FRISCO, Texas – The Cowboys’ 2026 rookie minicamp is in the books, as Dallas’ new faces have spent the weekend getting acclimated to their new home at the Star in Frisco.
From meetings with the coaching staff to hour-long practices with conditioning and position specific work, the Cowboys’ coaching staff is looking to get their first-year players as acclimated to how the team operates as possible before they join the veterans at OTAs on June 1.
At the same time, it’s an opportunity for new defensive coordinator Christian Parker and his staff to work with players for the first time in Dallas. Parker categorized getting back on the grass as a “safe haven,” and said it was a sign of the season getting closer and closer.
Let’s dive into some more notes and observations from over the weekend:
- Cowboys first-round pick Caleb Downs spent a good bit of practice on Friday working one-on-one with Christian Parker during practice. On Saturday, Downs and Parker did the same one-on-one work after practice concluded. “I feel like that’s when you learn fully what the coach means,” Downs said of his time with Parker. “To be able to get hands on and be able to do the drill with you, I feel like that’s a real positive.” When Downs wasn’t working with Parker, he spent most of his positional drills with secondary coach Ryan Smith, whose focus is primarily on the safety room.
- Dallas’ second first-round pick Malachi Lawrence did one-on-one work with Cowboys pass rush specialist consultant B.T. Jordan over the weekend, and the two are working to make his pass rushes more efficient. “He’s very technical,” Lawrence said of Jordan. “When it comes to my steps, he doesn’t want me false stepping, so we worked on that today. I had a bag under my foot, so just working on false step, working on get-off.”
- After drafting Jaishawn Barham in the third-round, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said the team would begin working him at inside linebacker. On Friday, Christian Parker said he’d be getting work at MIKE linebacker, an area that Dallas needs players at. On Saturday, Parker pulled Barham aside during linebacker position drills and did one-on-one work with him. “I feel like my ability to run, run sideline to sideline, be able to hit, take on blocks, get off blocks, being able to cover tight ends, running backs, whatever. I feel like I’m a football player. So whether it’s d-end or linebacker, I play football, so I can do it.”
- Although Cowboys fourth-round pick Drew Shelton played left tackle during his collegiate career at Penn State, the Cowboys will be giving him looks on both sides of the line and even at guard, a spot on the offensive line that Shelton has never played before. “”It will be new but I’m willing to do it,” Shelton said. “It doesn’t matter to me. I’m going to get work at both and we’ll see where we take it.”
- Had it not been for injuries over the course of his career at Florida, Cowboys fourth-round pick Devin Moore is confident he would’ve been one of the more sought-after cornerbacks in the 2026 draft class. After playing a fully healthy season in 2025, and now getting to go against CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens in practice and be coached by Christian Parker and Derrick Ansley, Moore is confident he can take his game to another level. “I’m so excited man,” Moore said. “I felt like even in college, I never reached playing my best ball. So just being somewhere where there’s as many resources as there is in the world here to try and elevate my game to be the best I can be.”
- Christian Parker said Friday that the Cowboys plan to have fourth-round pick LT Overton play as a defensive tackle, whether it be a three-technique, 4i, or five-technique. “Definitely just getting those good eyes and ears form our vets,” Overton said of how he’ll prepare for his role. “That’s what I’ve always been accountable on especially coming out early out of my high school career, going into college early. Early dealt with the dudes older than me that’s been through it all them years, seeing how they go through their everyday life, just trying to pick up off that.”
- In being drafted by the Cowboys in the seventh-round, wide receiver Anthony Smith gets to reunite with his college teammate at East Carolina, Dallas’ third-round pick in the 2025 draft and cornerback Shavon Revel. Revel reached out to Smith right after he got drafted to Dallas, as the two have a good relationship and were like-minded in their goals of making it to the NFL. “Since spring ball, fall camp, that’s the only person I would go against,” Smith said of Revel. “I didn’t want to go against nobody other than him because I knew where he was going.”
- Cowboys UDFA offensive tackle Shiyazh Pete, who is the first member of the Navajo Nation to reach the NFL, has been trying to be a sponge during his time in Dallas and with Cowboys OC Klayton Adams and OL coach Conor Riley. With that, he bears pride of his heritage and the example he can set for others. “It’s a great honor,” Pete said of representing the Navajo Nation. “To put on the star is surreal. But I have to earn that star. I wouldn’t say I’m an official Cowboy yet.”
