You build a draft on nights like this. Nicholas Singleton had no business being available in pick 199, and the Cowboys did the only sane thing and turned in the card. The good and the questionable cancel out to a C-.
The dealing is the wound this class cannot quite close. Reaching for Kandra left real value on the table behind him.
The cornerback hole is the one line item this class does not answer. Job largely done: wide receiver settled and 5 of 8 of the wish list covered.
In the end, a coin-flip class: fine today, with a wide range of outcomes ahead.
Pick-by-Pick
R1.13
· Pick 13
· Emeka Egbuka
· WR
· rank 28
In the 13th pick they get a true top target, reach and all. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
R2.15
· Pick 47
· Omarion Hampton
· RB
· rank 19
Omarion Hampton in the Round 2 slot is a gift, value that borders on unfair. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
R2.24
· Pick 56
· Jalon Walker
· LB
· rank 25
Jalon Walker in the 56th overall pick is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
R3.14
· Pick 78
· Deone Walker
· DT
· rank 69
Deone Walker slipping to No. 78 is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
R3.15
· Pick 79
· TreVeyon Henderson
· RB
· rank 61
Circle this one: TreVeyon Henderson at pick 79 is a fall that decides a draft. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
R3.24
· Pick 88
· Luke Kandra
· OG
· rank 109
They talked themselves into Luke Kandra at pick No. 88, and the board did not agree. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
R4.2
· Pick 103
· Andrew Mukuba
· S
· rank 71
You do not let a safety like Andrew Mukuba reach slot 103 and blink. They did not. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
R4.8
· Pick 109
· Jack Nelson
· OT
· rank 118
They paid up for Jack Nelson at Round 4, Pick 8 when waiting would have done the job. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
R4.16
· Pick 117
· Evan Stewart
· WR
· rank 98
The board fumbled Evan Stewart all the way to slot 117, and they scooped it up. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
R4.24
· Pick 125
· Rylie Mills
· DL
· rank 135
They went early on Rylie Mills in the Round 4 slot, and the value did not follow. A need, and now a little less of one.
R5.25
· Pick 162
· Dont'e Thornton Jr.
· WR
· rank 175
They paid a round early for Dont'e Thornton Jr. in Round 5, Pick 25, more than the board wanted. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
R5.31
· Pick 168
· Cam Skattebo
· RB
· rank 114
They barely believed it either: Cam Skattebo still on the board at the 168th overall pick. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
R5.33
· Pick 170
· Smael Mondon Jr.
· LB
· rank 105
Steal is underselling it; Smael Mondon Jr. at the 170th pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
R6.24
· Pick 199
· Nicholas Singleton
· RB
· rank 100
Somehow Nicholas Singleton was still sitting there in No. 199, and they pounced on premier running back value. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
R7.32
· Pick 248
· Jaishawn Barham
· LB
· rank 206
Jaishawn Barham at pick 248 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.