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FRISCO, Texas — The time has arrived, ladies and gentleman, cats and dogs, birds and hamsters, alike. The 2025 NFL Draft is upon us and that means it's time for the Dallas Cowboys to make decisions that will help form not only the season to come, but the next half-decade or more; and considering just how much they depend on their prowess in scouting talent for roster improvements in late April, they need home run swings in their at-bats.
At the time of this column going to print, they'll have 10 attempts at the plate, despite executing several trades prior to now. There's a chance one or two additional trades will occur within the next day or two, if not sooner, but let's go with what we know at the moment.
And what we know is where the Cowboys need to focus their plan of attack as the draft unfolds over the course of the three-day event.
Draft needs (unranked): RB, WR, iDL, CB, LB, OL, EDGE
Yet another season of uneasiness surrounds the running backs depth chart, and while a one-year deal for Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders provides insurance, the length of the deals indicate hope more so than an outright promise of a fix.
Free agency also includes additions at linebacker, wide receiver, interior defensive line, and the offensive line, but should any of those preclude the Cowboys from sticking to their board and/or grabbing the best player available when one is staring them directly in the corneas??
Ah, that is the question, my dear Watson, so let's discuss the science of the matter.
In 2023, it prevailed when the Cowboys selected DeMarvion Overshown, someone I mocked to Dallas just ahead of the draft. In 2024, the Cowboys executed the exact trade with the Detroit Lions that I mocked, also just ahead of the draft.
I'm aiming for the hat trick in 2025.
Shall we draft?
Dallas Cowboys, you're officially on the clock.
Draft Selection Order (10):
- Round 1: 12th overall
- Round 2: 44th overall
- Round 3: 76th overall
- Round 5: 149th overall
- Round 5: 174th overall (compensatory)
- Round 6: 204th overall (acquired from Bills in Elam trade)
- Round 6: 211th overall (compensatory)
- Round 7: 217th overall (acquired from Patriots in Milton trade)
- Round 7: 239th overall (acquired from Titans in Murray trade)
- Round 7: 247th overall
Day 1
1. Tetairoa McMillan, WR
Pick: 12th-overall, Round 1
School: Arizona
*Pre-draft interest*: Official 30
Honors: Consensus All-American (2024), First-team All-Big 12 (2024), Second-team All-Pac 12 (2023), Polynesian College Football Player of the Year (2024), Polynesian High School Football Player of the Year (2021)
With Ashton Jeanty off of the board (gee thanks, Bears), I was faced with several top-shelf options in landing a potential Day 1 gamebreaker and I simply refused to pass on the chance to add a player I compare to Mike Evans to a Cowboys' roster that also includes CeeDee Lamb. It creates the complementary impact talent I believe could be destructive to opposing defenses, much like A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith in Philadelphia or, thinking back to yesteryear, what Michael Irvin and Alvin Harper were; or possibly what Terrell Owens and Terry Gleen used to be in their prime.
Matthew Golden was also still on the board, and while I could go for Golden here if the Cowboys chose to pull that trigger, there's a redundancy in his skill set as compared to Lamb and, if speed and separation is what I crave, well, isn't that what the hell I should be using KaVontae Turpin for??
So, yes, sign me up for McMillan's size and violence (a perfect red zone threat, by the way) along with Lamb's versatility and dominance, and Turpin's ability to stack bodies in the slot.
And the rest will figure itself out over the course of training camp, so let the war at WR behind CeeDee Lamb begin in Dallas.
Day 2
2. Omarion Hampton, RB
Pick: 44th-overall, Round 2
School: North Carolina
Pre-draft interest: Official 30
Honors: 2x First-team All-American (2023, 2024), 2x First-team All-ACC (2023, 2024)
No Jeanty? Have it your way then, simulator. I'll take a hefty helping of the Tar Heel monster who can serve as either a hammer or a bell cow for the Cowboys. Considering the decision to sign both Javontae Williams and Miles Sanders, as well as the shiftiness of Deuce Vaughn — whom I'm hoping can find an impact season in 2025 in his reunion with Conor Riley — Hampton would take the lead in the RBs room but wouldn't have to do it all, though he could.
Yes, Jeanty could be generational, but dismissing Hampton, a back who racked up more than 3,100 rushing yards and 30 rushing touchdowns in his last two seasons at Chapel Hill would be occupational malpractice. Add in more than 500 receiving yards as well over that span of time and, yeah, you can bet your ass I'd run the card in so fast at No. 44 that, if I was struck by lightning while doing it, I'd end up somewhere arguing with Biff and Marty McFly.
I was hoping against hope that Hampton would still be available when I went on the clock with the 44th-overall pick and, voila, there he was, impatiently waiting for me to give him the opportunity to instantly fix what ails the Cowboys in the run game.
An Omarion hasn't been this wanted since B2K in the late '90s.
Bump bump bump.
3. Deone Walker, iDL/NT
Pick: 76th-overall, Round 3
School: Kentucky
Honors: 3x Second-team All-SEC (2022, 2023, 2024)
Alfred Collins was my target here, but he went off of the board a few picks prior (argh).
