Former TCU All-Big 12 DE Ben Banogu to sign with Dallas Cowboys

The Frogs’ own Ben Banogu is headed back down to Dallas-Fort Worth.

He’s the newest face in the Dallas Cowboys’ locker room, and he’s someone the front office should be far familiar with, given Banogu played at TCU from 2016-18, after transferring from UL Monroe.

Banogu, a defensive end who found his way to the NFL as a second-round pick to the Indianapolis Colts in 2019, was signed by the Cowboys Wednesday.

In his time with the Frogs, Banogu earned First-Team All-Big 12 twice, and won the Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year Award in 2017.

He became a starter as a junior, in 2017, totaling 8.5 sacks and 16.5 tackles for loss, earning First-team All-Big 12 honors and helping lead the Frogs to the program’s first-ever berth in the Big 12 Championship Game, and a win in the 2017 Alamo Bowl over Stanford.

In 2018, Banogu ended the season again with 8.5 sacks, and 18.0 tackles for loss, to once again be named First-team All-Big 12, helping lead the Frogs to a win over California in the 2018 Cheez-It Bowl.

He now joins a fairly loaded defensive line that continues to throw talent at the edges, and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn said he’s intrigued with what Banogu might bring into training camp.

A native of Nigeria, the former Horned Frog was selected by the Colts in 2019, where he’d played ever since Quinn and head coach Mike McCarthy got their hands on him this summer.

Banogu joins a pass rush group that’s headlined by star Micah Parsons and veteran DeMarcus Lawrence, and one that isn’t lacking for immediate depth either when factoring in Dorance Armstrong, who had his career-best season in 2022, the return of Dante Fowler and the expected level up from former second-round pick Sam Williams.

Banogu’s ability and skill set is there to make some waves in training camp, however, he’ll have to hit the ground running when the team touches down in Oxnard to make an interesting position battle on the defensive end even more so.