B-
Dallas Cowboys
Larceny in the Round 3 slot lands the Cowboys a B-, Rodriguez and all.
by D.HAWK ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 3 steals
· 2 reaches
The Cowboys did not reach, did not trade up, did not blink. They just waited, and Jacob Rodriguez fell into the 92nd overall pick. Call it a sensible B-, earned the boring way.
For all the activity, quarterback went untouched, which is hard to explain. The cost of the Mesidor reach is exactly the players who went right after him.
They left with wide receiver solved and the rest of the wish list mostly ticked off. Nearly every premium pick went to that side of the ball.
In short, they left a little better than they arrived, which is the whole idea.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 12 they get a potential shutdown corner at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
In pick 20 they get a quarterback's worst nightmare, though they paid up to get him. More want than need.
Jacob Rodriguez at Round 3, Pick 28 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A reach on Harold Perkins Jr. in No. 112; the board had better options right there. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They read the board right and Isaiah World was the payoff at pick No. 152. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Zane Durant at the Round 5 slot is right where the board had him, plain and simple. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Red Murdock in the 180th pick is fair value, right on his grade. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
A quiet steal in the 218th overall pick: Harrison Wallace III for less than the market said. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.