As we enter the thick of the 2025 NFL offseason, the Dallas Cowboys have a new head coach in Brian Schottenheimer and a lot of pressure not only on him, but some featured players that are currently on the roster.
So, who are the most important players on the Dallas Cowboys’ roster in 2025? Following the NFL draft and NFL schedule release, PFF released its roster of each NFL team’s three best players of 2025.
In the piece, PFF says that some of the players they pick may be surprising, because they are a bit more low profile. Others are obvious.
We all should already know who Pro Football Focus three players are. It is Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons, but that would make things too easy for me. I want to dive into outside of the big three who is the most important players for Dallas this season?
Osa Odighizuwa
Osa Odighizuwa is coming off his best season with 4.5 sacks, and his 19 quarterback hits were the second most among defensive tackles last season. Odighizuwa has not missed a game in his career or a start over the past three seasons.
A few months ago, he signed an $80 million, four-year contract with $58 million guaranteed.
The return of Odighizuwa comes with Matt Eberflus taking over as defensive coordinator on first-year coach Brian Schottenheimer’s staff. Stopping the run will be a priority for a club that has struggled in that area in recent years.
Osa has to play like he’s worth 80 million dollars. He is going to be one of the most important guys on the defense not named Micah Parsons, DaRon Bland or Trevon Diggs when he returns from his injury.
George Pickens
This should be a given at this point: The Cowboys made a move for George Pickens and, if he can keep it together, he and CeeDee Lamb are going to be two studs this season for the Dallas offense.
Pickens has all the talent in the world, and let’s be honest, Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph and Mitchell Trubisky threw him the football in 2023 when he posted 1,140 yards and five touchdowns that season.
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1930308068299944383
If he just stays on the field, he should be ultra-productive with Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb.
Even last year, with Russell Wilson and all the problems he had on the field, he still put up 59 catches for 900 yards and three touchdowns in 14 games.
Tyler Guyton
Yup, I am going here, Tyler Guyton has got to get this thing figured out.
The No. 29 overall pick started 11 games for the Cowboys and proved to be a weak link for the line, committing 18 penalties while struggling mightily against in both pass protection and run blocking.
There weren’t many NFL offensive tackles worse than Guyton in 2024, when he registered an anemic, 49.4 overall grade from PFF. That ranked him 115th out of 140 eligible players at his position.
I mean he can’t be any worse in 2025, and he now becomes one of the most important guys heading into 2025.
Cowboys OT Tyler Guyton and Tyron Smith spending some one-on-one instruction time together this offseason
(via IG/60notgoin) pic.twitter.com/X2ZgsqMnsN
— Nick Harris (@NickHarrisFWST) June 8, 2025
He has to play like the first-round pick that he was. The offensive line is now so young that they can’t afford for him to struggle.
They have depth, but it is not amazing talent behind him, so if he does not get this figured out, it could be another long year for that side of the offensive line.
This roster has plenty of other important guys, and you don’t have to agree with me, these are just the other three that I think are important to the Cowboys winning football games outside of Lamb, Prescott and Parsons in 2025.
Let’s see how this pans out.
Pickens is not a sleeper pick. Do you know what a sleeper is?
He’s not saying Pickens is a sleeper, he’s saying Pickens is gonna be an important part of the team for winning games!!
I think Guyton will get better!! And now he’s learning from one of the best to ever do it too!! He mite not be elite in his 2nd year, but I think he’ll make a big jump!!
a Dallas Cowboys fan, since the 70’s with everybody leaving through free agency and retirement for the last two seasons their shouldn’t be any sleepers any where on this Cowboys roster as for George Pickens Jerry Jones better hope that George Pickens is quiet during the season because George Pickens will start a lot of drama on and off the field
Mazi Smith would have been a good mention but rather Captain Obvious and not so much a sleeper.
Like to see Ajani Cornelius supplaint Guyton at OT.