The top 14 Cowboys draft blunders since 2000

[Aven8]

Bobbie Carpenter trumps Claiborne. At least Claiborne is semi-starter material as a corner. Carpenter was predominantly a Special Teamer, who was regrettably forced into starting roles due to injuries.

Big Bill got sucked in on one of his former players son's is what happened!

 

[jday]

Big Bill got sucked in on one of his former players son's is what happened!

I remember that...out of all the 1st round pick mistakes, that one irks me the most.

 

[Section446]

Claiborne over everybody should be #1.

 

[DCBoysfan]

Bobbie Carpenter trumps Claiborne. At least Claiborne is semi-starter material as a corner. Carpenter was predominantly a Special Teamer, who was regrettably forced into starting roles due to injuries.

I hated that Carpenter pick.

 

[Primetime42]

How could they kill them for not taking Polamalu when it looked like Roy Williams was going to set the league on fire and Darren Woodson was still healthy?

That and Newman had a damn good career.

 

[gimmesix]

When in need of writing something, write an article about draft blunders. To get the many fans already against everything, even more riled up.........to get the clicks too....
When it's really all hindsight, for all teams.

And as there any thought into the article at all. Newman over Polamalu...ok, we needed a CB more than a S, and we had Woodson.
If we took Polamalu that high, we would have been blasted it was a reach [at that time in the draft].

Another stupid hindsight, no thought article.

I'm interested in seeing who we could have gotten (with the knowledge that this can be done for every team) just as a reminder of how shaky the draft process is. We hope that we hit on all of ours each year, but it's likely that we'll have multiple misses from this year's class.

I certainly wish we had the foreknowledge to know who is going to go on to a successful career. I'm all for an All-Pro at every position.

 

[gimmesix]

I hated that Carpenter pick.

I thought he would be a solid starter for a long time. I missed the fact that he's allergic to contact and failed geometry.

We certainly know now that he was a bad pick, but Dallas took him in the range he was supposed to go and I have little doubt that if the Cowboys hadn't drafted him, some other team would have made that mistake within a few picks.

 

[gimmesix]

Akwasi Owusu-Ansah (who?) over Kam Chancellor? The top 14 Cowboys draft blunders since 2000

By SportsDayDFW.com Contact SportsDayDFW.com on Twitter: @SportsDayDFW

Every NFL team can longingly look through its draft history and wonder what could've been. The Cowboys are no exception.

Since the turn of the century, Jerry Jones & Co. have made some decisions on draft day that are likely to leave Cowboys fans slapping their foreheads in hindsight.

With all due respect, we'll let the players from the 2014 and 2015 drafts develop a little more before rushing to any judgments.

Here's a look at the Cowboys' 14 biggest draft blunders since 2000.

Just for kicks, I thought I'd look at one of our opponents in a similar light.

The Philadelphia Eagles selected:

2001: Quinton Caver over Adrian Wilson
Caver played six seasons, starting just four games after he left Philly and amassing a whopping 64 total tackles

2003: Jerome McDougle over Troy Polamalu

A much-worse pick that Terence Newman. McDougle had no starts over five years, three sacks and 37 tackles. Polamalu was taken one pick later.

2004: J.R. Reed and Trey Darilek over Jared Allen
OK, I'm reaching a bit here since Ware and Reed were both taken after Allen. However, Philly could have likely traded both picks to get in position to take Allen. Reed made four starts in a seven-year career with one pass defensed, no interceptions and 63 tackles. Darilek only played in the league for three years, including two with Philly.

2006: Broderick Bunkley over Tamba Hali
The Eagles did much better than us on this one, but Bunkley hasn't had a good over a career as Hali and he was taken at earlier than Carpenter was. (Of course, I'd take him over Carpenter in a second.)

2006: Winston Justice over Devin Hester

OK, the Eagles' first pick of 2006 was much better than ours, but Justice was pretty much a wash-out, although he did start his last two years in Philly.

2006: Max Jean-Gilles over Elvis Dumervil
Philly actually had two fourth-rounders and the second one wasn't bad: Jason Avant. Jean-Gilles didn't do much during his five years in Philly, although he made 26 starts.

2007: Tony Hunt over Marshal Yanda
The Eagles drafted a running back who lasted two years, played in 14 games and averaged 1.8 yards per carry.

 

[Stash]

Just for kicks, I thought I'd look at one of our opponents in a similar light.

