Instant Analysis: Scouting report shows Cowboys' new WR Anthony Smith has 'see-ya speed'

TL;DR

The Cowboys selected WR Anthony Smith in the 2026 NFL draft, noted for his impressive speed. The team focused on improving their defense with five of their first six picks.

Key points

Cowboys selected WR Anthony Smith in the 2026 NFL draft
Smith is noted for his 'see-ya speed'
Five of the first six draft picks focused on defense
Cowboys did not select a linebacker in early rounds
Harold Perkins Jr. was picked before the Cowboys' final selection

Dallas CowboysAnthony SmithHarold Perkins Jr.

Instant Analysis: Scouting report shows Cowboys' new WR Anthony Smith has 'see-ya speed'

The Cowboys ticked off a majority of of their most-frequently-cited needs with their first six picks in the 2026 NFL draft using five of those selections to bolster the much-aligned defense.

Safety? They got the best one in the class. Edge rusher? Dallas picked three of them, though one projects to be used more like a linebacker and another should play more on the interior. High-potential cornerback? Got one of those, too.

Linebacker was the only Cowboys roster slot not addressed through the first six rounds. But with the team's final pick being a seventh-rounder, it was always going to be a dart throw at best. (Even more so when LSU's Harold Perkins Jr., the best 'backer left on the board, was taken by the Falcons just three spots before Dallas came on the clock.)

Sometimes a pick in the seventh lands a player who goes on to make a meaningful contribution. Current swing tackle Nathan Thomas was a seventh-rounder in 2024; Noah Brown, Jay Ratliff, Patrick Crayton, Brock Marion, and Leon Lett have all been taken there during the Jerry Jones era. Heck, Hall of Famers Bob Hayes and Rayfield Wright were both seventh-round selections once upon a time.

Time will tell if East Carolina wide receiver Anthony Smith, the Cowboys' pick at No. 218, will follow in their footsteps.

Official pre-draft scouting reports on Smith are few and far between, but a check of his resume shows that after four sparsely-used seasons at North Carolina State, Smith broke out in 2024 and 2025 for the Pirates. He ended his six-year college career with 118 catches for 2,095 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Smith really showed out for East Carolina in their Military Bowl win in December, hauling in four passes for 156 yards and two scores, earning the game's MVP honors.

His speed is graded as elite- having been clocked with a 4.40 40- and he has shown good explosiveness and agility, tools that the Cowboys will surely put to use as he begins his NFL career.