A-
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys won the weekend at the trade table. Grade: A-.
by Fins1981 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 24 picks
· 12 steals
· 5 reaches
If confidence were a draft strategy, the Cowboys would have aced it. Colbie Young at the 257th overall pick is 65 spots clear of where he belonged. Just about everything broke right, and the A- follows.
Landing Allen that late papers over a lot of smaller sins. They robbed the room blind at the table, and it lifts the grade on its own.
Bottom line, with Anthony Hill Jr. leading the way, this is a class that should pay off fast and rarely be regretted.
Pick-by-Pick
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Anthony Hill Jr. at pick No. 49. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
The board fumbled CJ Allen all the way to slot 62, and they scooped it up. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A top-tier interior defensive lineman at a bargain, Lee Hunter in the 70th overall pick, plain and simple. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Emmanuel McNeil-Warren at the Round 3 slot is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
Keionte Scott in No. 92 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
The board had Darrell Jackson Jr. higher than pick 107, and the interior defensive lineman fell to them anyway. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Mason Reiger at pick No. 108 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. It adds depth where they could use a little.
A tidy bit of business in Round 4, Pick 10, where Nicholas Singleton graded well above the range. It fills a real need, too.
Keyron Crawford in pick 112 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.
They barely believed it either: Sam Hecht still on the board at slot 114. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Justin Joly in the Round 4 slot is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
A market-rate tight end, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Eli Raridon. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Dametrious Crownover slipping to No. 152 is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
No edge and no loss on Domani Jackson in the 171st overall pick; it is a wash and a sensible one. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Marlin Klein at the 177th overall pick nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They read the board right and Febechi Nwaiwu was the payoff at pick 180. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Jeff Caldwell at the Round 6 slot is the proof. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Nice patience on Taylen Green, who had no business lasting to the 196th pick. The roster fit checks out.
They reached into another round for Charles Demmings, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A tidy little value on Jimmy Rolder in No. 218, a step better than break-even. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A straight-up fair deal on Eli Heidenreich at slot 226, value and slot in agreement. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Bryce Foster in pick No. 247 is exactly on the number, no argument either way. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Hykeem Williams well ahead of where he belonged. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Colbie Young this early at the 257th overall pick. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.