It has not been a good week for the Dallas Cowboys or their fans.
In the wake of a humiliating loss to the Arizona Cardinals, seemingly everything has been under a microscope in Jerry's World, from ownership issues to Brian Schottenheimer's shortcomings as head coach to the viability of trading for or away certain players. Things are in disarray at The Star.
But one beacon of hope, or we'll call it a silver lining, has been the play of Shemar James. After searching desperately for his replacement this offseason, the Cowboys have seen the young linebacker re-emerge as a legitimate option at the spot in the absence of Dee Winters.
And given Winters' immense struggles this fall, it stands to reason that Dallas feels a bit foolish, or at least regretful, that they went out and spent a fifth-rounder to acquire him this offseason, especially because James has seemingly developed into more of a playable commodity, among other things.
Even the roses have thorns in Dallas.
Shemar James has emerged as legit LB for Cowboys amid brutal stretch
Now, it's not all about the stats. But James has taken an increased opportunity and produced, logging 20 total tackles, two pressures, 11 stops and an interception across the last three games, and his coverage has seemingly improved, even if he hasn't been perfect.
His "I've arrived" moment was certainly the interception against Arizona. A Rashan Gary pressure forced an errant Jacoby Brissett throw, and off a deflection, James picked off the pass and ran it back to the Cardinals' 5-yard line to set up a Cowboys score. Right place, right time? Sure.
But you've got to be in the right place, and that was not the case so often for James as a rookie.
James stonewalled Jeremiyah Love several times for short-yardage stuffs, he closed on a Brissett scramble for a short gain, and he chased down Michael Wilson on an end around that could have ended the game a few plays earlier, had James not been there.
As a cover guy, again, James wasn't perfect, but he did have an interception, and he only gave up four catches for 23 yards on six targets. That's a 34.0 passer rating when targeted. An average NFL passer rating is 92.3, and James' number has been below that in five out of seven games. That is growth.
He has yet to give up a touchdown in coverage in 181 snaps, too. Last year, James gave up three, and opposing quarterbacks had a passer rating of 131.1 against him. His 11 run stops in the last three games already rival his 18 from last year. This is not the same Shemar James.
So, while Jones and Schotty are surely thrilled that he's been a bright spot on an otherwise bleak defense, they probably regret giving up their 2026 5th-round pick to the San Francisco 49ers for Winters, when they could have just given their 2025 5th-rounder a bit more runway to develop.
Cowboys' Dee Winters trade looks iffy in hindsight with Shemar James breaking out
Although the Winters trade seemed like a good idea at the time, given DeMarvion Overshown's injury questions and the general lack of depth in the room, Winters has not at all panned out to be the player that the Cowboys thought he would be.
What he provides for Dallas is some versatility between the WILL and MIKE, so he can be a chameleon and blend in with what seems to be an ever-changing linebacker corps. But the problem is that he hasn't been particularly great at either spot this year next to Overshown or Jaishawn Barham.
In just five full games played, Winters gave up 16 catches on 19 targets for 174 yards, including 101 yards after the catch. He also missed six tackles in five games, recording at least one in each contest, and has whiffed on 14.6 percent of his attempts this year.
To be fair, James has missed 16.1 percent of his tackles and given up 125 yards in coverage this year, but the difference is that Dallas gave away a pick for Winters that it could have used on something else.
This team is obviously littered with issues, and instead of having two comparable players at linebacker (James has been slightly better), they could have had James and someone else who is a few years younger at a different position of need and has more team control on his contract.
After the pick changed hands a few times, the No. 152 overall pick that the Cowboys sent for Winters became tight end Justin Joly. Also available in that range were safety Michael Taaffe, running back Emmett Johnson, cornerback Keith Abney and cornerback Zeke Masses.
One could argue that those were needs at the time, and that Dallas would have been better served grabbing one of them instead of making the plunge for Winters, who has been underwhelming and not even better than James, whom they sought to replace with the move in the first place.
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