There's no getting around the fact that the Dallas Cowboys took a big hit last week after Jerry Jones sent shockwaves throughout the entire NFL by trading disgruntled defensive superstar Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers.
But there's also no getting around the fact that America's Team simply has to move forward. Losing an all-world talent like Parsons undoubtedly makes the Cowboys a weaker overall team. But it's not as if there aren't other All-Pro-level players on this roster.
And for Dallas to have any shot at getting back to the postseason after a disastrous 2024 campaign, first-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer will undoubtedly need those players to be at their absolute best.
And with that in mind, we'll kick off our predictions for the Cowboys' 2025 season with none other than Dak Prescott.
Dak Prescott will win Comeback Player of the Year after leading the NFL in passing yards in 2025
Prescott, of course, missed the second half of the 2024 season after suffering a hamstring injury in Week 9 during a loss to the Atlanta Falcons, one which ultimately required surgery.
But Dak heads into the 2025 season fully healthy, and we're calling for the three-time Pro Bowler to have a monster bounce-back campaign, one so strong that we're predicting Prescott to take Comeback Player of the Year honors after leading the NFL in passing yards.
Yes, you read that right.
Achieving such a feat obviously won't be easy, as there are plenty of other quarterbacks capable of winning the passing yards title, naturally including Joe Burrow, who led the way last year with a career-high 4,918 yards.
But what some may have forgotten about Dak, given the unfortunate string of injuries he's suffered over the last six seasons, is that in each of the three seasons in which he's been fully healthy during that stretch, he's surpassed the 4,400-yard mark, throwing for a career-best 4,902 in 2019, 4,449 in 2021, and 4,516 in 2023.
One would assume the Cowboys will employ a pass-first and pass-heavy attack, thus giving Prescott plenty of chances to inflate his numbers. And with Dallas adding George Pickens during the offseason to line up opposite CeeDee Lamb, Dak has more dangerous weapons at his disposal than he's had in years.
If Prescott stays healthy for the duration of the 2025 season, don't be surprised if he becomes the first quarterback in Cowboys history to throw for 5,000 yards in a single season.
The Cowboys will have a top-10 defense despite the loss of Micah Parsons
It's no secret that the Cowboys' defense was an absolute disaster a season ago under Mike Zimmer, ranking 31st in points allowed per game (27.5) and 28th in total yards allowed per contest (355.2). And with Parsons now wearing a Packers uniform, it'd be very easy to predict a repeat performance this season.
But we're actually going to go in the other direction.
There are some people who are far more suited to be assistants/coordinators than they are to be head coaches, guys like Dave Wannstedt and Wade Phillips being prime examples. And we're of the opinion that new Dallas defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus is cut from the same cloth.
The former Chicago Bears head coach obviously has his work cut out for him, but we're thinking he can turn this unit around. And even with Parsons out of the mix, we're calling for the Cowboys to have one of the top 10 overall defenses in the NFL in 2025.
As Jerry Jones made abundantly clear in his post-trade presser, the Dallas defense has had its issues stopping the run, ranking 29th in that department a season ago by allowing 137.1 yards per game.
Improving this aspect of the Dallas defense will undoubtedly be the toughest test Eberflus faces. The addition of Kenny Clark will help in the trenches. Jones wasn't lying about that. And from an overall standpoint, the team is stronger at linebacker than it was a season ago.
It's not an all-star unit by any stretch of the imagination, but someone like former first-round pick Kenneth Murray Jr. might play with a little extra motivation knowing he has no contract beyond this season. Damone Clark, who looked solid during training camp, could be thrown in that group as well.
As far as the Dallas pass defense is concerned, the Cowboys ranked 17th in that aspect in 2024, allowing 218.1 yards per game. And that was with both Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland missing sizable chunks of the season. Diggs isn't quite 100 percent just yet, but the fact that he's not starting the season on the PUP list is great news.
Kaiir Elam is a bit of a wild card, but he's another one coming into the season with something to prove. And with a strong overall group of safeties, the Cowboys' secondary is stronger as a whole than it was last year, even with the loss of Jourdan Lewis.
As far as the Dallas pass rush is concerned, we're back to the Parsons well one last time, as it'll obviously be weaker. But the return of Dante Fowler Jr. will undoubtedly help, as will the return of Sam Williams, who missed all of last season after suffering a torn ACL in training camp. Marshawn Kneeland should be better in his second season, and we're calling for a big year from second-round rookie Donovan Ezeiruaku.
Brian Schottenheimer will win Coach of the Year by leading the Cowboys back to the playoffs
Being the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys certainly isn't the easiest job in the world, and Jerry Jones certainly didn't make things easier on Brian Schottenheimer with the move he just made.
But the 51-year-old knows this team, and it only took him two practices at training camp to change the narrative that he's too nice to hold the big job. Intensity is in his DNA, and I think we're going to see plenty of it as the season progresses.
For Schottenheimer to win Coach of the Year, the Cowboys would obviously have to make the playoffs. And that's actually the real prediction here.
Now, we're not quite ready to go as far as to say that Dallas will win the division, although we will project that both the Eagles and the Washington Commanders will take a step back. If the Cowboys can get to 10 wins, we think that should be enough to clinch at least a wild-card spot. And a 10-7 mark could even win the division. We'll just have to see how things play out.
But regardless if it's as a division winner or a wild-card team, the Cowboys making the playoffs would undoubtedly have to put Schottenheimer in the COY race, given everything he's had to deal with before even stepping onto the field for his first regular-season game as a head coach.