Third-round linebacker Marshawn Barham is turning heads at training camp, carrying the potential to finally shatter a decades-long curse of underwhelming Michigan prospects in Big D.
Over the course of their 66-year history, the Dallas Cowboys have drafted enough Michigan Wolverines to field an entire 11-man unit ... plus a backup.
Dallas has dipped into the Wolverine well 12 times in franchise history. The results? Well ... ouch.
Below is the full list of every Michigan product the Cowboys have selected ever:
Ken Tureaud, Thomas Stincic, Mike Keller, Brian Carpenter, Lawrence Ricks, Kevin Brooks, Tony Boles, Taco Charlton, Jourdan Lewis, Mazi Smith, Luke Schoonmaker and Jaishawn Barham.
The Cowboys fans who have grown up amid Dallas' 30-year-long NFC Championship and Super Bowl appearance drought likely won't remember the older Wolverines.
But their knowledge certainly isn't baseline.
Outside of Jourdan Lewis, who continues to be one of the best slot cornerbacks in the NFL, the Cowboys' connection to the Michigan football program hasn't been a positive one, to say the least. And the fans are quite familiar with the rocky history.
But ... that could change with one selection.
Yesterday was the first day at Cowboys training camp where the pads came on ... and third-round rookie (and former Wolverine) Jaishawn Barham has impressed, essentially, since the team arrived in sunny California.
His attention to detail, work ethic and quiet mentality have all led media members and fans alike to begin falling in love with Barham. And if those traits carry over into the regular season, a 22-year-old could help to completely change the narrative surrounding the Michigan-to-Dallas pipeline.
It might sound unfair to put that kind of expectation on a third-round rookie. But considering Dallas' history of drafting Wolverines, Barham doesn't have to clear a Hall of Fame bar to become the franchise's best Michigan pick.
We've got Lewis out of the way. He was a fixture of Dallas' defense for eight seasons and eventually got paid by the Jacksonville Jaguars. He's comfortably atop the list.
That leaves Taco Charlton (2017), Mazi Smith (2023) and Luke Schoonmaker (2023) as the lone Michigan players drafted by the Cowboys this century to use as comparison.
Charlton (28th) was drafted immediately ahead of David Njoku (29th) and T.J. Watt (30th) and flamed out of Dallas after just two seasons, leading to his acquisition by the Miami Dolphins off waivers. By 2023, he was out of the league completely.
Smith followed a similar trajectory, playing only 39 games, but was at least used as a positive asset to bring Quinnen Williams to Frisco back in November. He remains on the Jets' roster, though he's fighting to stay there.
Schoonmaker is the only comparable example who is still on the team, and while he hasn't been a "bad" NFL player, he hasn't lived up to his second-round draft positioning and seems likely to command the No. 3 tight end spot on Dallas' final 53-man roster.
For over six decades, Dallas has searched Ann Arbor for difference-makers and rarely found one.
One magical rookie campaign would likely be enough to win over the few Cowboys fans Barham hasn't already, and if the young linebacker emerges as the best Wolverine to ever begin his career in Big D, the organization will have much more than a fun storyline for the communications department to play with.
It'll have a monstrous duo of Barham and Demarvion Overshown, which is far more inspiring a tandem than some past proposed solutions.
