When you look at what the Cowboys are trying to do, selecting the Boston College edge rusher seems obvious.
With each new day, the mission of the 2025 Dallas Cowboys becomes clearer. The team’s new head coach, Brian Schottenheimer, doesn’t want any ambiguity about what the team plans to do, and so far, they are sticking to a well-defined script. This includes decorating the roster with the right type of players.
This type has different meanings. With the draft behind us now, we understand the emphasis on the player’s character. Their most recent draft haul is littered with strong leaders, guys who are passionate about football, and fierce competitors who have a deep-rooted desire to destroy their opponent.
Another common theme that has shown up with the new players they’ve acquired along the defensive line is that they want to take the ball away. Back on St. Patrick’s Day, we wrote about how the team’s offseason decisions show that they are serious about taking the ball away.
As luck would have it, their actions matched their words as they have thrown a lot of resources at players who are very good at going after the ball. Osa Odighizuw and his long arms were retained at a huge price. Free agent adds Dante Fowler and Payton Turner weren’t just QB sackers, but guys who also stripped the ball away. We even shared a video montage of all this splashiness on X that is nearly three minutes long if you are interested.
It wasn’t that long ago that the Cowboys’ defense was masterful at taking the ball away. Under Quinn, they finished first in the league in back-to-back seasons in 2021 and 2022 in takeaways. Unfortunately, that advantage has dipped as of late. The defense has finished 12th in takeaways in each of the last two seasons.
New defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus is here to fix that. During his four years as the Indianapolis Colts‘ defensive coordinator, his squad finished in the top 10 in takeaways every year. They also finished inside the top 10 in fumble recoveries in three of those four seasons. Even in his last season as head coach of the Chicago Bears, when they weren’t good at very much, they still finished fourth in the league in forced fumbles. Make no mistake about it, his guys get after the ball.
And that is the new focus in Dallas. We’ve seen it in free agency, and now we’ve seen it in the draft. The Cowboys surprised everyone with the selection of Boston College edge rusher Ezeiruaku with their second-round pick, but when you look closely, his selection shouldn’t have been all that shocking. Why? Because he’s the exact type of player for Eberflus’ defense.
There were 16 edge rushers taken in the top 120 players of the draft.
NONE of them had more sacks than Donovan Ezeiruaku.
NONE of them had more forced fumbles than Donovan Ezeiruaku.He is the epitome of a splash player. pic.twitter.com/cIz1vHZbuM
— Dan Rogers (@DannyPhantom24) May 4, 2025
Ezeiruaku had 30 total sacks in college and eight forced fumbles. That is impressive, and is why he’s continually been heralded as one of the great value picks in the draft. For what he does, he couldn’t have landed in a better spot.
The Cowboys have a plan, and they are committed to it. The work done in repairing the defensive line this offseason has been impressive. They understand that the ability to consistently get after the quarterback can mask many deficiencies in the secondary, which we’ve seen firsthand. The Cowboys enter the new season with many concerns at cornerback due to several players not being fully healthy, so they will be relying heavily on the guys in the trenches to get it done.
The good news is they are laced with splash-makers on the defensive line, not just at the top, but deep within the trenches. Micah Parsons and his pride of pass-rushers can be seen as far as the light touches. With all the pieces in place, how can you not feel good about the Cowboys’ defensive line?
