The 2026 NFL Draft is no doubt an important one for the Dallas Cowboys, especially in regards to upgrading the defensive side of the ball. Due to how historically bad the defense performed under Matt Eberflus last year, this year\u2019s draft is expected to be a defensive heavy one to hopefully aid Dallas\u2019 new DC Christian Parker in turning things around.<\/p>\n
Today, we\u2019re taking a different approach from focusing on the top prospects everyone is talking about and instead share some of our underrated favorites. We believe this is a good exercise to dig a little deeper in the draft to talk about players who may not be receiving the recognition they deserve.<\/p>\n
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EDGE Keyron Crawford, Auburn (6\u20193\u2033, 251)<\/p>\n
Keyron Crawford probably isn\u2019t getting the attention he commands in the 2026 EDGE draft class. He\u2019s a twitched-up athlete who plays relentlessly with a nonstop motor. He has the strength\/power to hold up against the run and the athletic ability to drop into coverage as well. He is expected to be a mid-round pick and checks nearly all of the boxes Christian Parker looks for in a player at the DE position.<\/p>\n
DT Rayshaun Benny, Michigan (6\u20193\u2033, 298)<\/p>\n
Forget for a second he played at Michigan, because Rayshaun Benny is an intriguing defensive tackle prospect who is expected to be a Day 3 selection. He could be an impactful rotational piece with the Cowboys early on as he shown he plays with impressive quickness and powers with an understanding of how to use his long arms to help penetrate gaps. All of this could make him a good fit in Christian Parker\u2019s defensive scheme.<\/p>\n
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LB Lander Barton, Utah (6\u20193\u2033, 233)<\/p>\n
Familiarize yourself with the name Lander Barton and file it away to memory. He\u2019s definitely someone to keep an eye on for the Cowboys and could be exactly what Christian Parker is looking for at MLB. From his physical stature, athletic ability, versatility, and high-end production Barton checks all the boxes to start as a rookie. He\u2019s a thumper in the run game and uses his length (79 3\/4\u2033 wingspan) to disrupt passing lanes in coverage.<\/p>\n
CB Chandler Rivers, Duke (5\u20199\u2033, 185)<\/p>\n
Chandler Rivers may be small in stature and undersized by NFL standards, but he plays with an attitude like he\u2019s 10 foot tall and bulletproof. He competes his tail off down after down and is equally effective playing in man or zone. There are a lot of similarities between him and Ja\u2019Quan McMillian, who Christian Parker worked with in Denver.<\/p>\n
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S Bud Clark, TCU (6\u20191\u2033, 185)<\/p>\n
If you weren\u2019t aware of who Bud Clark was before, you probably are now after he gained national attention due to his play in Mobile at the Senior Bowl. He\u2019s a little slender of frame, but that doesn\u2019t seem to hinder him a bit as a run defender or in pass defense. His versatility to play deep, in the box, or the nickel would make him a great fit in Christian Parker\u2019s scheme and he does have the potential to start right away as a rookie.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 NFL Draft is no doubt an important one for the Dallas Cowboys, especially in regards to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464956,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[5888,37180,64,63,238078,229226,1234,3897,80077,238079,238082,593,238081,85,121553,238080],"class_list":{"0":"post-464955","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-arizona","9":"tag-arizona-state-sun-devils","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-bud-clark","13":"tag-christian-parker","14":"tag-dallas-cowboys","15":"tag-denver","16":"tag-horned-frogs","17":"tag-keyron-crawford","18":"tag-lander-barton","19":"tag-nfl","20":"tag-rayshaun-benny","21":"tag-sports","22":"tag-tcu-horned-frogs","23":"tag-tempe"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}