D
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys got the worse of every deal, and it shows in the D.
by Pastor ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 27 picks
· 9 steals
· 12 reaches
If confidence were a draft strategy, the Cowboys would have aced it. Thor Griffith at the 170th pick is 114 spots clear of where he belonged. It grades a D, and the process earned it.
The Gordon II pick alone nudges the whole weekend up a notch. The trades bled value they could not afford to lose. The Cowboys clearly valued win-now help, adding bodies who have done it before.
Stockpiling next year's capital is patient, if unglamorous, asset work.
A rough weekend that leaves the roster with more questions than answers.
Pick-by-Pick
A slide stopped in slot 12, with Ashton Jeanty worth more than the price. The roster fit checks out.
In the Round 1 slot they get a coverage-and-run second-level piece. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In the 23rd overall pick they get a downhill hitter at safety at fair value. More want than need.
A straight-up fair deal on Jonah Savaiinaea at Round 2, Pick 1, value and slot in agreement. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Grey Zabel at the 40th pick is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Value said wait; Ashton Gillotte in pick 44 says they were not listening. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Alfred Collins in pick 52 is the kind of reach that only looks good if he outplays it. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Jalen Royals in slot 54 is early enough to raise a brow, if not a full objection. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A big swing on Danny Stutsman at the 66th pick, well ahead of any board in the building. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
A top-tier tight end at a bargain, Colston Loveland in No. 73, plain and simple. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Somehow Kamari Ramsey was still sitting there in the Round 3 slot, and they pounced on premier safety value. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.
A market-rate offensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Donovan Jackson. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A wild overpay on Daylen Everette in pick No. 93, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
No drama and no debate, Carson Beck went about where he belonged in the 94th overall pick. It fills a real need, too.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Charles Grant at the 102nd overall pick is the proof. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
They talked themselves into Nazir Stackhouse at pick No. 108, and the board did not agree. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Jamon Dumas-Johnson at Round 4, Pick 33 is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Emery Jones Jr. in slot 136 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They robbed the room for Elic Ayomanor here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They paid sticker price for Raheim Sanders in pick 148, and that is fine. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
A safety of that caliber at the Round 5 slot is the definition of value, full stop. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.
Chris Paul Jr. in No. 159 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Lander Barton at No. 167 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.
Anthony Belton at slot 168 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Thor Griffith this early at the Round 5 slot. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A real head-scratcher, Jonah Monheim in Round 6, Pick 12 is miles ahead of his ranking. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Ollie Gordon II at pick 252 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.