D+
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys drew a line under the quarterback search with Mendoza: D+.
by GRM ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 22 picks
· 6 steals
· 7 reaches
Call it belief, call it a gut call, but Diego Pavia at pick 208 is 44 spots clear of consensus, and that is the headline. Too much went sideways, and the D+ is the honest tally.
They handed away value on the phones that the picks cannot earn back. They have staked the next five years on Fernando Mendoza, which is the only story that really matters here. They banked enough surplus on Scott to cover a lot of smaller sins.
In short, the board sent warnings, and they will be hoping it was wrong.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 1st overall pick they get their quarterback of the future. A real need, handled.
In Round 1, Pick 18 they get a lockdown presence outside at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
They let Sonny Styles come to them and pounced at the Round 1 slot. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
In pick No. 30 they get a quarterback's worst nightmare. Need was not the driver here.
The board had Dillon Thieneman higher than slot 36, and the safety fell to them anyway. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
A top-tier linebacker at a bargain, CJ Allen in the 57th pick, plain and simple. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Christen Miller at the 61st overall pick is right where the board had him, plain and simple. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
No drama and no debate, Elijah Sarratt went about where he belonged in slot 71. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A slide stopped in the 93rd pick, with Keylan Rutledge worth more than the price. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
They will replay Keionte Scott at pick 102 for years; that is how good the value is. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Jonah Coleman at the Round 4 slot is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
They took Jack Endries at par in Round 4, Pick 17, which is nothing to complain about. A need, and now a little less of one.
They reached into another round for Skyler Gill-Howard, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Louis Moore at pick No. 152 is a clear overpay, with better names still on the board. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
No edge and no loss on Travis Burke in pick No. 175; it is a wash and a sensible one. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
A reach for Keagen Trost in the 177th overall pick; a little patience would have been rewarded. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Bobby Jamison-Travis at pick 180 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. It fills a real need, too.
A premium they did not need to pay, Red Murdock a notch or two before his time. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Nothing to complain about; Josh Cameron went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Diego Pavia. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Fa'alili Fa'amoe at slot 218 is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A straight-up fair deal on Kaelon Black at the 219th pick, value and slot in agreement. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.