Dallas has spent all offseason rebuilding its defense. That much is obvious. But one of the biggest questions still hanging over the team is the secondary. And the answer might be a second-year player who barely saw the field as a rookie.
Shavon Revel Jr. didn’t do much in 2025. Seven games. Three passes defensed. A handful of tackles. Nothing that jumps off the stat sheet. But the Cowboys took him in the third round for a reason. They just had to wait a year to see it.
Why Revel slipped in the draft
Revel tore his ACL during his final college season. Before that injury, scouts had him pegged as a potential first-round pick. He’s got the size at 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds. The athleticism is there too. But the injury scared teams off, and Dallas grabbed him at pick 76.
Recovery took most of his rookie year. He didn’t play until Week 11. And even then, he was clearly still working his way back. Now he’s got a full offseason of health for the first time since college. That changes things.
The Athletic’s Jon Machota picked Revel as Dallas’ breakout candidate for the upcoming season. Machota pointed out that cornerback remains the shakiest spot on the roster. That’s not breaking news to anyone who watched the Cowboys secondary get torched down the stretch last year.
Revel hasn’t earned anything yet. But training camp should tell us a lot. He’ll go head-to-head with CeeDee Lamb in practice every day. That’s a brutal test for any corner. And the Cowboys also added George Pickens, so Revel will get work against two very different types of receivers. Lamb with his route-running. Pickens with his physicality and contested catches. That’s about as good a proving ground as you can ask for.
Dallas reports for camp on July 28. Full practices start the next day. Expect a real competition for that starting outside corner spot. The job is there for the taking if Revel shows he’s all the way back.
Nobody’s calling him a star yet. But the path to becoming one is wide open.
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