D+
Dallas Cowboys
The phones sank the Cowboys this weekend: D+.
by Pastor ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 22 picks
· 12 steals
· 6 reaches
You can hear the double-takes from here. The Cowboys took Anthony Belton at the 138th overall pick, roughly 107 spots before his name belonged. A weekend that fought the value and lost, hence the D+.
The Ransom pick is the one they will point to when this weekend is judged. They handed away value on the phones that the picks cannot earn back.
Leaving tight end unaddressed is the roster risk they will have to answer for in the fall.
It is a steep hill from here, and the grade knows it.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 13th pick they get a run-stuffing presence up front at fair value. A real need, handled.
In No. 15 they get juice off the edge. Need was not the driver here.
The board had Jalon Walker higher than pick No. 33, and the linebacker fell to them anyway. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Somehow Nick Emmanwori was still sitting there in slot 36, and they pounced on premier safety value. A minor need, but a need all the same.
A conviction pick on Grey Zabel at the 45th overall pick that the board grades a round light. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Tyler Booker is a better player than Round 2, Pick 14 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
No drama and no debate, Jalen Royals went about where he belonged in No. 65. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
They let Alfred Collins come to them and pounced at Round 3, Pick 13. A need, and now a little less of one.
A tidy little value on Danny Stutsman in slot 93, a step better than break-even. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They barely believed it either: TreVeyon Henderson still on the board at the 102nd pick. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Donovan Smith this early at the 116th overall pick. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Nicholas Singleton at pick No. 117. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
The board fumbled Ajani Cornelius all the way to the Round 4 slot, and they scooped it up. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
A quiet steal in pick 134: Daylen Everette for less than the market said. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Elic Ayomanor in the 135th overall pick is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Jaeden Roberts well ahead of where he belonged. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Anthony Belton in No. 138 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Nazir Stackhouse in pick No. 139 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A running back of that caliber at Round 5, Pick 30 is the definition of value, full stop. It fills a real need, too.
Harold Perkins Jr. at the Round 5 slot is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Lathan Ransom at the 171st pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.
Value said wait; Thor Griffith in slot 190 says they were not listening. It patches a soft spot without any drama.