C+
Dallas Cowboys
Best value of the weekend goes to the Cowboys for Stowers: C+.
by wgarrison ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 21 picks
· 8 steals
· 4 reaches
The Cowboys spent the weekend waiting on one name, and it fell: Eli Stowers, the No. 53 name on the board, in Round 4, Pick 10. It washes out to a C+, no better and no worse.
Reaching for Jamison-Travis left real value on the table behind him. The Taaffe pick reads as want over need, and the roster will feel it at quarterback and running back.
They will regret leaving quarterback for another day if the season turns on it.
If Arvell Reese and a couple of the gambles land, hindsight will be kinder than this grade.
Pick-by-Pick
Arvell Reese at No. 26 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
In pick 27 they get a coverage-and-run second-level piece. The biggest hole, addressed.
In the Round 1 slot they get a press-man option on the boundary at fair value. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
They took Dillon Thieneman at par in slot 32, which is nothing to complain about. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
Omar Cooper Jr. at Round 2, Pick 9 is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the wide receiver. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Dontay Corleone at the 92nd pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. A need, and now a little less of one.
A top-tier wide receiver at a bargain, Elijah Sarratt in pick No. 94, plain and simple. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Eli Stowers at the 110th overall pick is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
A surprising call. With quarterback and running back still to address, they spent slot 112 on Michael Taaffe, a safety they were not short of.
They bypassed pressing needs at quarterback and running back to take Bud Clark, a safety that was not the priority.
Mikail Kamara in pick 127 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. A minor itch, scratched.
Dametrious Crownover in No. 133 is fair value, right on his grade. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Louis Moore at the 148th overall pick is a conviction pick that outran the value. A luxury on a unit that was already in good shape.
Gracen Halton at Round 5, Pick 12 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. The roster fit checks out.
The board had Skyler Gill-Howard higher than pick No. 158, and the interior defensive lineman fell to them anyway. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Bobby Jamison-Travis in the Round 5 slot, miles early. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
A straight-up fair deal on Keagen Trost at the 180th pick, value and slot in agreement. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Nothing to complain about; Dae'Quan Wright went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Josh Cameron at pick No. 189 is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Fair-plus on Jimmy Rolder, a quiet win that adds up over a draft. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Trey Zuhn III this early at the Round 7 slot. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.