Training camp is less than 10 days away and the news will finally pick up, and we can start talking about some things that are taking place at the camp, rather than all opinion posts.
With that said, the Dallas Cowboys defensive line has a new look this season and will be a lot better than people think, and honestly, I think they have one of the best fronts in football.
The fact that it can even be a discussion after what happened a year ago trading Micah Parsons is wild, but look at the return. They added one former All-Pro and two other Pro Bowl players to the line.
Still, with a 4th round pick in the draft back in April, Dallas took LT Overton, a defensive lineman from Alabama and the more I watch tape on him, the more I think he could carve out a role with this defense.
What happened? And what should the Cowboys expect from them in 2026?
Upside
Overton has a lot of upsides, and the good thing is, it is not like he will be called upon right away to step in and do some damage and play at a high level.
He will be a guy that they can keep fresh and use when he is needed or if someone goes down with an injury, maybe he will get his chance, but the upside is there.
During his time at Alabama, Overton primarily played the 5-tech, which is typically the defensive end in a 3-4 who lines up on the outside shoulder of the opposing team’s offensive tackle.
Their primary role is to clog lanes and shut down the run. While they can occasionally get after the quarterback, these players tend to do the dirty work while the outside linebackers get to look cool and make tackles, etc.
He is listed as a linebacker on the Cowboys’ depth chart, but I think he is going to be sitting behind Janthonan Bullard on the depth chart once the season starts.
Don’t be surprised to see him getting snaps in the 3-4 alignment, while also moving inside in nickel packages as well. His numbers are not going to jump off the screen at anyone, but they aren’t asking him to have those.
I think even by the end of the year he could become a fixture on the line and a key piece of Christian Parker’s rebuilt defense.
I really like the way the Cowboys defensive line is going to look and let me be the first to say that if anyone thought this is how it would look after trading Parsons nearly a year ago, you are crazy.
I had no trust in Jerry Jones to get it rebuilt the way he has, and the defense still has major issues in the secondary, but they are fantastic upfront now and should be the best at stopping the run we have seen in years. They don’t have a push rusher and without Cloweny they are going to have a new sack leader for the third straight year.
Keep in the back of your mind that Overton was once ranked as a consensus top-25 player in the 2026 NFL Draft, and the Cowboys got him in the 4th round.
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Caleb Downs was the No. 4-ranked player by Brugler going into the season, and by the end of the process, he wound up at No. 5. The Cowboys were able to steal him at No. 11, and the hope is that he can be a foundational piece for the defense.
Things like this just don’t happen to us Cowboys fans, so it is nice to see it going our way for once, this is the best offseason in terms of letting it be about football and doing what they needed to do to get better with NO drama.
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