Cowboys 2025 rookie report: Rookie class out-flew the Eagles

SB Nation

What in the world happened on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles? It’s still hard to believe the second-half shutout by the Cowboys defense, but winning is all that matters and the biggest takeaway.

So what did the rookie class do to help bring home the victory? Let’s dive in and find out.

OG Tyler Booker

(Game stats- Snaps: 74, Pass Blocks: 47, Pressures: 1, Sacks: 0, Penalties: 2)

Booker’s day against the Eagles was mostly solid but a little scruffier than his box-score reputation, with one big mistake standing out. PFF’s game recap has him at a 63.0 offensive grade, one of the better marks on the Cowboys’ offense in the win. As a unit, Dallas allowed 18 total pressures and just one sack on Dak Prescott, so the line held up reasonably well in pass protection overall. Coming into the week, PFF had Booker at 499 total snaps with 323 pass-block snaps, allowing 14 pressures, five QB hits, one sack and four penalties on the season, really tidy numbers for a rookie right guard.

Where his night clearly took a hit was the flags and a couple of run snaps. In the fourth quarter, with Dallas driving, he was called for a holding penalty on a deep shot to George Pickens that set the offense back from 1st-and-10 to 1st-and-20 and effectively killed that series. Earlier in the second half, Jordan Davis blew up a run by shoving Booker backwards and dropping Javonte Williams for a four-yard loss, one of the few times the Eagles’ interior really dented Dallas’ ground game. Outside of those moments, he mostly blended into the background in a good way as the interior stayed reasonably firm while the Cowboys mounted their comeback, and allowed only one pressure all game, showing he won more snaps than he lost but had a couple of obvious negatives that show up on tape.

DE Donovan Ezeiruaku

(Game stats- Snaps: 37, Total Tackles: 3, Pressures: 1, Sacks: 0, TFL: 0)

Ezeiruaku’s game against the Eagles was more grind than flashy. Coming into Week 12, his stats had him at 22 total pressures, two sacks and a strong 79.7 overall grade for the season, really efficient production for a rookie edge in a deep rotation. Against Philly, though, the basic stat line shows how quiet he was as a pass-rusher with three total tackles, zero sacks, and zero tackles for loss. With Quinnen Williams wrecking the middle of the pocket and credited with a career-high eight pressures, plus Osa Odighizuwa cashing in the only sack, most of the pressure column belonged to the interior rather than Ezeiruaku.

His best work came in doing the dirty edge stuff that doesn’t always show up stat sheets. On Philadelphia’s first-quarter scoring drive he helped finish a short completion to Xavier Gipson inside the Dallas 20, keeping the gain contained and forcing the Eagles to earn it in the red zone. In the third quarter, with Dallas still trying to claw back, he set the edge on a Saquon Barkley toss and rode him out of bounds for just a one-yard gain, exactly the kind of disciplined, leverage-sound rep this staff wants from him.

So overall, this was a quiet but competent outing for Ezeiruaku. The tape and numbers point to a solid edge-setting, hustle game rather than a splashy pass-rush performance.

CB Shavon Revel Jr.

(Game stats- Snaps: 39, Total Tackles: 2, PBU: 0, INT: 0, RTG Allowed: 118.8)

Revel’s night against the Eagles was his first real workload game, and you could see both the promise and the growing pains. After playing 19 defensive snaps in his debut against the Raiders, Dallas had him earmarked for another snap count, but Caelen Carson’s cramping and trip to the locker room forced a change of plans. Revel ended up logging 39 defensive snaps, essentially doubling his work from Week 11. He finished with two solo tackles and no penalties, which is a decent baseline for a young corner thrown into a bigger role mid-game facing two productive wide receivers.

The roughest rep on his tape came early, when A.J. Brown beat him on a third-and-5 inside slant for a 22-yard gain down the middle, with Revel making the tackle but giving up the first down and chunk yardage. Later in the first half he was involved again bringing Brown down in space, showing he wasn’t shying away from tackling a physically dominant receiver. After that early stretch the entire secondary, including Revel, settled in and Dallas held Philadelphia scoreless over their final eight possessions, and there were no back-breaking deep shots on his side despite the Eagles trying to isolate Brown on Cowboys corners.

LB Shemar James

(Game stats- Snaps: 12, Total Tackles: 2, Pressures: 0, Sacks: 0, TFL: 0)

James had a quieter, more limited day against the Eagles. After playing a decent chunk of snaps against the Raiders, he was used more as a rotational piece here with Dallas leaning heavier on sub-packages and extra defensive backs. On his smaller workload he finished with two tackles, and no sacks or pressures.

Most of his impact came against the run. On early downs he fit his gaps cleanly, and scraped efficiently a couple of times to help finish inside runs. There was one snap where he overran it a bit and had to recover to make a tackle a yard or two further downfield than you’d like, but nothing that looked like a total bust. From a grading standpoint, that’s usually a mix of small positives for solid fits and one or two mild dings rather than any disaster-level play.

DB Alijah Clark

(Game stats- Snaps: 20, Total Tackles: 1, FF: 1)

*Snap count are all special team snaps*

Clark’s game against the Eagles was all about special teams and attitude, and that one sequence pretty much told the story. Defensively he was a non-factor again, never seeing the field on defense, but he more than earned his spot with what he did in the third phase.

On the kick and punt units he was flying downfield, staying disciplined in his lanes, and then came the moment that changed the tone for Dallas. After getting shoved down twice by an Eagles player on the same return, he bounced back up, stayed in the play and tracked the ball carrier from behind. Instead of losing his head, he timed his contact perfectly and knocked the ball loose, turning what should have been a routine return into a live-ball scramble the Cowboys pounced on. That fumble gave the sideline a real jolt, you could see the bench wake up, the crowd turn, and the defense come out for the next series with a different kind of juice. This was a massive pivotal moment of the game, and even the Eagles fan knew it as their lively persona suddenly dulled, just from one electrifying play by Clark.

CB Trikweze Bridges

(Game stats- Snaps: 12, Total Tackles: 0, Pressures: 0, Sacks: 0, RTG Aloowed: 39.6)

Bridges’ night against the Eagles was very low-volume. After being inactive for the Raiders game, he was back in uniform and initially earmarked for a special-teams-heavy role, with Kaiir Elam waived and the depth chart shuffled. When Caelen Carson left with cramps, the Cowboys had to lean further into that depth, and Bridges ended up playing 12 defensive snaps at outside corner. On the stat sheet he finished with zero tackles, zero passes defensed and no impact plays.