Evaluating Dallas' 15 Top Ten Draft Picks

GhostOfPelluer

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Let's take a look back and evaluate the 15 Dallas Cowboys who were drafted in the top ten of their respective NFL Drafts.
The stars of course are my opinion.

1. Ezekiel Elliott RB 2016 4th overall pick:
All Pro - 1; Pro Bowls - 1; Super Bowls - 0; Hall of Fame - N/A (still playing). 5 Stars
Zeke is definitely off to a great start for a great career in Dallas.

2. Morris Claiborne CB 2012 6th overall pick:
All Pro - 0; Pro Bowls - 0; Super Bowls - 0; Hall of Fame - N/A (still playing). 1 Star
Might be the most disappointing top ten pick in Cowboys history (primarily due to injury).

3. Tyron Smith 2011 9th overall pick:
All Pro - 2; Pro Bowls - 4; Super Bowls - 0; Hall of Fame - N/A (still playing). 5 Stars
Tyron has established himself as one of the best offensive lineman in the game today.

4. Terrance Newman CB 2003 5th overall pick:
All Pro - 0; Pro Bowls - 2; Super Bowls - 0; Hall of Fame - N/A (still playing??). 3 Stars
I believe Terrence never got the credit he deserved during his career in Dallas (32 INTs support this). There was a time where he went something like 29 consecutive games without giving up a TD pass to his receiver. There were many games where QBs did not go after him.

5. Roy Williams S 2002 8th overall pick:
All Pro - 1; Pro Bowls - 5; Super Bowls - 0; Hall of Fame - No. 4 Stars
Roy's first 7 seasons were phenomenal. He did make big plays including knocking out McNabb in 2005. His dropoff in the last few seasons of his career fogs up his overall contribution to the Cowboys.

6. Greg Ellis DE 1998 8th overall pick:
All Pro - 0; Pro Bowls - 1; Super Bowls - 0; Hall of Fame - No. 3 Stars
A solid career in Dallas which will be forever overshadowed by the Cowboys passing up Randy Moss.

7. Russell Maryland DT 1991 1st overall pick:
All Pro - 0; Pro Bowls - 1; Super Bowls - 3; Hall of Fame - No. 3 Stars
Russell played his entire career in Dallas with two bad big toes. We never got to see the best of him.

8. Troy Aikman QB 1989 1st overall pick:
All Pro - 0; Pro Bowls - 6; Super Bowls - 3; Hall of Fame - Yes. 5 Stars
One of the greatest QBs ever. Despite his Super Bowls and Hall of Fame honors, he was always overlooked because guys like Steve Young and Brett Favre stole the spotlight with inflated passing numbers. Troy didn't need the theatrics and aerial assaults as Dallas had Emmitt Smith and that great offensive line.

9. Tony Dorsett RB 1977 2nd overall pick:
All Pro - 1; Pro Bowls - 4; Super Bowls - 2 (1 loss); Hall of Fame - Yes. 5 Stars
The greatest accelerator the NFL has ever seen. Tony retired 2nd in the NFL career rushing yards behind only Walter Payton (Dickerson passed him shortly afterwards).

10. Randy White DT 1975 2nd overall pick:
All Pro - 7; Pro Bowls - 9; Super Bowls - 3 (2 losses); Hall of Fame - Yes. 5 Stars
The first of the Dirty Doxen, the real Manster is still regarded as one of the most intimidating players ever to play this game.

11. Ed "Too Tall" Jones DE 1974 1st overall pick:
All Pro - 1; Pro Bowls - 3; Super Bowls - 3 (2 losses); Hall of Fame - No. 5 Stars
Too Tall might be the most under-appreciated players in Cowboys history. He blocked out his portion of the field in the passing game and was better against the run.This man made big plays in big games.

12. John Niland G 1966 5th overall pick:
All Pro - 2; Pro Bowls - 6; Super Bowls - 3 (2 losses); Hall of Fame - No. 4 Stars
Outside of Rayfield Wright, Niland was the best offensive lineman in the Landry era. Even the season where he did not go to a Pro Bowl, his play was outstanding.

13. Craig Morton QB 1965 5th overall pick:
All Pro - 0; Pro Bowls - 0; Super Bowls - 3 (2 losses - 1 with Denver); Hall of Fame - No. 2 Stars
Morton has more career interceptions than TD passes. He did not come up big in the big game. I gave him another star as he was the sacrificial lamb for the Cowboys trading him to the Giants. Dallas would use that pick to select Randy White.

14. Scott Appleton DT 1964 4th overall pick:
Appleton never played for the Cowboys as he decided to play for Houston instead. The Cowboys could have selected WR Paul Warfield instead - yuk.

