The Cowboys 2025 Draft Might Make Up For Drafts of the Past

The 2025 NFL Draft has come and gone, and with it, the next wave of potential Dallas Cowboys stars has arrived. I had the opportunity with my radio partner, Donovan Lewis, to spend the draft weekend in Green Bay and experience it all firsthand.

I’d never been to Lambeau Field before or even the state of Wisconsin, and came away thoroughly impressed with the city’s effort and the area in general. They’ve built up the stadium area around Lambeau quite nicely, and it has a real big-time college football vibe whilst somehow being an actual NFL city that houses one of the most historic franchises in the league. Bizarre to see an NFL stadium in the middle of a town of barely 100,000 people. But it works and was pretty damn cool. Impressive job, Green Bay.

I’ve always enjoyed the NFL Draft, as it combines my two favorite sports: college and pro football. There’s always hope that the 2025 class will provide years of high-quality play and eventually supplant the pro playmakers and stars already here. Or, maybe they’ll just help their teams be better than 7-10 and missing the playoffs like one local club we know about.

The Dallas Cowboys have needs all over the field. It would’ve been hard for them to mess this draft up simply because there was virtually no wrong position to draft. I’m a big believer in staying true to your board, whatever that may be, even if it doesn’t result in the splashiest selection. I think Dallas did that.

Tyler Booker was HYPED UP after getting drafted by the Cowboys 😂 pic.twitter.com/KRj0EOlQXz

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 25, 2025

Their top four picks in this draft will all be high-level contributors in 2025 and beyond and help shore up positions of need. The picks were: Tyler Booker at guard, Donovan Ezeiruaku as a rotational defensive end, Shavon Revel Jr. as a starting cornerback and Jaydon Blue as potentially the number one running back.

On paper, this is as confident in the first four picks that I’ve been since the 2022 draft gave us Tyler Smith, Sam Williams and Jake Ferguson as three of the top four picks. Day 3 picks are always a crapshoot, and the cluster of names selected this year after Jaydon Blue (a fifth-rounder himself) registers as such with Shemar James, Ajani Cornelius, Jay Toia, Phil Mafah and Tommy Akingbesote. Chances are, one or two of those guys will ever do anything of note in the league.

Keep in mind that Donovan Wilson was a sixth-round pick, DaRon Bland was a fifth-round pick, and Israel Mukuamu was a sixth-round pick, but when you look at the last four drafts before 2025, the Cowboys had 21 picks on Day 3 of the draft. Of those 21, maybe four have turned out to be solid contributors. Remember Nathan Thomas or Devin Harper? Don’t feel bad, neither does anyone else. So, yes, while Jay Toia looks good on tape and fills a need as a potential rotational defensive tackle, he was still available at pick 217 for a reason. Keep that in mind.

The first three rounds are where the premium picks are made. If you’re a player who doesn’t get picked in the first two days, the NFL is telling you they don’t believe you were one of the top 100 most talented guys available. And sure, we can all name prominent players the talent evaluators missed out on, with Tom Brady being the best example as pick 199 in 2000. But the reality is the vast majority of Day 3 picks are backups at best and hopefully, if nothing else, can contribute to special teams. Keep in mind the average NFL career is three years for a reason.

As the draft unfolded, I expressed my frustration on air that the Cowboys didn’t find a playmaker for the offense in the first three rounds. It’s a deep running back class and I like what fifth-round pick Jaydon Blue can do, but he’s also a player who averaged just 12 touches a game last year at the University of Texas. He’s not a workhorse running back and will be more of that Tony Pollard behind Zeke Elliott role from 2021. Nothing wrong with that. He’s explosive in the open field and can take it to the house at any time and might be better suited to that type of role as only four running backs in this draft had a faster 10-yard split than his.

I was also frustrated that they left the first three rounds without finding an upgrade at wide receiver. There is no one else on the Cowboys other than star receiver CeeDee Lamb that any defense fears. At least Tyler Booker will replace retiring All-Pro offensive lineman Zack Martin and should be a Pro Bowl-level guard for the next decade. To the “they should’ve traded down if that’s who they wanted” crowd: you have to have someone who wants to trade up first. You want to draft an every-down starter with your first-round pick, I believe they did that with Booker.

Tyler Booker will have every Cowboys fan ready to run through a brick wall. This answer is absolutely amazing https://t.co/aYJofntMHe pic.twitter.com/OJSNTTLJT8

— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) April 25, 2025

In the second round, they picked up a rotational defensive end that many draft gurus had as a top 25 player. DeMarcus Lawrence is gone, and Sam Williams is returning off a major injury, so Dallas needed a quality edge rusher and Ezeiruaku is that. Ezeiruaku was easily the highest-rated player on their board, making him a great pick.

That brings us to Shavon Revel Jr.’s third-round selection. He’s coming off a torn ACL and meniscus, but the Cowboys’ team physician performed that surgery, which gave them comfort in selecting him and confidence that he will be ready by the start of the season.

Day 3 picks and the undrafted free agents that teams sign afterward are toss-ups. Jay Toia could be a seventh-round steal, as some draft analysts listed him as a possible fourth-round pick. If I pick two guys from Day 3 that we will remember, it’s Jaydon Blue and Jay Toia.

Overall, this is a solid draft that brings in a group that helps with depth, provides two starters in Booker and Revel Jr. and a couple of other significant rotational pieces that the team needed. Yes, they missed out on a play-making wide receiver but there is still time to address that via trade or from a group of veteran wide receivers that can upgrade that group.

The Cowboys have long operated with a draft and develop philosophy, making it crucial they hit more than they miss in drafting. Maybe this year’s class will help make up for some of the misses from the previous two drafts. As always, especially with this team, it’s a work in progress, but they’re moving in the right direction.