Jerry Jones Urged to Turn to 3423-YD WR After Cowboys Receive Upsetting News On Ashton Jeanty

Here we go again in Dallas….you just know something is brewing. Fresh off a frustrating 7-10 campaign, Jerry Jones and the Cowboys front office are officially in scramble mode. Their third-place NFC East finish wasn’t just disappointing—it was flat-out unacceptable for a team with this much pressure and payroll. From the outside, the glaring gap was easy to spot: the run game collapsed. Over the first six weeks, Dallas limped to just 77.2 rushing yards per game, a stat line that screams for attention. But now, with the 2025 NFL Draft closing in fast, it’s not the run game grabbing headlines—it’s the passing attack.

With the No. 12 overall pick, Jones is looking for the kind of talent that can shift the entire dynamic. And when it comes to need-meets-value, few prospects are as tailor-made for Dallas as Tetairoa McMillan, the 6’4”, 219-pound wideout out of Arizona with 3,423 career receiving yards and the tape to back it up. According to Yahoo! Sports analysts Matt Harmon and Charles McDonald, that game-changer could be him. The case is strong, the buzz is real, and if the Cowboys are serious about getting their offense back on track—this is the moment to pounce.

Matt Harmon went all in on McMillan, especially as a fit for Dallas’ current roster setup: “A team like them…I think if I was Dallas, I would strongly consider him at 12. I think he’s in this draft—you can absolutely take a guy like this 12th overall. And I love the idea of him being [a] receiver alongside CeeDee Lamb. I think that just really completes this pass-catching core.”

That’s the key here: fit. Not just raw talent, but a complementary piece to amplify what Dallas already has in CeeDee Lamb. And if Lamb is your slot technician, McMillan is the outside bully who wins on the perimeter and owns contested catches.

Charles McDonald took the praise even further by pointing out how McMillan could help streamline what’s currently a muddled WR room. “Yeah, I think Cowboys is the cleanest fit for him, because I think sometimes what happens with roster building is, you know, ‘Oh…we’ll stack a bunch of guys who can do a bunch of different things, but they’re not always great at one thing,’ and you kind of get like just this congested blob.”

That “congested blob” pretty much sums up Dallas’ WR depth chart behind Lamb. Sure, they’ve got Jalen Tolbert and a couple of up-and-comers, but nothing proven, nothing consistent. And McDonald knows that, adding, “Outside of CeeDee Lamb, they don’t have too much by name of wide receiver talent.”

So why is McMillan the solution? Because he brings something clearly defined—dominance. He doesn’t just do a few things well—he does one thing great. He’s a red-zone mismatch. A chain-mover. A guy who turns 50/50 balls into 70/30s. And most importantly, a reliable WR2 that Dallas has been missing since the fall-off of Michael Gallup and the departure of Amari Cooper.

Can Tetairoa McMillan be Dez 2.0? The Cowboys’ front office reportedly sees him as a spiritual successor to Dez Bryant—and the comparisons aren’t off-base. Dez stood at 6’2″, 220 pounds. McMillan? 6’4″, 219. Both win with physicality, not blazing 40-times. Both dominate in contested catch situations. Both are emotional tone-setters for an offense.

McMillan’s pro day speed hovered at 4.48s, more than adequate for a first-round wideout with his frame. But it’s the résumé that sets him apart. Across three seasons at Arizona: 702 yards & 8 TDs as a freshman; 1,402 yards in Year 2; and 1,319 yards & 8 TDs in 2024, First-Team All-Big 12, Polynesian CFB Player of the Year, and a record-breaking 304-yard game vs. New Mexico in the Wildcats’ opening game of the 2024 season. Let that sink in. He’s not just “good”. He’s built for Sundays. Also, a polished profile is tailor-made for Dak Prescott’s offense.

“If you can have Tet and CeeDee, like CeeDee is obviously your slot guy—no one’s pushing him out—and then Tet is someone you can move around to win on the outside. That’s something that I think [will] really help stabilize the offense and get back to the unit that we know they can be,” said McDonald. That’s it. That’s the play. McMillan isn’t just a backup plan. He’s the blueprint. And if Jerry Jones wants to write a differe.nt ending to the 2025 season, it starts by calling Tetairoa McMillan’s name on draft night. Because their Plan A could be pretty unsettling…

Jerry Jones and Co’s RB plan takes a hit

Now, Jerry Jones won’t come into this draft tunnel-visioned on WR. In fact, the Cowboys had been doing serious homework on Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty—an elite dual-threat back with 2,601 total yards in 2024 and a skillset made for modern NFL offenses.

One scout on the Jon Gruden Barstool Show even called him: “The airbender. The last airbender. Probably the best contact balance I’ve ever seen out of a running back.” That’s not just hype—that’s gold-standard RB talk. But there’s a catch.

“You think you have this guy? You don’t.” The scout’s warning couldn’t be clearer. Jeanty’s stock is skyrocketing, and Dallas may be out of range unless they trade up or strike early in Round 2—which now feels less likely.

Worse? Jon Gruden himself flagged red flags from Jeanty’s Penn State performance: “The ball security is a problem in that game.” Jeanty’s box score that day was low-key ugly: 30 carries, season-low 104 yards, and a (meh!) 3.5 YPC. Not exactly confidence-boosting, especially for a team desperate to fix its RB woes.

Gruden also questioned his pass protection, although the scout countered: “Pass protection, pretty good. But he needs to get a little sand in his pants. But he’s got to anchor down a little bit better at the next level.” In other words, Jeanty’s a freak athlete—but not a sure thing. And for Dallas, who whiffed on the Ezekiel Elliott exit plan, spending another premium pick on a potentially risky RB might be a bridge too far. So here’s the crossroads Jerry Jones is standing at.