B
Dallas Cowboys
A masterclass at the trade table lands the Cowboys a B.
by hcprez1 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 19 picks
· 10 steals
· 8 reaches
When the story of this class is written, it opens with Will Howard at the 99th overall pick, a reach of 138 spots that the board flatly disagrees with. Nothing here to lose sleep over; call it a B.
The Sampson pick is the one they will point to when this weekend is judged. The trade ledger is the best part of the whole weekend. Leaving tight end unaddressed is the roster risk they will have to answer for in the fall.
Good work on the whole, with tight end the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 25th pick they get a bendy edge with upside at a price that makes it sweeter. Need was not the driver here.
Logan Brown in slot 49 is early enough to raise a brow, if not a full objection. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Jahdae Barron in No. 51 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. A minor need, but a need all the same.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Derrick Harmon at the 56th overall pick is the proof. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Alfred Collins at Round 3, Pick 11 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Jake Majors in pick No. 79. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Evan Stewart in the 83rd pick is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They reached into another round for Deone Walker, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Riley Leonard. It fills a real need, too.
A big swing on Will Howard at No. 99, well ahead of any board in the building. The roster fit checks out.
Somehow Smael Mondon Jr. was still sitting there in slot 126, and they pounced on premier linebacker value. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Steal is underselling it; Kaleb Johnson at Round 5, Pick 11 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Taking Dylan Sampson in the 154th overall pick is close to grand larceny; a running back that good had no business lasting this long. A need, and now a little less of one.
A top-tier running back at a bargain, TreVeyon Henderson in pick 158, plain and simple. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Jay Higgins at slot 159 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
You do not let a linebacker like Danny Stutsman reach the 166th pick and blink. They did not. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A wild overpay on Hunter Wohler in the Round 5 slot, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. Stacking talent where they were already deep.
No edge and no loss on Daylen Everette in pick No. 170; it is a wash and a sensible one. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They talked themselves into Gentry Williams at No. 171, and the board did not agree. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.