{"id":857518,"date":"2026-04-06T20:35:43","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T20:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/857518\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T20:35:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T20:35:43","slug":"supremely-athletic-lb-named-cowboys-top-developmental-fit-in-2026-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/857518\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Supremely Athletic\u2019 LB Named Cowboys Top Developmental Fit in 2026 NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6j\">This offseason, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/cowboys\/onsi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Dallas Cowboys<\/a> were focused on fixing their defense. Jerry Jones made a promise that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/cowboys\/onsi\/news\/jerry-jones-bust-the-budget-slogan-suggests-cowboys-could-be-aggressive-in-2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">he would do more in free agency <\/a>than we\u2019ve seen in years, and while he didn\u2019t make any blockbuster moves, Jones did add multiple contributors.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6m\">Outside linebacker Rashan Gary gives them a veteran pass rusher while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/cowboys\/onsi\/news\/new-cowboys-safety-jalen-thompson-opens-up-why-he-chose-dallas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Jalen Thompson will be their top safety<\/a>. They also added another safety, P.J. Locke, giving them plenty of depth. At cornerback, the signing of Cobie Durant gives them confidence in their starting cornerbacks.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6p\">Dallas also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/cowboys\/onsi\/news\/dallas-cowboys-continue-defensive-overhaul-massive-interior-addition\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">added nose tackle Otito Ogbonnia<\/a> and defensive end Jonathan Bullard. What they didn\u2019t do, however, is add a linebacker.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6s\">They could, and should, still look to free agency for some veteran help. The top name on the wish list should be Bobby Wagner, but the Cowboys seem content looking to the draft first. They could find some help thanks to a decent class, but SI.com\u2019s Justin Melo has one developmental player in mind for Dallas.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6v\">Melo identified the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/draft\/onsi\/late-round-expert\/best-nfl-draft-developmental-fits-for-each-team\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">best developmental fit for all 32 teams<\/a>, and for the Cowboys, he selected Pitt linebacker Kyle Louis.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6y\">\u201dLinebacker has been a multi-year sore spot for the Dallas Cowboys. With Sonny Styles unlikely to make it to No. 12 overall, finding a mid-round fit may be the way forward. Pittsburgh&#8217;s Kyle Louis is a supremely athletic linebacker with sideline-to-sideline range. Louis is a rising prospect who aced the Senior Bowl and NFL Combine,\u201d Melo wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Kyle Louis is undersized, but was highly productive <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01knhwh6db1y3pyt2x6t.jpg\" alt=\"Pittsburgh Panthers LB Kyle Louis celebrates after intercepting West Virginia Mountaineers QB Garrett Greene.\" title=\"Pittsburgh Panthers LB Kyle Louis celebrates after intercepting West Virginia Mountaineers QB Garrett Greene.\" width=\"3045\" height=\"3045\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"7b\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Pittsburgh Panthers LB Kyle Louis celebrates after intercepting West Virginia Mountaineers QB Garrett Greene. | Barry Reeger-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7f\">At 6-foot-0 and 220 pounds, Louis is built like a safety. He\u2019s not known for taking on blockers, which impacts him in the run game, but he\u2019s still an athletic player who does well in coverage and finds a way to rack up tackles.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7i\">His best campaign was in 2024 when he had 101 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss, seven sacks, and four interceptions. His numbers were down across the board in 2025, which will give some scouts pause.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7l\">For the Cowboys, he could be an ideal player to develop for one of the two inside linebacker spots. If he can turn into a starter next to DeMarvion Overshown, Dallas would have a truly explosive linebacker corps.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7o\">The key will still be adding a veteran this season, but Louis has plenty of potential. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7r\">\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/cowboys\/newsletter\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sign up for the Cowboys Daily Digest newsletter\u00a0<\/a>for more free coverage from<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/cowboys\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0Dallas Cowboys on SI<\/a>\u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This offseason, the Dallas Cowboys were focused on fixing their defense. Jerry Jones made a promise that he&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":857519,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2066],"tags":[230,229,257,2461,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-857518","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-dallascowboys","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116359681910727226","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857518","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=857518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/857519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=857518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=857518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=857518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}