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FOX Sports recently put together a list of the top 25 NFL players under the age of 25, and had the Cowboys' All Pro rookie guard Zack Martin ranked at No. 20, and fellow All Pro Tyron Smith ranked No. 5 overall.
Like with any list, you can take issue with where your team's players are ranked and where other players are ranked, but Martin and Smith are some pretty good choices, though they are not the only young talents on the Cowboys roster. Using 25 years as a cut-off age for such a list of Cowboys is players is something we've done for the past three years here on Blogging The Boys (see here: 2012, 2013, 2014), so we'll use the Fox Sports list as the kickoff for the 2015 version of our Young Guns list.
Without further ado, here are the top ten young guns on the Cowboys' roster, all of whom will still be under 25 at the start of the 2015 regular season on September 13, 2015.
| Rank | Name | POS/Status | Years | Age on Opening Day 2015 |
| 1 | Tyron Smith | LT / Starter |
4 | 24 years, 9 months, 1 days |
| This is the fourth consecutive year that I've written a post on the top 10 players under 25, and Smith makes his fourth appearance on this list. Only once did he not rank No. 1 on this list (he was ranked No. 2 behind Dez Bryant in 2012). That the All Pro left tackle is still under 25 is nothing short of spectacular. | ||||
| 2 | Travis Frederick | OC /Starter |
2 | 24 years, 5 months, 27 days |
| I'll let a Redskins fan do the honors for Frederick: And everyone was clowning on them for taking Frederick "too early". I wish we would draft a Pro Bowl center "too early". by CJHutch on Sep 28, 2014 | 9:53 PM |
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| 3 | Zack Martin |
OG /Starter |
1 | 24 years, 9 months, 23 days |
| Martin became the first Cowboys rookie in 45 years to make the All Pro team. Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that Martin is the first rookie offensive lineman in the Super Bowl era to be named first-team All Pro. And to think that Martin never played guard before his rookie season ... |
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| 4 | DeMarcus Lawrence |
DE / Likely Starter | 1 |
23 years, 4 months, 16 days |
| Lawrence used the offseason to bulk up, and it shows, even if he claims he hasn't gained any weight. Lawrence will likely be the starter on the left side while Jeremy Mincey and Randy Gregory split time on the right - until Greg Hardy joins the fun. Lawrence was hampered by an injury that saw him miss the first eight games of the season, but he said things started clicking for him at the end of the season, and it was easy to see in his play. When the Cowboys gave up their second- and third-round picks in the 2014 draft for Lawrence, Cowboys personnel guru Will McClay called him a "Quarterback Hunter." This is the season he has to start proving McClay right |
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| 5 | J. J. Wilcox |
S / Starter |
2 | 24 years, 6 months, 28 days |
| Wilcox is the starter at safety opposite Barry Church, and will remain a starter at least until a potential switch of Byron Jones to free safety, and perhaps even beyond that. For two years Wilcox has been Barry Church's understudy, but Church will be a free agent after the 2016 season, when he'll turn 29. |
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| 6 | Anthony Hitchens |
LB / Starter |
1 | 23 years, 3 months, 3 days |
| After first asking "Who?" a lot of people snickered when the Cowboys announced they had picked Hitchens in the fourth round of the 2014 draft. But when injuries started piling up, Hitchens was there to take advantage of his opportunity. He played 541 snaps, the second most of of all linebackers behind only Rolando McClain, and by playing all three linebacker positions showed of the versatility the Cowboys value so much. He's penciled in as the starter at the SAM position, but he could just as easily be the top backup at the other two positions, depending on how his training camp goes. |
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| 7 |
Joseph Randle |
RB / Possible Starter |
2 |
23 years, 8 months, 15 days |
