Ranking the Cowboys’ last 10 first-round draft picks

For the most part the Cowboys have had success in the first round of the draft.

The Dallas Cowboys have typically done their best team-building work through the NFL draft. With the 2024 edition just next week, we’re going to look back on the last 10 years of Cowboys drafts and pull out some of the highlights and low points. Today, we’re looking at Dallas’ last decade of drafting and ranking their work in the first round.

First-rounders are up against the highest expectations, and paradoxically sometimes the most challenging circumstances in which to thrive. Just ask so many quarterbacks who’ve been expected to turn around the worst teams in football, or supposed stud defensive end getting no help from a bad secondary.

Over the last 10 years, the Cowboys’ rookies have been fortunate to join a team that’s only had a losing record in two seasons and both were due to major injuries at quarterback. Dallas has made the playoffs six times in the span, meaning new arrivals have generally been able to come into a mutually beneficial situation.

But still, that doesn’t guarantee success. While Dallas only has one total bust out of their last 10 first-round picks, they’ve come with varying degrees of success. So let’s compare them by ranking from worst to first, going back to the 2014 draft.

10. DE Taco Charlton (2017)

Here’s that total bust we were talking about. Charlton only lasted two years, getting cut two weeks into the 2019 season to make room for Robert Quinn’s return from a PED suspension. He only started seven games in two seasons, totaling just four sacks and providing little more than a body in the DE rotation.

Since leaving Dallas, Charlton’s been with seven other teams in backup or practice squad roles and never elevated his game. He’s now moved to the UFL’s Birmingham Stallions, where he’s had three sacks in the team’s first three games. Clearly, something about the NFL just wasn’t for him.

9. DT Mazi Smith (2023)

Obviously, it’s too early to know what Smith’s ultimate impact will be. But without a dramatic turnaround from his rookie season, Smith could end up as one of the team’s bigger first-round busts. Given who else is on this list, we have no choice but to stick him here for now. The jury’s still out, but hopefully, Smith provides some new evidence to consider.

8. LB Leighton Vander Esch (2018)

This is the last of what we’d consider a failed pick, and it’s only due to medical issues. Vander Esch made the Pro Bowl as a rookie and seemed set for a sensational career, but chronic neck issues began in 2019 and severely limited his availability and even his level of play. Concerns for his health finally led to Vander Esch’s untimely retirement about a month ago.

While he never got back to that exciting rookie form, Vander Esch did put together some solid starting years from 2021-2022. Only playing in five games last season, his absence was felt as Dallas struggled against the run. Vander Esch will go down as a tragic figure in Cowboys history, but not for any lack of effort.

7. DB Byron Jones (2015)

After the last few years of Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland’s work, it’d be easy to look at Jones’ two measly interceptions for Dallas and dismiss him. But while the opposite of a ballhawk, Jones was still a strong defender overall and provided a solid return as the 27th pick in his draft.

The Cowboys probably hurt Jones legacy by moving him to safety for his first three years. Once he got back to playing corner in 2018, he was named a second-team All-pro and went to his first Pro Bowl. The Cowboys got five good years out of Jones before allowing him to walk in free agency, where he signed a major deal with the Dolphins and fetched Dallas an extra third-round pick in 2021 as compensation.

6. [TRADE] WR Amari Cooper (2019)

The Cowboys’ 2019 first-rounder was traded away a year earlier for veteran WR Amari Cooper. While not a true draft selection, we’re still ranking the use of that pick. Though he only spent four years in Dallas, Cooper positively impacted the team in ways that many first-round picks would envy.

Dallas had gone 3-4 in 2018 before trading their pick for Cooper. His arrival unlocked the offense and the Cowboys went 7-2 the rest of the season, winning the NFC East and advancing to the second round of the playoffs despite their humble beginnings. Cooper would go on to have over 1,100 receiving yards in each of the next two seasons before losing ground to the emergence of CeeDee Lamb.

Cooper’s time in Dallas came to an abrupt and unfortunate end; getting dumped for just a fifth-round pick to Cleveland in a move that was partly about the salary cap but also a soured relationship with the team. But while he was here, Cooper was one of the best receivers in football.

5. OL Tyler Smith (2022)

Is this too high to put Smith after just two seasons? Maybe, but he’s coming off an All-pro year and is already being compared to Larry Allen. Much as we talked about trajectory when it came to Mazi, we have to give Tyler a similar consideration.

While last year was his breakout, Smith’s rookie season can’t be ignored. After preparing all offseason to play guard, he got switched to left tackle just a few weeks before Week 1 due to a Tyron Smith injury. Tyler was more than adequate in the role, protecting Dak Prescott’s blindside for a 12-win team.

While there’s always potential for a fall, Smith’s first two years point to incredible things. At his current pace, he could soon be rivaling the top names on this list.

4. RB Ezekiel Elliott (2016)

Even the staunchest advocates for not drafting running backs high can’t deny the impact that Elliott had on the Cowboys. While using the fourth-overall pick on a RB might have been an overpayment, Elliott delivered to the best of his ability and was key to much of Dallas’ success since 2016.

Indeed, even Prescott admitted when he won Offensive Rookie of the Year that Zeke deserved the credit. Elliott’s dynamic running stabilized the offense for the rookie QB that only became a starter after Tony Romo’s preseason injury. Elliott was the most productive RB in the league for four seasons, even as Dallas’ offensive line started to crumble in 2018 with Travis Frederick’s health issue.

While the wheels came off of Elliott’s elite ability too quickly in the last few years, he remains on the most memorable and important players the Cowboys have had in the last decade. He was every bit of a franchise player.

3. WR CeeDee Lamb (2020)

If Dallas had spent a top-five pick on Lamb, he’d have been worth it. That they got him at #17 in 2020 was an absolute steal. Already an elite NFL WR coming off his best year yet, Lamb’s future is as bright as they come. He’s already pushing his way up the Cowboys’ all-time leaderboard for receivers.

The only question now is if Lamb’s run will go beyond five years. We have no reason to think he won’t get an extension from Dallas, but it still has to happen first. Assuming it does, Lamb is on pace to potentially go down as the best receiver in the Cowboys’ storied history at the position.

2. LB Micah Parsons (2021)

In his first season, Parsons won Defensive Rookie of the Year, was a First-team All-Pro, Pro Bowler, and finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting. He’s maintained that level of play for three years and is already on the short list of the Cowboys’ all-time defensive players.

Parsons’ high profile, and active social media presence, make him a target for intense scrutiny. But while anyone’s game can be nitpicked, Parsons is arguably the best player on Dallas’ roster today and perhaps the most gifted talent we’ve seen since the likes of Larry Allen and Deion Sanders. He’s a generational player.

1. G Zack Martin (2014)

The only thing separating Martin and Parsons at this point is longevity. Martin’s been as good on his side of the ball as Parsons has, only he’s been doing it for seven more years. For all the rightfully-deserved praise that Larry Allen gets as the best offensive linemen in team history and perhaps even the league’s, Martin isn’t very far behind.

It was Martin’s arrival in 2014 that took Dallas’ offensive line, and arguably the entire team, to another level. Joining forces with Tyron Smith and Travis Frederick as the nucleus of an elite front, Martin helped DeMarco Murray break the single-season rushing record in 2014. The Cowboys’ offensive line helped carry a middling-to-bad defense for much of Martin’s run, including the 2016 season with rookies Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott controlling the ball.

Simply put, Martin has been as close to perfect as it gets. Now entering his 11th season, he’s still one of the elite guards in the NFL. Even with the incredible starts to their careers, Lamb and Parsons will need to put in several more years of work to match this gold standard.