The Philadelphia Eagles selected:

2001: Quinton Caver over Adrian Wilson
Caver played six seasons, starting just four games after he left Philly and amassing a whopping 64 total tackles

2003: Jerome McDougle over Troy Polamalu

A much-worse pick that Terence Newman. McDougle had no starts over five years, three sacks and 37 tackles. Polamalu was taken one pick later.

2004: J.R. Reed and Trey Darilek over Jared Allen
OK, I'm reaching a bit here since Ware and Reed were both taken after Allen. However, Philly could have likely traded both picks to get in position to take Allen. Reed made four starts in a seven-year career with one pass defensed, no interceptions and 63 tackles. Darilek only played in the league for three years, including two with Philly.

2006: Broderick Bunkley over Tamba Hali
The Eagles did much better than us on this one, but Bunkley hasn't had a good over a career as Hali and he was taken at earlier than Carpenter was. (Of course, I'd take him over Carpenter in a second.)

2006: Winston Justice over Devin Hester

OK, the Eagles' first pick of 2006 was much better than ours, but Justice was pretty much a wash-out, although he did start his last two years in Philly.

2006: Max Jean-Gilles over Elvis Dumervil
Philly actually had two fourth-rounders and the second one wasn't bad: Jason Avant. Jean-Gilles didn't do much during his five years in Philly, although he made 26 starts.

2007: Tony Hunt over Marshal Yanda
The Eagles drafted a running back who lasted two years, played in 14 games and averaged 1.8 yards per carry.

This made me feel a little bit better. Thanks for the effort!

 

[Silver N Blue]

Pretty interesting list to read and reflect but they left off the Steven Jackson pick. For me that should crap this crappy list.

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

Newman isn't near as bad as some make him out to be, but I still don't think he was a legit shutdown corner.

 

[Risen Star]

This is just silly. You can make this awful list for every team in the league.

I knew that was coming. You could but it's really easy to do it for the Cowboys since they've been one of the worst drafting teams for the better part of 20 years.

It's healthy to self scout. I hope our front office does it instead of childishly dismissing it as you did.

 

[CT Dal Fan]

Had Dallas not traded up for Mo Claiborne, they would have taken DT Michael Brockers (Rams) at 14 and, ouch, LB Bobby Wagner (Seahawks) at 45 in the second round.

But as for all the other blunders, a whole lot of other teams made the same mistakes. Take Richard Sherman. Every team passed over him several times. Including the Seahawks.

 

[Jstopper]

The worst one for me is the team passing in Richard Sherman. They've been bad in their assessments and scouting of cornerbacks, but that one is the most galling to me.

There's a lot of ugly in this list, but that one hurts the most to me.

The entire league passed on him several times over. Come on now

 

[gimmesix]

The entire league passed on him several times over. Come on now

Here's the list of fifth-round picks before Sherman was taken, so I think it's safe to say in that round almost everyone missed on even finding a contributor. What-if is a fun game to play without looking at the entire picture, if your goal is to just make Dallas look bad.

132 Carolina Panthers Kealoha Pilares WR Hawaii
133 Buffalo Bills Johnny White RB North Carolina
134 Cincinnati Bengals Robert Sands DB West Virginia
135 Kansas City Chiefs Ricky Stanzi QB Iowa
136 Arizona Cardinals Anthony Sherman RB Connecticut
137 Cleveland Browns Buster Skrine DB Tennessee-Chattanooga
138 New England Patriots Marcus Cannon T Texas Christian
139 Minnesota Vikings Brandon Burton DB Utah
140 Kansas City Chiefs Gabe Miller LB Oregon State
141 Green Bay Packers D.J. Williams TE Arkansas
142 Tennessee Titans Karl Klug DT Iowa
143 Dallas Cowboys Josh Thomas DB Buffalo
144 Houston Texans Shiloh Keo DB Idaho
145 Atlanta Falcons Jacquizz Rodgers RB Oregon State
146 Washington Commanders DeJon Gomes DB Nebraska
147 Jacksonville Jaguars Rod Issac DB Middle Tennessee State
148 Oakland Raiders Denarius Moore WR Tennessee
149 Philadelphia Eagles Dion Lewis RB Pittsburgh
150 Cleveland Browns Jason Pinkston T Pittsburgh
151 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Ahmad Black DB Florida
152 Houston Texans T.J Yates QB North Carolina
153 New York Jets Jeremy Kerley WR Texas Christian

 

[StarOfGlory]

This list begins and ends with Mo Claiborne

Come on, we only passed on Luke Kuechly (9), Dontari Poe (11), and Fletcher Cox (12) to take Mo at 6.

