B+
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys let Hairston fall into their laps, and walked away with a B+.
by HR ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 16 picks
· 11 steals
· 2 reaches
When a board-topper like Maxwell Hairston slides to the 174th overall pick, you do not overthink it, and the Cowboys did not. Nothing here to lose sleep over; call it a B+.
They robbed the room blind at the table, and it lifts the grade on its own. The West reach is the anchor dragging on the value grade.
In sum, a sensible class that nudges the roster the right way.
Pick-by-Pick
Tyler Warren at the 20th pick is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the tight end. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They robbed the room for Jahdae Barron here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
The board fumbled Kenneth Grant all the way to pick No. 51, and they scooped it up. The roster fit checks out.
Josh Simmons at No. 76 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
They barely believed it either: Kaleb Johnson still on the board at pick 85. It fills a real need, too.
Jaxson Dart at the Round 4 slot is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Circle this one: Jaylin Noel at slot 150 is a fall that decides a draft. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
You do not let a linebacker like Smael Mondon Jr. reach Round 5, Pick 13 and blink. They did not. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Willie Lampkin at the Round 5 slot is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They went early on Jaylen Reed in No. 172, and the value did not follow. A minor need, but a need all the same.
A top-tier cornerback at a bargain, Maxwell Hairston in the 174th pick, plain and simple. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
CJ West at the 190th overall pick is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A edge rusher of that caliber at slot 199 is the definition of value, full stop. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
Chase Lundt in pick No. 211 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Miles Frazier in pick 234 is fair value, right on his grade. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Seth McLaughlin slipping to Round 7, Pick 31 is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.