F
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys reached for Davis and never recovered. Grade: F.
by JJONESSUX ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 65 picks
· 25 steals
· 35 reaches
The Cowboys treated their own grade as gospel and everyone else's as noise, spending slot 157 on Jasheen Davis a full 147 spots early.
The Neal pick is the one they will point to when this weekend is judged. They lost the exchange badly enough to drag the whole class down.
They are betting the present roster is worth a lighter draft next spring.
The verdict is harsh because the weekend was, and there is little to argue.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 20 they get a bendy edge with upside, a steep price for the projection.
In the 22nd overall pick they get a premier pass rusher, though the board says they badly overpaid. Need was not the driver here.
No edge and no loss on Kenneth Grant in pick No. 25; it is a wash and a sensible one. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
In the Round 1 slot they get an enforcer at safety, outstanding value to boot. More want than need.
In the 30th pick they get a rangy last line of defense, and a steal at that. More want than need.
Value said wait; Tyleik Williams in No. 36 says they were not listening. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Ashton Gillotte in No. 39 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.
Xavier Watts at the Round 2 slot is right where the board had him, plain and simple. They doubled down on a strength rather than a need.
They jumped the gun on Trey Amos, taking him earlier than his grade liked. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Xavier Restrepo at the 50th overall pick is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A quiet steal in slot 54: Tyler Warren for less than the market said. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
A reach for Jayden Higgins in the 61st pick; a little patience would have been rewarded. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A top-tier linebacker at a bargain, Jihaad Campbell in Round 2, Pick 32, plain and simple. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Dylan Fairchild at pick No. 65 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
A wild overpay on Jake Majors in Round 3, Pick 4, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Ajani Cornelius at the 69th overall pick is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
They let Alfred Collins come to them and pounced at the 70th pick. It fills a real need, too.
Andrew Mukuba at the Round 3 slot is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.
No drama and no debate, Darien Porter went about where he belonged in No. 78. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Will Howard this early at pick 85. A need, and now a little less of one.
They liked Luke Kandra enough to skip the value, taking him in pick No. 95. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Kurtis Rourke in slot 98, miles early. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Value with a capital V on Tez Johnson in slot 102, a genuine coup. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Logan Brown at Round 4, Pick 2 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Jaeden Roberts at the 106th pick is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Ozzy Trapilo well ahead of where he belonged. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Jack Bech in pick No. 109. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They reached into another round for Howard Cross III, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Nazir Stackhouse at pick 116 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
TreVeyon Henderson in No. 126 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. The roster fit checks out.
Steal is underselling it; Nicholas Singleton at the 130th pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Mason Taylor at pick 131 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Dont'e Thornton Jr. in slot 132 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They read the board right and Kyren Lacy was the payoff at Round 4, Pick 33. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A big swing on Gabe Jacas at pick No. 141, well ahead of any board in the building. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
A real head-scratcher, Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson in the Round 5 slot is miles ahead of his ranking. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They reached a country mile for Seth McLaughlin at the 146th overall pick, and the board is aghast. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
They robbed the room for Kevin Winston Jr. here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Miles Frazier. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
They talked themselves into DJ Campbell at the Round 5 slot, and the board did not agree. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Clay Webb at No. 154 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They talked themselves into Jasheen Davis at pick No. 157, and the board did not agree. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.
You do not let a linebacker like Deontae Lawson reach Round 5, Pick 22 and blink. They did not. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Somehow Danny Stutsman was still sitting there in slot 160, and they pounced on premier linebacker value. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Lathan Ransom in pick 170 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Jared Wilson. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Thor Griffith at the 189th overall pick is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Devin Neal at Round 6, Pick 16 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Garrett Dellinger at the Round 6 slot is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A real head-scratcher, J.C. Davis in pick No. 202 is miles ahead of his ranking. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
The board fumbled Chris Paul Jr. all the way to slot 204, and they scooped it up. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They will replay Jay Higgins at the 206th pick for years; that is how good the value is. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Cam Skattebo in pick 218 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They reached a country mile for Tyler Batty at No. 219, and the board is aghast. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
Xavier Truss at slot 220 is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Javontez Spraggins this early at pick No. 224. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Value said wait; Micah Morris in pick 226 says they were not listening. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They barely believed it either: Jordan Hancock still on the board at No. 227. A luxury on a unit that was already in good shape.
Terrance Ferguson at the 234th overall pick is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. The roster fit checks out.
Taking Jamon Dumas-Johnson in the Round 7 slot is close to grand larceny; a linebacker that good had no business lasting this long. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Elijhah Badger well ahead of where he belonged. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
A wild overpay on Akheem Mesidor in Round 7, Pick 23, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. Stacking talent where they were already deep.
Circle this one: Raheim Sanders at Round 7, Pick 28 is a fall that decides a draft. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Mitchell Evans in pick 248 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. It fills a real need, too.
The board had Shilo Sanders higher than No. 256, and the safety fell to them anyway. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.