B
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys let Higgins fall and pounced. Final grade: B.
by JMilligan1991 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 12 picks
· 6 steals
· 5 reaches
When a board-topper like Jay Higgins slides to Round 5, Pick 34, you do not overthink it, and the Cowboys did not. It does the job without flash, and the B reflects it.
Reaching for Henderson left real value on the table behind him. They punted on cornerback, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest.
The trade work was a quiet net positive. Value over need was the throughline, for better and worse.
Solid rather than spectacular, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick No. 17 they get a featured back, outstanding value to boot. A real need, handled.
Jalon Walker at the Round 2 slot 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.
A reach for Alfred Collins in slot 49; a little patience would have been rewarded. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Donovan Jackson at Round 3, Pick 12 is a clear overpay, with better names still on the board. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Savion Williams at pick 118 is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the wide receiver. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They robbed the room for Kobe King here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Addison West in the 168th pick is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Circle this one: Jaylin Noel at the 170th overall pick is a fall that decides a draft. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Jay Higgins in the 171st overall pick should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
They jumped the gun on Jonas Sanker, taking him earlier than his grade liked. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Xzavier Henderson at No. 209 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Taking Terrance Ferguson in slot 247 is close to grand larceny; a tight end that good had no business lasting this long. It patches a soft spot without any drama.