D
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys found their guy under center in Sanders: D.
by Boke ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 22 picks
· 7 steals
· 9 reaches
The war room fell hard for KJ Jefferson, and it showed at slot 168: 120 picks ahead of a board that had other ideas.
They banked enough surplus on Simon to cover a lot of smaller sins. Shedeur Sanders gives the offense a face and a plan, and the grade leans heavily on whether he hits.
The dealing is the wound this class cannot quite close. The Winston Jr. pick is fine in a vacuum, less so with cornerback and tight end still on the board.
They covered a lot of ground and still skipped cornerback, which is a strange place to end up.
In the end, a class the front office will want to grow past quickly.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 1st overall pick they get a long-term answer under center at fair value. A real need, handled.
In Round 1, Pick 17 they get a go-to option on the outside. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Aireontae Ersery. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They barely believed it either: Nick Emmanwori still on the board at the Round 2 slot. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
Donovan Jackson at pick No. 49 is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Tyleik Williams at pick 57 is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the interior defensive lineman. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Deone Walker in pick No. 76 lands just on the right side of the ledger. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A reach for Elic Ayomanor in Round 3, Pick 17; a little patience would have been rewarded. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A curious use of slot 101. Cornerback and tight end needed the pick; a safety in Kevin Winston Jr. did not.
Steal is underselling it; TreVeyon Henderson at the Round 4 slot is a heist with the alarm still ringing. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
A real head-scratcher, Sai'vion Jones in pick 112 is miles ahead of his ranking. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
Demetrius Knight Jr. in the 117th pick should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A straight-up fair deal on Kobe King at No. 118, value and slot in agreement. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
They reached a country mile for Antwane Wells Jr. at the 140th overall pick, and the board is aghast. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Taking Cam Skattebo in pick No. 148 is close to grand larceny; a running back that good had no business lasting this long. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
KJ Jefferson in pick 168 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Raheim Sanders in the 170th pick is a gift, value that borders on unfair. A need, and now a little less of one.
Theo Wease Jr. at the Round 5 slot is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
The board fumbled Cody Simon all the way to slot 186, and they scooped it up. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A reach on DJ Campbell in No. 191; the board had better options right there. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
A big swing on Jamaree Caldwell at Round 6, Pick 34, well ahead of any board in the building. It fills a real need, too.
They did well to land Shilo Sanders in the 248th overall pick, just ahead of his grade. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.