Blogging The Boys
Which Cowboys rookie do you think will make the biggest impact during their rookie season?
As a rule of thumb, you’d probably expect your first-round pick to have the best rookie season out of your rookie class. After all, there’s a reason you picked that guy in the first round.
With their first three picks, the Cowboys took the highest-rated players on their board at the time in guard Tyler Booker, defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku and cornerback Shavon Revel Jr.
But for the Cowboys, that may be a little different - and not because first-round pick Tyler Booker won’t be any good, not at all. This year may be different because with their first three picks, the Cowboys took the highest-rated players on their board at the time in guard Tyler Booker, defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku and cornerback Shavon Revel Jr. Expectations are correspondingly high for the first three picks, and even Day 3 picks like RBs Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah along with LB Shemar James may have a chance at having immediate impact given the lack of depth at their positions.
So which one of them will have the best season?
Tyler Booker will be the immediate starter at right guard, but how do you accurately measure the impact of an offensive lineman, especially one brought in to stabilize the interior of the line? Does it have to be a Pro Bowl in his rookie season, perhaps a couple of highlight-worthy pancake blocks of Jalen Carter, maybe a significant uptick in rushing yardage up the middle?
Donovan Ezeiruaku may not end up with a lot of starts in his rookie season, but even if he only gets to see action on passing downs, what are the expectations? Sacks are still the pass rusher’s currency of choice, and fair or not, Ezeiraku’s rookie season will be measured on those. The record for most sacks by a rookie in an NFL season is 14.5, set by Jevon Kearse in 1999 and narrowly missed by Micah Parsons (13) in 2021. That’s certainly asking too much. DeMarcus Ware had eight in his 2025 rookie season, still too much for a passing-down specialist? Is five good enough, which is a little more than what DeMarcus Lawrence averaged over his last six years? Or will his role be to help scheme Micah Parsons open, and will Parsons’ sack total also reflect on Ezeiruaku?
Shavon Revel, if recent reports are to be believed, could be ready for the season opener, which also raises expectations. At this point, there is no clarity on what the depth chart at CB will look like for the Cowboys. Revel could easily emerge as an immediate starter, but even if ends up as “just” the fourth corner, your fourth corner in a nickel defense is just one snap away from being a starter. Just like sacks are the currency of choice for pass rushers, interceptions are the gold standard for defensive backs. Daron Bland had five in his rookie season,...
