Dallas Cowboys all-time first round pick team

[lurkercowboy]

Pretty weak on the O-line and special teams, but strong at the skill positions and the defensive front seven.

QB Troy Aikman 1989
RB Emmitt Smith 1990
RB Tony Dorsett 1977
WR Michael Irvin 1988
WR Alvin Harper 1991
TE Billy Joe Dupree 1973
OT Howard Richards 1981
OG John Niland 1966
C Robert Shaw 1979
DE Ed Jones 1974
DT Randy White 1975
DT Bob Lilly 1961
DE Jim Jeffcoat 1983
LB Lee Roy Jordan 1963
LB Demarcus Ware 2005
LB Thomas Henderson 1975
CB Terence Newman 2003
CB Kevin Smith 1992
S Roy Williams 2002

 

[Fletch]

Not sure I would put Alvin Harper into your all-time list. His tenure and his 2nd tier role skew the list in my opinion.

 

[Shake_Tiller]

Very good work! Would be interesting to see what the results would be if you added second round picks...

 

[Chief]

So, basically, Dallas has picked one good offensive lineman in the first round in the 40-something-year history of the franchise.

 

[Shake_Tiller]

That's amazing, isn't it? One good round one OL... When was Ralph Neely picked? Am I wrong in recalling that he was a first round talent, but there was some unusual circumstance? My brain isn't getting there...

Some great picks aqnd pick-ups down the line, though... The Cowboys are deep with OL talent... Rayfield Wright and Neely, Pat Donovan was a pretty good tackle, Erik Williams and Mark Tuinei... guards like Blaine Nye and Niland, Nate Newton and of course, Larry Allen... centers like Dave Manders, John Fitzgerald and Mark Stepnoski.

Just a small sampling... lots of good players with diverse pedigrees.

Jim Myers might have been as good as any OL coach who ever lived.

 

[Hostile]

Niland is the only OL in the first we've had who was decent?

Wow.

 

[dbair1967]

So, basically, Dallas has picked one good offensive lineman in the first round in the 40-something-year history of the franchise.

That tells you we've done a superior job over the years of coaching up guys picked in other rounds...because other than a handful of years here and there we've always had very good OL's

look at those lines in the early-mid 90's...Larry Allen was the highest pick and he was a 2nd rounder in 94...Erik Williams was a 3rd...Tuinei was a DT coming out of college...Nate Newton was a rookie free agent cut by the Skins and then played in the USFL...Stepnoski was a 3rd rd pick...Gogan was an 8th...Gesek was a late rd choice of the Raiders whom we got for almost nothing

the 70's and early 80's were alot of the same

David

 

[Stautner]

Not sure I would put Alvin Harper into your all-time list. His tenure and his 2nd tier role skew the list in my opinion.

Someone has to be there - who would you suggest?

So, basically, Dallas has picked one good offensive lineman in the first round in the 40-something-year history of the franchise.

Keep in mind that for years the Cowboys philosophy was that O-linemen could be created or trained and that it was unnecessary to draft one in the first round. Also our philosophy was generally to draft the best athlete.

And for the most part we had success with that philosophy. It's only been in the last 8-10 years when our O-line has struggled some that fans have started to clamor for O-linemen being picked in the first round.

 

[dbair1967]

1st rd pick OL's since 1970

last one was Howard Richards, 1981

Robert Shaw 1979

thats it

David

 

[Shake_Tiller]

It's interesting... we all know that the Jerry Jones regime, from Jimmy Johnson through today, hasn't used first round choices on OL. It's seldom mentioned that the Landry/Brandt/Schramm team didn't spend a great many picks in that direction either -- and had limited success when it did.

Part of that was the stability of the good Dallas lines of the Sixties and Seventies... Wright, Neely, Nye, Niland, and Manders... There wasn't a lot of space there. My head understands that the 90s lines were the most dominant in Cowboys history, but my heart gravitates to that great Cowboys line of my youth... stability, brains, and consistent excellence.

Neely was the Flozell Adams of his day in that he was criticized relentlessly for the penalties he took, but his overall play was very good, might have been considered better if not for the inevitable comparisons to Wright, who was just awesome.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

Nice list. I pretty much agree with it though I too would somewhat question Harper.

 

[Shake_Tiller]

It could be that the huge salaries earned now by left tackles -- and in some cases, other linemen -- have changed the equation. At one time, stability was the most important thing... a line that was able to play together for a long period of time. Given that star linemen are paid now about as much as any position other than QB, stability is much more difficult to obtain. So that might force teams to pick linemen earlier than in the past, go for sheer talent in lieu of coordination and cohesiveness.

Of course, it's just as likely that one of you can shoot down that theory with relative ease!