COWBOYS MOCK DRAFT GRADE D+

  1. Home
  2. My Stuff
  3. 4426 DC1

4426 DC1 D+

URL 4426-dc1-cowboys-4129

Letter grade with a four-component score, written analysis, and a pick-by-pick breakdown for every selection in this saved mock.

My Mock Drafts →
Grade another draft →
D+

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys bled value on every deal, hence the D+.

by Boke · 2026 NFL Draft · 12 picks · 2 steals · 6 reaches
Value C
Need B
Trades F
Future C-

Call it a hunch or call it a gamble, but the Cowboys spent No. 180 on Patrick Payton, a name most had 68 spots down the list. It grades a D+, and the process earned it.

The dealing is the wound this class cannot quite close. The Kamara pick is fine in a vacuum, less so with quarterback still on the board.

If this class has a fault line, it runs straight through quarterback. Getting Golday where they did is the sort of value that quietly makes a class.

Spend now, pay later; the math only works if this class delivers.

Add it up and it is a weekend the front office will hope everyone forgets, quarterback very much included.

Pick-by-Pick

R1.6 · Pick 6 · Sonny Styles · LB · rank 21
In slot 6 they get a coverage-and-run second-level piece, even if it was a touch early. The biggest hole, addressed.
R2.15 · Pick 47 · Caleb Tiernan · OT · rank 54
A straight-up fair deal on Caleb Tiernan at the Round 2 slot, value and slot in agreement. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
R3.11 · Pick 75 · Emmanuel McNeil-Warren · S · rank 51
Steal is underselling it; Emmanuel McNeil-Warren at No. 75 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. A minor need, but a need all the same.
R3.28 · Pick 92 · Jake Golday · OLB · rank 59
They barely believed it either: Jake Golday still on the board at the 92nd pick. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
R4.12 · Pick 112 · Mikail Kamara · DE-EDGE · rank 153
A curious use of Round 4, Pick 12. Quarterback needed the pick; an edge rusher in Mikail Kamara did not.
R5.12 · Pick 152 · Zxavian Harris · DT · rank 155
By-the-book stuff, Zxavian Harris at the 152nd overall pick squarely in line with his ranking. A need, and now a little less of one.
R5.37 · Pick 177 · Ephesians Prysock · CB · rank 190
A premium they did not need to pay, Ephesians Prysock a notch or two before his time. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
R5.40 · Pick 180 · Patrick Payton · DE-EDGE · rank 248
They reached into another round for Patrick Payton, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. They doubled down on a strength rather than a need.
R6.8 · Pick 189 · Eric McAlister · WR · rank 197
Eric McAlister at the 189th overall pick jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
R6.18 · Pick 199 · VJ Payne · S · rank 196
VJ Payne at pick No. 199 nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.
R7.2 · Pick 218 · Terion Stewart · RB · rank 240
Value said wait; Terion Stewart in No. 218 says they were not listening. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
R7.10 · Pick 226 · Miles Kitselman · TE · rank 225
Miles Kitselman in Round 7, Pick 10 is fair value, right on his grade. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
View Full Draft