Somebody in the 216th pick was going to get robbed, and it turned out to be the rest of the league. The Cowboys sat still while Ainias Smith, the No. 140 name on the board, slid all the way to them, then sprinted to the podium. Too much went sideways, and the D- is the honest tally.
They lost the exchange badly enough to drag the whole class down. Reaching for Gray left real value on the table behind him. The whole projection now runs through Jayden Daniels; hit there and everything else looks smarter.
They covered a lot of ground and still skipped tight end, which is a strange place to end up.
Add it up and it is a weekend the front office will hope everyone forgets, tight end very much included.
Pick-by-Pick
R1.11
· Pick 11
· Jayden Daniels
· QB
· rank 6
In No. 11 they get the face of the franchise. A real need, handled.
R1.23
· Pick 23
· Jackson Powers-Johnson
· C
· rank 30
In the 23rd overall pick they get a building block for the line at fair value. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
R1.24
· Pick 24
· Amarius Mims
· OT
· rank 23
In slot 24 they get a cornerstone up front. Exactly the need they had to hit.
R2.8
· Pick 40
· T'Vondre Sweat
· DT
· rank 64
They reached a country mile for T'Vondre Sweat at the 40th pick, and the board is aghast. The roster fit checks out.
R2.24
· Pick 56
· Jonathon Brooks
· RB
· rank 44
Jonathon Brooks slipping to pick 56 is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
R3.24
· Pick 87
· Cedric Gray
· LB
· rank 119
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Cedric Gray well ahead of where he belonged. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
R4.8
· Pick 108
· Khyree Jackson
· CB
· rank 95
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Khyree Jackson at the 108th overall pick is the proof. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
R5.38
· Pick 174
· Justin Eboigbe
· DL-EDGE
· rank 193
Justin Eboigbe in the Round 5 slot is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
R6.41
· Pick 216
· Ainias Smith
· WR
· rank 140
A wide receiver of that caliber at Round 6, Pick 41 is the definition of value, full stop. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
R7.13
· Pick 233
· Josh Proctor
· S
· rank 202
Circle this one: Josh Proctor at No. 233 is a fall that decides a draft. A minor need, but a need all the same.
R7.24
· Pick 244
· Julian Pearl
· OT
· rank 227
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Julian Pearl at No. 244. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