| Somebody has to run the ball for the Cowboys, and it might as well be Randle. Running behind the likes of Smith, Frederick, Martin, Collins, Leary, and Free is as close to running back heaven as it gets, and Randle has shown in limited action over two years (105 attempts, 4.8 YPA, 5 TDs) that he can deliver, he just has tro do it over a longer period. This is it for Randle, the No. 1 spot at running back is his to lose this offseason. | ||||
| 8 | Byron Jones |
CB / Possible Starer |
Rookie | 22 years, 11 months, 16 days |
| You could argue that Jones, Gregory, and Collins should all be ranked higher, but none of them has done diddly squat yet in the league, so all three guys are bunched at the end of this list. Notice though that all three guys are still 22, which means if everything goes according to plan, all three should remain on this list for the next two years. And that's nothing to sneeze at. Our own Tom Ryle had to dig deep at thesaurus.com to come up with the right adjectives for Jones after the first week of OTAs. While the running back situation and the controversy surrounding Hardy and Gregory have been keeping the spotlight off the first overall selection by Dallas, Byron Jones has at times been scintillating. He carries receivers all over the field and has shown hands that are wide receiver quality. Everyone is talking about what steals Gregory and UDFA La'el Collins were, but Jones is shaping up to be just as much a major triumph for Will McClay and company. |
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| 9 | Randy Gregory |
DE / Potential Starter | Rookie | 23 years, 6 months, 25 days |
| While it's possible that Gregory could start right away, it's much more likely that the Cowboys will ease him into the team as a backup to Jeremy Mincey and later to Greg Hardy on passing downs. The Cowboys didn't give Lawrence a start in his rookie season, and they might take it slow here as well - but that's only one opinion. Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News sees Gregory as an immediate starter: If Greg Hardy wasn't facing a lengthy suspension, I'd say Gregory would only be used as a pass rusher early on. But without Hardy, I think Randy gets a lot of reps at right DE. He certainly needs to add bulk to hold up against the run, but his speed and athleticism might be enough to make him an immediate factor. Rod Marinelli rotates a lot of linemen, so I expect to see Mincey and Gregory getting all the reps at right DE to start the season. When Hardy comes back, he'll take some of those reps and Mincey will get more plays at DT. |
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| 10 | La'el Collins |
OL / Starter |
Rookie | 22 years, 2 months, 18 days |
| A Giants fan gets to do the honors for Collins with his reaction to when the Cowboys signed Collins as an undrafted free agent. Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn…. The Flippin Cowboys? Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn … by EverBlue on May 7, 2015 | 2:43 PM
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When I compiled the list in previous years, I only allowed myself to include one rookie on the list, and that was always the Cowboys first-round pick of that year. My thinking was that the high draft grade certainly warranted inclusion on the list, but that the remaining draft picks hadn't yet shown anything at an NFL level that would justify including them. This year the Cowboys signed three players with a first-round pedigree, as David Moore of the Dallas Morning News explains:
The trio cracked the top 20 on the Cowboys board. Club officials say it was Gregory (No. 4), Collins (early teens) and Jones (No. 20).
That's my take on the top guys under 25 on the roster. Here's a brief overview of non-rookie players who narrowly missed the top ten list:
| Player | Position /Status |
Experience | Age on Opening Day 2015 |
| Jeff Heath |
S / Backup | 2 |
24 years, 4 months, 1 days |
| Gavin Escobar |
TE / Backup |
2 |
24 years, 7 months, 9 days |
| Devin Street |
WR / Backup | 1 | 24 years, 5 months, 15 days |
| Davon Coleman |
DT / Depth | 1 | 24 years, 8 months, 2 days |
| Ben Gardner |
DE / Depth | 1 |
24 years, 4 months, 15 days |
| Tyler Patmon |
CB / Depth | 1 | 24 years, 7 months, 17 days |
| Dustin Vaughan |
QB / Depth | 1 | 24 years, 7 months, 16 days |
| Chris Whaley |
DT / Depth | 1 | 24 years, 9 months, 5 days |
Who's missing on this young guns list, and which player would you slot differently?