Brandon Cisse formally met with the Dallas Cowboys at the NFL combine, giving Dallas an early look at a South Carolina cornerback who has already been discussed as a possible fit at No. 20 in the 2026 NFL Draft. The meeting was Cisse's first formal one with the Cowboys, and it also gave him a chance to reconnect with Dallas secondary coach Ryan Smith, who had recruited him out of high school when Smith was at Virginia Tech.
That interest is easy to understand. The Cowboys hold the 12th and 20th picks in the 2026 draft, and the second of those first-round selections could be the more important one if Dallas is looking for a defensive back who can step into the rotation quickly. Cisse scored a 9.24 RAS out of a possible 10.00, a mark that ranked 233rd among 3,069 cornerbacks measured from 1987 to 2026, and he received a round grade ranging from late first round to early second round.
Cisse's path to this point has been built over three seasons at two schools. The former three-star cornerback from Sumter, South Carolina, committed to NC State and played 23 games for the Wolfpack in 2023 and 2024, finishing with 38 tackles, 22 solo tackles, five pass deflections and one interception. After the 2024 season, he entered the transfer portal and moved to South Carolina, where he produced 27 combined tackles, 19 solo tackles, five pass deflections, one forced fumble and one interception in a single season. Over his three combined seasons, he picked off two passes.
The fit question matters because Cisse is being viewed as a corner who can work in a press-man or match zone scheme. He is also described as a boundary corner because of his physicality and run support, while the expectation is that he may begin his NFL career as a rotational outside corner. For Dallas, that profile lines up with a team that can use help on the back end and has the draft capital to take a shot on a player who has already checked off the athletic boxes.
Cisse declared for the 2026 NFL Draft in early December of 2025, and the combine meeting put him on Dallas' radar in a concrete way. With two first-round picks, the Cowboys do not have to force the issue, but No. 20 now looks like the spot where a player such as Cisse could move from being an interesting name to a realistic pick.
