B+
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys robbed the room for Golday. Final grade: B+.
by D.HAWK ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 4 steals
· 1 reaches
When a board-topper like Jake Golday slides to Round 3, Pick 28, you do not overthink it, and the Cowboys did not.
The cost of the Perkins Jr. reach is exactly the players who went right after him. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped quarterback, which is a strange place to end up.
The future picks help the war chest more than the win-now roster.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the quarterback spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 12 they get a ballhawk on the outside at fair value. Exactly the need they had to hit.
Steal is underselling it; Jake Golday at pick No. 92 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. It adds depth where they could use a little.
Jacob Rodriguez in No. 95 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Harold Perkins Jr. in the Round 4 slot is early enough to raise a brow, if not a full objection. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Kage Casey at the 152nd overall pick is right where the board had him, plain and simple. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Kevin Coleman Jr. at the 177th pick is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Aamil Wagner is a better player than Round 5, Pick 40 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A clean, defensible pick in pick 218 with a little surplus value in Jimmy Rolder. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.