Your Sunday morning Cowboys news.
Drafting RB in 2025 should be a numbers game for Cowboys, but can afford patience? – Reid Hanson, Cowboys Wire
Why the Cowboys shouldn’t “rush” to judgement to address one of their needs.
The debate has waged all offseason over not if, but when the Dallas Cowboys should pull the trigger at the running back position in the 2025 NFL draft. First, we discussed waiting to Day 3 and attacking value as it slips through the cracks. Then we discussed what happened last season and the knee-jerk reaction to earmark a pick specifically for the RB position this draft cycle.
Since then, people have discussed reaching for one of the top RBs at No. 12, moving up earlier in the draft to pluck away the cream of crop, and even double-dipping at RB across multiple days of the draft. Cases can be made for each approach even if some arguments are flimsier than others.
Obviously, this is easier said than done for a team like the Cowboys. Nobody in Dallas actually wants to see Javonte Williams enter Week 1 as the Cowboys unchallenged starter at RB, so the instinct to pick someone, anyone, in the first three rounds in understandable. And if a specific player the scouting department is targeting is available in those early rounds, it would make sense to do just that. But that approach ignores one of the greatest strengths of the draft, which is the depth.
Unless multiple teams double-dip and select multiple RBs before Dallas, the Cowboys are going to get their guy at some point this draft cycle. Again, the numbers on their side because it’s a buyers’ market and the supply has seemingly exceeded the demand.
There’s also the secondary market sure to arise after the draft. When teams load up on cheap and talented prospects this draft cycle, they’re inevitably going to remove veterans from their respective rosters. It’s going to open up a whole new range of possibilities for a team waiting in the wings.
Panthers-Cowboys trade proposal sends lethal pass rusher to Carolina -Matthew Schmidt, SI.com
Trade proposals are everywhere in the run up to the draft.
The Carolina Panthers were one of the worst teams in football at getting to the quarterback this past season, finishing with just 32 sacks. The Panthers have attempted to address the problem this offseason, signing free agents like Tershawn Wharton and Pat Jones, but they still need to make some more additions in order to bolster their front seven.
Carolina is widely expected to address the issue in the NFL Draft, but there may still be some interesting potential trades on the table for the Panthers.Sterling Xie of Pro Football Network has identified a possible trade target for Carolina, singling out Dallas Cowboys edge rusher Dante Fowler as a candidate.
“However, with young edge rushers Sam Williams and Marshawn Kneeland behind him, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Fowler fall back into his usual designated pass rusher role,” Xie wrote. “While the Cowboys could use help there, it’s easy to imagine Fowler becoming a tradeable asset if Dallas gets development from its young pass rushers (and potentially adds to the position group in the draft).”
Fowler is now in his second stint with the Cowboys after racking up 39 tackles and 10.5 sacks with the Washington Commanders in 2024, marking the second time in his career that he rattled off double-digit sacks (he first achieved the feat by totaling 11.5 sacks with the Los Angeles Rams back in 2019).
These Cowboys could see an exit sign at the end of 2025 – Shane Taylor, Inside the Star
2025 could be the last go-round with these players in Dallas.
Malik Davis
How about we start with a guy that most probably forgot about. Back in January, Dallas signed Davis to a reserve/future contract. Davis spent the entire 2024 regular season on the Cowboys’ practice squad after failing to make the 53-man roster at the end of training camp in late August.He wasn’t elevated to the active roster for a single game, but he’ll stick around in Dallas and participate in offseason training programs to compete for a roster spot for the 2025 campaign.
Davis has a golden chance to do something in camp and make the roster this season. I mean, it is funny that we talked about him LAST offseason having this same look as to how bad the running back room is.Javontae Williams and Miles Sanders are the two starting running backs on the depth chart. Dallas will draft a guy, but if they don’t land one of the top three backs starting next week in the NFL Draft, Davis has a good of a chance as anyone as making his case for RB3 or he will spend him last year on the outside looking in.
Ryan Flournoy
We have to call it like it is, if the Dallas Cowboys draft a wide receiver, Ryan Flournoy might need to have a breakout camp to maybe even survive this offseason!Flournoy played just 13.32% of the offensive snaps in 2024. With Brandin Cooks gone, yes, he moves up a spot, but players like Jalen Tolbert and Jalen Brooks, Jonathan Mingo, and KaVontae Turpin all moved up on the depth chart as well.
I like all the names mentioned above ahead of Flournoy. You may not agree with me, and I hate trading for Jonathan Brooks, but right now he is better than Flournoy. I think whomever they draft will jump him in the depth chart, so it might be a make or break it summer for Flournoy, he may be seeing the exit sign after the 2025 season if he doesn’t ball out.
Evaluating position groups where the Cowboys ‘like their guys’ before the draft – Sean Martin, Blogging the Boys
Breaking down what positions the Cowboys might bypass in the draft.
Offensive Tackle
The Cowboys learned the hard way at several positions last season how depending on their own young players too early can lead to growing pains, but are also hopeful that players who went through this can be a part of a new culture with year two or three leaps. One of the best examples of this is last year’s first-round pick Tyler Guyton at left tackle.
Guyton started 11 games at left tackle in the Cowboys’ first season without future Hall of Fame inductee Tyron Smith, who officially retired with the team on Wednesday. In several of these games, the rookie from Oklahoma rotated with Asim Richards. The Cowboys were not fully prepared to handle much of the standard roster attrition at all last offseason, yet alone replacing a franchise great in Smith right away. Drafting Guyton can still be the solution here though, with new offensive line coach Conor Riley ready to work with a second year player that took his lumps and still has untapped potential.
Center
Sticking with the offensive line, the Cowboys have also shown confidence in last year’s third-round pick Cooper Beebe to remain the starting center without much competition being brought in so far. If the hiring of Riley as OL coach is expected to be a boost for Tyler Guyton, it should be ten-fold for Beebe. Riley was Beebe’s position coach in college at Kansas State, and even though Beebe mostly played guard during this time, the continuity paired with the Cowboys desire to run the ball and Beebe’s strength in run blocking make him one of the most clear-cut candidates for a year two breakout on the entire Cowboys roster.
The safety valve at center is veteran Brock Hoffman who will be battling at guard to replace the retired Zack Martin. The Cowboys are counting on the durability of Cooper Beebe at center, and having him consistently in the lineup to grow further into the signal caller of this offensive line would be a massive step for the Schottenheimer offense to get off the ground quickly. Beebe got better with each passing week last season, with most of his growth coming well after Prescott was out for the season. Seeing how the Cowboys’ QB1 and their second-year center get up to speed with practice reps later in the offseason will be one of the most important things to watch for early on in OTAs and training camp.
