The 2026 NFL Draft concluded last Saturday, and all the teams, especially the Dallas Cowboys, seemed pleased with their selections. Jerry Jones, the Cowboys’ owner and general manager, even sparked confidence that this draft could help end a 30-year drought. However, an NFL analyst has pointed out that one of Jones’ draft picks may not meet expectations.

“Fourth-round tackle Drew Shelton was a bit of a reach in my book. He’s a swing tackle who the team hopes can develop into more,” wrote CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco.

The Dallas Cowboys made seven selections in total during the 2026 NFL Draft. Out of those, only two were offensive picks. Penn State OT Drew Shelton was one of them. But according to Prisco, the Cowboys’ selection of Shelton at 112th overall was a reach. As such, the Dallas-based team selected him earlier than his projected value or consensus ranking. Prisco assessed Shelton as the ‘worst pick’ of the Cowboys.

Shelton finished his collegiate career at Penn State University (2022–2025). He appeared in 48 total games and made 34 starts, primarily at left tackle. He earned All-Big Ten Honorable Mention honors in both his junior and senior seasons.

However, critics argue that Shelton has a lighter frame for an NFL offensive tackle. As a result, this pick could be more of a developmental one for the Cowboys. But Jerry Jones appeared content with his selections.

The Cowboys finished the 2025 NFL regular season with a record of 7–9–1. This was their second consecutive losing season, and they failed to qualify for the playoffs for the second year in a row. Also, the Dallas-based team has not entered the Super Bowl finals for 30 years now. Their last appearance in that championship was in 1996, in Super Bowl XXX, where they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 27–17.

However, with a revamped team, Jones believes they can end the drought in the 2026 season.

“We can put it together,” said Jones, per The Athletic’s Jon Machota. “[The] two teams in the Super Bowl, they didn’t make the playoffs the year before. I know it can happen, because I’ve done it when it didn’t work and I’ve done it when it worked. You just keep (swinging) that pick.”

Jones came with his reasoning as well. He drew comparisons with the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots’ rise in the 2025 season. The Seahawks went 10-7 in the 2024 season. But last year, they crowned themselves Super Bowl LX winners, with a record of 14-3.

Similarly, the Patriots ended their 2024 season with a record of 4-13. However, they made a significant turnaround in the previous season. With a record of 14-3, they reached the Super Bowl finals before losing to the Seahawks 29-13.

So, Jones expects a similar kind of rise with the Dallas Cowboys heading into the 2026 season. As a result, even post-NFL Draft, the Dallas-based team made a few more additions.

Jerry Jones’ Cowboys sign 11 UDFAs

Among the seven picks in the 2026 NFL Draft, five were defensive. The Dallas Cowboys selected the likes of Safety Caleb Downs, EDGE Malachi Lawrence, LB Jaishawn Barham, CB Devin Moore, and DL LT Overton. So, the team lacked a few more offensive additions.

For that, the Cowboys’ owner and GM, Jerry Jones, looked towards the undrafted free agents (UDFA). As reported by Cowboys’ insider Nick Harris, the team signed seven offensive and four defensive players following the draft.

“Updated Cowboys UDFAs: SMU WR Jordan Hudson, TCU TE DJ Rogers, Baylor TE Michael Trigg, Virginia Tech DT Kelvin Gilliam, Georgia Southern WR Camden Brown, Tulsa RB Dominic Richardson, Kansas DT DJ Withers, Kansas DT Tommy Dunn Jr., Baylor OT Sidney Fugar, Kentucky OT Shiyazh Pete, Vanderbilt LB Langston Patterson,” wrote Harris on X.

Out of the 11, Michael Trigg seems like a promising addition. Trigg concluded his five-year collegiate career in 2025 as the all-time leader in receiving yards for a tight end at Baylor University. Across his career at USC, Ole Miss, and Baylor, he recorded 108 receptions for 1,419 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Other than that, RB Dominic Richardson finished with 2,832 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns across 57 games at Oklahoma State, Baylor, New Mexico State, and Tulsa. The rest also boast similar stats, if not the same. Hence, Jerry Jones and the Cowboys saw them as a fit for their team.

The likes of QB Dak Prescott, WR CeeDee Lamb, and WR George Pickens, among others, stand as top players from the Dallas-based team. It will be interesting to see how the prospects gel with the veterans heading into the 2026 season.