Like it or not, the position of starting nose tackle belongs to Mazi Smith going into 2025, as the Cowboys look to Matt Eberflus and defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton to unlock the former first-round pick's potential. Does that mean the Cowboys have the luxury of ignoring the position in this year's draft? It's a resounding "hell no", in my opinion, and this is where Walker comes in.
Though I did have Collins graded higher, which makes sense when seeing he went off of the board only a few picks ahead of me going on the clock at 76th-overall, Walker is a physical comp to Collins in that they're both little more than athletic buildings with appendages that can and will clog up the interior, eat up double teams and make it difficult to run the ball through the A or B gap. Walker needs to be polished a bit with his technique, but adding him in rotation with Mazi Smith solves a massive, pun intended, need on the defensive side of the ball.
This is also a guy who had 7.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss, by the way, and against pro-level competition in the SEC.
Day 3
4. Seth McLaughlin, C
Pick: 149th-overall, Round 5
School: Ohio State (via Alabama)
Honors: 2x national champion (2020, 2024), Rimington Trophy (2024), Consensus All-American (2024), First-team All-Big Ten (2024)
Seeing McLaughlin on the board at 149th-overall, that's exactly what I did: I mcLAUGHED. It was of the evil variety, because this move gives me a future starter at one of the most important positions in all of football and, equally as importantly, it allows me to make Cooper Beebe the definitive successor at right guard to future Hall of Famer Zack Martin. This isn't to say Brock Hoffman can't get the job done, because I believe he could, but if we're talking a Best 5 scenario, how could you not view the construct with McLaughlin in-between Beebe and Tyler Smith as anything other than worthy of uncontrollable salivation.
Better still is McLaughlin is not naive to playing under the brightest of lights, transferring from Alabama to finish his collegiate career with a bang at Ohio State — a key reason they were able to hoist the natty in 2024. His length is a concern for some, but I'm not asking him to stop bendy edgy rushers on the edge. I'm asking him to bully people in a phone booth and not only can he do that fairly easily, he's also one of the sharpest football minds in the entire draft.
The biggest concern is a rightful one: a torn Achilles in November. That would not deter me from using a fifth-round pick on him though, knowing he could very well be my Pro Bowl center (or better) in the near future, if I take what I'd view as a medium-grade risk.
**And for this**, no less.
5. Quincy Riley, NCB
Pick: 174th overall (compensatory), Round 5
School: Louisville (via Middle Tennessee)
Honors: First-team All-Conference USA (2021), Second-team All-ACC (2024), Conference-USA All-Freshman (2020)
I'm on record as consistently, and for the entirety of his career, stressing how important and valuable Jourdan Lewis was to the Cowboys' defense, regardless of who the defensive coordinator was or who was playing beside/around him — so much so that, injury notwithstanding, Lewis beat out all comers to remain one of the best nickel corners in the entire NFL. With his departure comes a vacuum effect at nickel corner, and Riley has attributes that could make him one to succeed Lewis.
Sure, the Cowboys used a fifth-round pick on Caelen Carson, but he's returning from a season-ending shoulder injury and an up-and-down rookie debut. The year prior, they traded up to grab Eric Scott Jr. in the sixth-round of the 2023 NFL Draft, and it didn't work out for either side. There's a more than solid chance Carson might, but there's too much on the line at the position — e.g., Trevon Diggs' injury set to cost him time in 2025, the departure of Lewis, etc. — to pretend drafting Riley doesn't make sense.
Eberflus and his staff made it clear the goal remains to take the ball away at a high level, and not many corners in this draft have better hands and ball instincts than Riley. Eight interceptions and 173 defensive return yards in three seasons prove that point quite well.
6. Elijah Roberts, EDGE
Pick: 204th overall (acquired from Bills in Elam trade), Round 6
School: SMU (via Miami FL)
Honors: Second-team All-AAC (2023)
You didn't think I'd leave this draft without addressing the edge of the defensive line, did you? Silly rabbit. Trix are for kids. My attempt to throw young, capable talent at the position comes by way of Elijah Roberts, a local SMU product via transfer from Miami (FL) who broke out of a cage when he put on a Mustangs' uniform in 2023, to the tune of 10 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, three pass deflections and two forced fumbles. In all, Roberts racked up 18 sacks and 26 tackles for loss at SMU over the last two seasons, and it's not hard to see why.
His power at the point of attack is enough to make offensive tackles feel like they're having a cardiac event, and he's one of the best run defenders in this entire class and, let's be frank here, Susan, the Cowboys desperately need to solidify their run defense going forward as much as they need to guarantee their pass rush.
He'll need to improve his change of direction and add to his hand techniques to consistently be a dominant pass rusher at the NFL level (though his arm-over move is devastatingly effective), but there's no getting past his power, his speed-to-power conversion ability, and the fact his motor never runs out of gas over the course of a game.
