B+
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys let Mondon Jr. fall into their laps, and walked away with a B+.
by HR ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 14 picks
· 7 steals
· 5 reaches
The Cowboys spent the weekend waiting on one name, and it fell: Smael Mondon Jr., the No. 98 name on the board, in Round 6, Pick 38. Solid and sensible more than spectacular: a B+.
The cost of the Jefferson reach is exactly the players who went right after him. They won the margins on every swap, and it adds up fast. Adding Germaine Pratt by trade rounds out the weekend beyond the rookies.
Wide receiver is handled and the depth chart looks a good deal healthier for it.
A tidy weekend of work that should hold up just fine.
Pick-by-Pick
Omarion Hampton in Round 1, Pick 22 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
A market-rate wide receiver, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Matthew Golden. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
A top-tier interior defensive lineman at a bargain, T.J. Sanders in the Round 2 slot, plain and simple. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Kyle Kennard in the 55th pick, miles early. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
Ajani Cornelius in slot 76 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Luke Kandra at No. 117 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Somehow Quinshon Judkins was still sitting there in pick 148, and they pounced on premier running back value. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
You do not let a linebacker like Danny Stutsman reach the 168th overall pick and blink. They did not. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A safety of that caliber at slot 170 is the definition of value, full stop. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
A wild overpay on Jacob Parrish in Round 5, Pick 36, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They talked themselves into KJ Jefferson at No. 186, and the board did not agree. The roster fit checks out.
Jamaree Caldwell at pick 209 is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. It fills a real need, too.
Smael Mondon Jr. at pick No. 213 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Terrance Ferguson in the Round 7 slot should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.