Cowboys Best/Worst 1st round picks. Ever

[OmerV]

Russel Maryland. is one to throw in the pot.

He wasn't the star he was supposed to be, but he played well on Super Bowl winning teams, so I couldn't put him on the worst list.

 

[DFWJC]

Taco was picked in the 1st round.

I only mentioned Carter.(8th pick in 2nd round)
You mentioned Taco.

Anyway, it doesn't matter.
I get what you're saying

 

[Winonesoon]

He wasn't the star he was supposed to be, but he played well on Super Bowl winning teams, so I couldn't put him on the worst list.

Nope.

 

[RS12]

Come on people. The 1964 draft back when the owner knew his place netted three HOFers. Renfro, Hayes and Staubach. How can anybody say any pick is better than getting Staubach in the 10th round? Were talking about a top 50 all time NFL player in the 10 round!

 

[JoeKing]

I only mentioned Carter.(8th pick in 2nd round)
You mentioned Taco.

Anyway, it doesn't matter.
I get what you're saying

Yes, I'm in this conversation too. I introduced Taco to this conversation. Terrible pick in the 1st round.

 

[KB1122]

10 worst

11 Jim Jeffcoat 1983 - Good, solid player. The only first round success story between Tony Dorsett and Michael Irvin. Had more than 100 sacks. Contributed to 2 SB teams. Also, never made even a Pro Bowl. Also, was in the most talent-rich draft in NFL history. Also, was taken 4 spots before Dan Marino and 5 before Darrell Green.
10. Marcus Spears 2005 - Solid enough starter. Aaron Rodgers was still on the board. Not the worst player, but among the worst picks for that reason.

9. David LaFleur, 1998 - Supposedly the Cowboys rated him over Tony Gonzalez. Yikes. A good to dominant blocker, and valuable along the goal line blocking and receiving. So I don't think he was awful. But he didn't last long, either.

8. Danny Noonan, 1987 - Not a total bust. But with the 12 pick, you should be able to do better than Danny Noonan. Not a great draft, but not bad, either.

7. Morris Claiborne 2012 - Had a good year or two with the Cowboys. But was spotty and beatable. Traded a second round pick to move up to get him. The Cowboys' only true top 10 bust ever.

6. Taco Charlton 2017 - Since Claiborne, the Cowboys are on a solid run of first-rounders - Frederick, Elliot, Martin, Byron Jones, LVE, Lamb. And then: Taco happened.

5. Dennis Homan, 1968 - Probably the first Cowboys can't-play first round pick. Brief career.

4. Charley Young, 1974 - The Cowboys wanted Lynn Swann, chosen by Pittsburgh one pick before. The Cowboys settled for Charley Young, who couldn't beat out all those no-names that forced us to trade up for Dorsett.

3. Bobby Carpenter 2006 - Had a bad habit of being waived quickly by any team who picked him up. The next two selections were Pro Bowl players. Wasn't an end-of-the-round pick, either.

2. Scott Appleton, 1964 - The Cowboys drafted Appleton at #4 in the 1964 draft as part of a trade with Pittsburgh for WR Buddy Dial, who was coming off 3 1,000 yard seasons. Both guys ended up sucking thereafter. Appleton became a journeyman. Dial went to the bench quickly. Brandt has said the Cowboys were considering Paul Warfield in that draft. Carl Eller was drafted 2 picks later.

1. Rod Hill. 1983 - Of the notorious group of Cowboys first-round busts from 1978 to 1987, most were injury cases (Shaw, Cannon, Sherrard) or JAGs (Richards, Bethea, Brooks). Only one of them couldn't play at NFL level at all. That was Rod Hill.

 

[Winonesoon]

I would Take Rod "almost Hill" over David Fleur any day but its still bad.

 

[cowboyec]

Come on people. The 1964 draft back when the owner knew his place netted three HOFers. Renfro, Hayes and Staubach. How can anybody say any pick is better than getting Staubach in the 10th round? Were talking about a top 50 all time NFL player in the 10 round!

agreed.
that was the greatest draft.
that was the greatest pick.
but the topic is best and worst in the 1st round.

