B-
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys checked most of the boxes and earned a B-.
by MASON_67 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 2 steals
· 3 reaches
The Cowboys spent real capital to be 62 picks early on Jack Pyburn, and the board is going to hold them to it.
Leaving cornerback unaddressed is the roster risk they will have to answer for in the fall. Clark falling to them is the kind of break a good board is built to catch. They went 5 of 8 on their needs, which is most of what a draft is for.
Good work on the whole, with cornerback the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 12 they get a workhorse for the backfield, and a steal at that. A clean fit for the roster.
In the Round 1 slot they get the heartbeat of the defense. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
Max Llewellyn at No. 92 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A minor itch, scratched.
They read the board right and Bud Clark was the payoff at Round 4, Pick 12. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Zane Durant this early at the 152nd overall pick. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Febechi Nwaiwu in slot 177 lands just on the right side of the ledger. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
By-the-book stuff, Jeff Caldwell at pick No. 180 squarely in line with his ranking. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They talked themselves into Jack Pyburn at Round 7, Pick 2, and the board did not agree. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.