Detroit Lions’ James Houston IV held a youth football camp at Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi. Lauren Witte/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK

Cowboys work out Deion Sanders protégé who made career-changing move with Coach Prime

Originally posted on Dallas Cowboys on SI
By Josh Sanchez | Last updated Jul 21, 2025 2:14 PM ET

Dallas Cowboys training camp is officially underway, but the team had some other business to take care of before taking the field for the first practice on Tuesday, July 22.

The Cowboys worked out a trio of pass rushers, but one who stood out is former Detroit Lions sixth-round draft pick James Houston. Houston was selected in the 2022 NFL Draft and is still only 26 years old.

Houston has a special connection to the Cowboys organization, because he played under Deion Sanders at Jackson State. In fact, Houston was Coach Prime's first-ever NFL draft pick.

In another interesting twist, Coach Prime convinced Houston to make a move that proved to be career-changing. Houston pitched himself as a linebacker to Deion Sanders, but Coach Prime had something else in mind. He convinced Houston to move to EDGE, and that resulted in a 16.5-sack season and an NFL career.

Without Deion Sanders, James Houston might never have made it to the NFL!

Houston originally tried to pitch himself as a LB, but Sanders envisioned a different role for him.

Sanders moved Houston to EDGE, resulting in 16.5 sacks in his one season at Jackson State. #OnePride pic.twitter.com/ch4Vfj9kwc
— LionsFanReport (@lionsfanreport) September 3, 2023

Hopefully the Cowboys will reach out to Coach Prime to get his thoughts on what Houston brings to the table.

Houston has seen limited time throughout his professional career, playing in just 20 games, recording 21 tackles, 9 sacks, 8 tackles for a loss, 14 quarterback hits, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery.

Despite the underwhelming stats over his first few seasons, his rookie season was intriguing, playing in just seven games but recording 8 sacks and 11 quarterback hits.

There is plenty of untapped potential in Houston, so it will be interesting to see if the Cowboys give him a shot following his workout with the team.

This article first appeared on Dallas Cowboys on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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