F
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys won the night they stopped Winston Jr. from sliding. Grade: F.
by daunte61 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 19 picks
· 12 steals
· 5 reaches
Every so often the board makes a mistake, and the Cowboys were there to profit. Kevin Winston Jr., the No. 92 name on the board, should have been long gone before pick No. 187.
They are betting Capehart proves the room right and everyone else wrong. Overpaying at the table undid a lot of the good work elsewhere.
If this class has a fault line, it runs straight through cornerback. Spend now, pay later; the math only works if this class delivers.
There is no soft landing here: they fought the board and left cornerback open, and the grade is the bill.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 17 they get a load in the middle. A real need, handled.
In the 20th overall pick they get a matchup problem out wide, though they paid up to get him. The biggest hole, addressed.
Somehow Malaki Starks was still sitting there in pick 44, and they pounced on premier safety value. It adds depth where they could use a little.
Armand Membou in the 49th pick is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Omarion Hampton at pick No. 54 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
A top-tier offensive lineman at a bargain, Tyler Booker in Round 3, Pick 3, plain and simple. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
A linebacker of that caliber at the Round 3 slot is the definition of value, full stop. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A tidy bit of business in slot 76, where TreVeyon Henderson graded well above the range. The roster fit checks out.
Evan Stewart at the 93rd overall pick is right where the board had him, plain and simple. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A wild overpay on Rylie Mills in the Round 4 slot, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Jaxson Dart. A need, and now a little less of one.
DeMonte Capehart at the 118th pick is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They robbed the room for Elic Ayomanor here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
The board fumbled Nicholas Singleton all the way to slot 168, and they scooped it up. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
They barely believed it either: Smael Mondon Jr. still on the board at pick 170. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Steal is underselling it; Cam Skattebo at No. 171 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
You do not let a safety like Kevin Winston Jr. reach slot 187 and blink. They did not. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.
Taking Lathan Ransom in the 190th overall pick is close to grand larceny; a safety that good had no business lasting this long. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.
Mason Taylor in No. 192 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.