D+
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys bled value on every deal, hence the D+.
by CMS ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 20 picks
· 11 steals
· 7 reaches
Some picks age like wine; Joey Slackman at slot 168 will need to, sitting 111 spots clear of his grade. The math is unkind, and the D+ follows.
Brooks falling to them is the kind of break a good board is built to catch. They handed away value on the phones that the picks cannot earn back. 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 pick No. 1 they get a long-term starter on the line. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In the 12th overall pick they get a workhorse for the backfield, outstanding value to boot. A clean fit for the roster.
A tidy bit of business in the Round 2 slot, where T.J. Sanders graded well above the range. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Rylie Mills at pick 76 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They took Jack Bech at par in the 97th pick, which is nothing to complain about. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Willie Lampkin in No. 102, miles early. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
DeMonte Capehart in pick 119 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. The roster fit checks out.
They liked Howard Cross III enough to skip the value, taking him in Round 5, Pick 1. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Nice patience on Cody Simon, who had no business lasting to the 140th pick. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Devin Neal at the Round 5 slot is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. A need, and now a little less of one.
They will replay Cam Skattebo at slot 163 for years; that is how good the value is. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A wild overpay on Thor Griffith in No. 166, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They reached a country mile for Joey Slackman at the 168th overall pick, and the board is aghast. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They barely believed it either: Michael Taaffe still on the board at pick No. 170. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
The board fumbled Carson Schwesinger all the way to the 171st overall pick, and they scooped it up. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
A slide stopped in No. 177, with Eli Stowers worth more than the price. It fills a real need, too.
A top-tier linebacker at a bargain, Smael Mondon Jr. in pick No. 187, plain and simple. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Tahj Brooks at the Round 6 slot is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Shaun Dolac this early at slot 240. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Taking Jack Kiser in Round 7, Pick 31 is close to grand larceny; a linebacker that good had no business lasting this long. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.