C+
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys cashed the board's mistake on Knight Jr.: C+.
by Daunte61 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 16 picks
· 16 steals
· 0 reaches
The Cowboys did not reach, did not trade up, did not blink. They just waited, and Demetrius Knight Jr. fell into No. 249. It lands right in the middle: a C+, no more, no less.
The trades cost them a sliver of value they did not need to spend. They went 8 of 8 on their needs, which is most of what a draft is for. It is a win-now wager, and the future is the stake.
Value over need was the throughline, for better and worse.
So much rides on Ashton Jeanty that the real verdict is a season or two away.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 12 they get a premier pass rusher at a price that makes it sweeter.
In the 20th overall pick they get a bell-cow for the offense, outstanding value to boot. A real need, handled.
They will replay Walter Nolen at slot 44 for years; that is how good the value is. It fills a real need, too.
Somehow Wyatt Milum was still sitting there in pick No. 76, and they pounced on premier offensive lineman value. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They barely believed it either: Tyler Booker still on the board at pick 80. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A top-tier safety at a bargain, Nick Emmanwori in the 112th pick, plain and simple. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Jihaad Campbell at the Round 4 slot is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Jack Bech in Round 4, Pick 20 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
You do not let a wide receiver like Savion Williams reach the Round 4 slot and blink. They did not. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Taking Cam Skattebo in slot 139 is close to grand larceny; a running back that good had no business lasting this long. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Trey Amos in pick 170 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
A quarterback of that caliber at No. 172 is the definition of value, full stop. A need, and now a little less of one.
Zy Alexander at pick No. 174 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Elijah Arroyo in Round 6, Pick 12 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
The board fumbled Dont'e Thornton Jr. all the way to the 211th overall pick, and they scooped it up. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Demetrius Knight Jr. at the 249th pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.