D
Dallas Cowboys
The phones sank the Cowboys this weekend: D.
by GameNutt ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 19 picks
· 11 steals
· 1 reaches
The Cowboys clearly saw something nobody else did in Thor Griffith, taking him 112 picks ahead of his grade. The board is not convinced. It grades a D, and the process earned it.
That Henderson pick is the receipt they will wave around later. The trades bled value they could not afford to lose.
The Cowboys indulged a want in Emmanwori while a need in cornerback and quarterback stayed open. A whole weekend of picks and cornerback is somehow still a want.
It is a steep hill from here, and the grade knows it.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 3rd overall pick they get an every-down engine for the run game. A real need, handled.
Fair-plus on Mason Graham, a quiet win that adds up over a draft. It fills a real need, too.
In pick 14 they get a premier pass rusher at fair value. More want than need.
They let Malaki Starks come to them and pounced at pick No. 34. A minor itch, scratched.
Jalon Walker in Round 2, Pick 7 is a bargain the rest of the room will envy. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Of all the spots to shop, they chose safety. Nick Emmanwori in slot 45 leaves cornerback and quarterback for later.
A market-rate interior defensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Deone Walker. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
A top-tier running back at a bargain, Dylan Sampson in slot 80, plain and simple. A need, and now a little less of one.
Good price on Elic Ayomanor in Round 4, Pick 2, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Mason Taylor in No. 108 lands just on the right side of the ledger. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They will replay Harold Perkins Jr. at the 149th overall pick for years; that is how good the value is. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
TreVeyon Henderson in the 151st pick is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
They barely believed it either: Lander Barton still on the board at the Round 5 slot. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They did well to land Jake Slaughter in pick 170, just ahead of his grade. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Thor Griffith at the Round 5 slot is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
The board fumbled Smael Mondon Jr. all the way to Round 6, Pick 15, and they scooped it up. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Steal is underselling it; Ollie Gordon II at pick 209 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. The roster fit checks out.
Taking Xavier Nwankpa in slot 218 is close to grand larceny; a safety that good had no business lasting this long. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
Ar'maj Reed-Adams at the 221st pick 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.