D
Dallas Cowboys
Best value of the weekend goes to the Cowboys for Mondon Jr.: D.
by JesseT ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 12 picks
· 9 steals
· 2 reaches
Every so often the board makes a mistake, and the Cowboys were there to profit. Smael Mondon Jr., the No. 98 name on the board, should have been long gone before the 209th pick.
Overpaying at the table undid a lot of the good work elsewhere. The wide receiver spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at.
The cost of the Conner reach is exactly the players who went right after him.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even.
Pick-by-Pick
Nick Emmanwori in the 34th overall pick should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
They barely believed it either: Kenneth Grant still on the board at No. 44. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
The board fumbled Jihaad Campbell all the way to slot 76, and they scooped it up. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Jake Majors in pick 117 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Hayden Conner at pick No. 118 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
The board had cheaper options than Joshua Gray at Round 5, Pick 11, and it noticed. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
A tidy little value on Shemar Turner in the 168th pick, a step better than break-even. The roster fit checks out.
Circle this one: Mason Taylor at the Round 5 slot is a fall that decides a draft. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Danny Stutsman at pick No. 186 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Smael Mondon Jr. at slot 209 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Cam Skattebo in the 219th overall pick is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Somehow Jaylen Reed was still sitting there in the Round 7 slot, and they pounced on premier safety value. They doubled down on a strength rather than a need.