B
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys robbed the room for Wheatley. Final grade: B.
by Crazylife ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 6 steals
· 0 reaches
The value of the weekend has a name and a slot: Zakee Wheatley, Round 4, Pick 12, roughly 27 picks past where he belonged.
That offensive lineman hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall. Job largely done: wide receiver settled and 4 of 8 of the wish list covered. The weekend tilted hard toward the defense.
The phones were busy but the ledger stayed level.
Bottom line, more hits than misses and a roster nudged the right way.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get a coverage-and-run second-level piece at a price that makes it sweeter. The biggest hole, addressed.
In slot 20 they get a downhill thumper at linebacker. Exactly the need they had to hit.
D'Angelo Ponds at No. 49 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Daylen Everette at pick No. 92 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Somehow Zakee Wheatley was still sitting there in the 112th overall pick, and they pounced on premier safety value. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
Nothing to complain about; Charles Demmings went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
The board had Caleb Douglas higher than Round 5, Pick 37, and the wide receiver fell to them anyway. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A slide stopped in the 180th pick, with Eric Rivers worth more than the price. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Dallen Bentley in the Round 7 slot is a gift, value that borders on unfair. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.