B-
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys won the night they stopped Brooks from sliding. Grade: B-.
by gflex ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 14 picks
· 8 steals
· 5 reaches
Call it larceny. Tahj Brooks sat on the board until pick 190, and the Cowboys did not need to be asked twice. They moved the roster forward and banked a B- for it.
They are betting Crenshaw-Dickson proves the room right and everyone else wrong. A whole weekend of picks and cornerback is somehow still a want. They went 6 of 8 on their needs, which is most of what a draft is for.
They bet on numbers rather than a single high pick.
All told, a draft that does its job without fuss, and there is real value in that.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick No. 27 they get a problem off the edge, outstanding value to boot.
A straight-up fair deal on Alfred Collins at the Round 2 slot, value and slot in agreement. A need, and now a little less of one.
Tate Ratledge at the 59th pick is a conviction pick that outran the value. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Carson Schwesinger in slot 76 is the kind of reach that only looks good if he outplays it. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
The board had Jack Bech higher than Round 3, Pick 22, and the wide receiver fell to them anyway. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A top-tier running back at a bargain, Cam Skattebo in pick 137, plain and simple. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
A linebacker of that caliber at No. 170 is the definition of value, full stop. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Mitchell Evans in the 172nd overall pick should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
A conviction pick on Jaylen Reed at the Round 5 slot that the board grades a round light. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
Logan Brown in pick 178 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
CJ West at No. 187 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Steal is underselling it; Tahj Brooks at the 190th pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Karene Reid at pick No. 211 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A real head-scratcher, Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson in Round 7, Pick 31 is miles ahead of his ranking. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.