Who is your favorite defensive prospect in this year’s NFL Draft?
With the 2025 NFL Draft now a week away (April 24-26), positional rankings and big board’s for all 32 NFL teams should all be pretty close to finalized. That means all the guesstimating and speculation that has taken place over the past several months will finally be clarified when we learned the new home of these incoming rookies.
The Dallas Cowboys still have a lot of work to do to upgrade their roster and the draft may be the difference between having a successful season or not. While they need to make a few upgrades still on the offensive side of the ball, defensively there may not be a single position that couldn’t stand being upgraded.
Here is an an effort at Top 10 positional rankings for the defensive players in this year’s draft class. Any one of these prospects ranked in the Top 10 could end up being selected by the Cowboys with picks 12, 44, or 76.
EDGE
- Abdul Carter, Penn State
- Jalon Walker, Georgia
- Will Green, Marshall
- Shemar Stewart, Texas A&M
- Mykel Williams, Georgia
- Donovan Ezeiruaku, Boston College
- James Pearce Jr., Tennessee
- JT Tuimoloau, Ohio State
- Landon Jackson, Arkansas
- Nic Scourton, Texas A&M
The Cowboys seem to be in pretty good shape with Micah Parsons, Marshawn Kneeland, Dante Fowler, and Sam Williams headlining the defensive end position, but that shouldn’t stop them from trying to further upgrade things. This position is surprisingly deep this year, but don’t rule out them drafting one early.
Defensive tackle
- Mason Graham, Michigan
- Derrick Harmon, Oregon
- Kenneth Grant, Michigan
- Walter Nolen, Ole Miss
- Tyleik Williams, Ohio State
- Shemar Turner, Texas A&M
- Alfred Collins, Texas
- Darius Alexander, Toledo
- T. J. Sanders, South Carolina
- Joshua Farmer, Florida State
The Cowboys did a good job solidifying the 3-tech position by re-signing Osa Odighizuwa and bringing in Solomon Thomas via free agency, but work still needs to be done at the 1-tech. Upgrading the interior of their defensive line may be a top priority for them in the draft, fortunately the 2025 draft class is a pretty deep one.
Linebacker
- Jihaad Campbell, Alabama
- Carson Schwesinger, UCLA
- Danny Stutsman, Oklahoma
- Smael Mondon Jr., Georgia
- Demetrius Knight Jr., South Carolina
- Jeffrey Bassa, Oregon
- Chris Paul Jr., Ole Miss
- Kain Medrano, UCLA
- Kobe King, Penn State
- Barrett Carter, Clemson
The Cowboys signed Jack Sanborn and traded for Kenneth Murray to upgrade their LB position, but may or may not be done trying to upgrade things. That’s especially true with DeMarvion Overshown’s 2025 availability in the air right now. The LB draft class isn’t a very deep one, so Dallas may need to draft one early if they want a potential starter this year.
Cornerback
- Travis Hunter, Colorado
- Jahdae Barron, Texas
- Will Campbell, Michigan
- Maxwell Hairston, Kentucky
- Trey Amos, Ole Miss
- Shavon Revel Jr., ECU
- Azareye’h Thomas, Florida State
- Nohl Williams, California
- Jacob Parrish, Kansas State
- Benjamin Morrison, Notre Dame
With Trevon Diggs’ unknown timetable to return to the field, the need to replace Jourdan Lewis in the slot, and with DaRon Bland entering a contract year, CB becomes a pretty significant draft “need” for the Cowboys. It wouldn’t be surprising if they drafted one of these Top 10 ranked CBs and it could happen as early as pick No. 12 in the first round.
Safety
- Nick Emmanwori, South Carolina
- Malaki Starks, Georgia
- Xavier Watts, Notre Dame
- Kevin Winston Jr., Penn State
- Jonas Sanker, Virginia
- Billy Bowman Jr., Oklahoma
- Andrew Mukuba, Texas
- Lathan Ransom, Ohio State
- Jaylen Reed, Penn State
- Malachi Moore, Alabama
There was some speculation one or both of Donovan Wilson or Malik Hooker could’ve potentially been salary-cap casualties, but the Cowboys decided to keep both. Because of that, from a starting and backup standpoint, they seem pretty good for at least the 2025 season at safety right now. That means it’s probably unlikely they draft one this year.