B
Dallas Cowboys
No fireworks, just a tidy B for the Cowboys.
by Komicozzy ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 1 steals
· 3 reaches
There is conviction, and then there is this. The Cowboys took Cole Payton a full 32 picks ahead of where the board had him, an overdraft steep enough that it colors the whole weekend. No fireworks, but a solid B.
That offensive lineman hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall. However the rest shakes out, Rivers at that price is a win they earned.
Small wins on the phones, but wins all the same. Job largely done: wide receiver settled and 4 of 8 of the wish list covered.
Add it up and it is a good, unfussy class.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 12 they get a coverage-and-run second-level piece. Exactly the need they had to hit.
In pick 28 they get a sticky cover corner at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
Good price on CJ Allen in Round 2, Pick 6, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Nothing to complain about; Kyle Louis went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
The board had Chandler Rivers higher than the 112th overall pick, and the cornerback fell to them anyway. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
The board had cheaper options than Kevin Coleman Jr. at No. 152, and it noticed. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A big swing on Cole Payton at pick No. 165, well ahead of any board in the building. The roster fit checks out.
A conviction pick on Jeff Caldwell at Round 5, Pick 37 that the board grades a round light. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.