Cowboys fans woke up this morning with Brian Schottenheimer as the team’s head coach, and questions and concerns are flooding social media. After all, this is his first head coaching job, so we can’t know exactly what to expect.
The most important area for this concern is the upcoming NFL Draft. We all know Dallas isn’t going to spend in free agency, so the draft is their one chance at adding talent.
This roster will have a ton of holes come April, so how they decide to approach their selections will be critical to watch.
Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones on how the team will approach the offseason, as he sees similar issues ahead in 2025 as what the team had in 2024:
“I think we knew we were gonna have a challenge in [2024] and [2025]. It’s gonna be really, really tight. We still have some money left…
— Nick Harris (@NickHarrisFWST) December 11, 2024
Dallas is committing to four years of Schottenheimer, so you can bet he will have significant influence in the war room. This draft should not be run through Jerry and Stephen Jones’ offices.
With that in mind, let’s consider how his hiring will impact the Cowboys draft plans, and who could arise as the top target for Dallas.
Brian Schottenheimer: The New Philosophy
While Brian Schottenheimer hasn’t been a head coach yet, we still know some of his tendencies and what he favors in an offense.
The biggest example of this is at the running back position.
Schottenheimer has, throughout his career, shown a clear preference for running the football. Sometimes to his detriment, the 51-year-old is a ground-and-pound guy through and through; he will run more than Mike McCarthy ever did.
We saw the Cowboys front office go cheap at running back during the 2024 offseason, but with Schottenheimer at the helm, it’s hard to see that bleeding over to this year.
Pelissero: Ezekiel Elliott, Rico Dowdle to split carries Week 1.
Dalvin Cook not expected to play Sunday.
— Underdog NFL (@UnderdogNFL) September 8, 2024
Dallas did see their inexpensive strategy payoff to some degree, as Rico Dowdle did exceed expectations, but he is now a free agent coming off a career year.
Dowdle is going to command money on the open market, and with the NFL Draft being more lucrative this year at the position than nearly any in recent memory, you could see the Cowboys invest there this April.
Ashton Jeanty: Destined For Dallas?
If you’ve followed the NFL Draft at all to this point, you know that Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty is heavily connected to the Cowboys. At this point, you can’t find a mock draft that doesn’t link this pairing.
Jeanty, 21, finished as the runner-up for the Heisman trophy and projects as the top running back in this draft class. He is as good as it gets for a prospect.
With Dallas picking 12th, they are certainly in his range, and could very well see him on the board when Roger Goodell puts them on the clock.
Growing more convinced that Ashton Jeanty is going to be a Cowboy for the simple reason that it might be the only way to restore any sense of excitement or optimism in the team.
— Dave Helman (@davehelman_) January 23, 2025
Before the hiring of Brian Schottenheimer, you could make the argument for a defensive selection with their first pick, but you can’t hire a run-heavy, offensive-minded head coach and ignore the offensive line and running back.
Schottenheimer will want to build in the trenches and develop a running game to set up the play-action.
Drafting Jeanty would be a huge step forward in creating that offense.
It’s still early in the offseason, but it is hard to see the Cowboys, and their new head coach, pass on Jeanty if he’s available.
The Bottom Line: Offensive-Centered Draft
Regardless of whether the Cowboys go with Jeanty, another high-profile rookie, or someone in the free agent pool, it’s hard to see them avoiding running back like they did last year.
Why invest in Schottenheimer just to ignore one of his key offensive philosophies?
It looks like Dallas is the favorite to land Matt Eberflus as their next defensive coordinator, and they are loaded up with high-end talent on that side of the ball. They will be fine next season with player development, some minor tweaks, and a signing or two.
The offense is what needs to take off again for the Cowboys, and they should follow Brian Schottenheimer’s lead in determining what that looks like.
First pick will be Jeanty I’m sure
2nd round pick will be either a defensive stud with a nasty injury history, or a Offensive Lineman since the boys like drafting Lineman, and our O Line is bad.
Rest of the draft will be reaches in Draft, that’s the Dallas Cowboys draft formula under Jerry and Stephen
The O line isn’t bad. It will be much better this year and has good talent now. Biggest issue with the l8ne is the coaching has regressed. Time to upgrade with a new O line coach.
if stephen keeps talking all that “everything is gonna be tight” bs I think there will be lfew added free agents and it is hard for a team to get enough starters in a single draft to get to any playoffs or even fantasys of superbowls. Maybe 6 or so more semesters of cap classes are in order stephen….. and please do not let solari continue with oline that is one of biggest weaknesses… but oh he is a shottenheimer guy too. whats that talking heads line “same as it ever was”.. But there is hope …..only 490 coaches to go jerry.
I really hope someone saves them from themselves on the Jeanty pick. In a draft this deep in RB talent, taking one at #12 is insane. It’s so deep, they should be able to easily get a large workhorse back and a speedy receiving back, all without spending a first on a RB.
Trading down and stockpiling picks to backfill FA losses, plus retooling for regime changes on both sides of the ball, is the best bet. Which means…Jerry will take Jeanty at #12, just because he can’t stop himself from being stupid. Even worse, I wouldn’t put it past him to trade up to #5 to jump the Raiders to get him…’cause Jerry is that stubborn and stupid.
The best thing about eberflus is he has always been good at getting top play out of lesser talent. So concentrating on offense in the draft is a good plan.
I don’t see much point in speculating in the initial pick, as there’s a few holes to fill and we won’t be active in free agency. So, as long as we take the best player for the biggest need (and which is up for debate) and go from. The Jones will be making those decisions, Brian won’t be surprised.