D
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys cashed the board's mistake on Golday: D.
by redheadedstranger33 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 2 steals
· 3 reaches
The phones were a trap the Cowboys kept walking into, shipping out surplus on nearly every deal.
The Rodriguez reach is the anchor dragging on the value grade. That is an edge rusher worth more than the slot they spent on him, plainly.
They covered a lot of ground and still skipped quarterback, which is a strange place to end up.
Add it up and it is a weekend the front office will hope everyone forgets, quarterback very much included.
Pick-by-Pick
Sonny Styles in the 12th pick is early enough to raise a brow, if not a full objection. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
In Round 1, Pick 15 they get a building block for the line. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
They liked Dillon Thieneman enough to skip the value, taking him in No. 20. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
They talked themselves into Jacob Rodriguez at pick 46, and the board did not agree. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Circle this one: Keith Abney II at slot 77 is a fall that decides a draft. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Malik Muhammad at pick No. 92 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A market-rate wide receiver, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Ted Hurst. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Taking Jake Golday in the Round 4 slot is close to grand larceny; an edge rusher that good had no business lasting this long. A minor need, but a need all the same.
Zane Durant at the 177th overall pick is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
A straight-up fair deal on Keagen Trost at No. 180, value and slot in agreement. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.