The Dallas Cowboys landed an additional six players on the final day of the NFL draft, but they still curiously skipped out on help at wide receiver.
DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys came into Day 3 of the 2025 NFL draft with seven picks but left with six players after trading up in the fifth round for a second player. It was a day that began with the hope of finding some offensive playmakers after the first three rounds produced good prospects, but ones who weren’t skill players to help the offense.
Despite the theme of continuing to draft good players who likely sat atop their draft board, the Cowboys nearly came out of Day 3 the way they entered it, with a lack of firepower to take the offense to the next level.
The last day of the draft began with a lull since the team foolishly traded away their fourth-round selection to the Carolina Panthers last season for wide receiver Jonathan Mingo. Jerry Jones continues to say that Mingo is part of this draft class, a silly notion that holds no weight.
The repercussions of that wait meant the Cowboys had to sit idly by while a run on some of the better options at running back and receiver were taken off the board. In total, seven wideouts and six RBs went in the round where Dallas didn’t have a selection.
When the Cowboys did get on the clock with the 149th pick, the team finally opted for a playmaker on offense by drafting RB Jaydon Blue out of Texas. It’s an offense that desperately needed an infusion of explosiveness, which Blue provides. Blue had the second fastest 40-time – 4.38 – at the combine this year and has elite speed.
Blue is not likely to be a bell cow for the offense, but the former Longhorn gives the Cowboys another potential game-breaking threat aside from WR CeeDee Lamb. If they give him the opportunity, the offense gets a big boost with Blue’s selection.
The team then traded back into the fifth round to find their next pick, linebacker Shemar James. With the 152nd pick, the Cowboys drafted an LB with high-end athleticism who runs from sideline to sideline and is a good blitzer. James had a good start to his college career before a knee injury cost him the end of the 2023 campaign, which was why his 2024 season at Florida was somewhat disappointing.
However, James is still just 20 years old – he’ll be 21 in June – and will be a year further removed from the injury. He needs time to grow, but James is expected to be a special-teams contributor right away while working his way into playing time in new defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus’ defense. There’s a learning curve with James, but he’s got the athletic skills to pay off down the road.
In the sixth round, the Cowboys drafted more protection for quarterback Dak Prescott when they selected offensive lineman Ajani Cornelius out of Oregon. He played right tackle in college, but there are those who believe he might be better on the inside at guard.
That’s the versatility that the Cowboys crave in a late-round pick along the OL; Cornelius is strong, has good feet, and is durable. He won’t win many beauty pageants for the way he wins with his blocks, but Cornelius is a grinder who gets the job done and gives Dallas valuable depth at an area that’s becoming a strong point for the offense.
If he cleans up his technique, the Cowboys might have found a backup option to Terence Steele at RT in Cornelius.
Dallas had three seventh-round picks, and they began the final round by drafting exactly the type of player that the defense needed. The team selected UCLA’s Jay Toia with the 217th pick and the mammoth defensive tackle specializes in clogging rushing lanes.
Standing at 6’3” and 341 pounds, Toia is a run stuffer who can help the Cowboys slow down rushing attacks after struggling to do so under the tutelage of their previous three defensive coordinators since 2020. Toia eats up space in the middle, takes on blocks and allows LBs to run free to the ball.
The defense hasn’t had a young DT like this in a long time, and Toia should push for being a big part of a rotation on the inside as a rookie. It’s also a great fit for the young, athletic group of LBs on the defense.
With their next seventh-round choice, the Cowboys doubled up at RB when they selected Clemson’s Phil Mafah with the 239th pick. Mafah is a big, bruising runner who can run through defenders, and while he lacks explosiveness, he does have enough quickness in his cuts to run away from would-be tacklers.
A patient runner who finds the hole and runs with decisiveness, Mafah can help wear down defenses with his physical style of running. If Blue is the lightning, Mafah is definitely the thunder in the rookie backfield for Dallas.
With their final pick at 247 in the seventh round, the Cowboys selected another DT, Tommy Akingbesote. The Maryland product was originally a basketball player who turned to football because of his size. Akingbesote has talent but he’s raw and still learning. The Cowboys see potential and hope to get the best out of an ascending player.
It was another solid day for the Cowboys who finally found a game-breaker on offense and attended to their biggest remaining weakness on defense, with run-stopping support.
Overall, by scouting metrics and value, this was a really good draft for the Cowboys, even if it feels a tad confusing. The team needed speed and playmakers to revitalize a stale offense, but wound up with just one offensive skill player. There wasn’t much help for Prescott and Lamb in the selections, but the team did decide to win in the trenches.
The Cowboys often took the best player on the board, which will help them in the long run, but this class doesn’t do much to alleviate concerns about their lack of explosiveness on offense for the upcoming season, which perhaps shines a spotlight again on their lack of effort or willingness to fill these kinds of holes in free agency.
We’ll see how the draft stacks up as the season progresses, but this is quite the haul for the Cowboys. Brian Schottenheimer’s first draft as a head coach looks great on paper, complete with elite talent and players who are also high-character people. It doesn’t get much better, even if there’s more work to be done.
Are you feeling confident with the Cowboys’ draft class? Share your thoughts with Ben on X (formerly Twitter) @BenGrimaldi.