{"id":873733,"date":"2026-04-24T18:57:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T18:57:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/873733\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T18:57:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T18:57:19","slug":"dallas-cowboys-select-malachi-lawrence-edge-from-ucf-with-no-23-pick-in-2026-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/873733\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas Cowboys select Malachi Lawrence, edge from UCF, with No. 23 pick in 2026 NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Athletic has live coverage<\/a> of the 2026 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

The Dallas Cowboys selected UCF edge Malachi Lawrence with the 23rd pick in the 2026 NFL Draft<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 6-foot-4, 253-pound Lawrence topped 19 miles per hour on the GPS at the Shrine Bowl, then ran a blistering 4.52-second 40-yard dash (with a 1.57-second 10-yard split) at the combine. A long player with nearly 34-inch arms, Lawrence plays with terrific initial burst off the line of scrimmage and holds a pretty deep bag of pass-rush moves.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s a twitchy player with the ability to convert speed to power, chase the ball out of his area and create splash plays in the backfield. (He also had a 40-inch vertical and a 10-foot-10 broad jump during combine week.)<\/p>\n

Lawrence, who is a lean player, has had surgeries on both shoulders and can be pushed around a bit in the run game. He finished his career with 20 sacks, but he could be inconsistent with his week-to-week impact. In the right NFL defense, though, Lawrence might be a double-digit sack producer.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Beast\u2019 breakdown<\/p>\n

Lawrence ranked No. 36 on Dane Brugler\u2019s Top 300 big board<\/a>. Here\u2019s what Brugler had to say about him in his annual NFL Draft guide<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cMuch of Lawrence\u2019s success in college came from his play urgency and weaponized length. He is twitchy off the ball and uses his long arms and well-timed hands to help pry open corners or create interior rush lanes. However, there are times when he gets stuck at the top of his rush, especially when engulfed by size. Against the run, he uses his length to press blockers off his frame and stay available to chase.<\/p>\n

\u201cLawrence is a linear mover and lacks ideal bend, but he offers skill as a pass rusher, stack-shed toughness versus the run and the demeanor that will help him carve out a starting role at the next level. Despite being an older player, he still has upside.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott Dochterman\u2019s grade<\/p>\n

Dallas gave up the most passing yards in the NFL last year, so it makes sense the Cowboys would allocate their resources in the draft to make improvements. There\u2019s no problem with Dallas taking an edge rusher; it had only 35 sacks last year. But is Lawrence a reach or the right pick? The Athletic draft analyst Dane Brugler rated Lawrence the No. 37 overall selection.<\/p>\n

It seems like a reach right now. But Lawrence (6-4 1\/2, 253) has every physical quality required to become a high-level pass rusher. He boasts long arms (81 5\/8 inches) and produced a 4.52 40 time and a 40-inch vertical at the combine. As a first-team All-Big 12 performer, Lawrence had seven sacks last year and finished with 20 career sacks. Grade: C+<\/p>\n

How he fits<\/p>\n

Edge rusher was arguably Dallas\u2019 second-biggest need (behind inside linebacker) entering the draft. Lawrence provides much-needed help for new defensive coordinator Christian Parker, who is transitioning the team from a 4-3 to a 3-4 base scheme. He has good length and quickness for the position. He also has experience lining up with his hand on the ground or standing up.<\/p>\n

Depth chart impact<\/p>\n

The top of the depth chart at edge rusher is veteran Rashan Gary and last year\u2019s second-round pick, Donovan Ezeiruaku. Lawrence will likely compete for starter reps with those two. Behind them is Sam Williams, James Houston, Marist Liufau and Tyrus Wheat. Dallas has needed edge-rusher help since trading Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers at the start of last season. Ezeiruaku is working his way back from offseason hip surgery but is expected to be ready for the start of training camp.<\/p>\n

They also could have picked \u2026<\/p>\n

Cornerback was probably the position that had the most depth when Dallas went on the clock. Clemson\u2019s Avieon Terrell, Tennessee\u2019s Colton Hood and Jermod McCoy were still there. Auburn edge rusher Keldric Faulk was another potential option. But clearly, Lawrence is a player. They liked how he fit for their new scheme, so it\u2019s difficult to question the pick at this time.<\/p>\n

Fast evaluation<\/p>\n

It\u2019s difficult to predict exactly what Parker\u2019s new defense will look like, but clearly this is the type of edge rusher he wanted. The most important thing is a defense that was arguably the worst in franchise history got upgrades with two first-round picks. This is the first time the Cowboys have drafted two defensive players this high since 2005 when they picked DeMarcus Ware and Marcus Spears in the first round.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 NFL Draft. The Dallas Cowboys selected UCF edge Malachi Lawrence…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":873734,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2066],"tags":[230,229,257,2461,7,6,4708],"class_list":{"0":"post-873733","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","14":"tag-ucf-knights"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116461216971086818","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873733","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=873733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/873734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}