Cowboys reach for future stars in NFL Draft

By David Mullen

FADE IN sweeping shots of thousands at football stadium.

PAN IN on NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell approaching podium holding a 4-inch x 6-inch index card. As he walks to the podium, a crescendo of “Boos” emanate from the raucous crowd, wearing various NFL uniforms. 

CUT TO EXTREME CLOSE UP of a large-sized man going ballistic, wearing a too small No. 88 Michael Irvin Dallas Cowboys uniform,  a beer-stained cowboy hat and with a blue and silver star painted on his right cheek.

CUT TO CLOSE UP OF GOODELL, who adjusts the podium microphone, clears his throat, gives a fake half-smile and SPEAKS.

GOODELL: “And with 12th pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys select …”

The NFL Draft is coming to a flat screen near you and it has become pure theater. 

On the thawing tundra of Lambeau Field, the three-day 2025 NFL Draft party will commence in Green Bay, Wisc. on Thursday, April 24. Prepare to witness the overconsumption of Miller High Life beers, greasy cheese curds and opinions from dozens of football draft pundits arguing whether Miami quarterback Cam Ward has a “good football IQ.” 

What was once a group of businessmen wearing short sleeve dress shirts and clip-on ties packed in a New York City hotel conference room, smoking Winstons and writing down 17 rounds of draft picks on a dusty chalkboard, the NFL Draft has become a full-blown made-for-TV spectacle airing live on the NFL Network and ESPN.

If the axiom, “Anything worth doing is worth overdoing” is true, then the NFL Draft is indulgence personified. The NFL knows how to “overdo” anything. 

The importance of the NFL Draft, where teams choose 257 players from colleges large and small, as a rebuilding resource is vastly overrated. A team can add a key player or two that may get an opportunity to play quality minutes in their first season. Drafting this type of player is called “filling a need.”

The Dallas Cowboys have a number of needs to fill and can always use more talent throughout the roster. One draft rarely turns around a franchise and, frankly, most successful teams are built around free agency, player trades and signing undrafted free agents, not transforming through a single draft.  

In 1974, the Pittsburgh Steelers were the exception. They drafted WR Lynn Swann, linebacker Jack Lambert, WR John Stallworth and center Mike Webster. All four players are enshrined into the NFL Hall of Fame and the four players became the foundation pieces for the Super Bowl Champion Steelers teams of the 1970s. The Pittsburgh revolution was not televised.

Great players can be found outside of the first round. Famously, quarterbacks Tom Brady was a sixth- round pick, Joe Montana was a third-round pick and Roger Staubach was a 10th round pick out of Navy.

The 2025 NFL draft class is considered solid, particularly at the running back and cornerback positions. It is probable that only Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty will be a first-round selection. GMs love cornerbacks and there are plenty to choose from. Colorado’s Travis Hunter (who also played WR in college), Michigan’s Will Johnson, Texas’ Jahdae Barron and Ole Miss star Trey Amos are all projected to be first-round picks that can immediately become “impact players.”

Barring a trade, the Tennessee Titans will select Ward with the first overall pick. One draft expert wrote that Ward is a “loose, instinctive passer who can rip accurate strikes with natural rhythm.” Why would a team choose a “loose passer” with a prized No. 1 pick?

Dallas owner and GM Jerry Jones loves speed. Even though the Cowboys have needs in the offensive and defensive lines, at cornerback and running back, I expect Jones to select Texas wide receiver Matthew Golden of Texas. Golden ran the second fastest 40-yard dash (4.29 seconds) at the NFL Combine, which is also being tailored into the next NFL made-for-TV event. 

CUT TO wide camera shot of the Dallas Cowboys war room in Frisco after selection is made. Jones, with dress shirt sleeves rolled up, fist pumps the air as various coached awkwardly man hug each other. 

If Jeanty is available to the Cowboys at 12, Jones will be hard pressed to pass on the running back. He sees him as a future Emmitt Smith. The best football player in the draft, with apologies to Hunter, is Penn State tight end Tyler Warren. 

Warren could conceivably be available to Dallas in the first round, as other teams draft based on need. But Jones likes flash and Warren is not flashy. 

He is just a great football player. Jones won’t be able to resist adding a bookend to WR CeeDee Lamb. Remember, Jones had that bookend in WR Amari Cooper before he traded him to the Cleveland Browns for a 2022 fifth round pick.

The NFL Draft is Jerry Jones’ summer stock moment. He will make unnecessary trades within draft rounds seemingly to get more camera time rather than actually improve the team. Jones will try to take center stage in the overproduced reality show that has become the NFL Draft. With GM Jones trying to steal the show, the Cowboys could produce another dud.  

FADE TO BLACK.