{"id":8421,"date":"2026-04-29T02:57:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T02:57:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flacoguapomedia.com\/?p=8421"},"modified":"2026-04-29T02:57:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T02:57:32","slug":"ohio-state-buckeyes-downs-pokes-1st-round-2026-nfl-draft-pick-s-star-shines-brightly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flacoguapomedia.com\/?p=8421","title":{"rendered":"Ohio State Buckeyes\u2019 Downs, Pokes\u2019 1st Round 2026 NFL Draft Pick \u2018s Star Shines Brightly"},"content":{"rendered":"

PITTSBURGH \u2013 The 2026 NFL Draft\u2019s 1st<\/sup> round selection was no surprise when Commissioner Roger Godell stepped to the mic to announce the Las Vegas Raiders obvious choice. Las Vegas selected Indiana Hoosiers quarterback, and Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza.
\nFor Dallas Cowboys\u2019 \u201cdiehard fans\u201d this year\u2019s NFL Draft was the <\/em>most important one for the brain trust comprised of owner\/GM Jerry Jones, son Stephen, and Will McClay, VP of Player Personnel.
\nThe Cowboys draft well when it comes to their first-round picks on the offensive side. In Friday night\u2019s April 23 opening, Dallas was in prime position with picks 12, and 20, particularly geared toward drafting defensively.
\nDallas always seems to get a star who shines under the bright lights of AT&T Stadium, and did it ever. When the Cowboys franchise went on the clock it drafted the best defensive player, Ohio State Buckeyes\u2019 safety, Caleb Downs who was destined to wear the star.
\nBut to get All-American safety Downs, Dallas had to trade two fifth-round picks, and switch positions from number 12 to move up to 11 with the Miami Dolphins. For new defensive coordinator, Christian Parker, Caleb is so cerebral, he can be used at three positions: safety, in the box, and at nickel. Defensively Parker has the luxury of using Downs as a chess piece who can attack, and defend.
\nThe Cowboys second pick was supposed to be number 20. But the Philadelphia Eagles offered Dallas two-fourth round picks to trade up to that spot and selected USC wide receiver Makai Lemon.
\nWith pick number 23 in the 1st<\/sup> round, Dallas selected defensive end Malachi Lawrence, Central Florida. Head Coach Brian Shottenheimer stated Dallas had Lawrence rated as the fourth best DE behind the Jets\u2019 David Bailey, the Giants\u2019 Arvell Reese, and the Buccaneers\u2019 Rueben Bain Jr.
\nIn the third round with the 92nd<\/sup> overall, Dallas selected Jaishawn Barham, LB, Michigan.
\nThe fourth round, 112th<\/sup> overall turned out to be Drew Shelton, OT, Penn State. In the same round 4th<\/sup>, the Cowboys 114th<\/sup> overall choice was Devin Moore, CB, Florida. Again, in the 4th<\/sup> round, 137th<\/sup> overall, LT Overton, DL, Alabama was the selection.
\nThe final pick in the 7th<\/sup> round, 218th<\/sup> overall, Anthony Smith, WR, East Carolina was the player drafted.
\nBelow are the 1st<\/sup> Round draft choices for all 32 NFL teams.
\nRound 1<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Las Vegas Raiders – QB Fernando Mendoza, Indiana
    \n2. New York Jets – Edge David Bailey, Texas Tech
    \n3. Arizona Cardinals – RB Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame
    \n4. Tennessee Titans – WR Carnell Tate, Ohio State
    \n5. New York Giants – Edge Arvell Reese, Ohio State
    \n6. Kansa City Chiefs – (trade up with Cleveland Browns) \u2014 CB Mansoor Delane, LSU
    \n7. Washington Commanders – LB Sonny Styles, Ohio State
    \n8. New Orleans Saints – WR Jordyn Tyson, Arizona State
    \n9. Cleveland Browns (trade down with Chiefs) \u2014 OT Spencer Fano, Utah
    \n10. New York Giants (from Bengals) – OT Francis Mauigoa, Miami
    \n11. Dallas Cowboys (in trade with Miami) \u2014 safety Caleb Downs, Ohio State<\/u><\/strong>
    \n12. Miami Dolphins – OT Kadyn Proctor, Alabama
    \n13. Los Angeles Rams (from Falcons) – QB Ty Simpson, Alabama
    \n14. Baltimore Ravens – Guard Olaivavega Ioane, Penn State
    \n15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Edge Rueben Bain Jr., Miami
    \n16. New York Jets (from Colts) – TE Kenyon Sadiq, Oregon
    \n17. Detroit Lions – OT Blake Miller, Clemson
    \n18. Minnesota Vikings \u2013 DT, Caleb Banks, Florida
    \n19. Carolina Panthers – OT Monroe Freeling, Georgia
    \n20. Philadelphia Eagles (in trade with Dallas) \u2014 WR Makai Lemon, USC<\/li>\n
  2. Pittsburgh Steelers – OT Max Iheanachor, Arizona State
    \n22. Los Angeles Chargers – LB Akheem Mesidor, Miami
    \n23. Dallas Cowboys (in trade with Eagles) \u2014 edge Malachi Lawrence, Central Florida<\/u><\/strong>
    \n24. Cleveland Browns (from Jaguars) – WR KC Concepcion, Texas A&M
    \n25. Chicago Bears – Safety Dillon Thieneman, Oregon
    \n26. Houston Texans (in trade with Buffalo Bills) \u2014 Guard Keylan Rutledge, Georgia Tech
    \n27. Miami Dolphins (in trade with San Francisco 49ers) \u2014 CB Chris Johnson, San Diego State<\/li>\n
  3. New England Patriots (in trade with Bills) \u2014 OT Caleb Lomu, Utah<\/li>\n
  4. Kansas City Chiefs (from Rams)- OT Peter Woods, Clemson
    \n30. New York Jets (in trade with San Francisco) \u2014 WR Omar Cooper Jr., Indiana<\/li>\n
  5. Tennessee Titans (in trade with Bills) \u2014 Edge Keldric Faulk, Auburn
    \n32. Seattle Seahawks – RB Jadarian Price, Notre Dame<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    PITTSBURGH \u2013 The 2026 NFL Draft\u2019s 1st round selection was no surprise when Commissioner Roger Godell stepped to the mic to announce the Las Vegas Raiders obvious choice. Las Vegas selected Indiana Hoosiers quarterback, and Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza. For Dallas Cowboys\u2019 \u201cdiehard fans\u201d this year\u2019s NFL Draft was the most important one for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-posts"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/flacoguapomedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_9675-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/flacoguapomedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_9675-600x600.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"flacoguapo87@gmail.com","author_link":"https:\/\/flacoguapomedia.com\/?author=4"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flacoguapomedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flacoguapomedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flacoguapomedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flacoguapomedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flacoguapomedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/flacoguapomedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8421\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flacoguapomedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flacoguapomedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flacoguapomedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flacoguapomedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}