In the second and third rounds of the 2025 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys focused on their defense. They selected defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku in the second round and defensive back Shavon Revel in the third round.
However, they may have landed their best pick of the draft on the defensive side of the ball down in the fifth round.
Linebacker Shemar James out of Florida was the 152nd player taken overall, and the second player Dallas selected in the fifth round.
He was taken three picks after the Cowboys selected Texas running back Jaydon Blue. Blue was the second offensive player taken last spring behind first-round guard Tyler Booker.
While Ezeiruaku has played in all seven games, he has yet to start in any of them.
His season totals are 16 tackles, eight quarterback hits, a forced fumble, and a sack. He got the sack in last week’s win over Washington.
Revel has yet to see the field of play.
He has been recovering from an injury suffered early in his senior season in 2024.
Pre-injury, Revel was projected to be a first-round pick. The Cowboys decided he was worth risking a third-rounder on.
So far, they have not seen a return on that investment as he has just now had his 21-day practice window opened this week.
But they appear to have hit a gold mine late in the fifth round.
James Makes His Case
The former Gator was inactive for the first three weeks of the 2025 season.
He has more than made up for his early absence in the last four weeks.
In his NFL debut, the 40-40 tie with the Packers, James had five tackles and a quarterback hit. He did that in just 26 defensive snaps (31.3%) and 15 (45.5%) special teams snaps.
The following week against the Jets, a 37-22 win, he led the team with 15 tackles.
In his first start, a 30-27 loss at Carolina, he led the team in tackles again with 11.
In Sunday’s win against the Commanders, in his second start, he tied for the team lead with nine tackles. He also made the play that likely sealed the victory.
In the third quarter, with Washington trying to mount a comeback, James sacked Jayden Daniels.
Daniels fumbled the ball, recovered by Jadeveon Clowney, and exited the game with a leg injury as Dallas quickly salted the game away in the third quarter.
Dallas is now 2-1-1 when he plays. James is averaging 10 tackles a game and is averaging 62 defensive snaps a game over the last three weeks.
Defensive Rookie Of The Year?
A little over one-third of the way into the 2025 campaign, James is clearly the best defensive rookie on the team.
Unless Revel breaks out, an unlikely scenario as there are some doubts he’ll play at all in 2025, or Ezeiruaku somehow cracks the starting line-up, James will be the Cowboys defensive rookie of 2025.
But does he have a shot a being the NFL’s defensive rookie of the year?
James has some stiff competition to overcome. Linebackers Jihaad Campbell (Eagles) and Carson Schwesinger (Browns) are two among a solid half-dozen who are in the running with slightly better overall stats.
But all of them have played in all seven games this year. James is right there in the mix with three fewer games on his resume.
If James can keep up the pace, he’ll have a legitimate shot.
Especially if the Cowboys can find a way to get into the playoffs. A winning record would boost James’ chances.
The Only Other One
The AP has named an NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year since 1967.
Since then, there has only been one member of the Dallas Cowboys to win the award. That was back in 2021.
That was the year that Micah Parsons won the award.
The previous player to be a unanimous DROY was J.J. Watt in 2014.
It is unlikely that James would be able to win it this year by earning all 50 votes as Parsons and Watt did. But he does have a chance to win it.
That would put him in some pretty elite company.
And possibly make him one of the Cowboys’ best fifth round picks of all time.
I have seem James play and it has been great. However the amount of tackles he has maybe a lack of tackles by the front four ? Food for thought.
Kenny Clark can’t do it alone! Osa and Soloman Thomas have to do a better job. It’s a shame Mazi Smith doesn’t enjoy playing football, what a waste of talent.
How do you get that Mazi doesn’t enjoy playing football!? I think your way off on that opinion!! He’s been on record saying he loves it and he loves hitting people!! His biggest problem is that he’s had to lose weight his first year, and then gain weight back in his 2nd year, and then lose weight again this year!! That does a lot to a player!! Not only does it mess with the way they like to play, but changing that much weight that fast makes people depressed!! If these stupid defensive coordinators would’ve just left him alone and let him play at the same weight he played at in college and let him play the way he played in college, the reason we chose him in the 1st round to begin with, he would be a much better player right now!! But it’s hard to be that player when he has to go through 3 different defensive coordinators and take his weight up and down every year too!! If they would just let him play at the weight he was at in college and let him play the style he played in college, I guarantee he’ll be a way better player!!
I mean, his sack, forced fumble on Daniels was a pretty huge play. He has to keep playing like this the rest of the year, of course, but I think he has a shot if he does.
Not exactly…. I’m sure some of them are, but the majority of them are tackles on the TEs and receivers that go in his area!!
James is getting tackles because he is a linebacker and competent linebackers always lead the team in tackles. James is better than the two guys Eburflus brought with him and that is a low bar. James has zero chance of DROY even with the Dallas hype but James is overachieving as a 5th round choice. It is bad when you draft 12th and your best draft pick is the extra 5th round piuck.
