F
Dallas Cowboys
A weekend the Cowboys spent fighting the board, and losing. F.
by JJONESSUX ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 39 picks
· 8 steals
· 22 reaches
The Cowboys put a flag in the ground for Gabe Jacas, 145 picks before anyone else would have, and the value took the hit.
They banked enough surplus on Paul Jr. to cover a lot of smaller sins. The trade table is where this weekend went wrong.
They are betting the present roster is worth a lighter draft next spring.
There is no soft landing here; this class has to massively overperform just to matter.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 17 they get a sticky cover corner. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In No. 21 they get a ballhawk on the back end at fair value. Need was not the driver here.
In the 24th pick they get a plug-and-play piece up front, a steep price for the projection. Exactly the need they had to hit.
In pick No. 25 they get a pocket-collapsing interior rusher. A real need, handled.
No drama and no debate, Tre Harris went about where he belonged in the 28th overall pick. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Isaiah Bond at Round 2, Pick 3 is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
They did well to land Tyler Booker in No. 44, just ahead of his grade. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A clean, defensible pick in the 49th overall pick with a little surplus value in Tyler Warren. It fills a real need, too.
A reach for JT Tuimoloau in the Round 2 slot; a little patience would have been rewarded. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
No edge and no loss on Tyleik Williams in Round 2, Pick 22; it is a wash and a sensible one. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Jayden Higgins in pick 56, miles early. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A real head-scratcher, Jordan Burch in slot 60 is miles ahead of his ranking. A luxury on a unit that was already in good shape.
A big swing on Jake Majors at pick No. 62, well ahead of any board in the building. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
A safety of that caliber at the 71st pick is the definition of value, full stop. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
Andrew Mukuba at slot 76 is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the safety. Stacking talent where they were already deep.
Deone Walker at Round 3, Pick 24 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
A wild overpay on Luke Kandra in No. 89, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Steal is underselling it; Malachi Moore at pick 93 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
Value said wait; Rylie Mills in the 97th pick says they were not listening. A need, and now a little less of one.
Riley Leonard at the 102nd overall pick is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Somehow TreVeyon Henderson was still sitting there in the Round 4 slot, and they pounced on premier running back value. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They let Nicholas Singleton come to them and pounced at pick No. 113. The roster fit checks out.
Howard Cross III at slot 116 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They talked themselves into Jaeden Roberts at Round 4, Pick 27, and the board did not agree. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
They reached a country mile for Tyreak Sapp at the 130th pick, and the board is aghast. They doubled down on a strength rather than a need.
Gabe Jacas at the 133rd overall pick is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
Dont'e Thornton Jr. in the Round 5 slot is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Nazir Stackhouse at pick No. 163 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Theo Wease Jr. this early at No. 168. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Seth McLaughlin well ahead of where he belonged. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They reached into another round for Miles Frazier, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
DJ Campbell in Round 5, Pick 34 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. 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 Jared Wilson. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Clay Webb at the 188th pick is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
You do not let a linebacker like Smael Mondon Jr. reach pick No. 190 and blink. They did not. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Taking Chris Paul Jr. in pick 209 is close to grand larceny; a linebacker that good had no business lasting this long. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Terrance Ferguson in the 234th overall pick should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A real head-scratcher, Garrett Dellinger in No. 236 is miles ahead of his ranking. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Micah Morris at Round 7, Pick 31 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.