D
Dallas Cowboys
Best value of the weekend goes to the Cowboys for Winston Jr.: D.
by Pastor ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 22 picks
· 5 steals
· 11 reaches
The tape said wait; the Cowboys did not. Emery Jones Jr. went at the 127th overall pick, a good 60 picks before the board was ready. Put together, it is a D.
The Winston Jr. pick alone nudges the whole weekend up a notch. They handed away value on the phones that the picks cannot earn back.
That quarterback hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall. The Williams pick is fine in a vacuum, less so with quarterback and tight end still on the board.
Add it up and it is a weekend the front office will hope everyone forgets, quarterback very much included.
Pick-by-Pick
Fair-plus on Abdul Carter, a quiet win that adds up over a draft. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
In the 19th overall pick they get a two-high chess piece, and a steal at that. More want than need.
In slot 20 they get a No. 1 receiver. Exactly the need they had to hit.
In pick No. 21 they get a green-dot type in the middle at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
No edge and no loss on Tate Ratledge in pick No. 33; it is a wash and a sensible one. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Omarion Hampton in the 35th pick. The roster fit checks out.
A surprising call. With quarterback and tight end still to address, they spent pick 39 on Mykel Williams, an edge rusher they were not short of.
They liked Aireontae Ersery enough to skip the value, taking him in slot 45. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
The board had cheaper options than Deone Walker at the 57th overall pick, and it noticed. A need, and now a little less of one.
A big swing on Danny Stutsman at Round 2, Pick 31, well ahead of any board in the building. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
The eyebrow-raiser of the weekend. They went safety with Andrew Mukuba while clear needs at quarterback and tight end sat open.
A conviction pick on Tacario Davis at No. 81 that the board grades a round light. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Dontay Corleone in Round 3, Pick 20 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Daylen Everette in pick 93, miles early. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They bypassed pressing needs at quarterback and tight end to take Donovan Ezeiruaku, an edge rusher that was not the priority.
They reached into another round for Jaeden Roberts, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Emery Jones Jr. this early at No. 127. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A top-tier linebacker at a bargain, Barrett Carter in slot 132, plain and simple. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
They reached a country mile for Raheim Sanders at the 134th overall pick, and the board is aghast. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A wild overpay on Nazir Stackhouse in the Round 5 slot, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Taking Kevin Winston Jr. in pick No. 168 is close to grand larceny; a safety that good had no business lasting this long. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.
They paid a round early for Shemar Turner in slot 170, more than the board wanted. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.