Cowboys' second-round rookie Donovan Ezeiruaku embraces heightened expectations post-Micah Parsons trade

FRISCO, Texas -- Everything changed for Dallas Cowboys second-round rookie edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku in the last 24 hours. 

Once Dallas traded All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers on Thursday evening, Ezeiruaku's situation shifted from learning from and playing alongside one of the NFL's elite pass rushers to having to help replace him. Owner and general manager Jerry Jones traded him away to Green Bay in exchange for two first-round picks and three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark. Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer called 12 to 14 of his players in the aftermath of Parsons' trade becoming official Thursday night before he addressed the entire team in person on Friday. Ezeiruaku was one of those calls Friday morning. 

"The biggest thing would be some of the young guys are going to have to step up," Schottenheimer said Friday. "Donovan knows that." 

It certainly won't be easy replacing the four-time Pro Bowler. Parsons is the first player since sacks became an individual statistic in 1982 to have 12 or more sacks in each of his first four seasons. The Cowboys' defensive expected points added (EPA) per play when Parsons is on the field is the best in the NFL since 2021. When off the field in that same span, Dallas has the league's worst EPA per play, per CBS Sports Research. 

The Cowboys will certainly be looking for Ezeiruaku, whose 16.5 sacks at Boston College last season ranked as the second-most in college football, to pick up right where he left off in 2024. They need him in tandem with Clark and everyone else along Dallas' defensive line raising their respective games. 

"It doesn't change my expectations at all. I have high expectations for myself," Ezeiruaku said Friday. "I know my guys have high expectations for me, and we have high expectations for each other. It doesn't change much of that. Obviously, it's a void that we'll have to fill. I think we'll be able to fill that."

While Parsons may now have a fractured relationship with Jerry and Stephen Jones, that isn't the case with his now-former teammates in Dallas. Parsons called Ezeiruaku on Thursday night to personally let him know about what happened after the news broke on social media. Parsons made it a point to mentor the rookie early on in Dallas' offseason program, and that connection will last despite no longer being teammates. 

"He took me in. I had a brother, in my opinion, and that stemmed all the way from draft day," Ezeiruaku said. "As soon as I got drafted, he was one of the first people to reach out to me. So that's pretty much what it was. He taught me a lot in his moments and time being here. We will still talk. This is not like a funeral or anything like that where he's just not around or anything like that. We talked last night too. We had a phone call, and he's just like 'I'm still here for you.'" 

The biggest takeaways for the 21-year-old revolved around Parsons' technique and routine, both of which Ezeiruaku will continue to reflect on with Parsons now in Green Bay. 

"Some technique stuff. Obviously, I've always had a strong work ethic at the end of the day, but I got a chance to work out with him while we had some time off," Ezeiruaku said. "So his work ethic, how he moves about going [through his] day-to-day. Those are the things I've kind of taken from him."

Some people might shy away from the weight that comes from replacing an All-Pro-caliber player like Parsons, but the rookie views the transaction moving forward as a way to eat even more snaps earlier on in his NFL career. 

"Yeah, for sure. I think I've always been hungry, especially the guys in the room," Ezeiruaku said. "We've always been hungry to go get it. ... At the same time, we understand it's a big piece of the pie that's missing or that's not here anymore "We got to feel that, and I think that we're doing exactly that."

Schottenheimer claimed the depth of the Cowboys' edge rusher position room, including Ezeiruaku, served as a key factor in the decision to trade Parsons away being "unanimous." 

"That was a big part of it. You're always looking at different areas and when you look at the guys that we have that can create pass rush, Dante [Fowler] and Sam [Williams] certainly, drafting a guy like Donovan, James Houston's a guy that's come out of nowhere that we found on the streets and Marshawn Kneeland, there's guys that we have that play inside that can play outside, it was part of the decision," Schottenheimer said. "But this was not something that we just stumbled upon and said, 'Yeah, let's do this.' It was well thought out. It was a lot of conversations about it. Again at the end of the day, you've got to make sure that it works."

The addition of Clark, a three-time Pro Bowler, will also provide a major boost to the middle of the Cowboys' defensive line -- a weak spot with 2023 first-round pick Mazi Smith starting all 17 games. Dallas' defense ranked third-worst in the NFL in yards per carry allowed (4.8) and fourth-worst in the league in rushing yards allowed per game (137.1) in 2024.   

Violent and battle-hardened were two adjectives Schottenheimer gave CBS Sports when asked about Clark's fit in new defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus' attack front defensive line. A 29-year-old, three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle in the middle has the rookie eager to figure out how complete the Cowboys' new-look defense really is. Dallas will find out in under a week's time in the NFL's season-opening contest at the Super Bowl LIX Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 4. 

"It helps a lot because you can't rush the passer without stopping the run first," Ezeiruaku said of adding Clark. "I'm excited for Kenny to be over here. He seems like a cool dude. We already talked, chopped it up a little bit, but you know it'll be fun. ... He definitely adds a really solid piece to this defensive line. I can't say if it's [the defensive line] incomplete or complete, but I look forward to Thursday to find out."