D
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys bled value on every deal, hence the D.
by Pastor ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 14 picks
· 4 steals
· 6 reaches
The Cowboys torched the value chart for Emery Jones Jr., taking him 87 spots sooner than anyone had him slotted. It grades a D, and the process earned it.
Overpaying at the table undid a lot of the good work elsewhere. If one pick saves this weekend, it is Sampson.
The roster is better shaped than it was, with wide receiver chief among the fixes.
Bottom line, they will be counting on several picks to beat their grades.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick No. 7 they get an every-down engine for the run game. A real need, handled.
In Round 1, Pick 14 they get a quarterback's worst nightmare at fair value. Need was not the driver here.
In the 23rd overall pick they get a three-down second-level presence at fair value. Exactly the need they had to hit.
Kenneth Grant slid further than he should have, and slot 34 is lovely value for the interior defensive lineman. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
You do not let a safety like Nick Emmanwori reach the Round 2 slot and blink. They did not. It adds depth where they could use a little.
They paid up for Deone Walker at the 53rd pick when waiting would have done the job. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A market-rate wide receiver, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Jalen Royals. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
The board had cheaper options than Danny Stutsman at slot 72, and it noticed. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
The board fumbled Tyler Warren all the way to the 76th pick, and they scooped it up. A need, and now a little less of one.
A big swing on Daylen Everette at pick No. 77, well ahead of any board in the building. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Cade Klubnik at Round 3, Pick 17 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. It fills a real need, too.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Patrick Payton well ahead of where he belonged. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.
Dylan Sampson in the Round 3 slot is a gift, value that borders on unfair. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Emery Jones Jr. in the 94th overall pick is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.