D+
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys won the night they stopped Skattebo from sliding. Grade: D+.
by Boke ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 17 picks
· 7 steals
· 7 reaches
The Cowboys treated their own grade as gospel and everyone else's as noise, spending No. 168 on Jamaree Caldwell a full 121 spots early.
The Skattebo value carries more weight than any single miss elsewhere. The dealing is the wound this class cannot quite close.
They will answer for taking safety early while tight end went begging. Leaving tight end unaddressed is the roster risk they will have to answer for in the fall.
A rough weekend that leaves the roster with more questions than answers.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 7 they get a difference-maker at receiver. Exactly the need they had to hit.
In the 12th pick they get a load in the middle at fair value. A real need, handled.
They liked Jalen Milroe enough to skip the value, taking him in pick No. 42. A need, and now a little less of one.
Steal is underselling it; Nick Emmanwori at Round 2, Pick 12 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
They reached into another round for Donovan Jackson, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Hard to square with the roster. With positions of obvious need still on the board, Xavier Watts adds a safety and leaves tight end untouched.
Azareye'h Thomas in the 92nd overall pick is exactly on the number, no argument either way. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A quiet steal in pick 108: Tez Johnson for less than the market said. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Emery Jones Jr. this early at slot 109. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Quinshon Judkins at Round 4, Pick 11 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A big swing on Theo Wease Jr. at No. 148, well ahead of any board in the building. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Jamaree Caldwell at pick No. 168 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
A linebacker of that caliber at slot 170 is the definition of value, full stop. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Cody Simon at Round 5, Pick 36 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
A real head-scratcher, Tyler Batty in pick 186 is miles ahead of his ranking. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
They reached a country mile for KJ Jefferson at No. 209, and the board is aghast. It fills a real need, too.
Circle this one: Cam Skattebo at the 248th overall pick is a fall that decides a draft. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.