Nick Saban makes hilarious U-Turn after being caught calling a Cowboys pick 'a reach'

The Dallas Cowboys landed one of the biggest steals of the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft.

Getting Caleb Downs past the top 10 was a big win for Jerry Jones and company. However, they didn't fare that well with their second selection of the night, at least on paper.

The Cowboys took UCF's Malachi Lawrence at No. 23, and even Nick Saban couldn't understand what they're doing. 

"Wow, this is a reach," Saban said, per Awful Announcing, not knowing that he was on air. Once someone tipped him off, he made a hilarious U-Turn.

Nick Saban caught bashing the Cowboys' pick

“Actually, this guy was one of my sleepers for tomorrow. But he is a good player,” Saban said. “This guy is a good player. I thought he was someone that was getting overlooked in the draft, but obviously the Cowboys didn’t overlook him.”

Notably, there's nothing wrong with saying that the Cowboys may have reached for a prospect who was supposed to be available later.

That's also part of the job of an NFL Draft analyst, and it's not like that would've been disrespectful to the player in any way. As long as he keeps it classy, he's entitled to say, "This is a great player, but there were better options on the board."

The NFL Draft is all about projections, and chances are, most of the players taken over the three-day event will have careers that have nothing to do with their draft stock.

Some late-round picks will be superstars, while some first-rounders might be out of the league by the end of their rookie deals.

At the end of the day, analysts can only work with the intel they have, the numbers and the tape.

So, if a team makes an unexpected move, the least they can do is tell the fan base just that.

Lawrence may have been a reach. But if he plays well nobody will remember or care.