D+
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys bled value on every deal, hence the D+.
by [email protected] ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 16 picks
· 8 steals
· 5 reaches
The war room fell hard for Aidan Keanaaina, and it showed at pick 217: 141 picks ahead of a board that had other ideas. The math is unkind, and the D+ follows.
That Majors pick is the receipt they will wave around later. The trades bled value they could not afford to lose.
They will regret leaving tight end for another day if the season turns on it. The imported veterans give this class a floor the draft picks could not on their own.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even, and tight end is still a hole.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 6 they get a long-term starter on the line. Exactly the need they had to hit.
In pick No. 19 they get a lead back with juice at fair value. A clean fit for the roster.
Landon Jackson in the 42nd overall pick is fair value, right on his grade. A minor need, but a need all the same.
Somehow T.J. Sanders was still sitting there in pick 75, and they pounced on premier interior defensive lineman value. The roster fit checks out.
Circle this one: Jahdae Barron at the 76th pick is a fall that decides a draft. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
The board fumbled DJ Campbell all the way to Round 3, Pick 19, and they scooped it up. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A linebacker of that caliber at pick No. 84 is the definition of value, full stop. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They paid a round early for Jayden Higgins in Round 4, Pick 19, more than the board wanted. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Brady Cook this early at pick 131. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Steal is underselling it; Ja'Quinden Jackson at No. 149 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. It fills a real need, too.
You do not let an offensive lineman like Jake Majors reach slot 169 and blink. They did not. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Barryn Sorrell at the 171st pick is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
A premium they did not need to pay, Benjamin Morrison a notch or two before his time. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They barely believed it either: Lander Barton still on the board at the 209th overall pick. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Aidan Keanaaina in the 217th pick, miles early. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Barrett Carter in the 246th overall pick should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.