It's not hyperbole to say not a lot went right for the Dallas Cowboys' defense in the Week 1 loss to the New York Giants. Christian Parker's group had no answers for Jaxson Dart or Isaiah Likely, which led to New York beating Dak Prescott for the first time since 2016.
Despite the 28-20 loss and the collectively bad performance on defense, Parker's unit had its fair share of strong individual performers, and second-year pass rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku takes the cake. After all, there's a reason he was such a popular Year 2 breakout pick after a strong rookie year.
Ezeiruaku logged an impressive seven solo tackles, three run stops, a forced fumble that Dallas ultimately failed to recover, and two pressures. While most of the Cowboys' front seven struggled, Ezeiruaku kicked off 2026 with a bang, so if you weren't a believer going into the season, he proved in real time that a breakout year is upon us.
Cowboys OLB Donovan Ezeiruaku may be authoring a breakout sophomore season
For reference, Ezeiruaku logged 29 combined tackles all of last season, so that should tell you he was flying all over the field against the Giants. Assuming he learns to keep his emotions in check after he got kicked out of two training camp practices this summer, he could become one of the faces of this defense alongside Quinnen Williams and Caleb Downs.
According to Pro Football Focus, Ezeiruaku's 86.5 PFF grade in Week 1 ranked sixth out of 98 qualified edge rushers, while his 74.5 run defense grade ranked ninth. Yes, I know Week 1 is ripe with overreactions and is hard to project over a full 17-game season, but look at the other best-performing players at his position.
For those curious, these are the edge rushers ranked ahead of him in defensive PFF grade:
- TJ Watt (92.3)
- Maxx Crosby (90.5)
- Abdul Carter (90.3)
- Aidan Hutchinson (90.2)
- Dallas Turner (89.5)
The 22-year-old doesn't even turn 23 until early next week, so that should make it even more impressive that Ezeiruaku's Week 1 performance was up there with some of the best in the business. TJ Watt has a DPOY, Crosby and Hutchinson are both All-Pros, and Carter and Turner are rising young stars. That is some elite company for a player who made just nine starts as a rookie in 2025.
I'm not saying the 2025 second-round pick out of Boston College will remain in their company for the duration of the season, but he certainly has a bright future if he keeps this up. We've seen flashes of the potential before, and now that he's playing a larger role, we'll get to see the upside in action a lot more often.
Donovan Ezeiruaku made it clear entering the season that he’d put in the work to improve his craft. That made him an easy breakout candidate, and so far, he’s proving on the field that the hype was justified.
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