B-
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys did the meat-and-potatoes work well: B-.
by lstevenson555 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 21 picks
· 12 steals
· 7 reaches
The move everyone will second-guess came early. The Cowboys reached some 92 spots for Jake Briningstool, and value like that does not grow back.
However the rest shakes out, Ransom at that price is a win they earned. A whole weekend of picks and quarterback is somehow still a want. The Jonathan Taylor deal gives the class an established piece to lean on.
Job largely done: wide receiver settled and 7 of 8 of the wish list covered.
A tidy weekend of work that should hold up just fine.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick No. 12 they get a go-to option on the outside, even if it was a touch early. Exactly the need they had to hit.
They will replay Jalon Walker at Round 2, Pick 13 for years; that is how good the value is. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Dylan Sampson in the 94th pick is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Donovan Jackson at pick 103 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A quiet steal in No. 128: Jordan Phillips for less than the market said. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Fair-plus on Shemar Turner, a quiet win that adds up over a draft. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Ajani Cornelius in slot 138 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Nice patience on Emery Jones Jr., who had no business lasting to the 139th overall pick. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Kyren Lacy slipping to the Round 5 slot is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Jay Higgins at the 151st pick. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Jake Briningstool in Round 5, Pick 17, miles early. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A slide stopped in No. 172, with Earnest Greene III worth more than the price. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Lathan Ransom in pick 174 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A minor need, but a need all the same.
Hayden Conner in pick No. 187 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Phil Mafah at Round 6, Pick 11 is the proof. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They reached a country mile for CJ West at the 190th pick, and the board is aghast. The roster fit checks out.
Jahvaree Ritzie in the Round 6 slot is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. A need, and now a little less of one.
Ja'Corey Brooks in slot 212 is the kind of reach that only looks good if he outplays it. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Taking Quincy Riley in the 226th overall pick is close to grand larceny; a cornerback that good had no business lasting this long. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
DJ Campbell at No. 233 is a conviction pick that outran the value. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They took Torricelli Simpkins III at par in pick 252, which is nothing to complain about. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.