NFL Top 25 Under 25: How Many Cowboys on The List?
FRISCO - Fans and team executives seem to get more excited about young talent than just about anyone else on the team. Thankfully for Cowboys fans, Dallas is loaded with young talent from the last couple of drafts, and hopeful that trend continues as we move further away from this year's 2022 NFL Draft.
Micah Parsons
CeeDee Lamb
Trevon Diggs
Pro Football Focus released the 2022 version of its annual Top 25 Under 25, and the Cowboys are well represented, with three young players being named:
6. LB MICAH PARSONS, DALLAS COWBOYS
Parsons was simply sensational in his rookie season. After much debate about what position he would play — defensive end or off-ball linebacker — Parsons not only played both but thrived at each with an 87.6 overall defensive grade and a 93.0 pass-rush grade. When you remember that he opted out of his final season at Penn State and that 2021 was his first real football action in two years, it makes Parsons’ rookie campaign even more impressive.
17. WR CEEDEE LAMB, DALLAS COWBOYS
After two solid seasons for Lamb in 2020 and 2021, he has the chance to really break out as a superstar this upcoming year. Lamb recorded 935 and 1,105 receiving yards in each of his past two seasons, which shouldn’t be viewed as a disappointment in any way. But now, with Amari Cooper gone, Lamb will be viewed as the unquestioned WR1 in a potent Dallas passing offense. He is one of the most talented young receivers in the game, and we’re expecting a career year in 2022.
25. CB
TREVON DIGGS
, DALLAS COWBOYS
In 2021, no cornerback in the NFL recorded more interceptions than Diggs, who had 11. The next closest snagged eight. On the flip side, no cornerback in the NFL gave up more receiving yards than Diggs, who yielded 1,016. The next closest surrendered 862.
Diggs is a boom-or-bust player by nature in how he plays. He flirts with fire on a snap-by-snap basis, baiting quarterbacks and playing in ways that sometimes make him a hero and other times make him a villain. He makes this list because those ball skills bring a ton of value, and if he can be more controlled in his coverage game while still knowing when to get aggressive and take the right chances for turnovers, he has the talent to shoot up this list.
Micah Parsons
CeeDee Lamb
Trevon Diggs
An argument could be made for other Cowboys players, as absent from the list is defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa (23). Running back Tony Pollard and Dalton Schultz are 25.
Dak Prescott, who many feel his best years are still in front of him, is, by the way, 28.
But it should make Cowboys fans feel a little warm and fuzzy knowing there's so much young talent present even before considering a talented 2022 draft class.