(Editor's Note: Who doesn't love lists? Throughout the season, 'High 5' will provide a top five list for many of the critical topics surrounding the Dallas Cowboys 2025 season.)
Every offseason, the expectations for teams and players run rampant. It's an early gauge on how the season could go for organizations across the league. This season for the Dallas Cowboys has not gone to expectation. Dallas is 4-5-1 through their first 10 games and have seen some significant ups-and-downs as they enter Week 12 against Philadelphia.
However, this is the point of the season where there is enough of a sample size to begin seeing if certain elements of the team are passing the standard they were signed on for. Some players have fallen below expectations, while others have soared right past them.
For the sake of being positive, here are five Cowboys players who have exceeded their general expectations to this point in the 2025 season:
5) Dak Prescott - Coming off a major hamstring injury in 2024, there were plenty of critics that anticipated a step back for Prescott this season. Instead, out of his decade of NFL experience, he's found a way to play some of the best football of his career.
He currently leads the NFL with 253 completions and is top five in completion percentage (4th), passing yards per game (3rd), and passing touchdowns (2nd). Prescott remains the reason why the offense is still a force, and if the Cowboys stand a chance to make it to the playoffs, he'll need to continue his level of play.
4) Donovan Ezeiruaku - As a second-round pick in April's draft, all eyes have been on Donovan Ezeiruaku throughout his rookie season. His play hasn't always turned heads, but it is steadily improving as the season progresses. Entering Week 12, Pro Football Focus has Ezeiruaku graded as a top-20 edge rusher in football out of 118 possible players.
He has tallied 20 pressures and 2.0 sacks this season on 183 pass rushes, mostly from the right edge position. The good news for Dallas, is that despite his recent success and growth, there are still improvements to be made. He currently ranks 49th out of 70 edge rushers with a 10.9 percent pressure rate, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. An area where Ezeiruaku could really see improvement with some added help around him in the front seven.
3) Shemar James - From not being placed on the active roster in Week 1, to being second on the team in tackles with 56, another rookie that has elevated from original expectations is linebacker Shemar James. James was taken in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft and steadily proved his worth this season.
He tallied double-digit tackle performances in two of his first three games, with 11 against the Panthers and 15 against the Jets. His 15 tackles against New York were the most by a rookie defender since Leighton Vander Esch in 2018. He trails just Kenneth Murray Jr. in total tackles on the year and continues to earn playing time on the Dallas defense.
2)*Javonte Williams -* Some around the league thought they'd never see an explosive runner in Javonte Williams again. After turning heads in Denver as a rookie with over 900 rushing yards and four touchdowns, Williams failed to reach the 800-yard mark and never tallied more than that four-touchdown total over his last three years with the Broncos.
Not this year. Williams has already registered 809 rushing yards with a career-best 5.0 yards per carry and eight rushing touchdowns. Now firmly established as the Cowboys leading option at running back, the fate of the Dallas running game is in his hands down the stretch. Something that very few saw coming entering the season.
1) George Pickens - It has been no surprise to see George Pickens having significant success in Dallas. Even when the Cowboys traded a third and fifth-round pick to Pittsburgh in May, there was an expectation that he'd be a super-charged second option at the wide receiver spot. Instead of filling the WR2 role behind CeeDee Lamb, he has instead worked hand-in-hand with Lamb and posted league-leading numbers through the first 10 games.
Pickens currently ranks second in the NFL behind only Jaxon Smith-Njigba with 908 receiving yards and has already tallied a career-high seven touchdown grabs. He is just the fourth wide receiver in Cowboys history to post 900 yards receiving and at least seven touchdowns in their first 10 games. Joining a list with three Hall of Fame wide receivers, Bob Hayes (1966), Michael Irvin (1995), and Terrell Owens (2007). No matter how high the expectations were for Pickens, they still weren't high enough for what he's doing now.
