FRISCO, Texas - Football season is getting closer and closer.
The Cowboys are set to depart for training camp in less a month. That's when we'll get the first up-close look at Brian Schottenheimer's first season with this revised roster and coaching staff. When we get to Oxnard, that's when we'll start to get some real answers about this 2025 Cowboys team.
But what are the questions? We've compiled our annual list of pressing questions that need answers heading into the regular season. The staff writers, consisting of Patrik Walker, Tommy Yarrish, Nick Eatman, Mickey Spagnola, Kyle Youmans and Kurt Daniels, weigh in on some of the pressing issues.
Today, we'll continue the series with an annual question on the player who is ready to make the biggest leap, even good enough to land his first career Pro Bowl.
17) Who Makes Their First Career Pro Bowl?
Nick: This is always one of my favorite questions to answer. Basically, it's saying who is going to have that breakout year. I'm not even sure I've got the answer correctly before, but it's always fun to speculate. A good place to start would be Osa Odighizuwa, who signed an $80 million contract to stay with the team. He might be on the verge. But that seems too easy to answer. I thought about Donovan Wilson for this or maybe even George Pickens, but I'm going to go a little deeper – as in the deep snapper. What about Trent Sieg? This guy is always consistent and while Brandon Aubrey and Bryan Anger have been going to Pro Bowls as the kicker and punter, someone has been firing the snaps back to them. I think this is the year Sieg breaks through and makes his first Pro Bowl in his eighth season.
Kyle: The fact that George Pickens had the level of production that he posted in Pittsburgh, and never made a Pro Bowl, is shocking to me. A lot of time, the Pro Bowl turns into a popularity contest paired with a certain level of success. Pickens can take a huge step in both during his contract year with the Cowboys in 2025.
He has yet to be paired with someone as talented on the other side of the formation as CeeDee Lamb, which could open a world of possibilities for Pickens. Assuming both players and Dak Prescott stay healthy throughout the season, it's possible for Pickens and Lamb to become the first Cowboys pair of 1,000-yard receivers since 2019. Meaning there are very few things standing in the way of Pickens and the popularity and production needed to earn those Pro Bowl votes.
Kurt: Given that the 3-tech position is seen as a key piece in new defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus' defense, Osa Odighizuwa may have a prime opportunity to earn his first trip to the annual all-star festivities. He's already coming off a season that saw him post career highs in sacks (4.5), tackles (47) and quarterback hits (23) with Pro Football Focus ranking him as the 12th best pass rusher among interior defensive linemen in 2024. PFF also tabbed Odighizuwa as the second-best defensive lineman on the Cowboys behind Micah Parson. Now in his prime and with a new contract in hand, Odighizuwa could reach new levels in his fifth campaign. And truth be told, if the Cowboys are going to have success defensively, they sure need him to.
Tommy: I think everything is brewing up for it to be George Pickens' first trip to the Pro Bowl. A fresh start, a contract year, and everything to prove? I'm good with banking on that upside. Sure, he'll have to share some of the riches with CeeDee Lamb, but that doesn't mean that both can't have big years for the Cowboys and make the Pro Bowl together. Pickens' ability to be a vertical threat and take the top off of opposing defenses gives him the potential to put up big numbers, but it's been undervalued what he can do in the intermediate game as well, and with attention having to be split with him and Lamb, we could see more of that aspect of his game in 2025 than we have in the past when he was the clear first option in Pittsburgh.
