Cowboys legend Michael Irvin grapples with NFL Draft dilemma, tables plan to bring Dallas back into contention 

The Dallas Cowboys appear to be putting their franchise legends through their full range of emotions. Since Dak Prescott bowed out of the season to undergo season-ending surgery on his hamstring injury, expectations have been lowered for the Cowboys.

When many expected them to tank and get a higher draft pick, the Cowboys rattled off consecutive wins over the Washington Commanders and the New York Giants, hampering their hopes of a higher pick.

Those hopes rose when they fell 27-20 to the Cincinnati Bengals in what was Dallas's eighth loss of the season. Franchise legend Michael Irvin, who was earlier hopeful of them landing a high pick to load up on talent, made peace with the fact that the Cowboys won't play by his script. On FS1's Speak, he said:

“When I wanted them to win, they couldn’t. When I wanted them to lose, they didn’t. What’s going on here?

"I got this thing figured out. We are going to be picking somewhere between 10 and 20. Go ahead and win these games. I want to see holiday victories. That Thanksgiving game, we had a great victory in Dallas. Then we go through the draft. Between 10 and 20, we can find that other No 1 receiver and Dallas will be back. That’s all we need is one more receiver.”

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Who could Dallas Cowboys target in the 2025 NFL Draft?

As things stand, if Dallas is eyeing a receiver, three playmakers could realistically go in the first 10 - Colorado's Travis Hunter, Arizona's Tetairoa McMillan and Missouri's Luther Burden III. Among them, Hunter is likely to be out of the Cowboys' range, as he's expected to be a top-3 pick in April.

In his latest mock draft, Sportskeeda's resident draft expert Tony Pauline sees the Patriots swoop in for McMillan despite having a dire need for a left tackle. Missouri's Burden lands with the Saints, who are projected to have a higher pick than Dallas.

Oregon's Evan Stewart is another name scouts have projected as a first-round pick. However, if the Cowboys can swing for a name in free agency, like the Chiefs did with Hollywood Brown, the safest course of action could be to go with Boise State's Ashton Jeanty.