A-
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys let Sanders fall into their laps, and walked away with a A-.
by chismjohn ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 18 picks
· 13 steals
· 1 reaches
Somebody in the 248th pick was going to get robbed, and it turned out to be the rest of the league. The Cowboys sat still while Raheim Sanders, the No. 156 name on the board, slid all the way to them, then sprinted to the podium. Little to argue with here, and the A- says so.
The dealing alone would carry a lesser class. The Stewart pick reads as want over need, and the roster will feel it at quarterback and interior defensive lineman.
That quarterback hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall. The cost of the Riley reach is exactly the players who went right after him.
A strong weekend's work, and a rare one to find this little fault with.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 15 they get a problem off the edge. More want than need.
The needs board was loud and they turned it down, spending the Round 1 slot on Shemar Stewart with quarterback and interior defensive lineman unsolved.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Tyler Booker at Round 2, Pick 17 is the proof. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Jalon Walker at the 53rd pick is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
You do not let a running back like Kaleb Johnson reach the 89th overall pick and blink. They did not. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Savion Williams in pick 95 is fair value, right on his grade. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They robbed the room for Dylan Fairchild here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
A slide stopped in No. 126, with Tory Horton worth more than the price. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Quinshon Judkins in the 128th pick is a gift, value that borders on unfair. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Taking Carson Schwesinger in slot 148 is close to grand larceny; a linebacker that good had no business lasting this long. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Tommi Hill at No. 166 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They liked Quincy Riley enough to skip the value, taking him in the 168th overall pick. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
They barely believed it either: Terrance Ferguson still on the board at pick 170. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Barrett Carter at Round 5, Pick 34 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Robert Spears-Jennings in the Round 5 slot is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. It adds depth where they could use a little.
Somehow Smael Mondon Jr. was still sitting there in pick No. 186, and they pounced on premier linebacker value. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Hayden Conner in the 209th overall pick lands just on the right side of the ledger. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Raheim Sanders in Round 7, Pick 32 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. It fills a real need, too.