D-
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys lost the trade table, and the D- tells the story.
by Daunte61 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 25 picks
· 12 steals
· 6 reaches
They will call it conviction in the building and a reach everywhere else: Steven Parker, 103 picks early at Round 6, Pick 34. It grades a D-, and the process earned it.
If one pick saves this weekend, it is Mondon Jr.. They handed away value on the phones that the picks cannot earn back. Job largely done: wide receiver settled and 8 of 8 of the wish list covered.
Almost all the early capital went to that side of the ball.
A rough weekend that leaves the roster with more questions than answers.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 17 they get a blindside protector. Exactly the need they had to hit.
In the 20th pick they get a go-to option on the outside at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
A running back of that caliber at Round 2, Pick 12 is the definition of value, full stop. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They went early on Alfred Collins in the Round 2 slot, and the value did not follow. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
By-the-book stuff, Aireontae Ersery at the 51st overall pick squarely in line with his ranking. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, TreVeyon Henderson at slot 74. The roster fit checks out.
They took Jayden Higgins at par in slot 75, which is nothing to complain about. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Circle this one: Jalon Walker at pick 76 is a fall that decides a draft. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Omarr Norman-Lott in Round 3, Pick 14 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. It fills a real need, too.
They reached a country mile for Will Howard at No. 81, and the board is aghast. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Nothing to complain about; Darien Porter went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
You do not let a safety like Andrew Mukuba reach the 94th pick and blink. They did not. A minor itch, scratched.
Kevin Winston Jr. is a better player than the 99th overall pick suggests; smart patience, rewarded. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.
No edge and no loss on Savion Williams in the Round 4 slot; it is a wash and a sensible one. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Riley Leonard in pick No. 111 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. A need, and now a little less of one.
Sonny Styles at No. 113 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.
They will replay Maxwell Hairston at pick 117 for years; that is how good the value is. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Dont'e Thornton Jr. at the 148th overall pick is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Mason Taylor at the 151st pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
The board fumbled Cam Skattebo all the way to Round 5, Pick 31, and they scooped it up. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Cody Simon in the Round 5 slot should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Smael Mondon Jr. in slot 173 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A top-tier running back at a bargain, Raheim Sanders in pick 186, plain and simple. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Steven Parker in the Round 6 slot, miles early. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
Taking Jack Kiser in Round 7, Pick 32 is close to grand larceny; a linebacker that good had no business lasting this long. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.