{"id":591748,"date":"2026-04-07T18:18:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T18:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/591748\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T18:18:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T18:18:09","slug":"cowboys-dream-nfl-draft-prospect-draws-comparison-to-2x-super-bowl-champ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/591748\/","title":{"rendered":"Cowboys Dream NFL Draft Prospect Draws Comparison To 2x Super Bowl Champ"},"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=\"6d\">The Dallas Cowboys put a strong focus on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/cowboys\/onsi\/news\/dallas-cowboys-depth-chart-projection-post-free-agency-position-battles-roster-bubble\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> improving the team&#8217;s ailing defense during the early wave of NFL free agency<\/a>, and that is expected to continue through the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/cowboys\/onsi\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">2026 NFL draft<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6g\">Dallas has two first-round picks in the upcoming draft, so there is a strong opportunity for the team to add two impact players. One of the players who has been linked to the Cowboys in recent weeks is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/cowboys\/onsi\/draft\/cowboys-2026-nfl-draft-watch-rueben-bain-jr-scouting-report\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Miami Hurricanes star Rueben Bain Jr<\/a>., a consensus All-American and reigning ACC Defensive Player of the Year. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6j\">There have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/cowboys\/onsi\/draft\/rueben-bain-jr-measurables-concerns-could-be-blessing-dallas-cowboys\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">growing concerns about Bain&#8217;s arm length<\/a>, but his tape doesn&#8217;t lie, and he has proven to be one of the most disruptive players in college football. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6m\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/draft2026\/story\/_\/id\/48407219\/2026-nfl-draft-comps-best-prospect-pro-matches-comparisons\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ESPN.com recently shared NFL player comparisons<\/a> for some of the top prospects in this year&#8217;s draft, and Bain drew comparisons to former division rival Brandon Graham, who is a two-time Super Bowl champion with the Philadelphia Eagles. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01knmf1m0jbwmy3bm8bn.jpg\" alt=\"Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham runs off the field after a win against the Dallas Cowboys\" title=\"Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham runs off the field after a win against the Dallas Cowboys\" width=\"2343\" height=\"2343\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"6w\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham runs off the field after a win against the Dallas Cowboys | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"70\">&#8220;Bain is a compact, stout edge defender in a similar mold to Graham and wins with power and violent hands. Both players have high motors and consistently make plays in the backfield, including the pursuit of running backs from the backside,&#8221; ESPN&#8217;s Turon Davenport wrote. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"73\">&#8220;Like Graham, Bain can line up as far out as the wide 9 technique or counter as an interior pass rushing option.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"76\">Bain recorded a career-high 54 tackles, 15.5 tackles for a loss, 9.5 sacks, one forced fumble, and one interception last season, and has the skillset to excel in Christian Parker&#8217;s system. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"79\">If Bain falls in the draft, which is set to take place in just over two weeks, it would be a major blessing for the Dallas defense, which ranked No. 30 overall last season. The Cowboys are also in desperate need of bolstering the pass rush, which was crippled following the departure of Micah Parsons last season. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_0,h_0\/c_fill,w_16,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/ImagnImages\/mmsport\/cowboys_country\/01knmf7vta75tbc6tqmv.jpg\" alt=\"Miami Hurricanes EDGE Rueben Bain Jr. against the Indiana Hoosiers during the College Football National Championship\" title=\"Miami Hurricanes EDGE Rueben Bain Jr. against the Indiana Hoosiers during the College Football National Championship\" width=\"0\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"7j\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Miami Hurricanes EDGE Rueben Bain Jr. against the Indiana Hoosiers during the College Football National Championship | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7n\">Dallas currently holds the No. 12 overall pick in the 2026 draft, so if concerns about Bain&#8217;s arm length continue to circulate and he slides out of the top 10, the Cowboys will need to jump on the opportunity to add the game-wrecking EDGE. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7q\">The 2026 NFL Draft will be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from Thursday, April 23, through Saturday, April 25.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7t\">\u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/cowboys\/newsletter\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sign up for the Cowboys Daily Digest newsletter <\/a>for more free coverage from<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/cowboys\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Dallas Cowboys on SI<\/a> \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dallas Cowboys put a strong focus on improving the team&#8217;s ailing defense during the early wave of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":591749,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-591748","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591748","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=591748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/591749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=591748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=591748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=591748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}