CFZ 10 years of drafts. best 10 Cowboys picks?

[lukemartin79]

Jaylon Smith had one good year. The rest were beyond dismal. He was a wasted pick.

And when was Gregory a starter for “years”?

Unless by “starter for years”, you mean “suspended and unavailable for years”??

Gregory is a starter this year, lol. How can a big money free agent be a miss? If he were a miss, he wouldn't have landed the contract he did.

 

[lukemartin79]

I agree with you. The Cowboys are probably the best drafting team in the league… and they have been for a while now. This team is loaded with talented, young, drafted players (and UDFA’s). They do a hell of a job.[/QUO

I agree with you. The Cowboys are probably the best drafting team in the league… and they have been for a while now. This team is loaded with talented, young, drafted players (and UDFA’s). They do a hell of a job.

They always have a lot of talent, the problem is at the top of this organization unfortunately. Coaching has been an issue too.

 

[alicetooljam]

Gregory is a starter this year, lol. How can a big money free agent be a miss? If he were a miss, he wouldn't have landed the contract he did.

He was for the 1st 4 games...been hurt since.

 

[Nova]

1. Dak Prescott - 135th overall
2. Travis Frederick - 31st overall
3. Zack Martin - 14th overall
4. Trevon Diggs - 51st overall
5. Micah Parsons - 12th overall
6. Anthony Brown - 189th overall
7. Byron Jones - 27th overall
8. Tony Pollard - 128th overall
9. DeMarcus Lawrence - 34th overall (traded 47th and 78th)
10. A host of guys could fit here… Lamb, Gallup, Schultz.

 

[cnuball21]

Dak Prescott. Saved us from becoming the Denver Broncos post-Romo.

Zack Martin. Will be putting on a gold jacket one day. Martin has set a generational standard for guards, and he's still an All-Pro today.

Micah Parsons. Playing at a gold jacket level, and longetivity is the only question left. Let's hope his career trajectory continues more like DeMarcus Ware than Aldon Smith.

Travis Frederick. Would have put on a gold jacket, but a freak illness cost him it. His game on the field was Canton worthy for 4 seasons and he wasn't slowing down. Frederick is the Garrett-era Erik Williams.

DLaw. People loved DLaw in 2017-18, ragged on him from 19-21, and now they love him again. But he's just been the same Pro Bowl caliber DE for 6 years straight.

Trevon Diggs. Emerging as a top-five CB in the league. Like most really young guys, longetivity is the question, but the talent is undeniable.

Connor Williams. Believe it or not, he was one of the better guards in the league for his last two years in Dallas, and now he's grading out as the best center in the NFL. Major IOL talent, and just because he didn't peak in Dallas doesn't mean the scouting department missed on him.

Byron Jones. Hit an All-Pro peak in Dallas, hasn't really recaptured that in Miami, but he's playing year 8 in the league and he's never been a worse than average starting CB. We definitely wasted a few of his seasons at FS.

Anthony Brown. He's been a solid player for a very long time now, but he never hit Byron's peak.

CeeDee Lamb. The #1 vs #2 debates are fair IMO. What isn't in question is that he's been a legit starting WR.

Honorable mentions for Tony Pollard, Anthony Hitchens, Gallup, and Chido.

Zeke isn't in the running IMO. For 2 or 3 years, he was straight-up one of the best players in football. But he's been dead weight for at least another 3 and has been actively hurting this team for nearly as long as he helped it. Look at Tony Pollard running these past two weeks... we could have been doing that since 2020.

I’d swap Zeke for Connor and I like this list. I hated the Zeke pick due to positional value, hated the extension even more due to positional value, understand he’s not the guy anymore but for the first 3-4 years he was a stud and I think an all pro a few times. Hard to knock how good he was on contract 1.

 

[TwentyOne]

His stats and body of work put him there .not draft position.

The OP takes the draft position into account. So we follow him. Its his thread.

 

[rambo2]

They have had so many good picks. They should win a championship or 2.

 

[Tussinman]

I keep reading on here that the Cowboys are terrible with their 2nd Round draft picks. I understand the disappointment with Joseph, and we all remember Trysten Hill recently too. But other 2nd Rounders were Diggs, Awuzie, Jaylon Smith, Gregory, D- Law, and Sean Lee. They sure weren't misses, lol.

Most of those guys you listed either left, where injured, or got overpaid.

None of those 3 things are desirable. Guys like Hill, Joseph, Escobar, and Jaylon were borderline waste. Tank I actually like but alot of people would say overpaid and plays injured too often. Gregory played like the total snaps of a complete season in like 6 years and then left. Williams and Awuzie showed upside during the final year but we didn't keep them (we basically rented/developed them and now the other teams reaping the reward). Carter played a complete season once then just became an injury prone journeyman as he bounced around multiple teams

There was like an 8 year period where Tank was the only legitimate 2nd contract franchise player they signed with any of there 2nd round picks, that's not exactly good........

Jaylon Smith had one good year. The rest were beyond dismal. He was a wasted pick.

And when was Gregory a starter for “years”?

Unless by “starter for years”, you mean “suspended and unavailable for years”??

Yeah there was a rough 8 or 9 year stretch where almost all of there 2nd round picks either become injury prone, left for another team, or got overpaid. All 3 of those things I don't consider "cowboys are good at 2nd rounders".

 

[Acceptablename]

I thought I'd switch things up and post something different from the usual.......

