D
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys bled value on every deal, hence the D.
by Pastor ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 20 picks
· 4 steals
· 9 reaches
There was a run on nobody at that position, and the Cowboys started one anyway for Anthony Belton, 138 picks ahead of schedule. The board pushed back all weekend, and the D is the result.
The trades bled value they could not afford to lose. With quarterback and tight end unsolved, spending premium capital on safety is the choice that costs them.
For all the activity, quarterback went untouched, which is hard to explain. Hampton at that cost is the sort of edge that compounds over a roster.
Add it up and it is a weekend the front office will hope everyone forgets, quarterback very much included.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 8 they get a three-down runner. A real need, handled.
In pick 31 they get an enforcer at safety at a price that makes it sweeter. Need was not the driver here.
In pick No. 32 they get a green-dot type in the middle at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
No edge and no loss on Tate Ratledge in the 33rd overall pick; it is a wash and a sensible one. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Value with a capital V on Omarion Hampton in No. 34, a genuine coup. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A market-rate edge rusher, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Mykel Williams. A minor need, but a need all the same.
Alfred Collins at No. 36 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
A reach on Jalen Royals in pick 54; the board had better options right there. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They jumped the gun on Deone Walker, taking him earlier than his grade liked. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Danny Stutsman in pick No. 60, miles early. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
The eyebrow-raiser of the weekend. They went safety with Andrew Mukuba while clear needs at quarterback and tight end sat open.
They went early on Tacario Davis in the 90th pick, and the value did not follow. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Emery Jones Jr. at the Round 3 slot is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Nice patience on Donovan Jackson, who had no business lasting to the 98th overall pick. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
No drama and no debate, Dontay Corleone went about where he belonged in the 103rd overall pick. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Antwaun Powell-Ryland at slot 113 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. The roster fit checks out.
They reached into another round for Anthony Belton, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They paid sticker price for Lander Barton in Round 4, Pick 30, and that is fine. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
They reached a country mile for Savion Williams at the Round 4 slot, and the board is aghast. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Raheim Sanders at pick No. 165 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.