Cowboys’ Donovan Ezeiruaku undergoes surgery, expected to miss most offseason activities

The Cowboys have high hopes for a second-season jump from outside linebacker Donovan Ezeiruaku. That won’t include a completely healthy off-season, however.

Ezeiruaku recently had labrum surgery on his hip, multiple people familiar with the situation said. He’s expected to miss most of the team’s offseason activity, but he’s expected to be ready for training camp in late July.

Ezeiruaku was selected by the Cowboys in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft. He was an All-American during his final season at Boston College. He was the leader in sacks among Division I his final season in college (16.5).

Ezeiruaku finished his rookie season with 40 tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble. While the sack production wasn’t as high as some expected, Ezeiruaku did impress with his run defense ability. He had nine tackles for loss in his rookie season. One of those came impressively against Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs, one of the fastest and quickest players in the league with the ball in his hands.

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Ezeiruaku will not only deal with hip surgery recovery, but he’ll also deal with a position change this offseason. The Cowboys plan to convert Ezeiruaku to an outside linebacker in new defensive coordinator Christian Parker’s 3-4 scheme.

“I feel really, really good about Eze and what he’s capable of,” Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said from the combine. “You actually saw him do those things that we see. Remember, these outside linebackers for us, the first thing that they’re gonna do is number one, set the edge of the running game. Number two, they’re gonna affect the damn quarterback. And then occasionally, they’ll drop.

“The really good ones, you don’t drop them very often, but you do it a little bit, and so what you want to see with guys like that, which we saw this year with Donovan, was when they drop, are they comfortable? Do they have movement skills? You see them, they look like a fish out of water? And all those answers for him are very, very positive.”

The Cowboys could have some change with their outside linebacker group this offseason. They’re expected to let free agent pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney hit the open market. They also moved linebacker Marist Liufau to outside linebacker in Parker’s scheme. Sam Williams and Dante Fowler are free agents. James Houston is also back on the roster. The Cowboys are also expected to actively pursue another outside linebacker, both in free agency and the draft.

NFL teams with returning head coaches, like the Cowboys, can begin off-season workout programs on April 20. The Cowboys haven’t set an exact date for their training camp in Oxnard, Calif., but it’s expected to happen in late July. We’ll see if Ezeiruaku will be healthy enough by then to fully participate.

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