Hot mic? Nick Saban seemingly caught slamming Dallas Cowboys for first-round pick, but he’s wrong about it
The legendary coach didn’t sound thrilled about the Dallas Cowboys’ selection of EDGE Malachi Lawrence in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft. And he’s wrong about it being a reach.
Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban called EDGE Malachi Lawrence one of his top sleeper picks when the Dallas Cowboys picked him at No. 23 overall on Thursday night.
The only problem? Moments earlier, he was caught on a hot mic moment shading the selection. Or at the very least, the timing of it.
Saban seemingly calls Lawrence pick a reach
As the ESPN broadcast came back from commercials to show the Cowboys’ pick at No. 23, Saban was heard saying into a hot mic: “Wow, this is a reach.”
It was a small moment, and maybe one a lot of people missed.
But Saban’s words have been going around social media since Thursday night. To be fair, he spoke positively about Lawrence and even called him one of his top sleepers in the class. But based on what we know about the NFL’s point of view on Lawrence, he’s wrong about it being a reach.
Lawrence was a reach per the big board but…
Going by the consensus big board and a lot of media outlets, Lawrence was indeed a reach. He wasn’t projected to be a Top 50 pick by A to Z Sports’ expected draft positions. According to analyst Kevin Cole, Lawrence was the biggest reach of the first round per the consensus big board.
However, it was clear going into Thursday night that the NFL world didn’t agree with how the media viewed Lawrence. In the final days ahead of the draft, plenty of insiders brought up Lawrence as a player whose name would be called in the first round.
According to NFL Network’s Jane Slater, Cowboys VP of player personnel Will McClay told her four other teams called them to say they got their guy. In other words, he’s a guy the league was higher on than most media members.
That makes him a reach in the eye of media but not in NFL circles. And considering the Cowboys got two fourth-round picks while trading down to get him, the value is even better than it looks.
Speaking of, the Cowboys explained they could have moved back even further but decided not to out of concern Lawrence would not fall to them—again, not a reach.
Cowboys are all in on Lawrence
Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer was ecstatic on Thursday night about Lawrence’s upside as a pass rusher.
“(Lawrence’s) first step quickness is elite,” Schottenheimer said. “The ability to turn his toe and run the edge is elite. And then of course, the one thing I love about the guy is that he’s got an innate ability to attack the football while he’s attacking the quarterback.”
“This is a guy we’ve been talking about over the last week to 10 days,” Schottenheimer added. “Had him in for a Top 30 visit, we’re really excited about getting a chance to get him.”
