B+
Dallas Cowboys
Fortune should have been long gone. The Cowboys pounced, and earned a B+.
by Boom1 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 16 picks
· 12 steals
· 2 reaches
Somewhere a general manager is explaining how O'Donnell Fortune got past him. The Cowboys do not have to explain a thing at the 170th overall pick.
Every board in the league had Jackson lower, and that gap is the story. The dealing alone would carry a lesser class. The tight end spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at.
Good work on the whole, with tight end the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
Good price on Will Campbell in Round 1, Pick 18, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Walter Nolen in the Round 1 slot is exactly on the number, no argument either way. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A slide stopped in the 44th overall pick, with Malaki Starks worth more than the price. It adds depth where they could use a little.
They will replay Omarion Hampton at No. 49 for years; that is how good the value is. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Circle this one: Elic Ayomanor at pick 76 is a fall that decides a draft. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Maxwell Hairston slid further than he should have, and slot 82 is lovely value for the cornerback. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They robbed the room for Dylan Sampson here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Jalen Milroe in pick No. 127 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Steal is underselling it; Smael Mondon Jr. at the 150th pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
O'Donnell Fortune at No. 170 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
The board fumbled Kobe King all the way to pick No. 172, and they scooped it up. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Value said wait; Cam Jackson in the 174th overall pick says they were not listening. It fills a real need, too.
Bhayshul Tuten in Round 6, Pick 12 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A need, and now a little less of one.
Ajani Cornelius at the Round 6 slot is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Jack Kiser is a better player than slot 211 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They reached a country mile for Garrett Dellinger at pick 249, and the board is aghast. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.