COWBOYS MOCK DRAFT GRADE A-

  1. Home
  2. My Stuff
  3. HR-28-2

HR-28-2 A-

URL hr-28-2-5936

Letter grade with a four-component score, written analysis, and a pick-by-pick breakdown for every selection in this saved mock.

My Mock Drafts →
Grade another draft →
A-

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys cashed the board's mistake on Howard: A-.

by HR · 2025 NFL Draft · 13 picks · 7 steals · 3 reaches
Value B+
Need B
Trades A+
Future A-

Every so often the board makes a mistake, and the Cowboys were there to profit. Will Howard, the No. 108 name on the board, should have been long gone before the Round 5 slot. Very little went wrong, and the A- is earned.

The cost of the Briningstool reach is exactly the players who went right after him. Every deal seemed to tilt their way, which is not luck.

The future picks help the war chest more than the win-now roster.

In the end it comes back to Ashton Jeanty, and a haul good enough to build on right away.

Pick-by-Pick

R1.15 · Pick 15 · Ashton Jeanty · RB · rank 2
In pick No. 15 they get an every-down engine for the run game, outstanding value to boot. A clean fit for the roster.
R2.12 · Pick 44 · Tre Harris · WR · rank 48
A market-rate wide receiver, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Tre Harris. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
R3.12 · Pick 76 · Xavier Watts · S · rank 45
Taking Xavier Watts in the 76th overall pick is close to grand larceny; a safety that good had no business lasting this long. A minor need, but a need all the same.
R4.15 · Pick 116 · Smael Mondon Jr. · LB · rank 110
A clean, defensible pick in slot 116 with a little surplus value in Smael Mondon Jr.. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
R5.11 · Pick 150 · Joshua Farmer · DT · rank 122
A interior defensive lineman of that caliber at the 150th pick is the definition of value, full stop. It fills a real need, too.
R5.31 · Pick 170 · Logan Brown · OT · rank 154
They read the board right and Logan Brown was the payoff at No. 170. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
R5.33 · Pick 172 · Will Howard · QB · rank 108
Circle this one: Will Howard at pick 172 is a fall that decides a draft. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
R5.35 · Pick 174 · Cobee Bryant · CB · rank 181
No drama and no debate, Cobee Bryant went about where he belonged in Round 5, Pick 35. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
R6.12 · Pick 190 · Jake Briningstool · TE · rank 240
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Jake Briningstool well ahead of where he belonged. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
R6.13 · Pick 191 · JJ Pegues · DT · rank 182
They let JJ Pegues come to them and pounced at the 191st overall pick. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
R6.33 · Pick 211 · Dont'e Thornton Jr. · WR · rank 180
The board fumbled Dont'e Thornton Jr. all the way to Round 6, Pick 33, and they scooped it up. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
R7.26 · Pick 244 · Garrett Dellinger · OG · rank 280
A real head-scratcher, Garrett Dellinger in pick No. 244 is miles ahead of his ranking. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
R7.31 · Pick 249 · Quinn Carroll · OT · rank 271
They reached a country mile for Quinn Carroll at the Round 7 slot, and the board is aghast. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
View Full Draft