These Cowboys have been pretty darn good at this selection process of college football players when positioned in the top 17 of the draft order. In fact, sorta excellent.Voila, the Cowboys are selecting at highly coveted No. 12, the fourth time in their draft history to do so. So why don't we turn the page back to the franchise's first actual draft, 1961 when with the 13th pick in the first round the Cowboys knocked it out of the park by selecting TCU defensive lineman Bob Lilly, and there is even a caveat to that. Two of them.
And in this team's entire draft history, the Cowboys only three times have selected No. 1 in the draft: defensive end Ed "Too Tall" Jones in 1974; quarterback Troy Aikman in 1989; and in 1991 defensive tackle Russell Maryland. Plus, two more, Tyron Smith at No. 9 in 2011 and Zack Martin at No. 16 in 2014, are on their way to the Hall of Fame. And when it comes to those 25 top 17 picks, only six did not earn Pro Bowl honors. As for the other 19, they have totaled 100 Pro Bowl selections. Lilly leads the way with 11 with Randy White (selected second in 1975) and Martin (16th in 2014) next with nine each. Seven of the top selections have also been inducted into the Cowboys' famed Ring of Honor with no doubt Smith and Martin at some point on their way.
Now let's look at this first-round draft success another way since Cowboys owner Jerry Jones bought the team in 1989. During these past 36 drafts, the Cowboys have numbered 34 first-round picks. Of those 34 overall firsts, 19 were Pro Bowl selections. And of those 19, 15 of them were drafted in the top 17. Of those selected 18th or later, only 12 Pro bowls total, with Travis Frederick at No. 31 in 2013 and Dez Bryant at No. 24 in 2010 accounting for eight of them.
To sum this up, especially in the first round, the Cowboys have been extremely successful selecting players in the top half of the first and then not as much in the bottom half, though, let's face it, finding Tyler Smith at 24 in 2022, Leighton Vander Esch at 19 in 2018, Frederick at 31 in 2013 and Dez at 24 in 2010 is some good picking in the lower portion of the first.
https://www.dallascowboys.com/news/spagnola-history-suggests-catbird-seat-at-no-12