FRISCO, Texas – With 14 games remaining on their 2025 schedule, the Cowboys will face some of the best defensive talent in the league over the course of the next 15 weeks.
Dallas' offense, which has shown signs of being able to run it up on the scoreboard, will have their fair share of tests in the foreseeable future both in the front seven and in the secondary.
Key players like CeeDee Lamb, Cooper Beebe and Tyler Booker 10 with injuries for the coming weeks means that the Cowboys depth will truly be tested, especially against the higher-end talent the NFL has to offer.
In our first edition of Power Rankings in 2025, we'll rank the top ten defensive players that the Cowboys will face the rest of the year:
Honorable Mentions
Just missing the cut is Packers DL Rashawn Gary, Panthers DT Derrick Brown, Giants DE Brian Burns, Chargers S Derwin James and Chargers DE Khalil Mack. Gary has had a strong start to the season in Green Bay, as the addition of Micah Parsons certainly takes some of the attention away from him. Brown is back on the field after a season ending meniscus injury in 2024 and is looking to return back to return back to Pro Bowl form. Burns already has four sacks through three games including one against the Cowboys. Last but not least, the Chargers have two of the best players at their positions in the league in James and Mack, but Mack is nursing an elbow injury that placed him on IR.
10. Broncos DE Nik Bonitto
Denver's 26-year-old pass rusher is coming off the best year of his young career in 2024, where he earned Pro Bowl honors following a 13.5 sack season that also included two forced fumbles and an interception. The Broncos rewarded him with a four-year, $106 million extension earlier this month, and he's had a strong start to the 2025 campaign with three sacks and a league-leading 21 quarterback pressures.
9. Chiefs DT Chris Jones
As Jones settles into his 10th NFL season, he has a three-year streak of being an All-Pro and six-year streak of being a Pro Bowler. Even though some production slipped last year and the Chiefs are off to a 1-2 start to the season, Jones is still one of the more prominent interior defensive players in the league that will be in mid-season form by the time Kansas City comes to town for Thanksgiving.
8. Jets CB Sauce Gardner
Since being drafted with the fourth overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Gardner has been a consistent staple for the Jets' secondary. He broke up 30 passes in his first three seasons, including 20 break ups in his rookie year, and has already disrupted three passes in 2025 and has allowed 0 open targets when the ball comes his way. Gardner became the highest-paid CB in NFL history in July when he signed a four-year, $120.4 million extension.
7. Giants DT Dexter Lawrence
Lawrence is a player that the Cowboys are very familiar with having to play twice a year. In their first meeting, Lawrence recorded four tackles and two QB pressures in Dallas' 40-37 win over the Giants. His impact goes well beyond just the stat sheet, as one of the more athletic and versatile nose tackles who can both plug up spots in the run game and get after the quarterback, as he comes off a career-best nine sack season and has been named to three-straight Pro Bowls.
6. Lions DE Aidan Hutchinson
In Week 6 of the 2024 season, Hutchinson fractured his left tibia and fibula against the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium after a red-hot start to the season where he had seven and a half sacks. Now back and healthy again, Hutchinson has two sacks through three games and forced the fumble that ended up sealing Detroit's 38-30 win over Baltimore on Monday Night Football in Week 3.
5. Eagles DT Jalen Carter
Carter's first two years in the league immediately catapulted him towards the upper echelon of defensive tackles in the NFL. Last year, Carter had 45 quarterback pressures, 42 tackles and 13 run stuffs. So far in 2025, aside from being ejected in the opener for spitting on Dak Prescott, he's generated six pressures and two run stuffs for the reigning Super Bowl champions. Carter always seems to be in the right place at the right time and has a knack for coming through when the Eagles need him to the most.
4. Jets DT Quinnen Williams
The last three seasons have been the best of Quinnen Williams' career with the Jets, becoming an All-Pro in 2022 and being named to the Pro Bowl the last three years. Williams is a dominant, versatile force on the inside of the defensive line and moves incredibly well for his size at 6'3, 303 pounds. Through three games, Williams has already surpassed the number of run stuffs he had last season six, and has also accounted for nine pressures and a sack.
3. Raiders DE Maxx Crosby
Crosby was one of the many pass rusher to recently get an extension with their team this offseason, joining the likes of Myles Garrett, Micah Parsons and T.J. Watt. The Raiders got his deal done early in March with a three-year, $106.5 million extension in the wake of Crosby's four straight Pro Bowl seasons. Crosby has tallied ten or more sacks in three of his six seasons thus far, and is off to a strong start in 2025 with two sacks, 12 pressures a quicker get-off time of 0.77 seconds.
2. Broncos CB Patrick Surtain II
For the first time since Stephone Gilmore of the New England Patriots did it in 2019, a cornerback was the NFL's defensive player of the year in 2024, and it was Surtain that earned that award. Denver's defense has one of the most talented secondaries in the league, and Surtain plays a big role in that. In 2025, 62.5% of the throws that go Surtain's way have been tight window throws, the highest tight window throws forced rate in the league.
1. Packers DE Micah Parsons
If anyone is familiar with how much of a game-wrecking force Parsons is, it's his former team that'll face him on Sunday night. Through four years in Dallas, Parsons amassed 52.5 sacks and was a Pro Bowler in each of his first four NFL seasons. Now, Parsons' talents are on display in Green Bay as he's already added a game-changing element to the Packers pass rush. Not only does Parsons have 1.5 sacks and 19 quarterback pressures, but he's opened the door for some of his teammates like Rashawn Gary to get to the quarterback with more attention going his way. Gary has a league-best 4.5 sacks through three games.
