The 2024 ACC Defensive Player of the Year was a fringe first-round selection in the 2025 NFL Draft, and while he won’t be happy about when he came off the board in Round 2 as the 44th overall pick of the Dallas Cowboys, Donovan Ezeiruaku should be thrilled about where he’s heading and who he gets to play next to along the defensive line.
Micah Parsons has yet to win the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year award, but he still has a clear case as the best pass-rusher in the league. Twice, he’s been named a First-Team All-Pro over his first four years with the Cowboys, and though he’s yet to sign the massive contract extension that will certainly be coming his way this offseason, Parsons will give Ezeiruaku the best rookie gift he could ever ask for: plenty of one-on-one matchups.
Donovan Ezeiruaku could be an under-the-radar Rookie of the Year candidate
Last season, Chauncey Golston, Carl Lawson, and Marshawn Kneeland led the way in edge snaps opposite Parsons, an underwhelming group that still managed to produce a significant amount of sacks and quarterback pressures. Ezeiruaku should vault to the top of the depth chart, and with Parsons ranking near the top of the NFL in double-team rate a season ago, he’ll have plenty of one-on-one matchups against offensive tackles.
Ezeiruaku has considerable length, but he’s an undersized player who relies heavily on his hand usage and arsenal of refined pass-rushing moves to get to the quarterback. But at 6-foot-2 and 248 pounds, he could get washed out by double-teams and overwhelmed in the run game. Those concerns dropped him out of the first round, and his run defense will be scrutinized in Dallas, but as a pass-rusher, Ezeiruaku will have every opportunity to succeed from Day 1.
Penn State defensive end and third overall pick Abdul Carter will likely enter the season as the favorite to win Defensive Rookie of the Year, and fifth overall pick Mason Graham gets to play on the same defensive line as Myles Garrett, so competition will be tough. Still, if Ezeiruaku holds up well enough on first and second down to stay on the field, he will be a threat to rack up double-digit sacks as a rookie, and a dark-horse to win the award.
Five of the last six DROYs have been edge rushers, including Parsons in 2021, but the last player to be selected outside of the first round to win the award was Shaquille Leonard in 2018. Five edge rushers went in the first round of this year's draft, but none had more than Ezeiruaku's 16.5 sacks last season at Boston College.
While he may not be as physically imposing or disruptive as Mykel Williams out of Georgia or Shemar Stewart out of Texas A&M, Ezeiruaku is easily the best finisher of the group, which is an advantage for an award often won by counting stats like sacks.
Sometimes destination is everything for rookies, and Ezeiruaku found the perfect one with Parsons on America’s Team.