Shemar James has some significant expectations going into the 2025 season, considering he was a fifth-round pick. Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys opted not to get aggressive in adding a linebacker in the early rounds, despite losing Eric Kendricks and with other injuries already impacting the upcoming campaign, before landing James on Day 3.
With DeMarvion Overshown’s 2025 season pretty much done after a late-season injury, the Cowboys will have to turn to the rookie James to pick up the slack. And those shoes he has to fill aren’t small. Overshown was becoming a breakout star in Dallas, patrolling the middle of the field prior to his devastating injury.
Last year, Jones praised the young players on his team and said they would focus on developing their youth rather than signing a veteran. Now it’s time for the Cowboys to back that up in James. He won’t have the luxury of figuring it out, even if he was a late-round draft pick. He’s probably going to be expected to contribute right away, as Dallas’ options at linebacker are limited.
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James had a decent career at Florida before declaring for the NFL Draft. He had 25 starts out of 34 collegiate games. He did miss the second half of his sophomore season after a knee injury. Throughout his career, he had 166 tackles, five sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception.
That’s not terrible, considering he played in the SEC. The question is, can he translate that to success in the NFL? What Dallas needs is consistency at linebacker. He’s good at making tackles, averaging over 50 per season. However, his ability to stack and shed is still somewhat in question.
If James ends up starting or playing significant snaps this season, he’ll have the opportunity to make an impact. It simply boils down to how consistently he can do it.
He doesn’t have to be elite. He just needs to do enough so that offenses don’t exploit him. Dallas’ defense needs to play better than it did last year. One of the biggest areas to help level up on that side of the ball is to be more consistent against the run and in the middle of the field.
This defense is much different now that Dan Quinn isn’t in the booth anymore. But the expectation is still the same. Which is why James may have a lot more pressure to produce right away than most fifth-round picks.