Nevertheless, there’s a silver lining to the group’s shedding document: a possible top-10 choose within the 2025 draft, the place the appropriate choice may assist kickstart a return to relevance.
The Cowboys are slotted for the ninth general choice within the 2025 NFL Draft after shedding their final 5 video games. That could possibly be excessive sufficient to nab Boise State operating again and Heisman hopeful Ashton Jeanty, who lately mentioned “Kickin It with Dee” podcast he wished to be drafted by the Cowboys (h/t The Athletic’s Jon Machota)
“My household is all in Texas. Household being there, all of the connections, all of the relationships, I really feel like that might simply be the right metropolis to play in,” mentioned Jeanty.
Previous gamers who’ve expressed a need to finish up in Dallas embrace first-rounders Ezekiel Elliott and Micah Parsons, who had been drafted by the Cowboys in 2016 and 2021, respectively.
Jeanty is predicted to be a first-round choose subsequent 12 months, although his precise draft spot will reignite a recurring leaguewide debate about operating again worth. Many groups have stopped utilizing premium assets within the draft and free company on an oft-injured place that has taken a again seat in fashionable passing-focused offenses. Nevertheless, a number of groups have discovered success after current investments of their backfield, both through free company — Derrick Henry in Baltimore, Saquon Barkley in Philadelphia — or the draft — Jahmyr Gibbs in Detroit and Bijan Robinson in Atlanta.
The Cowboys have been on each ends of that spectrum within the final decade. They drafted Elliott with the fourth general choose in 2016 and gave him an early extension in 2019 that might have stored him in Dallas till 2026. His six-year, $90M deal included greater than $50M of absolutely assured cash, which stays a document for NFL operating backs, per OverTheCap.
Nevertheless, the Cowboys launched Elliott after the 2022 season and have invested valuable little of their backfield since. Present starter Rico Dowdle was an undrafted free agent signing in 2020 and Elliott returned this spring on a one-year, $2M deal. 2023 fifth-round choose Deuce Vaughn doesn’t profile as a future lead again at 5-foot-6 and 176 kilos, and Dalvin Prepare dinner has solely earned two elevations from the follow squad.
That leaves the way forward for Dallas’ operating recreation doubtful, with loads of touches to be taken that would belong to Jeanty if he falls to the Cowboys within the draft. He put collectively 2,892 yards and 26 touchdowns from scrimmage with a mean of 6.7 yards per contact in his first two years at Boise State. This season, his FBS-leading 256 carries, 1,893 speeding yards, and 27 complete touchdowns have positioned him as a frontrunner within the Heisman race, which might solely bolster his case to be a top-10 choose subsequent April.
