The Cowboys have two things going for them that one analyst thinks will see the franchise win the NFC East in 2026.
There is a lot of hope surrounding the Dallas Cowboys as OTAs come into view, and more people are beginning to hop on the 2026 bandwagon.
After an offseason that has seen Dallas hit most of its key markers in upgrading the defense and its coaching staff, now we get to see what it looks like when Christian Parker brings it all together.
We have seen many jump on the Cowboys winning the division, and being one of the better teams in football, but for me, I'm not there yet. Color me skeptical.
But when former NFL players make statements like former offensive lineman Mark Schlereth did, I take notice.
Speaking on The Herd with Jason McIntyre, it was revealed that Dallas' over/under win total was 9.5, to which Schlereth said he would "hammer" the over. He then detailed why he thinks the Cowboys are in a great spot for the division title.
"There's a lot of question marks in this division," Schlereth said. "What I'll say about the Dallas Cowboys is you can win a lot of games in this league, where they have invested is a young offensive line that can hammer people. Now they've invested defensively in their front seven. You control both lines of scrimmage in the National Football League, you're going to win a lot of football games.
"That's what jumps off the screen to me, I look at them, and I think this is a football team that can dominate both lines of scrimmage. That to me says the Dallas Cowboys are frontrunners to win their division."
We saw the Cowboys have a top 10 run game last season with Tyler Smith, Cooper Beebe, Tyler Booker, Terence Steele, and Tyler Guyton/Nate Thomas.
So, Dallas did control the line of scrimmage on offense, but defensively? No chance.
But with a second offseason in Dallas for Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark, plus Rashan Gary coming over from the Green Bay Packers, Dee Winters as part of a trade, and a healthy DeMarvion Overshown (we hope), it is easy to see that on paper, Dallas could be vastly improved on defense.
Now, we haven't even had a training camp practice yet, so there will be no definitive statements from me, but Schlereth seems confident that the 2026 Cowboys will be able to outmuscle people at the line of scrimmage, something it hasn't been known for over the past couple of seasons.
And because of that, he thinks the Cowboys are NFC East frontrunners.