Going back to the 2013 draft, who do you think our best 10 picks have been? You decide on your criteria as to what your top 10 looks like. It may just be "best 10 players" however, I've tried to look at draft slot and to a degree, comp pick to come up with my list.

1. Micah Parsons - just because!
2. Dak Prescott - round 4 pick, EVERY team would love this pick in round 4 (please, please don't turn this thread into a Dak-bash).
3. Zak Martin - Best, most reliable player we drafted in forever.
4. Trevon Diggs - All pro in the 2nd round, position of need.....say no more.
5. Tank Lawrence - forget the contract and sack numbers. A super-solid player picked in the 2nd round. Draft "a Lawrence" every year in round 2 and you have a good roster.
6. Travis Fredrick - What a pick.............what a shame his career was so short.
7. Michael Gallup - really solid round 3 pick who just does his job
8. Dalton Schultz - now hear me out! Round 4 pick, playing like a top 5 TE.....and the comp pick may be a 4 if he's gone next year (I'll take that).
9. Anthony Brown - round 6..........again, round 6 draft and he's solid, really solid.
10. Tony Pollard - it's been a slow burn but he's on fire now and will climb my list when he scores 2 TDs in the Super Bowl this year..

so no Zeke? If it was a top 10 best player list, then all day but I've taken account of his draft capital.
No Byron Jones? He was good for 1 year at CB, meh at safety before that.
No CeeDee Lamb? A bit like Zeke, draft slot has him out my list but I'm torn here.
No-one from 2022 draft? For me, too early to add them in but there's optimism.

So where are you all with your list folks?

I am stunned At how many posters are listing dak as a top 10 pick.He has the widest range of opinions of anyone I know. Romo would have deserved to be on that list other than the timeslot

 

[Tussinman]

Wait. Wut?!?

Jaylon Smith wasn’t a miss? Gregory wasn’t a wasted pick either?

What football universe are you living in?

Jaylon smith was arguably one of the top 10 worst cowboys pick of all time

What made it really bad was the defensive class on the top 50 was super sacked that year so there wasn't really any significant upside for a project that early

The next 3 defensive players on the board after Jaylon where freaking Chris Jones, Xavien Howard, and Myles Jack...... (Nothing else really needs to be said)

 

[rambo2]

I am stunned At how many posters are listing dak as a top 10 pick.He has the widest range of opinions of anyone I know. Romo would have deserved to be on that list other than the timeslot

I am stunned at how anybody would question him being on the list. Of course he is on the list. One of the best qbs in franchise history.

 

[KJJ]

Parsons
Martin
Frederick
Tyler Smith
Dak
Diggs
Pollard
Sam Williams

Sam Williams looks like he could end up being a beast eventually, but I think it’s a little early to put him on that list. He’s only 10 games into his career, at least let him finish out the season.

 

[Gangsta Spanksta]

Zeke belongs in that list somewhere in that list.

Pollard may be better than Zeke now, but running backs have a very short shelf life, so it is questionable to put him ahead of Zeke , since we don't know how long he will be at the level he is at. Saying that Zeke is not looking bad this year.

 

[Gangsta Spanksta]

Anyone who puts Zeke on the list should get a lifetime posting ban....

Would Dak have had the kind of year that he did in 2016 without Zeke?

 

[Verdict]

Morris Clayborne—Who doesn’t still thump their chest over that trade up. Man. Great. Pick.

B. W. Webb—Small school steal and who doesn’t love having a player who just goes by initials?

Mark Nzeocha — All world potential and who doesn’t love a steal like that?

Rico Gathers—-So glad we used a roster spot on this Uber talented individual.

Chaz Green—Dominant player who set individual sack records. Immortal.

Joey Ivey——The most coveted and celebrated draft pick of Marinelli’s tenture.

Bo Scarborough——Massive bruiser of a back out of Alabama. Roll Tide, Baby.

Taco Charlton——Who doesn’t love a taco? Draft em based on a favorite food and force a pick. What could go wrong with that. “Fist Bump”.

Trysten Hill—-Big cat with movement skills. We probably retired his roster spot and play short handed simply out of respect for his greatness.

Joe “Shoeless” Jackson——what a pick that was! If you pick based on name recognition this man has it in spades!


You are welcome!

“Thank you! Thank you! I’ll be here all week!”

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

He really doesn't, not when he cost the 4th overall pick.

Zeke was a big part why they went from 4 wins to 12. He kept the defense off the field and kept churning.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Would Dak have had the kind of year that he did in 2016 without Zeke?

I think you can say the same thing about Dak. They went hand in hand.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Anyone who puts Zeke on the list should get a lifetime posting ban....

That’s extreme.

 

[Robbieac]

That’s extreme.

Zeke (and just about any RB) was and still is extremely poor value for a #4 pick in the draft.

He had a few good years, but has dropped off significantly in ability. That doesn’t include his distractions, suspension, and ridiculously dumb 2nd contract. At this point, the team’s hardheadedness with force feeding him and starting him over Pollard is truly holding the team back.

There have easily been 10 better draft picks with better value over the past 10 years than Zeke.

 

[Oz-of-Cowboy-Country]

Zak Martin - Best, most reliable player we drafted in forever.

Forever? Four ever, ever? Really?
Did you really, really just say forever? Are we taking forever? Like really! SMH.

Sir, Emmitt Smith would like to have a word with you. Please step this way.