Chad Reuter expects LB Shemar James to be a starter

[TheDuke]

Day 3 is a C+. Grade.

Notable busts-
James- a lb that wasn't good in college but looks athletic in the gym. He is terrible against the run, ok vs the pass...where they needed a big MLB, they draft a pass princess..

Both DT- no confidence Jerry allows them the time needed to develop. They don't have the quick step he looks for in a defensive lineman.

Blue- his best asset is catching out of the backfield but a small catch radius. This is a weakness of Dak. He's also got to correct his fumble issues.

Lol you’re calling 5-7 round picks ‘notable busts’ less than 24 hours after the draft. There are words for this that I’m not going to use, but if you want to live in that world be my guest.

 

[charron]

And as someone who watched the games, it's very untrue. He stopped fumbling after his early benching when they put him back in because he was their best back .

I suppose your personal draft profile on players is better than those that get paid to write such profiles so I can't argue.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Your welcome to disagree. They obviously liked a linebacker that scouting reports say he sucks vs run, only 164 tackled...in 3 years. Yay a coverage lb who gets blown up in the run game....as if the biggest weakness wasn't the run game to begin with. So exciting.

I’m not disagreeing I haven’t seen them play. I’m just saying the write up’s contradict what’s been said about these guys. I haven’t seen a scouting report they were he sucks or is a bad run defender.


From Draft Network:


As a run defender, James displays high-level linebacker play. From the snap, he does an excellent job reading his keys and working downhill toward the line of scrimmage. James attacks with quickness and effectively maneuvers over or under blocks to penetrate the backfield and make tackles. As a tackler, James exhibits solid power, striking with good pad level and leverage while driving through ball carriers. His sideline-to-sideline speed makes him a strong pursuit player, capable of cutting off plays that stretch to the perimeter.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

I suppose your personal draft profile on players is better than those that get paid to write such profiles so I can't argue.

What draft profiles are you basing your opinion on?

 

[StarMan2112]

In this thread, James is a starter.

Post accordingly.

He’s absolutely a starter. On special teams that is.

 

[Mikexike]

I’m not disagreeing I haven’t seen them play. I’m just saying the write up’s contradict what’s been said about these guys. I haven’t seen a scouting report they were he sucks or is a bad run defender.


From Draft Network:


As a run defender, James displays high-level linebacker play. From the snap, he does an excellent job reading his keys and working downhill toward the line of scrimmage. James attacks with quickness and effectively maneuvers over or under blocks to penetrate the backfield and make tackles. As a tackler, James exhibits solid power, striking with good pad level and leverage while driving through ball carriers. His sideline-to-sideline speed makes him a strong pursuit player, capable of cutting off plays that stretch to the perimeter.

Profile against the run sounds like the player we needed.

 

[Pass2Run]

And they just perpetuate the problem of this being a small defense that gets pushed around easily.

He can play, though.

 

[BoyzBlaster]

He can play, though.

Yeah but he's not what we need unfortunately.

 

[Ekspozed]

I suppose your personal draft profile on players is better than those that get paid to write such profiles so I can't argue.

He had the same amount of fumbles as ashton jeanty, and lost less fumbles than him.

Fumbles are something that CAN be corrected.

 

[charron]

He had the same amount of fumbles as ashton jeanty, and lost less fumbles than him.

Fumbles are something that CAN be corrected.

Yes jeanty has had some issues and yes you can work on not fumbling but jeanty is also light years ahead of this guy. So when jeanty rushes for 100+ yards, 1 td, 1 lost fumble you'll be a little more forgiving than a guy who rushed 35 yards and a lost fumble. Hopefully it's something he corrects but it's something that has been an issue, and defenses will try to exploit it. As is him catching off target passes being an issue.

 

[Ekspozed]

Yes jeanty has had some issues and yes you can work on not fumbling but jeanty is also light years ahead of this guy. So when jeanty rushes for 100+ yards, 1 td, 1 lost fumble you'll be a little more forgiving than a guy who rushed 35 yards and a lost fumble. Hopefully it's something he corrects but it's something that has been an issue, and defenses will try to exploit it. As is him catching off target passes being an issue.

Did you watch him play? He does not have a problem catching

 

[Kingofholland]

Shemar James is a special teams player at best. He is an undersized LB just like Overshown . These smaller LBs working the middle are more prone to injury.

