F
Dallas Cowboys
A weekend the Cowboys spent ahead of the board, for worse: F.
by JJONESSUX ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 34 picks
· 11 steals
· 16 reaches
The Cowboys torched the value chart for Thor Griffith, taking him 136 spots sooner than anyone had him slotted. A weekend to file away and forget, and an F to match.
Sampson at that cost is the sort of edge that compounds over a roster. They handed away value on the phones that the picks cannot earn back.
They are betting the present roster is worth a lighter draft next spring.
In the end, a class that has to defy its grades just to matter.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 5 they get a weapon on the perimeter. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
A reach for Cameron Williams in the 14th overall pick; a little patience would have been rewarded. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
In pick No. 28 they get a ballhawk on the outside, and a steal at that. Exactly the need they had to hit.
In the Round 1 slot they get a rangy last line of defense, outstanding value to boot. Need was not the driver here.
Nothing to complain about; Kenneth Grant went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. The roster fit checks out.
Tyleik Williams at Round 2, Pick 13 is a clear overpay, with better names still on the board. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Ashton Gillotte at pick 52 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
Nice patience on Tyler Warren, who had no business lasting to Round 2, Pick 28. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Jared Ivey in the 61st pick, miles early. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Carson Beck this early at the Round 3 slot. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They took Deone Walker at par in No. 70, which is nothing to complain about. A need, and now a little less of one.
Jihaad Campbell at slot 72 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Xavier Watts in the 76th overall pick should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A luxury on a unit that was already in good shape.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Denzel Burke at pick No. 77 is the proof. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A straight-up fair deal on Darrell Jackson Jr. at slot 80, value and slot in agreement. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They liked Luke Kandra enough to skip the value, taking him in the Round 3 slot. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Logan Brown in pick No. 102 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Kevin Winston Jr. slid further than he should have, and the 108th overall pick is lovely value for the safety. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.
Circle this one: Dylan Sampson at the 109th pick is a fall that decides a draft. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
They will replay Jack Bech at pick 115 for years; that is how good the value is. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Emery Jones Jr. at No. 116 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A big swing on Bryce Foster at Round 4, Pick 17, well ahead of any board in the building. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Value said wait; Trey Zuhn III in No. 119 says they were not listening. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
DJ Campbell at Round 4, Pick 19 is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
They reached into another round for Nazir Stackhouse, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. It fills a real need, too.
They robbed the room for Nicholas Singleton here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Thor Griffith at pick 150 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Logan Jones well ahead of where he belonged. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Somehow Chris Paul Jr. was still sitting there in the 168th overall pick, and they pounced on premier linebacker value. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Gabe Jacas in pick No. 170 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
They paid up for Cobee Bryant at Round 5, Pick 33 when waiting would have done the job. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
No drama and no debate, Xavier Nwankpa went about where he belonged in the 189th pick. Stacking talent where they were already deep.
Miles Frazier at slot 209 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
By-the-book stuff, Shilo Sanders at the 248th overall pick squarely in line with his ranking. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.