B
Dallas Cowboys
A sensible, unshowy class lands the Cowboys a B.
by Ceeburleson ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 2 steals
· 3 reaches
You can draft well and still miss the point. The Cowboys did plenty of tidy work and somehow never got around to quarterback, which was the need that mattered most. Call it a sensible B, earned the boring way.
They will need Lee III to outplay his draft slot in a hurry to justify it. Whatever else happened, they won the night they took Styles.
On the needs board they went 5 of 8, with wide receiver the one that mattered most.
Good work on the whole, with quarterback the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 12 they get a coverage-and-run second-level piece. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In Round 1, Pick 20 they get a three-down second-level presence at a price that makes it sweeter. Exactly the need they had to hit.
Zakee Wheatley in the 92nd pick is exactly on the number, no argument either way. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
A premium they did not need to pay, Will Lee III a notch or two before his time. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Kage Casey at No. 152 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
They took Domani Jackson at par in the 177th overall pick, which is nothing to complain about. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
The board had Eric Rivers higher than the Round 5 slot, and the wide receiver fell to them anyway. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Kaelon Black in pick No. 218 is early enough to raise a brow, if not a full objection. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.