The Dallas Cowboys have a big opportunity lying in wait at the end of April. The question is, will Jerry Jones seize the moment?
Another Draft season, another series of problems placed at the feet of Jerry Jones. The Dallas Cowboys general manager spent all of the 2024 offseason talking himself into paying Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb.
This offseason doesn’t quite have the same type of stakes, but the Dallas Cowboys are hungry to bounce back after their first losing season in four seasons. If they have another losing season in 2025, it will be the team’s first back-to-back losing stretch since 2001-2002.
Of course, the Cowboys have received blowback this offseason in other ways, so there’s pressure to right the ship before it sinks. With free agency now in its final stages, the team effectively must have a top-tier NFL Draft haul to keep Michael Irvin and fans happy. One player that could keep Irvin happy would also make NFL experts Dave Helman laugh.
Dave Helman on the Cowboys NFL Draft
Speaking on a March 27 edition of the “FOX NFL Podcast,” NFL expert Dave Helman compared the situations between the 2025 Dallas Cowboys and the 2015 Dallas Cowboys before Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott arrived.
“I was laughing to myself, thinking about 2016. The Cowboys found themselves with an unusually high draft pick.
“They had the fourth pick in that draft because their good but aging quarterback got hurt the year before, and they weren’t very good, and they turned around and they drafted Ezekiel Elliott, and the whole point was to make life easier on their defense, to extend Tony Romo’s career,” he said.
He added: “Here we are, however many years later, and the Cowboys have an unusually high pick because Dak Prescott got hurt, and they have a need at running back.”
“I’m gonna laugh if they do the exact same thing, and it’s really not a knock on Ashton Jeanty, but it will be funny if they have the same answer to the same problem,” he concluded.
Ashton Jeanty sits as a potential instant fix for one lucky team’s rushing issues. Jeanty is coming off a record-setting season and the second of two shockingly impressive seasons. The pressure is on teams who need a running back to spend the first pick they have on him.
How Ashton Jeanty could eclipse Ezekiel Elliott’s time with Dallas Cowboys
Ashton Jeanty’s status in the pecking order is no secret. Jeanty is the top running back prospect in the NFL Draft. He might be the top running back prospect of the decade. However, joining the Cowboys would put pressure on Jeanty to fill in the shoes of Ezekiel Elliott.
That said, Jeanty’s history points toward him being even more productive than the Cowboys’ most famous running back in recent memory.
Ezekiel Elliott logged more than 3700 yards and 41 touchdowns in his final two college seasons at Ohio State. Ashton Jeanty’s final two seasons saw him earn 3948 yards and 43 touchdowns on the ground.
As such, there is reason to believe Jeanty might eclipse Ezekiel Elliott if he were to be selected by the Dallas Cowboys. Of course, at this point, Cowboys fans might settle for significantly less as long as they get their running game back for Dak Prescott.
