D
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys drew a line under the quarterback search with Ewers: D.
by [email protected] ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 21 picks
· 11 steals
· 4 reaches
The Cowboys put a flag in the ground for Alfred Collins, 70 picks before anyone else would have, and the value took the hit. Put together, it is a D.
The Smith steal is the beam this whole class leans on. The whole projection now runs through Quinn Ewers; hit there and everything else looks smarter. The dealing is the wound this class cannot quite close.
It is not that Moore is a bad player; it is that the Cowboys had louder needs to answer first. They will regret leaving linebacker for another day if the season turns on it.
The verdict is not kind, and fairly so; this class has a hill to climb.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 2nd overall pick they get a sticky cover corner at fair value. Exactly the need they had to hit.
In pick 19 they get their quarterback of the future. A clean fit for the roster.
Emery Jones Jr. in the 33rd pick is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Value with a capital V on Landon Jackson in the Round 2 slot, a genuine coup. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
A slide stopped in pick No. 83, with Nicholas Singleton worth more than the price. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
They paid up for DeMonte Capehart at Round 4, Pick 16 when waiting would have done the job. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Hard to square with the roster. With positions of obvious need still on the board, Derrick Moore adds an edge rusher and leaves linebacker and tight end untouched.
Julian Fleming at pick 153 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.
Connor Colby slipping to No. 157 is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Aubrey Burks in the 169th pick. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
Donovan Smith at slot 170 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They talked themselves into Aeneas Peebles at pick No. 171, and the board did not agree. It fills a real need, too.
Tez Johnson at the Round 6 slot is money in the bank, a wide receiver taken below his worth. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
No edge and no loss on Quinn Carroll in the 188th overall pick; it is a wash and a sensible one. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Alfred Collins at pick No. 203 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They read the board right and Dasan McCullough was the payoff at the Round 6 slot. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
Amari Kight slid further than he should have, and No. 208 is lovely value for the offensive lineman. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A quiet steal in slot 239: Damien Martinez for less than the market said. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
A straight-up fair deal on Tim Smith at the 245th overall pick, value and slot in agreement. The roster fit checks out.
Jimmy Horn Jr. at Round 7, Pick 33 is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the wide receiver. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A tidy bit of business in the 254th pick, where Will Sheppard graded well above the range. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.