Will growing pains in the trenches wreck the 2025 Cowboys odds?

The Cowboys odds as a whole might fall on those three players alone.

It is a high-risk, high-reward strategy, as their collective inexperience could cause problems, but their ceiling remains as high as can be.

The Defensive Line: Are Parsons’ Supplements Enough?

Everybody knows Micah Parsons is the top dog on the defensive line; the way the Cowboys surround him is what matters.

It seems they have found their strategy for doing so, and they are sticking by it.

Dallas has one borderline Pro Bowler with a big salary beside him, selects pass-rushers high in the draft to add to the depth, and occasionally will throw money at low-cost free agents.

https://twitter.com/SleeperCowboys/status/1922460637818487085

This was done in years past with DeMarcus Lawrence, draftees Marshawn Kneeland, Mazi Smith, and Sam Williams, and now it’s Osa Odighizuwa and Donovan Ezeiruaku.

The front office also added guys like Dante Fowler, Payton Turner, Solomon Thomas, and Jay Toia to the room.

Is that strategy enough? It hasn’t been in years past, but the actual talent in the room now is better than what fans may be used to. It could finally be the year that this defensive line reaches its potential.

The Bottom Line: Questions Must Be Answered

The unfortunate truth for the Dallas Cowboys odds is that question marks pop up everywhere, and especially in the trenches.

Too young? Too low-cost? We simply won’t know until they get on the field.

What we do know is that there have been legitimate investments on both lines, like the selection of Booker and the commitment to Odighizuwa. You can respect the newfound attention to those areas, while also admitting it is far from a finished, Philly-esque product.

Specific players like Steele, Smith, and Williams have jobs to fight for, while Guyton is aiming to prove early “bust” allegations wrong.

There are just so, so many questions that come with this area of the roster; it is hard to envision growing pains not holding them back. If Schottenheimer can coach these guys above them, then they’ll really be cooking with gas.