FRISCO, TEXAS — The Dallas Cowboys ended up with nine picks to make across seven rounds after finishing last season with a 7-10 record.
Owner and General Manager Jerry Jones said, “we’re one of the best drafting teams in the NFL,” and over the past three days, that was put to the test.
While he has been on staff the past three seasons, this draft was the first in the Head Coach Brian Schottenheimer era. It began with the 12th pick in the first round: Tyler Booker, a guard out of the University of Alabama, was the first player the Dallas Cowboys selected.
Jerry Jones said the decision had everything to do with having made Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott the highest paid player in the NFL.
“You wanna make sure you have someone in front of him,” he said.
To the top defensive tackles in the NFC East, Chief Operating Officer and Co-owner Stephen Jones said, “good luck.”
Schottenheimer said that the “way to win in this league is to own the line of scrimmage.” He described Booker as “extremely powerful” and “a mauler;” just what the Cowboys would look for now that both Zack Martin and Tyron Smith have retired.
Booker is now the third Tyler on the offensive line, along with Tyler Guyton drafted 29th overall last year and Tyler Smith, 24th overall in 2022.
There were many potential needs for the Cowboys to address in the next six rounds.
A player (or few) on the defensive line: Donovan Ezeiruaku, a defensive end from Boston College fit the bill as the Cowboys’ second round pick. Taken 44th overall, he finished his collegiate career as one of the top pass rushers and defensive players in BC history.
Linebacker Micah Parsons will have someone to chase QBs with in Ezeiruaku.
A cornerback was next: in the third round, Shavon Revel Jr. was grabbed 76th overall. While much of Dallas’ secondary is already injured, the corner who finished his collegiate career needing ACL reconstruction while playing for East Carolina was one Jerry Jones said they are confident in.
The tear was already repaired by Dr. Dan Cooper, who is the team orthopedist, a few months ago.
A post-Ezekiel Elliot era for the Cowboys, and having traded Rico Dowdle to the Panthers in the offseason, meant a running back would be in need. While it could have been a homecoming to draft Heisman Trophy finalist Ashton Jeanty out of Boise State, the Cowboys needed him to fall out of the top 10, which didn’t happen.
Jerry Jones said he was comfortable not having taken an RB in days one and two because of who they were able to draft in those first three rounds. Stephen Jones said he felt comfortable with what the Cowboys had done in free agency for the position, and Vice President of Player Personnel Will McClay said the draft had a deep RB class, too, another reason they were not worried heading into day three.
The Cowboys did not have a fourth round pick, but they did use one of their fifth round picks to take Jaydon Blue—a Longhorn they do get to bring up north to Dallas, and an RB to add to the room.
The 149th overall pick ran a 4.38-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, and clocked in a 4.25 at Texas’ Pro Day, making him the fastest of any running back during the pro day circuit. As for his top speed in college? 22.3 MPH. If that number looks familiar, it’s because wide receiver and return specialist KaVontae Turpin recorded 22.36 MPH in Week 11 of the 2024-2025 season when catching a 64-yard touchdown pass. It was the fastest speed recorded of any player in the league last season—maybe Blue can match, or better, beat it?
Dallas’ other fifth round pick came soon after Blue. After a trade with the Arizona Cardinals, the Cowboys jumped more than 20 spots up the board to draft another SEC talent in linebacker Shemar James from the University of Florida. Arizona received the 174th overall pick and the 211th overall pick from Dallas in return.
Round 6 brought another guard to Dallas. With the 204th overall pick, University of Oregon’s Ajani Cornelius was selected—to give you an idea of his presence on the line of scrimmage, he had only allowed 3 sacks over the past two years.
The last three picks for the Cowboys came in the seventh round: with the 217th overall pick, Jay Toia, a defensive tackle from UCLA, said he was brought on to “stop the run;” Clemson’s Phil Mafah, an RB, was taken with pick 239 to join Blue as another new member to the running back room—as for how they’ll compliment one another’s skill sets, he said it reminds him of how he and Will Shipley, who was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in last year’s draft, played together for the Tigers; and with pick 247, DT Tommy Akingbesote rounded out this year’s draft for Dallas.
The draftees will be reporting for rookie minicamp for one of the first two weekends in May.
