2026 first-round mock draft<\/a>.<\/p>\nCaleb Downs, S, Ohio State<\/p>\n
\u201dBuckeyes defensive coordinator Matt Patricia told me on \u201cThe Schrager Hour\u201d that Downs will be the smartest player on whichever team that drafts him and should be a face of the franchise. The Cowboys need that on defense, even if safety isn\u2019t valued the same as pass rusher or cornerback. Downs could team up with Jalen Thompson and Malik Hooker on the back end and help curtail the big plays that hurt in Dallas last season (gave up 54 plays of 25-plus yards, most in the NFL). If he\u2019s on the board, he would be a steal at No. 12.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb Downs was one of the Cowboys official 30 pre-draft visitors, so we know there is a real interest there, especially considering he could fill that all-important nickel safety role in Christian Parker\u2019s defensive scheme. He\u2019s arguably a Top 5 ranked player in the 2026 draft class, so him sliding right in Dallas\u2019 lap could be a dream come true. The Cowboys haven\u2019t drafted a safety in the first-round since 2002 (Roy Williams), Downs could be the exception. He\u2019d be an immediate difference maker as a rookie.<\/p>\n
20. Dallas Cowboys (via GB)<\/p>\n
Akheem Mesidor, Edge, Miami<\/p>\n
\u201cMesidor is one of the older players in this class, having just turned 25 years old, but he also might be the prospect most ready to make an immediate impact. He was an absolute menace for Miami, and he\u2019d immediately become one of Dallas\u2019 top pass rusher\u2019s off the edge. Mesidor tallied 12.5 sacks and 17.5 tackles for loss in 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s interesting Schrager predicts the Cowboys select Akheem Mesidor with their second first-round pick. It\u2019s rare 25-year-old players get selected in the first round, especially ones with documented foot injuries. Dallas has shown an interest meeting formally with him at the combine, so there is that. And, he does fit a \u201cneed\u201d. The talent is there to be an immediate contributor as a plug-and-play starter, but again, his age and past foot injuries are red flags that have to be taken into consideration, making him a potential risk to take in the first round.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When it comes to predicting the Dallas Cowboys first-round draft picks the last couple years, ESPN\u2019s Peter Schrager…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":240366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,50116,7011,104,103],"class_list":["post-240365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-cowboy-mock-drafts","tag-dallas-cowboys-draft","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/240366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}