D
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys got the worse of every deal, and it shows in the D.
by CMS ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 23 picks
· 12 steals
· 9 reaches
Nobody had Tyler Shough this high, and it is not close. The Cowboys reached 194 spots to get him at Round 7, Pick 12. It grades a D, and the process earned it.
Neal at that cost is the sort of edge that compounds over a roster. Overpaying at the table undid a lot of the good work elsewhere.
Leaving cornerback unaddressed is the roster risk they will have to answer for in the fall.
Add it up and it is a weekend the front office will hope everyone forgets, cornerback very much included.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 2nd overall pick they get a featured back at fair value.
In the 17th pick they get a pocket-collapsing interior rusher, outstanding value to boot. A clean fit for the roster.
The board had Luther Burden III higher than slot 33, and the wide receiver fell to them anyway. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Jalon Walker at No. 44 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Charles Grant in the Round 2 slot is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
No edge and no loss on Deone Walker in pick No. 67; it is a wash and a sensible one. The roster fit checks out.
Kaleb Johnson in pick 76 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. A need, and now a little less of one.
Rylie Mills at slot 93 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
They reached into another round for Howard Cross III, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
DJ Campbell in the Round 5 slot is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A top-tier safety at a bargain, Michael Taaffe in No. 167, plain and simple. A minor need, but a need all the same.
They robbed the room for Cam Skattebo here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Somehow Danny Stutsman was still sitting there in Round 5, Pick 33, and they pounced on premier linebacker value. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
They barely believed it either: Devin Neal still on the board at the 171st pick. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Cody Simon in No. 178 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Thor Griffith in slot 187, miles early. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Joey Slackman at the Round 6 slot is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They will replay Chris Paul Jr. at pick No. 203 for years; that is how good the value is. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Tyler Batty well ahead of where he belonged. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
Circle this one: Jack Kiser at the 214th overall pick is a fall that decides a draft. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They reached a country mile for Tyler Shough at pick 228, and the board is aghast. It fills a real need, too.
A big swing on Tommy Mellott at the 247th pick, well ahead of any board in the building. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Brant Kuithe at the Round 7 slot is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.