D
Dallas Cowboys
A costly weekend of dealing drags the Cowboys to a D.
by bbg ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 1 steals
· 2 reaches
If confidence were a draft strategy, the Cowboys would have aced it. Jacob Rodriguez at Round 2, Pick 5 is 37 spots clear of where he belonged.
They handed away value on the phones that the picks cannot earn back. For all the activity, wide receiver went untouched, which is hard to explain. They banked enough surplus on Hill Jr. to cover a lot of smaller sins.
Cornerback was the priority and it is no longer a question, which is most of the job.
Bottom line, they will be counting on several picks to beat their grades.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get an island corner. Exactly the need they had to hit.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Jacob Rodriguez well ahead of where he belonged. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Zion Young in pick No. 38 is exactly on the number, no argument either way. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
You do not let a linebacker like Anthony Hill Jr. reach slot 59 and blink. They did not. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Michael Taaffe at the 69th pick is right where the board had him, plain and simple. It adds depth where they could use a little.
Darrell Jackson Jr. at No. 99 nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
No drama and no debate, Seth McGowan went about where he belonged in pick No. 177. A need, and now a little less of one.
A reach for Pat Coogan in pick 180; a little patience would have been rewarded. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Miles Kitselman in Round 6, Pick 35 is fair value, right on his grade. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Lander Barton at the 218th pick is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.