Chandler Rivers the steal at CB in the NFL Draft

The start of the NFL draft is now less than a week away and things for the Dallas Cowboys are right about where we thought they would be.

Not sure if they are going to trade up, trade back or keep the 12th and 20th overall picks, and the thing I do know though is that their is a cornerback projected to go in the late second or third round that could be a steal if the Cowboys can land him.

Rivers is a cornerback from Duke, and with no players from the university selected a year ago in the NFL draft, that is about to change next week.

More About Rivers

Rivers broke onto the scene as a junior in 2024, tallying 54 total tackles, eight pass deflections, a sack, two forced fumbles, and three interceptions.

Oh, and he is from Texas!

He returned to Duke for his senior year in 2025, he was instantly viewed as one of the top returning secondary pieces in college football and a potential first-round pick in the 2026 draft.

Chandler Rivers is an intelligent, explosive DB prospect who profiles as a game-changing nickel in the NFL

If you miss out on D’Angelo Ponds, pound the table for Rivers pic.twitter.com/IbvjlYskAv

— NFL Draft Files (@NFL_DF) April 5, 2026

After entering the 2025 campaign with a ton of hype around his name, it wasn’t quite the year the 5’10”, 185-pound corner was looking for. Rivers totaled 59 tackles, eight pass deflections, a forced fumble, and two interceptions in 13 games. As a result, his stock took a hit.

So many reports are out there about what the Cowboys are going to do in the first round next week, and honestly, until a move happens, I am just going to assume they draft at 12 and 20.

They have one third round pick they got from the 49ers when they traded OSA a little over a month ago, and Rivers is projected to go in the 3rd or 4th round.

If Dallas does not draft Jermod McCoy or Mansoor Delane, and they do indeed go linebacker or safety with their first two picks, I think they should try and get Rivers to help out the worst secondary in all of football, because they will need all the help they can get.

This team does not have time to draft guys to develop them, everyone they get early enough needs to be able to step in and start day one after training camp, etc.

Rivers is probably right on the tail end of that. If he has a good summer, I strongly think he could be one of those guys to at least make some plays.

The biggest issue I have with Rivers is that he does a little bit of what Trevon Diggs used to do.

Tries to jump on routes prematurely when lined up as a deep safety or in a deeper zone, which can lead to some chunk plays with wide-open receivers.

It worked for Diggs for a few months and got him some highlight reel plays, but great quarterbacks and wide receivers catch onto that after one or two attempts.

We will have to wait a week to see what this team plans on doing, but I can tell you if Rivers can slip to Dallas in the third round, and even the second if they can trade, I wouldn’t even think twice about drafting him.

Chandler Rivers is a CB prospect in the 2026 draft class. He scored an unofficial 8.80 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 334 out of 2779 CB from 1987 to 2026.

Pending agilities and bench, splits projected.https://t.co/9vhmMgdhhQ pic.twitter.com/8m8Hrb3zyC

— RAS.football (@MathBomb) February 27, 2026

The value you will get for the player in those rounds is good stuff, and I will eat my words if Dallas drafts him, and he can not produce right away under Parker and his defense.

Dallas has the perfect guy running the defense and has a proven track record at developing young defensive backs and Rivers would be a steal for this team.

Knowing my luck, Rivers won’t get to them in the third round and honestly probably will get taken in the second.