15. Lee Roy Jordan LB 1963 6th overall pick:
All Pro - 1; Pro Bowls - 5; Super Bowls - 3 (2 losses); Hall of Fame - No. 5 Stars
Another overshadowed great player from the likes of Dick Butkis and Ray Nitschke. Lee Roy Jordan anchored a defense in the 60s and early 70s that was at or near #1 in the league during that time. He also has 32 INTs.
Some could nitpick this list but I don't need to. Pretty rational analysis.:clap:
 

chagus

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Just think, Dallas has not had a safety this productive since. Roy Williams was a heck of a football player.
I love watching that Roy Williams hits on youtube. He was beyond BEAST. He hits... they go backwards.
 

John813

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Not true ......... Roy lost weight his last 3 years in Dallas ....... injury is the only reason he left and that arm ended up ending his career.

People claim the weight thing because of Parcell's dumb biscuit remark trying to be funny ....... in reality his weight only changed by 10 pounds in the middle of his career ....... the fact that the NFL started making rules to stop him and his personal life was in shambles had much more to do with it.

We still got 6 great years from him.

From Wiki, and the links to Sportsday are down but fwiw:

Teammate Greg Ellis when speaking on Sirius NFL Radio said that Williams told him he felt like he did not fit in head coach Wade Phillips' defensive scheme. Ellis also said that he's bothered by the way Williams has been isolating himself from other Cowboys, and Williams "just doesn't fit what's going on here in Dallas right now."[9] The Cowboys hired new DBs coach Dave Campo. The team hoped this would help Williams create more turnovers, after Williams failed to achieve any sacks or forced fumbles since 2005.[10]
Williams broke his forearm in the 2nd game of the year against Philadelphia Eagles. He missed four games, then on his first game back against the St. Louis Rams, he refractured the same forearm and was forced to miss the entire season on injured reserve.
On March 5, 2009, the Cowboys released Williams, per his request.

Might be more to Roy getting cut than due to his injury.

It's a shame we could find a half decent FS to pair up with Roy. While Woodson was a legend, if we could of found someone that could at least cover worth a damn we could of had RW in positions that fit him better.

sort of like how Pittsburgh allowed Troy to do his thing.

http://thelandryhat.com/2008/05/09/greg-ellis-blows-whistle-on-roy-williams/
 

Manster68

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Regarding the Roy Williams talk, it doesn't matter what your thoughts are of him. He made big plays for the Cowboys. Much moreso than what Church and Wilcox ever provided.

Now we are holding against hope that Xavier Woods can play with some resemblance of both Roy Williams and Ed Reed. For that to happen, he better have a bunch of pick-6s in pivotal games. Quite the tall order for a 6th round pick.
 

joseephuss

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14. Scott Appleton DT 1964 4th overall pick:
Appleton never played for the Cowboys as he decided to play for Houston instead. The Cowboys could have selected WR Paul Warfield instead - yuk.
.

Dallas traded the rights to Appleton to Pittsburgh in exchange for wide receiver Buddy Dial who did nothing of significance in Dallas. Having Warfield would definitely have been an upgrade. Dallas also could have drafted Hall of Fame defensive end Car Eller with that pick. That would have been fun to watch him as part of the Doomsday Defense.
 

Manster68

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Now that I have had a few days of pondering my OP and reading the interesting comments,I don't know if there would be any significant updates. I can understand giving Morton an extra star - I might have been a little critical of him. Maybe I should have upgraded Niland as well. I might of been shy and didn't want to be 5 star happy.

One thing for sure. Mo is by far biggest disappointment. The Appleton situation was strange ordeal 53 years ago and unfortunate. That 1964 draft was still incredible wasn't it?

In 57 NFL drafts the Cowboys have had 15 top ten picks - appears a little below average. That is one in every 5-6 drafts.
 

joseephuss

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Now that I have had a few days of pondering my OP and reading the interesting comments,I don't know if there would be any significant updates. I can understand giving Morton an extra star - I might have been a little critical of him. Maybe I should have upgraded Niland as well. I might of been shy and didn't want to be 5 star happy.

One thing for sure. Mo is by far biggest disappointment. The Appleton situation was strange ordeal 53 years ago and unfortunate. That 1964 draft was still incredible wasn't it?

In 57 NFL drafts the Cowboys have had 15 top ten picks - appears a little below average. That is one in every 5-6 drafts.

That 1964 draft was indeed incredible.

It is amazing that Dallas had as many top ten picks as they did. They got Randy White, Ed "Too Tall" Jones and Tony Dorsett at a time when they were a very good franchise. They didn't get those picks by having a poor record. They acquired them through trades.
 
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