A Philadelphia native, Ezeiruaku was a three-star recruit who dominated in high school in New Jersey, tallying 50 tackles and 7.5 sacks in 2019 alone, before doing so for Boston College, also a lifelong Eagles fan who immediately renounced the fandom after the 2025 NFL Draft.

A monster of a pass rusher in college, Ezeiruaku tied the school record, held by NFL Pro Bowl linebacker Harold Landry, for the most sacks in a season by any player in Boston College football history.

The record wasn't the only thing earned by Ezeiruaku at Boston College. He was also awarded the Ted Hendricks Award, given annually to the nation's top defensive end.

But wait, there's more, because Ezeiruaku was also named Consensus All-American, ACC Defensive Player of the Year and ACC and First-team All-ACC — all in a sensational 2024 season.

His athleticism is always on full display, again demonstrated by the fact Ezeiruaku ranked in the 91st percentile in the 3-cone drill at the 2025 NFL Combine, the 92nd percentile in the 20-yard shuttle, the 75th percentile in vertical jump, and a 4.47-second 40-yard dash at his pro day that puts him in the 96th percentile in his class.

Having ended his collegiate career as one the best to ever play at Boston College, and one of the top edge rushers in the entire nation, Ezeiruaku landed with the Cowboys as the team's 44th-overall pick in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft — a premium pick on a premium talent.

Shemar James (6) played in all 13 games during his freshman year in 2022, totaling 47 tackles and two sacks to earn SEC All-Freshman Team honors.

Shemar James, named a team captain for the 2024 season, had one of his best games against LSU, notching two sacks to earn SEC Player of the Week.

American team linebacker Shemar James of Florida (6) runs through drills during practice for the Senior Bowl in Mobile. James finished the game with three tackles, including one for loss. He was the only player at the Senior Bowl drafted by the Cowboys this year.

Florida linebacker Shemar James participates in the vertical jump during the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine Thursday, February 27, 2025 in Indianapolis.

James goes through tackling drills at the Cowboys' rookie minicamp on May 3 in Frisco.

Shemar James (50) will look to compete for playing time at linebacker, perhaps in nickel and dime packages. His best chance to contribute right away will be on special teams.

Akingbesote was a composite four-star prospect from Charles Herbert Flowers high school in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. He was originally a basketball player and didn't start playing football until his junior season because it gave him a better chance at a scholarship, which he received plenty of including from progams like Oklahoma and Texas A&M before committing to his home state institution of Maryland.

Akingbesote was the second ranked defensive line commit in his class, second to only Chop Robinson, who would go on to transfer to Penn State later on and be picked 21^st overall in the 2024 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins. In his freshman season, Akingbesote played in seven games and registered three total tackles.

In his sophomore season, Akingbesote saw an uptick in his play with his first 2 career starts and playing in 12 games over the course of the season, tallying 14 tackles and a career best two sacks for Maryland.

The last two years of Akingbesote's career with the Terrapins were his best, as he played in 25 games with 19 starts and a grand total of 60 tackles, five tackles for loss, two sacks, a forced fumble and a blocked kick. It was a strong finish to his career that began to show the signs of development that were apparent in flashes at the beginning of his career.

The Cowboys drafted Akingbesote in the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft, their second defensive line selection in the seventh round alongside UCLA's Jay Toia.

In his rookie season, Akingbesote will have a real chance to earn a role in the Cowboys' rotation with a lot of youth behind their three veterans in Osa Odighizuwa, Solomon Thomas and Mazi Smith. Akingbesote is one of just four more defensive tackles on the roster for Dallas, meaning a good training camp and preseason could mean he gets meaningful reps early on in his career.

Born in Inglewood, California, Toia grew up in Tonga and football wasn't his first sport — it was rugby, and it helped forge him for whatever football would throw at him.

Toia comes from a family of hard-hitting athletes. His cousin, Stanley Ta'ufo'ou, was recently a defensive lineman at USC (2019-23). One of his brothers, Soane Toia, is a defensive lineman at San Jose State. Another brother, Siaki Ika, played defensive tackle at LSU, and his other brother, Abitoni Toia, plays rugby in New Zealand.

Like Ta'ufo'ou, Toia began his collegiate career at USC as an enrolled player in the summer of 2021, but he'd go on to transfer as a four-star recruit to UCLA that same year, starting the season, and eventually ending his collegiate career, with the Bruins.

Toia did damage for the Bruins, earning honors as All-Big Ten Honorable Mention in 2024 and, in 2022, he was named 2022 Sun Bowl Lineman of the Game after racking up a career-best 10 tackles (two for losses) against Pittsburgh.

His prowess doesn't simply show itself on the field, but also in the classroom, as Toia's intellect and dedication to being a scholar adds to his value as both a player and a human being — named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll on three separate occasions at UCLA.

Establishing himself as a high-ceiling prospect out of high school and college, the Cowboys called upon Toia in the 2025 NFL Draft as their 217th-overall pick this past April, giving him a chance to make an impact behind former first-round pick Mazi Smith.

After a junior year at Klein Cain high school in the Houston area where he ran for 2,155 yards and 30 touchdowns, Blue decided to forego his senior year of high school to prepare himself and his body for the future, which would end up being at the University of Texas at Austin.

Blue had just 15 carries for 33 yards in his freshman season at Texas but got to soak up plenty from the elder classmen in the room that included future first-round pick Bijan Robinson, future second-round pick Jonathan Brooks, and future fourth-round pick Roschon Johnson.

Going into his second year, Blue saw an uptick in production after playing in 14 games compared to nine the year before, where he notched 398 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 65 carries. He also showed flashes of what he could do in the receiving game, catching 14 passes for 135 yards and a touchdown out of the backfield.