Eberflus didn’t bring 2 LBs with him, he brought one!! And yeah, James is better than him!! But he’s also better than your very low football IQ thinks he is too!! And if he can get better at a couple things, and keeps his tackling up and keeps blitzing as good as he has been, then he does have a chance at DROY!! And what kind of drugs are you on to make you think that our best draft pick is our 5th round pick!? You have lost your mind if you actually believe that!! Just because he’s doing good and starting, it doesn’t mean he’s better than the other picks we made!! First of all, Donovan Ezeiruaku isn’t a starter just because we have so many options to play at edge rusher, secondly, the only reason James is starting at LB is because he was the last option after the injury to Sanborn!! But he’ll more than likely lose that spot to Sanborn when he gets back from his concussion!! I don’t think Sanborn should play anymore, but I don’t think James has shown enough to take the job either!! But if he does keep the starting job, and he keeps getting better, then there’s no reason to think that he couldn’t win DROY!! But I think by the end of the year, if he’s in that conversation, I think Ezeiruaku and maybe even Revel could be in the conversation with him!! And 3rd, Shavon Revel hasn’t even had a chance to show what he can do yet, so what makes you think James is better than him!? 4th, Donovan Ezeiruaku has shown more upside in his play than James has, the only reason he don’t get to start or even play more is just like I said above…. Because we have so many options at that position it’s hard to get everybody on the field!! And 5th…. There’s no way anybody with even a little bit of an IQ would even think that James is better than Tyler Booker!! He’s just not, and it’s not even close!! Just because you think it was a bad idea to draft a guard that high in the draft, it doesn’t mean it was, and it surely doesn’t mean that Booker is a bad player, because he’s not!! As a matter of fact, there have been pure guards drafted a lot higher than Booker was, and it wasn’t a bad idea to draft them, so why would it be a bad idea to draft Booker at 12!? Just look at the colts and the guard they drafted at number 4 overall I think it was!! So again, how do you get that James is the better draft pick out of the others drafted ahead of him!? I would really like to know how somebody could come up with that nonsense!!
I don’t think we have a DROY on this team, this year. James is having a good rookie season but he’s not going to win out in his Tackling numbers over Carson Schwesinger in Cleveland this year. Schwesinger has started every game and he’s just getting more opportunities and taking advantage of that, barring injury of course. I personally think it might be Carter in NY who wins it. I think Campbell and Mukuba might split the vote in Philly. Carter needs to get more sacks if he’s going to win. If he does, I think he wins but another thing that goes against him is that NYG might have the OROY in Dart. See how that goes.
End of Day, most of the voters are on the East Coast so it’s likely that it will be an East Coast Team guy.
JMO
I doubt that very much!! Carter isn’t nothing close to what he was hyped up to be!! He was drafted way too high just because they thought he would end up being the next Micah Parsons, but it turns out he’s not even close!! I think Jihaad Campbell is a lot better than Carter is!! And Makuba is pretty good, but he’s not as good as Campbell is so they’re not splitting votes!! And Campbell is better than Shemar James too!! So I think Campbell will be the defensive rookie of the year!! Unless Shemar James can get better in the next few games, I don’t think he can pass Campbell!! James is good at tackling and blitzing the QB, but that’s it, he’s not that good in coverage yet and he has to be better at stopping the run if the RBs get passed the line of scrimmage, but if he can get better at those, he mite be in the conversation with Campbell, but until then, I think Campbell is the better player right now!!
I don’t think you are understanding what I am saying in my post. I mean, truth be told, I think Mukuba or Schwesinger is the best Defensive Rookie, to point this yea,r but I don’t think either are going to win. That’s not the point. It’s about votes and who gets them and where they play geographically. The most votes are on the East Coast. Philly is going to split votes between Muhamad and Campbell because they already are. ESPN had an article earlier this month that picked Mukuba over Campbell. I think that will continue to happen and truth be told, Mukuba has played better IMO. Campbell has 7 starts, 43 combined tackles or just over 6 a game, 25 solo, 1 TFL, 1 QB hit, 1 Int, 1 FF and 2 PDs. That’s not bad but it’s not better I don’t know if it’s better then Mukuba IMO. 6 games started, 35 tkls, 20 solo, 2 TFLs, 1QBHt, Half a sack and 3 PDs. 2 Ints. There is a real split there.
I don’t think Carter is over rated, per say. Time will tell if that’s true but if we are being truthful, he has Brian Burns in front of him, who was also a first round pick, has 63.5 sacks to his credit over his career, has 9 this year already. Burns is playing really good football so it’s going to be tough for Carter to beat him out this year. Carter’s time will come but not this year IMO. He likely won’t start until Burns is gone and that could be after next season if NY decides to trade him to save cap. But Carter plays in NY and that is why he is getting press as DRoY.
I just think the vote is going to go to one of the Eagles guys or Carter because of where they play. But if the vote were today, I’d Probably vote for Carson Schwesinger. 7 games started, 59 tackles or 8.4 a game, 24 solo, 1 sk, 3 QBHits, 4 TFL.
JMO