This week on Cowboys Overtime, Mac Engel and Nick Harris discuss Jerry Jones hinting at free-agent moves, the Cowboys tagging wide receiver George Pickens, Dallas committing to Javonte Williams and the team’s NFL Draft outlook. By Steve Wilson
Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire announced in his press conference on Thursday afternoon that Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer will attend the school’s Pro Day workout on March 26.
“It’s going to be awesome,” McGuire said.
He mentioned the New Orleans Saints, New York Jets and Carolina Panthers as other teams that will have either their head coaches or general managers attend the event.
The Red Raiders haven’t routinely been a hub for NFL teams to check out draft prospects. But after McGuire led the program to its first College Football Playoff appearance in school history last season, the school could make more history by having multiple first-round picks in the 2026 draft for the first time in program’s 101 years of playing football.
For the Cowboys, they are hunting down elite defensive talents in this year’s draft class, and Lubbock just so happens to have a trio of defenders who could get selected in the first round.
Leading the bunch is defensive end David Bailey, who transferred from Stanford for one season with the Red Raiders and tied for the most sacks across FBS with 14.5. His 19.5 tackles for loss also led the Big 12 and were second in the country. He is expected to be a top-10 pick in April’s draft and could make sense for the Cowboys if they were to trade up into the top few selections to grab one of the class’ top edge rushers.
Bailey’s running mate on the other side of the defensive line, defensive end Romello Height, could also be a first-round selection. While his stock is trending more toward the back end of the round and could even settle into the top of the second round, his pass rushing ability has teams intrigued about what he can bring to the NFL level. In his only season in Lubbock, Height finished with 10.0 sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss.
Playing in between them, defensive tackle Lee Hunter is also generating buzz as a potential first-round pick after 10.5 tackles for loss and 41 total tackles last season. His 6-foot-4, 321-pound frame is an intriguing option for a team looking to get bigger in the middle of the defensive line, but his combine testing massively disappointed evaluators, as he turned in the second-slowest 40-yard dash time (5.18) and the worst vertical jump (21 feet, 6 inches) of all defensive tackles at the combine.
In the second level, linebacker Jacob Rodriguez finished as the highest-voted defensive player for the Heisman Trophy after a senior season that saw him rack up 128 total tackles, 11.0 tackles for loss, four interceptions and a nation-leading seven forced fumbles. After a strong combine, Rodriguez could sneak into the back end of the first round and could make sense as a selection for the Cowboys if they stick at the No. 20 overall pick or trade back further into the first round.
Schottenheimer is expected to attend multiple Pro Day events in 2026 just as he did in his first year as a head coach in 2025. Last offseason, he made stops at Ohio State, Texas A&M and Ole Miss.