In what would be his third and final year of college football at Texas, Blue reunited with his high school teammate Matthew Golden, who the Green Bay Packers selected with the 23^rd overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Blue exploded onto the scene in his junior season, and came up big for the Longhorns all year but especially down the stretch in the College Football Playoffs. Blue rushed for 730 yards and eight touchdowns on 134 carries, adding 368 receiving yards and six touchdowns as well.

The Cowboys picked Blue in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, and he has an opportunity to carve out a role for himself in Brian Schottenheimer's offense with a wide-open competition in the running back room. Blue is a weapon in open space, running a 4.38 40-yard dash time at the combine, and can be a threat in the run and passing game for Dallas.

Cornelius (65) began his college career at Rhode Island, where he started all 22 games as a freshman and sophomore. In 2022, he earned first-team All-CAA honors.

Cornelius played his final two collegiate seasons for Oregon, starting 28 games. He had over 1,000 pass-blocking snaps and allowed just three sacks total.

Cornelius talks to the media Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in Los Angeles ahead of Wednesday's Rose Bowl College Football Playoff against Ohio State.

While the sixth round of the NFL Draft is towards the end of the three-day spectacle, Cornelius still made the big screen when his pick (204th overall) was announced back in late April.

Cornelius is fitted for his NFL helmet before an NFL rookie minicamp football practice Thursday, May 6, in Frisco. Cornelius was the second offensive linemen drafted by the Cowboys this year, along with first-round pick Tyler Booker.

Cornelius is going to have strong competition for a roster spot in training camp. Not only does he start behind Terence Steele and Tyler Guyton, but Asim Richards, Matt Waletzo, Hakeem Adeniji and Saahdiq Charles all have more experience. Then again, Cornelius has started over 50 games in his career and has found a way to get onto the field.

A pure athlete, Revel was a four-year letterwinner as a two-way player at two high schools in the Winston-Salem area, taking to the field as both a cornerback and a wide receiver.

The athleticism not simply relegated to football, Revel was also a letterman in track and field, participating in the 55 meters, 300 meters, long jump, and high jump events at the high school level before taking his talents to the collegiate level.

The breakout season in college came in 2023 for Revel, when he started all 12 games and tallied 54 combined tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, a sack and 12 pass breakups on his way to earning second-team All-AAC honors.

It was not an easy path for Revel, who first began his collegiate career for Louisburg Community College in 2020 through 2021, though the 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic — forcing a pause before he could show what he could do.

Revel began to prove he could be consistent with his disruptiveness when he was credited with at least one pass breakup in seven contests for Eastern Carolina, and multiple times on two separate occasions.

All of Revel's hard work led to the North Carolina native getting the nod as the Cowboys' 76th-overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, where he has a chance to learn from record-setting cornerbacks Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland.

Initially expected to redshirt for his freshman year, Phil Mafah (26) ended up having a solid freshman year, rushing for 292 yards and three TDs. He played in nine games, including the Cheez-It Bowl win against Iowa State in 2021.

As a sophomore in 2022, Mafah was part of a three-back committee, but scored his first touchdown of the season against Louisiana Tech. He finished the season with four rushing scores.

Mafah didn't just excel on the field, but in the classroom as well. He was named to the 2022 and 2023 All-Academic teams for the ACC.

Mafah switched his number to No. 7 for his final two years. While he continued to rotate in the backfield, he had some major games, including a four-touchdown performance in the Gator Bowl to defeat Kentucky to wrap up the 2023 season.

Mafah was greeted by Cowboys owner/GM Jerry Jones on his way out to his first rookie practice, just one week after being drafted in the seventh round.

Mafah is still a seventh-round pick, which is always an uphill climb to make the roster. But the running back position for the Cowboys remains uncertain with a battle for roster spots to include veterans Miles Sanders, Javonte Williams and rookies Jaydon Blue and Mafah. In terms of rushing TDs in college, Mafah's 28 scores ranks just behind Williams, who had 29 at North Carolina. Sanders had 12 at Penn State and Blue scored 11.

A native of New Haven, Connecticut, Booker began his high school football career at Bergen Catholic in New Jersey, a 90-minute drive from his hometown, staying with friends and coaches during the week. He would finish his high school career at the prestigious IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida and was a four-star prospect in the class of 2022 when he committed to play for Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Booker's freshman season at Alabama was memorable, as he played in all 13 games for the Crimson Tide and started at left guard in the Sugar Bowl in Alabama's 45-20 win over Kansas State. Booker was named to Freshman All-American and Freshman All-SEC teams after tallying 30 knockdown blocks and only allowing one sack.

In his sophomore season, Booker earned the starting job at left guard for the Crimson Tide and started 13 games, earning second-team All-SEC honors while giving up just two sacks and four pressures. He was the SEC offensive lineman of the week in Week 4 against Ole Miss.

After legendary Alabama head coach Nick Saban announced his retirement, Booker could've gone anywhere else in the country but decided to stay in Tuscaloosa and serve as one of the leaders for new head coach Kalen DeBoer's first team with the Crimson Tide. And it paid off, as Booker was named to the first-team All SEC team and a second-team All-American, allowing just half a sack on 778 snaps.

The Cowboys selected Booker with the 12^th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, marking the second year in a row that Dallas elected to draft an offensive lineman with their first draft pick, and the third time in the last four years that the Cowboys went offensive line in round one.

After Zack Martin's retirement following the 2024 season, the Cowboys made it clear that they would waste no time finding his replacement. Dallas views Booker as a plug and play, day one starter and he's been treated as such in OTAs and minicamp, taking his reps with the Cowboys' starting group on offense. Now, it's all about building the connection with Terence Steele to his right, and Cooper Beebe to his left while learning to play on the opposite side of the line of scrimmage that he did in college.