A quick note in defense of Gil Brandt, who really requires no defense: While it's true that poor drafting played a role in the eventual decline of the Landry-era Cowboys, it really is an oversimplification to imply that Brandt "lost it."
Consider that from 1978-1988 the Cowboys with Brandt leading the scouting department chose a total of 21 players who appeared in at least 100 NFL games. Over those 11 drafts Brandt and the Cowboys found nearly two players per year who would enjoy NFL careers of more than six years in length based on a 16-game season. In all but one of those drafts (1982) the Cowboys found at least one such player.
One major contributor to the team's apparent lack of draft success: Some of the better players chosen had strong careers in other uniforms. Todd Christensen, Mike Wilson, Mike Walter are three examples. Brandt identified them as good NFL prospects. The coaching staff or circumstances dictated that they enjoyed their careers elsewhere.
It's also true that the Cowboys had a remarkable run of truly poor luck. Anyone who saw Mike Sherrard and Robert Shaw play could see that those guys were destined to be Pro Bowl caliber stars. Shaw might have been the best center Dallas ever drafted. Sherrard was as good a deep threat as any Cowboys player this side of Bullet Bob. Injuries cut short their careers. Beyond those two Billy Cannon Jr. gave all the appearances of being an upper-level NFL linebacker but also saw his career ended -- like Shaw's, in its infancy.
Cowboys draft choices in those 11 years played in a collective 21 Pro Bowls, but Christensen recorded five of those with the Raiders. The Cowboys identified him as a great TE, but he refused the move from fullback, which prompted a trade. I wouldn't lay that one off on Schramm.
It's also notable that Jim Jeffcoat was never voted to a Pro Bowl, though he was one of the most consistent pass rushers the Cowboys ever had. He was also a gifted playmaker.
Finally, after a period of time in which the Cowboys truly did stumble in the war room, Brandt appeared to find his legs once more. From 1985 through 1988, the Cowboys chose Herschel Walker, Kelvin Martin, Kevin Gogan, Michael Irvin, Ken Norton and Chad Hennings, all key contributors to the great Super Bowl run -- Walker in an ironic fashion.
The Cowboys also chose Sherrard in 1986. While I have mused many times on how great his career might have been had injuries not intervened, it might be that Dallas wouldn't have spent a first round pick on Irvin in 1988 had Sherrard not become a question mark. We'll never know. I do think a healthy Sherrard paired with Irvin would have been recalled as one of the greatest WR pairings of all-time.
Don't get me wrong. The Cowboys made some awful missteps in the war room from 1978-1988, but there is plenty of evidence to suggest Brandt could still identify top-quality NFL talent. They missed at the quarterback position, in part because Danny White didn't manage to climb the mountain at least once and get to a Super Bowl, which given that he followed Staubach might have caused the coaches to abandon him more quickly than they otherwise would have. In any case, White's failure to win the big one seemed to take some life from him in the latter stages of his career, and the Cowboys hadn't prepared an adequate successor.
It's also true that Staubach retired while still at the top of his game as a result of concussions.
During reasonably significant parts of the 11-year period being discussed, the Cowboys felt little need to draft a QB. Their choices at the position were limited to Hogeboom, a 5th round pick in 1980; Reggie Collier, a 6th round choice in 1983; Steve Pelluer, a 5th round pick in 1984; Stan Gelbaugh, a 6th round choice in 1986; Kevin Sweeney, a 7th round pick in 1987; and Scott Secules, a 6th round pick in 1988. I doubt seriously that Brandt overrode the wishes of Landry and Schramm to choose not to invest better than a 5th round pick in the QB position during a period of 11 years.
Brandt has claimed that Joe Montana was the top player on the Cowboys' board at one point in the 1979 draft but was passed when available because Staubach appeared destined to play a few more years and White was the QB in waiting. I have no idea whether that is true, but it makes sense. Yes, it can be construed as self-serving of Brandt to point it out, but it would have been an understandable decision by the braintrust to look to another position given the existing depth chart.
Again, it's fair to criticize Brandt's track record in the 11-year period mentioned, but it's hardly fair to imply that he had lost his ability to identify NFL talent. Luck, good and bad, always plays a role in determining our fate. Yes the Cowboys gambled too often on draft day and began to throw snake eyes rather than 7s and 11s. But there is room for perspective.
Brandt deserves enough respect to offer it.
