C
Dallas Cowboys
Sampson should have been long gone. The Cowboys pounced, and earned a C.
by hcprez1 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 7 steals
· 5 reaches
The Cowboys did not reach, did not trade up, did not blink. They just waited, and Dylan Sampson fell into the 169th overall pick.
They will need Caldwell to outplay his draft slot in a hurry to justify it. They handed away value on the phones that the picks cannot earn back. They punted on wide receiver, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest.
In the end, a coin-flip class: fine today, with a wide range of outcomes ahead.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 13th overall pick they get a featured back, outstanding value to boot.
The board fumbled Nick Emmanwori all the way to the Round 2 slot, and they scooped it up. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
They paid a round early for Alfred Collins in pick 81, more than the board wanted. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They paid up for Deone Walker at No. 113 when waiting would have done the job. The roster fit checks out.
Rylie Mills in slot 117 is fair value, right on his grade. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Gunnar Helm in the 151st pick is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. It fills a real need, too.
They barely believed it either: Dylan Sampson still on the board at Round 5, Pick 31. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
They reached a country mile for Will Howard at pick No. 170, and the board is aghast. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Circle this one: TreVeyon Henderson at Round 5, Pick 34 is a fall that decides a draft. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Jamaree Caldwell at pick 188 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. A need, and now a little less of one.
Value with a capital V on Rod Moore in No. 209, a genuine coup. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
Hunter Wohler slipping to the Round 6 slot is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.
You do not let an offensive lineman like Jared Wilson reach the 230th pick and blink. They did not. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.