D
Dallas Cowboys
The steal of the weekend belongs to the Cowboys and Howard: D.
by Trader ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 11 steals
· 0 reaches
The value of the weekend has a name and a slot: Will Howard, slot 170, roughly 67 picks past where he belonged. A weekend that fought the value and lost, hence the D.
Overpaying at the table undid a lot of the good work elsewhere. The tight end hole is the one line item this class does not answer.
On the needs board they went 7 of 8, with wide receiver the one that mattered most. Almost all the early capital went to that side of the ball.
Add it up and it is a weekend the front office will hope everyone forgets, tight end very much included.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 20 they get a weapon on the perimeter, and a steal at that. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
The board had Kenneth Grant higher than pick No. 37, and the interior defensive lineman fell to them anyway. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
A quiet steal in slot 44: Omarion Hampton for less than the market said. It fills a real need, too.
Fair-plus on Jonah Savaiinaea, a quiet win that adds up over a draft. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Tre Harris in Round 3, Pick 12 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Somehow Marcus Mbow was still sitting there in pick 85, and they pounced on premier offensive lineman value. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They read the board right and Danny Stutsman was the payoff at the 96th overall pick. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
The board fumbled Will Howard all the way to the 170th pick, and they scooped it up. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
A running back of that caliber at the 172nd pick is the definition of value, full stop. The roster fit checks out.
They barely believed it either: Nick Nash still on the board at No. 174. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They will replay Chase Lundt at the Round 6 slot for years; that is how good the value is. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A straight-up fair deal on Jack Kiser at pick No. 199, value and slot in agreement. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Robert Longerbeam at the 249th overall pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.