-level running game. Love makes a lot of sense for New York, and in this scenario we have him heading to the NFC East to give Jaxon Dart a legit weapon in the backfield.<\/p>\n
Now is where things get interesting. With six teams ahead of the Cowboys, the Dallas draft room is getting a bit nervous. Let\u2019s see how we can get a high-level defensive prospect to fall to them.<\/p>\n
With the Cleveland Browns now on the clock, we will have another offensive player come off the board. Georgia\u2019s Monroe Freeling has been heavily linked to the Browns, as Cleveland will be looking to rebuild its offensive line. Freeling has been a high riser this offseason and Cleveland gets their new left tackle inside the top 10.<\/p>\n
With Washington now on the clock, another defender is coming off the board. Washington heavily targeted edge rusher in free agency, and now look to build the second-level of their defense by adding Ohio State\u2019s Sonny Styles. Styles is a guy the Cowboys would love to land at 12, but the odds of him making it outside of the top 10 are extremely low.<\/p>\n
After seeing one of their prize prospects head to Washington, the Cowboys get a break with the Saints drafting Ohio State WR Carnell Tate at eight. The Saints need to help out QB Tyler Shough as much as they can and pairing Tate with Chris Olave is a great way to do so.<\/p>\n
With three picks to go before the Cowboys are on the clock, the nerves are at an all time high. The Chiefs could very well look to add an edge rusher or defensive back here, but Kansas City puts a lot of faith in defensive coordinator Steve Spagnola and looks to bolster their receiving core with questions surrounding Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy heading into year three. Kansas City adds USC\u2019s Makai Lemon to the mix to help out Patrick Mahomes who will be coming back from a torn ACL in the 2026 season.<\/p>\n
Cincinnati is going to be a big one for the Cowboys on draft day. Needing both edge rusher and defensive back, the Bengals take one of the top players in the draft in Caleb Downs just two picks before Dallas.<\/p>\n
The bad news? David Bailey, Sonny Styles, and Caleb Downs are off the board. The good news? The Cowboys pick in two picks and have both Mansoor Delane and Rueben Bain Jr. available. For this scenario, we will send Arizona State WR Jordyn Tyson to the Miami Dolphins. After trading away Jaylen Waddle earlier this month, the Dolphins need a lot of help at receiver. This selection leaves Miami edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. and LSU CB Mansoor Delane available for the Cowboys with the 12th overall pick.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not totally unrealistic for the draft to fall this way, but there will need to be a few surprises inside the top 10 in order for the Cowboys to get multiple of the top defensive players in this draft to be available with the 12th overall pick.<\/p>\n
If this scenario happened who would you take? Rueben Bain Jr., Mansoor Delane, or someone else?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 NFL draft is a little less than a month away. As we get closer to day…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":841539,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2066],"tags":[230,229,257,437,2461,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-841538","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-cowboys","8":"tag-cowboys","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-dallas-cowboys","11":"tag-dallas-cowboys-draft","12":"tag-dallascowboys","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116314292234286454","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=841538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/841539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=841538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=841538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=841538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}