The Dallas Cowboys rolled the dice in the 4th round of the 2026 NFL draft, taking talented but injury-prone University of Florida cornerback Devin Moore.
Moore only played 1 full season of college football due to injuries.
“With the 114th pick, the Cowboys select Florida CB Devin Moore,” ESPN’s Todd Archer wrote on X on Saturday. “Has the size (6-3, 198) and has ball skills but had a lot of injuries in school … From ESPN Research on Devin Moore: 19.8 QBR allowed as primary defender since 2023, 5th lowest in SEC (min. 45 Att Against); Opp completed just 8 of 21 attempts against him as primary defender in 2025 (38%).”
NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein correctly predicted Moore would be drafted in the 4th round.
“Moore is a long outside cornerback with good size but limited experience due to injuries,” Zierlein wrote in his pre-draft evaluation. “His size and length benefit him from press. He plays with adequate eye balance as a short-zone defender. Moore is a good deep-ball tracker who tilts jump balls in his favor, but he lacks make-up speed to run down coverage mistakes. He’s upright with sluggish hips in transitions and is missing the foot quickness/acceleration to stay connected with quicker route-runners. Improved anticipation and decisiveness should come with more snaps but durability concerns could hurt his draft stock.”
Cowboys Have Wasteland at Cornerback
The Cowboys have turned their cornerbacks room into an absolute wasteland in recent years — a money pit from which it seems there is no escape.
They released former NFL All-Pro cornerback Trevon Diggs — who was playing on a $97.6 milllion contract — shortly before the end of the 2025 regular season.
The Cowboys also signed another underperforming former NFL All-Pro, cornerback Daron Bland, to a 4-year, $90 million contract extension, only to watch him struggle with injuries once again in 2025.
Cowboys Solved Secondary Problem in 1st Round
For as many red flags as taking Moore might raise, they may have solved all of their secondary problems when they selected Ohio State All-American safety Caleb Downs in the 1st round (No. 11 overall).
Picking Downs drew almost universal acclaim for the Cowboys, who used both of their 1st round picks on defensive players, adding UCF edge rusher Malachi Lawrence at No. 23 overall.
“Dallas traded two fifth-round picks to move up one spot, but it was worth it,” ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. wrote. “The Cowboys got my No. 6 prospect and a culture-changer for a defense that needed one. They had a top-five offense last season. It didn’t matter. Dallas would get into the end zone, and opponents would immediately go the other way and score. But Downs won’t tolerate that on the back end of the secondary. He diagnoses and sniffs out plays, and he has the coverage and tackling ability to limit the big plays that buried the Cowboys in 2025 (54 plays allowed of 25 or more yards, most in the NFL).”
If things pan out, the Cowboys could theoretically have a secondary in a few years that features a pair of 2026 draft picks with Downs at safety and Moore at cornerback — but only if Moore can find a way to stay healthy.
Cowboys Draft Injury-Prone SEC Cornerback in 4th Round