Shemar James needs to carve out a role with the Cowboys defense

Like I normally do once a week, I go over the Dallas Cowboys depth chart and just start thinking about players and who I like and who I think might have the most to lose or gain this season.

I kept coming back to Cowboys linebacker Shemar James. He was a rookie a season ago and was the second leading tackler on the team behind Kenneth Murray with over 80 tackles on the season.

Still, it feels like at the weakest position on the team outside the secondary, James is a guy that we have just swept under the rug and said we will see what happens.

Brief Cowboys OTA observations from 6/4:
– The practice was structured with about an hour-long of position drills and roughly 35 minutes of 7-on-7 work. There were no team portions with linemen involved
– A lot of the major names got work with the first-team at outside corner:…

— Nick Harris (@NickHarrisFWST) June 4, 2026

Most To Lose

So we know the trade for Dee Winters was helpful and if Overshown can stay healthy, he will probably be calling the plays this season. It seems that reports yesterday hinted at the fact that he will be wearing the green dot this season.

For as bad as the Dallas Cowboys defense was a year ago, James had a decent year as a rookie, or some will just say because the defense was so bad, his numbers were inflated because they couldn’t get any stops. Whatever.

The 5th round pick from Florida, I think, has the most to lose from the current linebackers on the roster.

After being inactive for three games, James finally made his debut in Week 4 and had five tackles against the Packers. But the next week in New York, James exploded with 17 tackles, the second-most in Cowboys history by a rookie.

James was the first off-the-ball linebacker to record more than 80 tackles in his rookie season for the Cowboys since Leighton Vander Esch (2018).

As we know things will be a little bit different this season with Christian Parker calling plays, and how James will fit in with Overshown and Winters is yet to be seen.

What I will tell you is I trust him more than Marist Liufau, who is suppose to become an edge rusher, but we will see and Justin Barron, who I don’t even think will be on the roster once August and September get here.

Players wearing green dot today: DeMarvion Overshown, Curtis Robinson, Justin Barron, Shemar James and Dee Winters.

— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) June 9, 2026

James will probably have a specific role in the nickel and dime packages, but I don’t see him logging a ton of work if Winters and Overshown remain healthy and stay on the field all year.

James will be used on special teams and other things, but he still, indeed, has the most to lose because although he was the team’s second leading tackler from a year ago, with the trade for Winters, James now moves back behind two guys in the linebacker room.

I still think they need a lot of work, and I am fully expecting a injury somewhere at some point this season, which means James is going to need to step in and produce, and although he did show he could do that a year ago, will he be motivated enough to do so?

I would like to see him have a bigger role in the team, but I don’t think his leash is going to be very long. Parker is not going to let below-average stay on the field like they saw Matt Eberflus do with Murray a year ago, among others.

This defense needs to do whatever they can to at least become an average unit and it starts with the linebackers and the secondary, the two worst groups on that side of the ball a year ago.

Drafting Caleb Downs and signing Jalen Thompson might be enough for them, but a huge question mark remains next to the linebackers.