Cowboys NFL Draft winners and losers: Dak Prescott on both lists; Will McClay, Micah Parsons fired up

FRISCO, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys‘ 7-10 season in 2024 was hamstrung by injuries in a number of key spots, including along both the offensive and defensive lines. It also forced the front office to acknowledge it had more holes on the roster than it had previously envisioned. 

Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones clocked issues along the line of scrimmage and zeroed in on those areas while handing new head coach Brian Schottenheimer two young running backs to mold in his first season calling the offensive plays in Dallas. However, every draft has its ripple effects on an NFL team’s roster. Positions that are heavily addressed can have incumbent starters feeling more pressure while ignoring other spots could have the current starters in those areas feeling more emboldened. The Cowboys’ 2025 draft class certainly sent a clear message to some while showing others some level of confidence in their current development. 

With that in mind, let’s a look at the grades for all nine of their picks, plus three winners and three losers from how Dallas chose to beef up its roster in the draft.  

Who did the Dallas Cowboys draft? Full list of 2025 picks, grades led by OL Tyler Booker, two Day 2 steals

Garrett Podell

Micah Parsons, as great as he is with at least 12 sacks in all four of his NFL seasons, needed help along the defensive line in both the run game and to minimize the frequency of double teams he regularly faces. The Cowboys aided him out on both accounts. 

Dallas may have found a worthy successor to four-time Pro Bowl edge rusher DeMarcuas Lawrence. He left this offseason to sign a three-year, $32.5 million contract with the Seattle Seahawks in free agency, so Dallas drafted Boston College All-America edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku 44th overall with their second-round pick. Ezeiruaku’s16.5 sacks were second-most in the nation last season, and his 21 tackles for loss were fourth-most in college football. That should help Parsons plenty as he gets adjusted to NFL ball, plus adding depth at the defensive tackle position with two of their last three picks — UCLA’s Jay Toia (217th overall) and Maryland’s Tommy Akingbesote (247th overall) — should help push 2023 first-round pick Mazi Smith to improve. 

Quarterback Dak Prescott’s life when dropping back to pass would be a little easier if All-Pro wideout CeeDee Lamb wasn’t one of the NFL’s most double-teamed players. That’s why the Cowboys had their eyes on Arizona All-America wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan with the 12th overall pick. However, after the Carolina Panthers scooped him up with the eighth overall pick, Dallas didn’t draft a wide receiver with any of its nine picks. That leaves Jalen Tolbert, who was second on the team in 2024 with 610 yards receiving, as Prescott’s WR2. Plus, other receivers like KaVonte Turpiun, Jalen Brooks, Ryan Flournoy and Jonathan Mingo all remain in competition to receive legit snaps at the position in 2025. 

Schottenheimer told CBS Sports he’s “comfortable” with his wide receiver following the conclusion of the draft, but Jones said “the train has not left the station if improvement is needed on what we have on campus.” Perhaps Dallas will make a move for an older veteran in free agency, or maybe pursue a significant trade. 

Winner: Dak Prescott

Fresh off a season-ending hamstring injury, the Cowboys did shore up Prescott’s offensive line. They selected the 2025 draft’s top guard prospect Tyler Booker, an All-American out of Alabama, 12th overall to be Zack Martin’s successor at right guard, and then they added Oregon offensive tackle Ajani Cornelius for more depth in the sixth round. The Cowboys run game should also improve with Dallas adding a thunder-and-lighting running back duo with Texas’ Jaydon Blue, who compared himself to Detroit Lions Pro Bowler Jahmyr Gibbs, in the fifth round and Clemson’s Phil Mafah in the seventh round. 

That could help take a little bit of pressure off Prescott’s shoulders.

The Cowboys desperately need cornerback DaRon Bland to play like the All-Pro he was in 2023 when he led the NFL with nine interceptions, five of which were returned for an NFL single-season record of pick sixes. Dallas revealed fellow All-Pro cornerback Trevon Diggs won’t be rushing his way back from his late-season knee injury at the end of 2024 that required surgery, and 2025 third-round pick corner Shavon Revel Jr. will likely begin training camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. It’s projected that Revel will be able to participate at some point in camp, and with his wingspan and press man coverage abilities, he could help Bland a lot.

However, uncertainty remains because of his health status, and Dallas also allowed the reliable Jourdan Lewis to walk out of the building for the Jacksonville Jaguars in free agency. There will be a lot on Bland’s plate early on in the 2025 season while guys like Buffalo Bills first-round castoff Kaiir Elam, a rookie in Revel and 2024 fifth-round Caelen Carson take the cornerback snaps around him while Diggs recovers. 

Winner: VP of player personnel Will McClay, scouts, coaches

The losing season caused Jerry and Stephen Jones to take a step back and let the full-time football professionals cook in their 2025 NFL Draft war room. That meant sticking to Cowboys vice president of player personnel Will McClay’s draft board that was comprised with feedback from Dallas scouts and members of the coaching staff better than the Jones family ever has before. That’s how the Cowboys ended up with great value selections on both Ezeiruaku and Revel on Day 2 and at other spots throughout the draft.

“We may have done it [stuck to the draft board] better than we’ve ever done it,” Stephen Jones said Saturday, following the conclusion of the 2025 NFL Draft.   

Dallas notably reached in the first-round in each of the last two drafts to fill needs in the opening round with the selections of Smith (2023) and offensive tackle Tyler Guyton (2024). This year, the Cowboys stuck to the board better than ever, and the end result was one of the better draft classes in the entire league when it was all said and done. 

Loser: Mazi Smith

The 2023 first-round pick hasn’t lived up to his draft status. He’s only started 20 of his 34 games in two seasons and racked up three sacks, 54 sacks and just seven tackles for loss. The Cowboys also drafted multiple players at his position to add depth and competition at defensive tackle next to Osa Odighizuwa. Smith will have to up his game in 2025 because the Cowboys certainly sent him a message with this draft class.