B
Dallas Cowboys
Arroyo should have been long gone. The Cowboys pounced, and earned a B.
by Bubba ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 14 picks
· 11 steals
· 1 reaches
The Cowboys did not reach, did not trade up, did not blink. They just waited, and Elijah Arroyo fell into No. 249. Call it a sensible B, earned the boring way.
The cost of the Smith reach is exactly the players who went right after him. On the needs board they went 8 of 8, with wide receiver the one that mattered most.
Trading back for volume was the quiet throughline of their weekend.
Nothing here to lose sleep over, and plenty to feel decent about.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 25th overall pick they get a disruptor off the edge, and a steal at that. More want than need.
Nothing to complain about; Tyler Booker went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Azareye'h Thomas in pick 58 is fair value, right on his grade. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Taking Jalon Walker in No. 82 is close to grand larceny; a linebacker that good had no business lasting this long. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They robbed the room for Quinshon Judkins here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. It fills a real need, too.
Armand Membou at the Round 4 slot is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Jayden Higgins at slot 150 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
The board fumbled Walter Nolen all the way to the 170th pick, and they scooped it up. The roster fit checks out.
Demetrius Knight Jr. in the Round 5 slot is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Circle this one: Jeffrey Bassa at the 174th overall pick is a fall that decides a draft. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A top-tier quarterback at a bargain, Kyle McCord in pick 186, plain and simple. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Dont'e Thornton Jr. in Round 6, Pick 12 is a bargain the rest of the room will envy. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Donovan Smith. A need, and now a little less of one.
Somehow Elijah Arroyo was still sitting there in No. 249, and they pounced on premier tight end value. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.