The Dallas Cowboys slogged their way to a 7-10 record last season, their first losing season since 2020, breaking a string of three straight playoff appearances. So when it came to the draft over the past three days, the Cowboys took a methodical approach, addressing needs or upgrading positions with each of their nine picks.
“The initial reviews of the Dallas Cowboys’ 2025 draft class are overwhelmingly positive,” wrote Jerry Trott, of the Fansided Cowboys site The Landry Hat on Saturday, once the draft had wrapped up. “They addressed a lot of needs but championed value instead of reaching. Their process was beautiful to watch unfold.”
But there was one glaring need the Cowboys failed to address in the seven rounds of the NFL draft, and that was the wide receiver position.
Cowboys Have CeeDee Lamb and Not Much Else
The Cowboys, of course, have four-time Pro Bowl pass catcher CeeDee Lamb entering the second year of a four-season, $136 million contract extension.
Of the 3,862 yards in the air recorded by Dallas in 2024, good enough for 11th in the league, 31 percent — almost one in three — belonged to Lamb. The Cowboys lack much depth at the position, with Jalen Tolbert (690 yards) and KaVonte Turpin (420) the only options after Lamb, and each was a significant step down.
But as the draft progressed and the Cowboys used the 12th overall pick on an offensive guard — Alabama’s Tyler Booker — and the 44th on Boston College’s Donovan Ezeiruaku, an edge rusher, it became increasingly apparent that the Cowboys were simply going to leave the problem of their wideout depth unattended.
Asked after the draft about why the Cowboys would neglect this obvious need, the team’s 82-year-old owner Jerry Jones, who also serves as the de facto Dallas general manager, had something to say about it. In fact, he summed up his feelings in a seven-word message meant to reassure fans that the receiver room was still under construction.
Jones Suggests More Moves at WR to Come
“The train has not left the station,” Jones said, when asked about the wide receiver deficiency. Jones went on the qualify his statement, adding that more moves could come only if “improvement is needed from what we’ve got on campus.”
Following the draft, however, the Cowboys did in fact bring more talent on campus, in the form of two undrafted free agent signings.
They inked former Oregon Duck Traeshon Holden, a six-foot-three, 220-pounder who now reunites with former Oregon coach Junior Adams, who currently serves as the Cowboys receivers coach.
“Holden’s high-knee action in his take-off is unmistakable and he gets into routes with urgency. He’s a ready-made zone-beater with above-average play strength and feel for space,” NFL.com analyst Lance Zierling wrote of the Kissimmee, Florida native. “He’s capable of running a full route tree but will have issues getting off press and slipping man coverage.”
The Cowboys also signed Texas Tech wideout Josh Kelly, who last season became the first 1,000-yard receiver for the Red Raiders since 2018, with 1,023.
A transfer from Washington State, and Fresno State before that, Kelly “has adequate hands and is tough working into traffic, but his lack of functional speed will make it tough for him to stick on a roster,” according to Zierling.
