Cowboys draft picks: Ranking Dallas’ top-five options in Round 1, including taking a playmaker or trading back

FRISCO, Texas —  The 2025 NFL Draft is finally here with the opening round kicking off from Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Thursday night. 

Each of the last two years have involved Dallas making first-round picks for need with defensive tackle Mazi Smith (26th overall in 2023) and offensive tackle Tyler Guyton (29th overall in 2024). This year, things could be slightly different.

To owner Jerry Jones’ and his son Stephen Jones’ credit, they became more active than a year ago when they spent an NFL-low $20.47 million in free agency, per OverTheCap.com. They signed a number of veteran free agents, many of whom were former first- or second-round picks. However, many of the acquisitions could be labeled more as quantity moves instead of quality moves. 

Dallas needed running backs, linebackers, cornerbacks, wide receivers and edge rushers following the departures of cornerback Jourdan Lewis, running back Rico Dowdle and edge rusher Chauncey Golston all left the Cowboys. The highlight of their external free agency moves was signing edge rusher Dante Fowler, who played for the Cowboys in 2023, after leading the Commanders with 10.5 sacks last season. Here’s a rundown of their offseason acquisitions.

Signed

Traded for

Retained

Those moves were mainly backfilling their depth chart, thus still leaving holes at their No. 2 wide receiver spot opposite All-Pro CeeDee Lamb, starting running back spot, plus No. 2 cornerback and nickel cornerback spots to name a few. However, being “selectively aggressive” does put Dallas in a position to where they feel like they don’t reach in round one. 

“Yeah, I think at the end of the day you are trying to pick the best player on the board,” Stephen Jones said Tuesday. “Now if it’s up there and you got guys who are equally graded for the most part then obviously you might lean into a position where, hey, we could use a little more help there and we’re pretty strong over there. So, let’s lean in over here and take that player.

“But what you don’t want to see yourself doing is picking a player who’s quite a bit down the line, a round down. Trying to take that player over a guy that you’ve got situated, and they let you choose the 12th pick, we got first-round grades on players on our board, you want to take that player. At the end of the day, those things work themselves out. We never went into Micah’s draft thinking we were going to pick Micah at pass rusher/linebacker. The year we picked CeeDee, we were thinking we were going pass rusher all the way, and we end up with a receiver. Great things happen when you do things like that.”

So what could the Cowboys do with the 12th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft next month? Let’s take a look at five potential choices, including a trade down. 

1. Draft Tetairoa McMillan

The Arizona Wildcats All-American is arguably the top full-time wide receiver prospect in this class, depending on what your take is on 2024 Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter’s future NFL position. McMillan is absolutely massive, standing at 6-foot-4 while weighing 219 pounds. He would be an outstanding complement to Lamb as an elite jump-ball receiver downfield. 

All McMillan did in college was ball out: He led college football in receiving yards (3,423, an Arizona program record) and catches of 20 or more air yards (35) during his three-year Arizona career. This pick could extend the primes of both Lamb and quarterback Dak Prescott. 

* Arizona program record

2. Draft Matthew Golden

Should McMillan not be on the board at pick No. 12, Texas Longhorns wide receiver Matthew Golden could be a nice consolation prize. He led the a Texas squad that reached the College Football Playoff’s final four in both receiving yards (987) and receiving touchdowns (nine), the latter of which co-led the entire SEC in 2024. 

Golden heavily boosted his stock at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine where he ran 4.29-second 40-yard dash, the fastest of all wide receivers. He’s also shown he’s a clutch performer in the big moments, catching eight passes for 162 yards receiving in the SEC Championship game vs. Georgia and totaling seven catches for 149 yards receiving and one touchdown in the Longhorns’ double-overtime Peach Bowl victory vs. Arizona State in the CFP. Golden has top-tier agility, being able to start and stop on a dime, and he makes big plays in big games. Sounds like a nice WR2 to work in Schottenheimer’s offense alongside Prescott and Lamb. 

All-Pro cornerback Trevon Diggs will likely miss the start of the 2025 season after suffering a season-ending knee injury in December of the 2024 season, one that required a surgical procedure. Do-it-all veteran corner Jourdan Lewis is a Jacksonville Jaguar as mentioned above. All-Pro cornerback DaRon Bland, the 2023 NFL interceptions leader, is the only experienced starting cornerback standing in Dallas. That’s likely why Stephon Gilmore visited the Cowboys on Tuesday.

Michigan Wolverines cornerback Will Johnson, who only allowed two touchdowns while hauling in nine interceptions in three seasons, is the 2025 draft’s top cornerback prospect, depending on what you perceive Travis Hunter’s future NFL position to be. Johnson’s 31.0 passer rating allowed since 2022 is the second best in the nation, minimum 100 targets, per CBS Sports Research, and he’s the only Big Ten player with multiple interceptions in each of the last three seasons. At his size, 6-2 and weighing 194 pounds, Johnson could easily be starting outside corner for a long time. He could also be Dallas’ eventual Diggs replacement while forming a tandem with Bland for years to come. 

4. Draft Emeka Egbuka

Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka might have the most polished route tree of any wide receiver prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft class. The Buckeyes’ all-time leader in catches (205) also has dependable hands, and he certainly won’t be a diva about being the No. 2 wide receiver to Lamb. 

He wasn’t the top wide receiver at any point as Ohio State as a former teammate of the following NFL first-round picks: Garrett Wilson (10th overall to the New York Jets in the 2022 NFL Draft), Chris Olave (11th overall pick to the New Orleans Saints in the 2022 NFL Draft), Jaxon Smith-Njigba (20th overall pick to the Seattle Seahawks in the 2023 NFL Draft) and Marvin Harrison Jr. (fourth overall pick to the Arizona Cardinals in the 2024 NFL Draft). During Ohio State’s national championship run this past season, Egbuka was the No. 2 to future first-round pick wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, a freshman. 

Yes, Egbuka does much of his work from the slot, where Lamb has thrived of late, but the Cowboys WR1 is versatile enough to ball out on the outside while Egbuka works primarily over the middle of the field. Lambcan still also line up in the slot as Egbuka grows in his ability to work from the outside as well. 

5. Trade down, select best player available 

Should all four of the aforementioned players be off the board by the time the Cowboys are on the clock, Dallas might as well trade down and stockpile picks for Day 2 and 3 of the draft. Then when the Cowboys do come on the clock in the first round, just pick the highest-graded prospect on their draft board, regardless of position need. 

Many people believe after the first 10 or so picks, the rest of the 2025 first-round players will have very similar grades — making it not much of a difference whether a team is picking in the top 15 or near the end of the first round. The last two Cowboys first-round picks, defensive tackle Mazi Smith (26th overall in 2023) and offensive tackle Tyler Guyton (29th overall in 2024), were certainly needs-based selections.

Smith hasn’t helped much, underwhelming two through seasons while Dallas still struggles against the run, and Guyton had a rough first season as a rookie in 2024. Dallas converted him from right tackle, where he played almost exclusively at the University of Oklahoma, to left tackle because of Tyron Smith’s free agency departure for the New York Jets. Guyton’s transition to left tackle was the opposite of seamless: he was called for 14 penalties in 2024, tied for the second-most in the league behind only new Washington Commanders offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil’s 17, who suited up for the Houston Texans last season. 

In this scenario, Dallas needs to just pick the best option on the draft board if a trade down is executed, regardless of position.