D+
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys bled value on every deal, hence the D+.
by Boke ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 17 picks
· 5 steals
· 3 reaches
You can fall in love with a player. You are not supposed to marry him in the wrong round. The Cowboys did exactly that with Cade Klubnik in the 92nd pick. Put together, it is a D+.
Overpaying at the table undid a lot of the good work elsewhere. The Golday value carries more weight than any single miss elsewhere.
The Cowboys clearly valued win-now help, adding bodies who have done it before. Wide receiver is handled and the depth chart looks a good deal healthier for it.
Bottom line, they will be counting on several picks to beat their grades.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get an enforcer at safety at fair value.
In No. 12 they get a lockdown presence outside at fair value. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In the 20th overall pick they get a true top target. The biggest hole, addressed.
In Round 1, Pick 24 they get a cornerstone up front at fair value. Exactly the need they had to hit.
A straight-up fair deal on Anthony Hill Jr. at slot 39, value and slot in agreement. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Circle this one: Lee Hunter at pick No. 70 is a fall that decides a draft. It fills a real need, too.
The board fumbled Eli Stowers all the way to pick No. 75, and they scooped it up. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
A top-tier edge rusher at a bargain, Jake Golday in No. 87, plain and simple. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Cade Klubnik at the 92nd overall pick is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They read the board right and Zakee Wheatley was the payoff at Round 4, Pick 7. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Mason Reiger in pick 112, miles early. Stacking talent where they were already deep.
Julian Neal in the Round 4 slot is exactly on the number, no argument either way. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They talked themselves into Kaytron Allen at slot 130, and the board did not agree. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
By-the-book stuff, Harold Perkins Jr. at the 135th pick squarely in line with his ranking. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
No edge and no loss on Jaeden Roberts in the 152nd overall pick; it is a wash and a sensible one. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Zxavian Harris at the Round 5 slot nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. The roster fit checks out.
A slide stopped in Round 5, Pick 37, with Kevin Coleman Jr. worth more than the price. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.