 

[RS12]

agreed.
that was the greatest draft.
that was the greatest pick.
but the topic is best and worst in the 1st round.

They got Renfro in the 1st that year.

 

[cowboyec]

tho not taken until the 2nd Rd...LB Jesse Penn was one of the most frustrating.
he showed flashes but just wasnt consistent enough.
but there were moments where he showed why he was drafted in the 2nd round...just not enough of them.

 

[cowboyec]

They got Renfro in the 1st that year.

he was a 2nd Rd pick.
scott appleton was the 1st rounder.
Renfro is...in my opinion...the greatest 2nd round pick of all-time.

 

[cowboyec]

tho DL Kevin Brooks and DT Danny Noonan didnt turn out to be pro bowlers...they were starters for multiple seasons and were really starting to come along under Coach Landry at the end.
they were not the best...as hoped...but i cant put them among the worst.
at least they contributed.
same for OT Howard Richards.
he wasnt a franchise tackle as hoped.
but he wasn't horrible either.
he didnt play upto being a 1st rounder but again...at least they got something out of him.


tody smith.
rod hill.
different story.

 

[KB1122]

At least they got Too Tall out of Tody Smith. And he started for the Oilers.

 

[Aerolithe_Lion]

Did you really say that. Randy white was the best first round pick we probably ever heard

Player ability maybe, but ‘worth’ of QB pushes beyond that. You put Randy White on the 2020 Cowboys, and they’re still likely 6-10 (albeit with a really awesome dlineman). You put Troy Aikman on the 2020 Cowboys and they win the east by a mile. It’s the imbalance of positional values

 

[quickccc]

He wasn't the star he was supposed to be, but he played well on Super Bowl winning teams, so I couldn't put him on the worst list.

Just like QB Steve Walsh, Jimmie Johnson way overrated Russell Maryland more so than what he was as a player
Ironically it was never Maryland that the Cowboys were intially after as the No.1 overall pick in NFL Draft.

it was actually WR Rocket Ismail that they so coveted, and he would've indeed been the No.1 pick overall, but Rocket was an odd ball that decided to spurn the NFL and head to CFL league to start his professional football career. Go figure

The other irony is I believe after a stint with the Oakland Radas, we were able to obtain him as a free agent, where we hoped to pair him up with Michael Irvin, -before Irvin's unfortunate neck injury.

 

[Jake]

Carpenter may have been the worst.

Lots of recency bias going on in this thread. Some of the older picks were so bad no one remembers them:

1972 - RB Bill Thomas. He rushed for 36 yards his entire career
1984 - LB Billy Cannon, Jr. played 8 games his entire career
1997 - TE David LaFleur caught 85 passes his entire career

 

[cowboyec]

They got Renfro in the 1st that year.

no.
2nd round.
unless the dallas cowboys bluebook is wrong.
scott appleton was drafted in the 1st round.
Renfro in the 2nd.
his bio page on pro football hall of fame site also lists him as a 2nd round pick.

 

[cowboyec]

I would Take Rod "almost Hill" over David Fleur any day but its still bad.

at least lafleur started and contributed.
for me...tody smith rod hill and taco rank among the worst.
and i LOVED the taco pick at the time.
boy was i wrong.

 

[jrumann59]

I remember another record shatterer in Pepe Zellner, seemed that he was in that mix as well.
He was a fourth rounder but a bust nonetheless.

Zellner wasa decent role player the issue was they though he and Ellis together would relive the UNC days, they were both strong side DE in the NFL.

 

[Whirlwin]

Player ability maybe, but ‘worth’ of QB pushes beyond that. You put Randy White on the 2020 Cowboys, and they’re still likely 6-10 (albeit with a really awesome dlineman). You put Troy Aikman on the 2020 Cowboys and they win the east by a mile. It’s the imbalance of positional values

You just can’t compare. Randy was two Aaron Donald. Did you ever watch the man play