The Cowboys have plenty to sort out at 1-1, especially on defense, but the bigger picture is already taking shape through the draft classes they’ve built over the past two years. Tyler Booker has looked like a stud at right guard, Donovan Ezeiruaku, Caleb Downs and Jaishawn Barham are all pushing toward bigger roles, and Malachi Lawrence has flashed enough promise to keep the future looking lively in Dallas.
That’s why Week 4 offers a useful scouting trip. There are draft-eligible players on the schedule who fit what Dallas tends to value, and a few of them could wind up on the Cowboys’ radar sooner rather than later.
Texas Tech cornerback Brice Pollock is one of the cleanest fits. The 6-foot-0, 192-pound defender doesn’t have elite speed, but he’s technically sharp and comfortable in both man and zone.
Pollock started at Mississippi State before transferring to Texas Tech in 2025, then picked off five passes in his first season with the Red Raiders. He hasn’t had an interception in 2026, but he’s already posted five pass defenses through three games.
Dallas needs more playmakers in the secondary, and Pollock has become exactly that type of player.
Another name to circle is Georgia safety KJ Bolden. The Cowboys spent a first-round pick on Caleb Downs in 2026, taking him 11th overall, but they don’t see Downs as a traditional safety.
He’s at his best in the slot and serves as a defensive chess piece for Christian Parker. If Dallas wants to keep Downs closer to the line of scrimmage, it needs younger help at the position.
Bolden fits that need. He’s listed at 6-foot-0, 195 pounds, and while he’s not the biggest body, he processes quickly and rarely misses tackles.
PFF’s Max Chadwick called him the top safety prospect in this class and pointed to his 90.7 career PFF grade.
At right tackle, Texas lineman Melvin Siani is another player worth watching. After stops at Temple and Wake Forest, he’s now getting more attention with the Longhorns, even while Trevor Goosby draws more of the spotlight.
Dallas has Tyler Guyton settling in at left tackle, but Terence Steele has slipped on the right side, and the Broderick Jones trade doesn’t guarantee a fix. Siani stands out because of his athleticism and his ability to block on the move.
Ole Miss defensive tackle Will Echoles also deserves a close look when the Rebels face Florida. He’s a 6-foot-3, 315-pound interior force who posted 11.5 tackles for loss in 2025.
Cowboys On SI’s Josh Sanchez noted that a run on quarterbacks could let Echoles slide into range, and that would make sense for Dallas. He brings versatility across the defensive line, which lines up neatly with what Christian Parker wants.
Linebacker remains another area where the Cowboys can keep adding. Jaishawn Barham helps, but the depth chart still needs work, and Clemson’s Sammy Brown is the kind of player worth tracking Friday night against Cal.
Brown broke out in 2025 with 106 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and five sacks. Paired with Barham, he’d give Dallas a potentially dynamic linebacker duo.
Then there’s the receiver angle. George Pickens made a strong impression with his 2025 season and is on the franchise tag for 2026, but there’s no certainty he’ll still be around in 2027.
Another tag could create front-office tension, so it makes sense to keep an eye on Indiana’s Charlie Becker. At 6-foot-4 and 207 pounds, he’s a big target who can also score from anywhere.
Becker caught 34 passes for 679 yards and four touchdowns in 2025, averaging 20 yards per catch, and in 2026 he’s up to 12 receptions, 272 yards and six touchdowns while averaging 22.6 yards per grab. That kind of downfield production would fit nicely opposite CeeDee Lamb and would make Becker a logical Pickens fallback if Dallas needs one.
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Even before kickoff, though, Cowboys fans found another reason to grumble. Social media lit up after caricatures of Dak Prescott and Lamar Jackson were displayed at the stadium, and plenty of viewers thought Prescotts version did him no favors. It is a small detail in a big international showcase, but for a fan base that already watches every Dak storyline closely, it was the kind of pregame image that got people talking fast. [Read more 🡒]
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Maracana is not an NFL facility, and the leagues previous games in Brazil were played at a different venue with a smaller capacity, which only sharpens the scrutiny on how this one will hold up. Experts have already recommended reinforced stitching and other measures to improve the field, but the real question now is whether those fixes will be enough before kickoff. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Defense Faces Its Biggest Early Test Against Lamar Jackson
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Now comes Baltimore and Lamar Jackson, the kind of matchup that can expose even small cracks in a front sevens discipline. Jacksons mobility and scrambling ability make him a difficult target for any defense, but especially one that has already shown some frustration getting quarterbacks to the ground. For Dallas, this looks like the first real stress test of how well its pass rush can hold up when the passer is also a threat to turn a broken play into a big gain. [Read more 🡒]