FRISCO, Texas — Having experienced a long wait to go onto the clock at the 2026 NFL Draft in the third round, lacking a second-round pick this year, the Dallas Cowboys knew one thing in particular heading into their final pick of the fourth round: they'd need to nail the pick, seeing as they entered the day without a pick in the fifth or sixth rounds, due to trades made on Day 1 (for Caleb Downs) and Day 2 (for Dee Winters).
Plenty of defensive needs were addressed to this point, both in free agency and in the draft itself, to the point the Cowboys' front office and head coach Brian Schottenheimer had some fun with the possibility of not walking away with any offensive additions; but the jury was out on if that would be the case.
With the 137th-overall pick, they selected LT Overton, a versatile defensive lineman out of Alabama.
Round 4 (137): LT Overton, DL, Alabama
Three things to know:
- Five-star high school recruit
- Two-star athlete: basketball and football
- Transfer from Texas A&M to Alabama (2024)
Scouting Report + Fit:
The first thing that pops in my mind when watching LT Overton ... his first name is Lebbeus, by the way ... is Osa Odighizuwa (pre-draft measurables are also comparable between the two). With the decision to trade the latter to the 49ers, the Cowboys have a stable full of huge bulls at defensive tackle (a wonderful thing, mind you), but they do need at least one lighter, quicker and athletic defensive tackle they can, at times, ask to line up wide (think 4i) to rush the passer; and that's exactly what the plan is right now for Overton.
His first two seasons were spent at Texas A&M, where he played in a combined 23 games and amassed 48 combined tackles with three tackles for loss and a sack. Those numbers only went up after his transfer to Alabama, going on to deliver 26 games/starts with 41 combined tackles and nine tackles for loss along with six sacks (39 pressures and 32 hurries in 2024 alone).
Overton is one of the best defensive tackles in the nation at getting after the passer, something Pro Bowler Kenny Clark uses as a calling card as well, and some outlets projected him as highly as a late second-rounder.
Getting him as their third pick in the fourth round is tremendous value, and turning on the film readily shows that Overton's motor never runs out of gas. He plays as if he's starving on every snap, for four full quarters, never taking a play off, but he'll need to refine his hand techniques, keep his pads low more consistently to avoid getting stood up, but these are things Chidera Uzo-Diribe was brought from Georgia to Dallas to fix in a prospect like Overton.
