FRISCO, Texas — Things have gotten that much more intriguing for the Dallas Cowboys as the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft gets underway. They were forced to wait out the entirety of the fourth round due to their 2024 trade with the Carolina Panthers to acquire wide receiver Jonathan Mingo but, now that they're on the clock, they're making sure to resolve some critical needs that still remained with seven picks to go (presumably).
With a need at linebacker as well, and unwilling to wait until they were back on the clock at 174th-overall, the Cowboys traded up in a deal with the Arizona Cardinals — sending away their 174th- and 211th-overall picks — to move to 152nd-overall and select ...
Round 5 : Shemar James, LB, Florida
Things to know:
- Four-star recruit
- 5th-ranked LB in 2022 recruiting class (behind Jalon Walker)
- 2-year starter
Scouting Report + Fit:
More SEC talent is heading to Dallas.
It's a position that remains unsettled despite the additions of Jack Sanborn and Kenneth Murray (via trade) in the past several weeks. I watch plenty of SEC football, for reasons most of you already know, and so I've seen James' impact time and again, as well as his opportunities for improvement, and I like what he might become under a linebackers' guru like Matt Eberflus.
James turned down offers from Alabama, Georgia and Auburn before committing to Florida, by the way.
The former Gator played in 34 games at Florida and notched 165 career tackles, 12 tackles for loss and five sacks, the latter showing he can be readily used in blitz packages to get after the opposing quarterback, and his bend is unusually impressive for an off-ball linebacker. James' athleticism exceeds most thanks to the fact he was once a three-sport athlete — including basketball and track — and the latter lends to the quickness in his first step while the former helped refine what is now a rabid ability to play sideline to sideline, and his motor is relentless, to boot, something that also shows itself in how he thrives in special teams coverage because, simply put, he loves to hit sh-t.
Craves it, actually.
In coverage, he's not perfect, but improved upon his abilities in 2024, and was rewarded with three pass deflections last season because of his efforts there. He'll also need to learn how to gear down at times to avoid overpursuits, because he's known to get himself in trouble when he sets his sights on a spot or a player, launching himself full speed toward it without consideration of the other player's potential ability to plant and change the pursuit angle entirely.
That said, he's multi-role that could excel under Eberflus as a rotational guy with upside.
