Malachi Lawrence’s goals for this season are what you want to hear

Posted by Admin July 24, 2026 NFL

Ask anyone which Dallas Cowboys defensive rookie they are most excited to see throughout training camp and you will get the same answer over and over: Caleb Downs.

This is the right answer, to be clear. Downs is projected as a generational player and is set to transform what the Cowboys are able to do on the defensive side of the ball. Watching him in action with the rest of the team is going to be incredible and help justify the lofty beliefs that we have in him.

If you ask someone to mix it up though you will probably hear about Jaishawn Barham. The Cowboys have a need at linebacker and he may fit the mold that new defensive coordinator Christian Parker is lookig for there, so excitement is also warranted with him.

We often talk about how difficult it is to fly under the radar as a member of the Cowboys, but first-rounder Malachi Lawrence may be doing that thanks to what’s going on around him. How he fares is going to be an essential part of the team’s overall defensive story this season.

Recently I was scheduled to interview Malachi while he was at Great Wolf Lodge Grapevine as a part of a special charity challenge benefitting Make-A-Wish North Texas. Unfortunately we were not able to make it fully happen in a traditional sense, but Malachi and the Great Wolf Lodge team got creative and had him answer some questions that I posed to him.

You can watch his answers in those videos, but here are the relevant quotes.

Malachi on his goals for the season:

My goals are really just to get better, 1% every day. You know, keep continuing to learn from our vets. They’ve been telling me some great things and I believe in them.

Malachi on who he has been bonding with so far, whether rookie or veterans:

I’ve been bonding with both. From my rookies like LT Overton, Caleb Downs, Anthony Smith… we’ve been bowling. And some from my vets like RG [Rashan Gary], EZ [Donovan Ezeiruaku], Sam [Williams], just guys in my room and it’s been a great experience.

Malachi on what his impression has been of Christian Parker:

It’s been great. He believes that we are a great group from top to bottom from where it starts, from the D-line to the secondary. And so we’re just coming together, building that bond, building that culture, and it’s just the identity, like he wants guys that are just versatile but also do their job.

As noted, Malachi was interacting with children as a part of the event in question. It looks like it was a rather great time.