D
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys let Reed fall and pounced. Final grade: D.
by Greatness ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 16 picks
· 8 steals
· 6 reaches
Somewhere a scout is still blinking. The Cowboys spent slot 119 on Elijah Roberts, a name the board had a full 56 spots lower. Too much went sideways, and the D is the honest tally.
That is a safety worth more than the slot they spent on him, plainly. The dealing is the wound this class cannot quite close.
It is not that Roberts is a bad player; it is that the Cowboys had louder needs to answer first. That tight end hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall.
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 the 15th overall pick they get a bell-cow for the offense at a price that makes it sweeter.
In pick 20 they get a quarterback's worst nightmare at fair value. More want than need.
Benjamin Morrison in slot 34 is the kind of reach that only looks good if he outplays it. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Quinn Ewers this early at Round 2, Pick 12. It fills a real need, too.
Malaki Starks slipping to pick 45 is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. A minor itch, scratched.
Jayden Higgins at No. 65 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Value with a capital V on Dylan Sampson in the 76th overall pick, a genuine coup. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They liked Charles Grant enough to skip the value, taking him in Round 3, Pick 16. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They let Chris Paul Jr. come to them and pounced at the 99th pick. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A quiet steal in pick No. 117: Jake Majors for less than the market said. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Of all the spots to shop, they chose edge rusher. Elijah Roberts in the Round 4 slot leaves tight end for later.
A wild overpay on Nazir Stackhouse in slot 149, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A slide stopped in the 193rd pick, with Cobee Bryant worth more than the price. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A premium they did not need to pay, Carson Vinson a notch or two before his time. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Cam Jackson at Round 7, Pick 23. The roster fit checks out.
Taking Jaylen Reed in the Round 7 slot is close to grand larceny; a safety that good had no business lasting this long. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.