Rashan Gary Must Step Up for Dallas Cowboys in 2026
There are some instances in which there's nowhere to go but up.
That is absolutely the case for the Dallas Cowboys' defense in 2026.
Last season under defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, that defense ranked dead last in DVOA (+22.5%), dead last in points allowed per game (30.1), dead last in touchdowns allowed (59), dead last in EPA allowed per play (+0.13), and dead last in passing yards per play allowed (7.2).
This defense was bad in all directions.
Now with new defensive coordinator Christian Parker on board, everyone is excited about a defensive rebirth. There are no issues with an offense that ranked eighth in DVOA and returns most everybody of import; that 7-9-1 record last season was all about one side of the ball.
Parker comes from the Philadelphia Eagles, where he was Vic Fangio's passing game coordinator & defensive backs coach. As opposed to Eberflus' backdated concepts, Parker is eager to drag this defense into the 21st century. Part of the redefinition is pure roster churn; the Cowboys have added 23 new defensive players through trades, the draft and free agency.
One of those players is former Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Rashan Gary, who was traded to Big D in March for a 2027 fourth-round pick. The Packers cleared nearly $11 million in cap space with the deal, and the Cowboys added another key cog in a line that already has Kenny Clark (who played with Gary in Green Bay from 2019-2024), and Quinnen Williams.
Following the Micah Parsons trade, that interior line in the occasional five-man front was about the only thing that looked good on this defense last season. It didn't happen often, but Clark, Williams, and Osa Odighizuwa clamped down on opposing offenses when given the schematic opportunity.
Five-man fronts with Kenny Clark at nose, and the Quinnen Williams/Osa Odighizuwa duo singling up the guards or creating havoc in other gaps.
— Doug Farrar (@NFL_DougFarrar) November 28, 2025
This is the NFL's new nightmare for anybody who has to face it. pic.twitter.com/p86EQLXogM
Now that Odighizuwa has been traded to the San Francisco 49ers, it's going to be up to Gary to step in and step up to replace one of the more underrated defensive linemen in the NFL. Gary is far from underrated; he was selected with the 12th overall pick in the 2019 draft out of Michigan, and while he isn't a "bust" per se, he hasn't quite lived up to that spot.
So far, it seems that Gary's faith in Parker's coaching acumen is well-placed.
"Smart, intelligent, and understands how to use his players," Gary said in June of his new DC. "So far, going through OTAs and minicamp, [Parker] understands how to get matchups. Understanding how to mess with the quarterback in terms of making them check calls - check into a play that they don't want to particularly check into. So, it's been fun. It's only going to get bigger and bigger and more."
For that to happen, Gary needs his own output to get bigger and bigger and more. Last season with the Packers, he totaled seven sacks and 60 pressures, and he also had 26 stops, seven tackles for loss, and a ton of negative plays created against the run.
That could be where Gary is most useful off the bat.
Rashan Gary vs. Javonte Williams last season. The Cowboys have seen what they're getting. pic.twitter.com/R6YrxhxmWE
— Doug Farrar (@NFL_DougFarrar) March 9, 2026
If Gary can go from good to great, that will be a big part of the Dallas defensive turnaround.
The good news, as we've noted, is that there's nowhere to go but up.
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This story was originally published June 22, 2026 at 4:40 AM.