Cowboys are gambling with health issues on defense

With the offseason in full swing, we have plenty of downtime to take a unique look at some things about the Dallas Cowboys.

One of them got me thinking. The defense improved. That isn’t up for debate and the defensive line looks very good, but some parts of the defense still have a question mark.

The Dallas Cowboys are gambling on the health of a few players that should be started in 2026, and if they go down, it might be an issue.

Banking On Health

With that said, you might know a couple off the top of your head, but let’s dive into guys that are going to be either starting or playing a nice chuck of snaps that are going to need to be on the field more times than not.

It starts with DaRon Bland, another player that as soon as he had a career year and set an NFL record for interception returns for a touchdown, earned a big contract. Now he can’t stay on the field.

How much pressure is DaRon Bland under entering the 2026 season? @BobbyBeltTX and @1053SS discuss Bland being among @rgurzi81's four #DallasCowboys who are under the most pressure to improve in 2026.⤵️ pic.twitter.com/h6sxhWvhzb

— 105.3 The FAN (@1053thefan) May 6, 2026

Bland, who is in the first year of his four-year, $90 million contract. He has a major foot issue, and it does not seem to be getting any better.

Bland suffered a stress fracture in his left foot during the 2024 offseason that forced him to miss 10 games, and then he dealt with injuries to both feet in 2025.

A right foot injury forced him to miss two games early in the campaign, and then a left foot issue led to a premature end to his season and surgery. It just hasn’t stopped, and these are the types of injuries you don’t want to make all the types of moves in the secondary that he does being a cornerback.

Then you look at another starter on defense at linebacker, DeMarvion Overshown. He missed his entire rookie year with that torn ACL. He returned in 2024 and played 13 games and was looking the part until he tore his ACL, MCL and PCL, the worst possible knee injury.

He returned last year, but only played in six games, for a total of 32 in three seasons. We have to be honest with ourselves, just like Bland, we need him to stay on the field and be healthy and give them production.

Overshown is finally back to 100% and has this entire offseason to continue to put in the work.

Then we move onto another cornerback that is going to start this year for Dallas. Shavon Revel slipped in the NFL draft last year because of a torn ACL when he was at East Carolina, but had first round grades on him before that happened.

If you have not looked at his numbers, he was not good last year.

He made seven appearances (five starts) with 35 total tackles (23 solo), one tackle for loss, and three passes defensed. He also gave up a 73.7 percent completion rate (28 completions on 38 targets) for 331 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 11.8 yards per completion with a 126.1 passer rating.

Could Cobie Durant START over Shavon Revel Jr.?#DallasCowboys | @DLLS_Sports pic.twitter.com/ovZn9UoTG1

— DLLS Cowboys (@DLLS_Cowboys) April 28, 2026

Read that again, 126 passer rating. That is not good at all, but again, he was returning to full-time action after a torn ACL. They will need him to be very good this year, and they are hoping that that ACL injury was a one-time thing while in college.

These are the main three I wanted to touch on, but another guy that Dallas drafted late was Devin Moore, the corner out of Florida.

If not for injuries to him, he would have been drafted higher as well. This team got better on defense which was the biggest weakness a year ago, but man they need these main three guys to stay in good health!