Inside The Star
In the second and third rounds of the 2025 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys focused on their defense. They selected defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku in the second round and defensive back Shavon Revel in the third round.
However, they may have landed their best pick of the draft on the defensive side of the ball down in the fifth round.
Linebacker Shemar James out of Florida was the 152nd player taken overall, and the second player Dallas selected in the fifth round.
He was taken three picks after the Cowboys selected Texas running back Jaydon Blue. Blue was the second offensive player taken last spring behind first-round guard Tyler Booker.
While Ezeiruaku has played in all seven games, he has yet to start in any of them.
His season totals are 16 tackles, eight quarterback hits, a forced fumble, and a sack. He got the sack in last week’s win over Washington.
Revel has yet to see the field of play.
He has been recovering from an injury suffered early in his senior season in 2024.
Pre-injury, Revel was projected to be a first-round pick. The Cowboys decided he was worth risking a third-rounder on.
So far, they have not seen a return on that investment as he has just now had his 21-day practice window opened this week.
But they appear to have hit a gold mine late in the fifth round.
The former Gator was inactive for the first three weeks of the 2025 season.
He has more than made up for his early absence in the last four weeks.
In his NFL debut, the 40-40 tie with the Packers, James had five tackles and a quarterback hit. He did that in just 26 defensive snaps (31.3%) and 15 (45.5%) special teams snaps.
The following week against the Jets, a 37-22 win, he led the team with 15 tackles.
In his first start, a 30-27 loss at Carolina, he led the team in tackles again with 11.
In Sunday’s win against the Commanders, in his second start, he tied for the team lead with nine tackles. He also made the play that likely sealed the victory.
In the third quarter, with Washington trying to mount a comeback, James sacked Jayden Daniels.
Daniels fumbled the ball, recovered by Jadeveon Clowney, and exited the game with a leg injury as Dallas quickly salted the game away in the third quarter.
Dallas is now 2-1-1 when he plays. James is averaging 10 tackles a game and is averaging 62 defensive snaps a game over the last three weeks.
A little over one-third of the way into the 2025 campaign, James is clearly the best defensive rookie on the team.
Unless Revel breaks out, an unlikely scenario as there are some doubts he’ll play at all in 2025, or Ezeiruaku somehow cracks the starting line-up, James will be the Cowboys defensive rookie of 2025.
But does he have a shot a...
