The Dallas Cowboys will have many options to choose from with the No. 12 pick on Thursday.
Here are 4 players the Cowboys could pick in the first round of the 2025 NFL draft (if they don’t trade down), based on recent mock drafts from top experts:
1. WR Matthew Golden
Texas Longhorns wide receiver Matthew Golden is a popular pick as the Cowboys look to bolster their offense for QB Dak Prescott. Golden had 58 catches for 987 yards and 9 touchdowns during his lone season at Texas, after transferring from Houston.
The Ringer’s Diante Lee, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr., CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones, The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein, Yahoo’s Sam Farmer and CBS Sports’ Mike Renner are among those predicting Dallas will take the Houston native with the 12th-overall pick.
“Where Golden belongs in the hierarchy of receivers in this class has been hotly debated, but I believe he’ll pair pretty well with CeeDee Lamb. Dallas should be coveting Golden’s speed and competitiveness,” Lee wrote in his April 21 mock draft.
Kiper wrote in his April 15 mock draft that by picking Golden, “The Cowboys can finally get some reliability at WR2 for quarterback Dak Prescott. They haven’t had two wide receivers over 700 yards since Lamb and Amari Cooper both did it in 2021.”
Added Jones, “Dallas watched the Texas (and Houston) product crush the win-or-go-home games down the stretch last season and then saw him run a 4.29.” Brugler wrote that “Golden’s ability to play inside-outside and create throwing windows would make him a natural complement” to Lamb.
2. WR Tetairoa McMillan
Along with Golden, Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan is a popular pick for the Cowboys at No. 12, pairing him with Lamb and giving Prescott another top target. The Hawaii-born wide receiver had 84 catches for 1,319 yards and 8 touchdowns for the Wildcats as a junior in 2024.
ESPN’s Jordan Reid, NFL.com’s Eric Edholm, NBC Sports, Sharp Football Analysis’ Brendan Donahue, Walter Football’s Charlie Campbell and NFL.com’s Mike Band are among those mocking McMillan to Dallas.
Reid wrote in his April 21 mock draft, “McMillan is a changeup from any option Dak Prescott has recently had; he’s a big-bodied target who can attack a defense on multiple levels. Over three seasons at Arizona, McMillan had 33 receptions on balls thrown 20 or more yards downfield, which led the country.”
In his April 12 mock draft, Edholm said, “Lamb can’t keep shouldering such an outsized portion of the load. McMillan gives Dallas a big perimeter wideout and red-zone target with great body control and chunk-play ability.”
Donahue added on April 21, “Most people agree that the Cowboys are likely to draft a wide receiver in this spot, but there’s disagreement over which one. McMillan is the favorite to be the first wide receiver drafted at -230.”
3. WR Emeka Egbuka
Golden and McMillan are not the only receivers the Cowboys could turn to with the 12th pick on Thursday. Egbuka, a standout for the National Champion-winning Ohio State Buckeyes, is also an option. Egbuka, who played four seasons for Ohio State, had 81 catches for 1,011 yards and 10 touchdowns for the Buckeyes during his senior year.
John Owning of PFF is among those projecting the Cowboys to turn to Egbuka instead of Golden or McMillan if they use their first round pick to provide Prescott a new target. He wrote in his April 21 mock draft, “Egbuka would immediately boost Dak Prescott’s receiving weapons opposite CeeDee Lamb, as Lamb and KaVontae Turpin are the team’s only qualifying receivers who finished 2024 with a separation rate above the 50th percentile. Egbuka’s 91st-percentile separation rate (85.8%) from this past season signifies that he can be a boon to the Cowboys’ passing game.”
4. RB Omarion Hampton
The Cowboys could also use help at running back and at least one expert has Dallas using the No. 12 pick to bolster that part of their roster. UNC running back Omarion Hampton had 1,660 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns, along with 38 catches for 373 yards and 2 touchdowns for the Tar Heels.
NBC Sports’ Chris Simms said while unveiling his mock draft on April 21, “They need an offensive playmaker, a guy right now that can do something for them. He’s special at this position. Brian Schottenheimer is famous for his run game speciality … I think they go running back, I think they address the receiver thing in the second, maybe even third round,” adding that the receiver class is “pretty deep. There’s guys to be had.” Simms added that Hampton is too good to pass up.
“This is one of the elite, guaranteed, safe-bet offensive first rounders that can contributor to your team right away,” Simms said.