A ceiling this high in the sixth round feels borderline criminal, but feel free to press charges.
7. Joshua Gray, OG
Pick: 211th overall (compensatory), Round 6
School: Oregon State
Honors: 3x Second-team All-Pac 12 (2020, 2022, 2023)
Versatility is the name of the game in Dallas, particularly as it relates to their offensive line — routinely finding themselves in a position to ask players to move around due to injury. It's something we saw in Year 1 with Tyler Smith and as recently as last season with Brock Hoffman, someone who began training camp as starting center before finishing the campaign as starting right guard for an injured Zack Martin.
Enter Gray, for me, a guard converted from several seasons at left tackle, almost seamlessly cooking in 916 snaps at guard for Oregon State in 2024 and allowing only one sack, and committing only one penalty, in the process. And as delectable as those numbers are, and his overall film as well, he's also been as durable as you could find. Gray logged 44 consecutive starts from 2020 through 2023 (roughly 4,000 offensive snaps) and never wore down.
Remember what I said about the injury bug versus the Cowboys' offensive line?
OK then.
There are opportunities for improvement for Gray, certainly, such as foot quickness that cost him some plays at tackle (that becomes far less of an issue when in a phone booth at guard, by the way) and questions about if he can develop more lower-body power, but he's also a hand technician with a high football IQ to prediagnose defensive plays, so sign me up in the sixth.
9. Jo'Quavious "Woody" Marks, RB
Pick: 217th overall (acquired from Patriots in Milton trade), Round 7
School: USC (via Mississippi State)
Honors: Second-team All-Big Ten (2024)
It's flier time, and that means, for me, doubling down on the position I was most concerned with heading into this year's draft: running back. With Hampton secured, doubling down at the position felt like the right thing to do; and when looking at what Marks brings to the offensive formula, this felt like an entire bowl of "yes, please", in my opinion.
Marks is durable, missing only one game in five collegiate seasons and delivering 32 starts in 56 games.
Marks is consistently a threat as both a runner and as a receiver out of the backfield, and I don't use the word "threat" lightly here when describing a player that averaged roughly 800 yards from scrimmage and seven touchdowns in four seasons competing in the SEC (1,225 total receiving yards during that stretch) before transferring to USC and exploding to 1,454 yards from scrimmage with nine touchdowns (321 receiving yards) to establish himself as a more-than-viable option for a needy NFL team, such as the Cowboys, also averaging an eye-opening 5.7 yards per carry; and you likely died from asphyxiation if you were holding your breath waiting for him to fumble in college.
I've no clue if the Cowboys can unlock Deuce Vaughn, or what Miles Sanders (or Javontae Williams) might be in this role on a one-year deal, and so I'm more than willing to have four years of control of Marks to make sure I'm covered well in this facet.
And I'm sure Dak Prescott wouldn't push against me tossing him a Mississippi State product to add to his offense.
9. Ja'Corey Brooks, WR
Pick: 239th overall (acquired from Titans in Murray trade), Round 7
School: Louisville (via Alabama)
Honors: First-team All-ACC (2024)
Speaking of doubling down on a position of concern, allow me to do the same at wide receiver because, at this point, I need as much talent and potential there as possible in Dallas to virtually guarantee things shake out well going into the 2025 season. When it comes to Brooks, expect flashes of dynamic play and moments that remind you he needs to be married to the right type of coaching to excel at the next level and to reach a higher level of play in his game.
His time at Alabama was up-and-down, but had more ups, statistically, including a 674-yard, eight touchdown season in 2022 against top-shelf competition. Things took a downturn in 2023 though, and it led to a transfer to Louisville where he had the best season of his collegiate career — grabbing 1,013 receiving yards and nine touchdowns while averaging 16.6 yards per catch.
Is he fast? No. Does he play fast? Yes, especially vertically, because he's essentially an outfielder tracking the ball with exceptional eyes and spatial awareness, along with fluidity in his movements and that lends to his ability to generate YAC (yards after the catch). Brooks also has a nose for the end zone, even in moments when you'd think the play wouldn't end in a touchdown. Better still, and this will help him in a major way as far as earning a roster spot in Year 1, is his innate special teams ability to block punts. Whether it's offensively or on special teams, he's a hound for the ball.
His lack of overall speed (long legs need a second to get going off the line) and telegraphed routes will cause him to fall in the draft, but I'd treat him as a high-priority undrafted free agent that I don't want to risk losing simply because I thought my 239th-overall pick was too valuable to use on him.
10. Shemar James, LB
Pick: 247th overall, Round 7
School: Florida
Another I'd treat as a high-priority UDFA that I'd prefer to go ahead and lock in before other teams start calling him to make offers is James, and at 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.
And, with that final pick made, my one-and-only annual Cowboys' mock draft concludes and, based on how things fell, I chose to not trade out of No. 12 or anywhere else, nor did I need to move up to grab anyone who was falling that I deemed worthy of giving up capital to acquire.
And now, on to the real thing this Thursday evening.
Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same.
