{"id":57219,"date":"2025-06-19T09:22:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T09:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=57219"},"modified":"2025-06-19T09:22:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T09:22:11","slug":"cowboys-rookie-called-dark-horse-candidate-to-crack-starting-lineup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=57219","title":{"rendered":"Cowboys Rookie Called \u2018Dark Horse Candidate\u2019 to Crack Starting Lineup"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-1444589705-e1750294964802.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-1444589705-e1750294964802.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-1444589705-e1750294964802.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-1444589705-e1750294964802.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Shemar James\" width=\"780\" height=\"440\" data-img-load-time=\"428\" data-dom-ready-time=\"589\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">Florida linebacker Shemar James (6).<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>You can make an argument headed into the 2025 regular season that the\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0have just 3 starters set in stone on defense; edge rusher\u00a0Micah Parsons, cornerback\u00a0Daron Bland\u00a0and defensive tackle\u00a0Osa Odighizuwa.<\/p>\n<p>That means now is the time for someone to make a big impression on the coaching staff and grab a starting spot out of nowhere \u2014 someone like rookie inside linebacker\u00a0Shemar James.<\/p>\n<p>The Cowboys have one of the weakest groups of inside linebackers in the NFL right now. Playing time there is\u00a0up for grabs. James could be a\u00a0dark horse candidate to start if he can get off to a hot start at training camp.<\/p>\n<p>James, 6-foot-1 and 222 pounds, was a fifth round pick (No. 152 overall) out of Florida in the\u00a02025 NFL draft.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s already a unique player even in terms of NFL history. Few players get drafted when they\u2019re 20 years old, like James, and he would be one of the youngest players in the NFL if he can make the 53-man roster this fall.<\/p>\n<h2>James Only Played 3 Seasons of College Football<\/h2>\n<p>James only played 3 seasons of college football. He was named to the All-SEC Freshman Team in 2022 and started the first 8 games in 2023 before he needed surgery to repair a dislocated kneecap. In his one full season as a full time starter in 2024, he had 64 tackles, 4 TFL, 2.0 sacks, 3 pass deflections, one forced fumble and one interception.<\/p>\n<p>In an interesting study of the razor thin margins draft picks are judged on, James ran the 40-yard dash in 4.69 seconds at the NFL scouting combine. For his height and weight, that\u2019s a tad behind what would be considered elite \u2014 were James to have run it in 4.59 seconds it would have likely propelled him into the third or fourth round.<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-content entry-content\">\n<p>NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein had James projected as a sixth or seventh round pick in his pre-draft evaluation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJames flashes speed but has never really developed the recognition and response talent to chalk up playmaking production,\u201d Zierlein wrote \u201cHe has some twitch in his movement and does a nice job of working past blocks, but he might not be able to anticipate with enough consistency to play ahead of NFL blocking schemes. James is athletic in space and can play special teams, but he might never be more than an average backup.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Cowboys Endured Devastating Setback at LB in 2024<\/h2>\n<p>One of the few highlights for the Cowboy last season was the play of second year inside linebacker\u00a0DeMarvion Overshown, who seemed like a breakout star after he missed all of his rookie season in 2023 with a torn ACL.<\/p>\n<p>In Week 14 against the\u00a0Cincinnati Bengals, Overshown suffered a\u00a0catastrophic knee injury as he tore the ACL, PCL and MCL in his right knee late in the game. Overshown was second on the team in tackles at the time of his injury.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s still an outside chance the Cowboys won\u2019t see Overshown on the field in 2025, although he recently said his goal is to return in Week 13, for the Thanksgiving Day Game against the\u00a0Kansas City Chiefs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Florida linebacker Shemar James (6). You can make an argument headed into the 2025 regular season that the\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0have just 3 starters set in stone on&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57220,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cowboys Rookie Called \u2018Dark Horse Candidate\u2019 to Crack Starting Lineup - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=57219\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cowboys Rookie Called \u2018Dark Horse Candidate\u2019 to Crack Starting Lineup - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty Florida linebacker Shemar James (6). 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