He may be, that's what we thought about Anthony Hitchens too, but he ended up being a pretty solid LB here. You never know and there must be something they really liked about him.

Time will tell, but I don't expect him to start at this moment.

 

[Rayman70]

Some fans need to go back and watch the Florida games with James. Undersized, yes, good coverage guy against TEs and #3 WRs, great blitzed and ST player. Is he a 1st round guy, nope, but he will help this or any team mainly because he plays hard regardless of the score and to the final whistle.

Exactly. He was tasked with covering Mason Taylor from LSU, the TE. He did a nice job on him. Limited him. He's a good player with a high ceiling. Really young too. Nothing wrong throwing a late rd dart on a guy. Especially a position of need.

 

[speedkilz88]

He may be, that's what we thought about Anthony Hitchens too, but he ended up being a pretty solid LB here. You never know and there must be something they really liked about him.

Time will tell, but I don't expect him to start at this moment.

Hitchens started at MLB on a Super Bowl Championship team.

 

[Verdict]

Day 3 is a C+. Grade.

Notable busts-
James- a lb that wasn't good in college but looks athletic in the gym. He is terrible against the run, ok vs the pass...where they needed a big MLB, they draft a pass princess..

Both DT- no confidence Jerry allows them the time needed to develop. They don't have the quick step he looks for in a defensive lineman.

Blue- his best asset is catching out of the backfield but a small catch radius. This is a weakness of Dak. He's also got to correct his fumble issues.

I think Murray may be a thumper in this defense.

 

[DuncanIso]

Mentioned in his glowing grade for our draft.

https://www.nfl.com/news/2025-nfl-draft-final-snap-grades-for-all-32-teams

Dallas Cowboys
Grade
A-

Draft picks​

• Round 1 (No. 12): OG Tyler Booker, Alabama
• Round 2 (No. 44): Edge Donovan Ezeiruaku, Boston College
• Round 3 (No. 76): CB Shavon Revel Jr., East Carolina
• Round 5 (No. 149): RB Jaydon Blue, Texas
• Round 5 (No. 152): LB Shemar James, Florida
• Round 6 (No. 204): OT Ajani Cornelius, Oregon
• Round 7 (No. 217): DT Jay Toia, UCLA
• Round 7 (No. 239): RB Phil Mafah, Clemson
• Round 7 (No. 247): DT Tommy Akingbesote, Maryland

Grades​

• Day 1 grade: B+
• Day 2 grade:A-
• Day 3 grade: A-

Analysis:​

• The Cowboys bypassed the available offensive skill-position players and defensive talent at No. 12 to replace the retired Zack Martin with Booker. The former Alabama guard is a proven starter out of the SEC, but he did not impress in athletic testing this spring. Ezeiruaku projects as the next Demarcus Lawrence, while Revel could be a nice Day 2 find if he’s able to stay healthy (coming off an ACL tear).
• I dropped Dallas' grade slightly because they traded their fourth-round pick to Carolina for Jonathan Mingo last year, a move that has not paid off so far. They proved they could find running backs late, however, picking the speedy Blue in Round 5 and the strong Mafah in Round 7. I understood why they decided to trade up for James. I expect him to earn a starting role in Dallas. Cornelius could play guard or tackle for the Cowboys, while Toia and Akingbesote will help stop the run.

Mingo will be our WR2

 

[CT Dal Fan]

James is a year or two away from being a starter. Remember the Cowboys only have Kenneth Murray and Jack Sanborn here on one year deals.

In a perfect scenario Shamar James replaces one of them next year, Overshown is 100 percent, and Liufau is the other LB.

 

[Mr_437]

Shemar James would be lucky to make the 53. James is a 5th round pick, so again he'd be lucky to make the team. In addition, what does he bring to the LB room they don't have?

 

[Stash]

“Ezeiruaku projects as the next Demarcus Lawrence”

That’s definitely not who I see when I watch Ezeiruaku’s tape.

Lawrence could only dream of having those types of pass rush moves.

Lawrence’s strengths were against the run.

 

[RS12]

Pro scouts have about a 50% success rate. The talking around the same, if not worse. Which is why 4 years from now half the picks from each ream will no longer be there.