D+
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys robbed the room for Stout. Final grade: D+.
by CJAdkison ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 10 steals
· 0 reaches
Thirty-one other rooms let Upton Stout slide, and the Cowboys were the ones holding the card at the 247th overall pick. Highway robbery. Too much went sideways, and the D+ is the honest tally.
Overpaying at the table undid a lot of the good work elsewhere. They will regret leaving linebacker for another day if the season turns on it.
It is a bet on later, and a defensible one for a team playing the long game. Wide receiver was the priority and it is no longer a question, which is most of the job.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even, and linebacker is still a hole.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 12 they get an anchor for the offensive line at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
They paid sticker price for Kaleb Johnson in pick No. 44, and that is fine. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
No edge and no loss on Donovan Jackson in pick 76; it is a wash and a sensible one. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They read the board right and Maxwell Hairston was the payoff at No. 87. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Steal is underselling it; Andrew Mukuba at the Round 4 slot is a heist with the alarm still ringing. It adds depth where they could use a little.
A tidy bit of business in the 117th pick, where Jordan Phillips graded well above the range. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They barely believed it either: Savion Williams still on the board at the 120th overall pick. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They will replay Charles Grant at slot 124 for years; that is how good the value is. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They robbed the room for Brashard Smith here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Tyler Shough at the 171st pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Pat Bryant at Round 6, Pick 12 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Circle this one: Quincy Riley at the Round 6 slot is a fall that decides a draft. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Upton Stout in the 247th overall pick is a gift, value that borders on unfair. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.