{"id":266156,"date":"2026-04-25T18:55:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T18:55:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/266156\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T18:55:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T18:55:26","slug":"cowboys-instant-2026-nfl-draft-grade-for-lt-overton-pick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/266156\/","title":{"rendered":"Cowboys’ Instant 2026 NFL Draft Grade For LT Overton Pick"},"content":{"rendered":"

Defense has been the focus for the Dallas Cowboys<\/a> throughout the 2026 NFL draft<\/a>. <\/p>\n

After taking Caleb Downs, Malachi Lawrence, and Jaishawn Barham, the Cowboys took a brief detour to start the fourth round. At No. 112 overall, they brought in Penn State offensive tackle Drew Shelton<\/a>.<\/p>\n

From there, it’s again back to the defensive rebuild. At No. 114, they took a promising cornerback out of Florida<\/a> in Devin Moore. With their third and final pick in the fourth, they added some power to the defensive line with Alabama’s LT Overton<\/a> at No. 137 overall.<\/p>\n

Instant Grade for LT Overton selection: B+\"Alabama<\/p>\n

Alabama defensive lineman LT Overton during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Overton is an interesting prospect for Dallas. He played all over the defensive line with the Crimson Tide, but is likely going to be a 5-tech defensive end for Christian Parker.<\/p>\n

At the NFL Combine, he was measured at 6-foot-3 and 274 pounds, which might be a little thin for that role. As Nick Harris said, however, he was up to 287 pounds at his Pro Day and still ran a 4.87<\/a>. Harris believes the 4i or 5-tech would be his role, especially if he can stick to this weight.<\/p>\n

Parker said his defense would be multiple, but they are expected to utilize the 3-4. Adding Overton gives them another big body to play on the end, joining offseason pickup Jonathan Bullard<\/a>. Overton, who had 84 tackles and nine sacks in two seasons at Alabama, is a Texas native who began his collegiate career at Texas A&M. He returns to his home state and could carve out a niche role in Dallas.<\/p>\n

Kyle Louis, who went one pick later, would have been a flashier selection, but Overton fits what they need and was the smarter selection.<\/p>\n

What the scouts are saying about LT Overton\"Alabama<\/p>\n

Alabama Crimson Tide defensive lineman LT Overton celebrates after recovering a South Carolina fumble. | Gary Cosby Jr.-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein points out that Overton plays with a “rugged demeanor<\/a>” and knows how to clog the gaps. He doesn’t see Overton as an explosive player, but is impressed with his power.<\/p>\n

“Overton is a slow-twitch end with impressive power and a consistently rugged demeanor. He has long arms and plays with the anchor\/leverage that helps him secure his gap. However, he rarely gains early positional advantages and isn\u2019t going to be a gap-shooter,” Zierlein wrote.<\/p>\n

“He lacks range in pursuit and won\u2019t threaten tackles to the corner with his get-off as an edge rusher. Overton\u2019s play strength and leverage create power on the edge, but power won\u2019t trump production.”<\/p>\n

Overton isn’t a player who will fill the stat sheet, but he’s someone who does his job and won’t make many mistakes. <\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0Sign up for the Cowboys Daily Digest newsletter\u00a0<\/a>for more free coverage from\u00a0Dallas Cowboys on SI<\/a>\u00a0\u2014<\/p>\n

\"\"Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Defense has been the focus for the Dallas Cowboys throughout the 2026 NFL draft. After taking Caleb Downs,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266157,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103],"class_list":{"0":"post-266156","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-dallas","9":"tag-dallas-headlines","10":"tag-dallas-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266156","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=266156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}