 

[Stash]

The entire league passed on him several times over. Come on now

So? Does that somehow absolve the Cowboys of their mistake? Actually drafting at the same position and taking a bum instead? Come on now.

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

I knew that was coming. You could but it's really easy to do it for the Cowboys since they've been one of the worst drafting teams for the better part of 20 years.

It's healthy to self scout. I hope our front office does it instead of childishly dismissing it as you did.

Yep, we made a lot of mistakes. However, we all know that the draft is a crapshoot and you can do this all day long to the best drafting teams as well. Guys taken after the third round just really don't jump out to me as brutal misses because it is obvious that the player wasn't all that highly regarded throughout the league when they last that late.

Going into a draft, you are hoping for a first round starter, maybe a second round starter and then after that players that contribute. The failure rate from the third round on is so high that it is almost self fulfilling that you are going to make mistakes. Additionally, it is hard to call a pick like Newman a blunder. When he was picked, it was literally a toss up between him and Suggs.....Polamalu wasn't even a consideration there. The fact that Polamalu defied expectations doesn't make Newman a blunder.

Searching for online draft profiles, I found the profiles for Jared Allen and Bruce Thornton on NFL Draft Scout. Thornton was projected as a 4-5th rounder, while Allen was projected as a 6-7th rounder. I know using one site to justify a player ranking is not something that closes the door on it being a bad decision but rather it shows the point that at the time it wasn't such a clear cut mistake.

In 2006, Hali wasn't really considered an option....as others have said it was all about Carpenter, Wimbley and Lawson. Wimbley was gone when we picked...and there was literally no one that thought Carpenter was going to be a bust.

The Fasano pick was definitely a bad one, but he was rated on NFL Draft Scout as a second or third rounder with Hester being a third rounder. Most really thought you were just getting a specialist as a kick returner while Fasano was expected to be a day one producer as a blocking and catching TE.

Dumervil was rated higher than Green so definitely fits the profile of a blunder.....but tell me how many under 6' pass rushing beasts there have been. Dumervil is definitely a guy that did not fit the physical profile of his position. This is one where the player's mental toughness and heart were the difference...Dumervil literally would have died on the field trying to make the team while Green never had the passion for it.

There definitely are some real stinkers in there. Escobar over Bell. Ugh! Marten over Yanda. Blech! Claiborne over Kuechly although Claiborne was seen as a can't miss by a lot of people. Brewster over Vasquez was awful, I remember a lot of folks being on the Vasquez bandwagon.

The one that is kind of strange is the Bennett pick. The player isn't bad and has had a decent career....he just wasn't used the way he should have been simply because we had a Hall of Famer already in his spot. I think the bigger mistake was Jones over Charles there.

 

[Stash]

Here's the list of fifth-round picks before Sherman was taken, so I think it's safe to say in that round almost everyone missed on even finding a contributor. What-if is a fun game to play without looking at the entire picture, if your goal is to just make Dallas look bad.

132 Carolina Panthers Kealoha Pilares WR Hawaii
133 Buffalo Bills Johnny White RB North Carolina
134 Cincinnati Bengals Robert Sands DB West Virginia
135 Kansas City Chiefs Ricky Stanzi QB Iowa
136 Arizona Cardinals Anthony Sherman RB Connecticut
137 Cleveland Browns Buster Skrine DB Tennessee-Chattanooga
138 New England Patriots Marcus Cannon T Texas Christian
139 Minnesota Vikings Brandon Burton DB Utah
140 Kansas City Chiefs Gabe Miller LB Oregon State
141 Green Bay Packers D.J. Williams TE Arkansas
142 Tennessee Titans Karl Klug DT Iowa
143 Dallas Cowboys Josh Thomas DB Buffalo
144 Houston Texans Shiloh Keo DB Idaho
145 Atlanta Falcons Jacquizz Rodgers RB Oregon State
146 Washington Commanders DeJon Gomes DB Nebraska
147 Jacksonville Jaguars Rod Issac DB Middle Tennessee State
148 Oakland Raiders Denarius Moore WR Tennessee
149 Philadelphia Eagles Dion Lewis RB Pittsburgh
150 Cleveland Browns Jason Pinkston T Pittsburgh
151 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Ahmad Black DB Florida
152 Houston Texans T.J Yates QB North Carolina
153 New York Jets Jeremy Kerley WR Texas Christian

How does the fact that they drafted at the same exact position of cornerback make them look?

It's one thing to pass on a player where you don't feel that you have a dire need, it's quite another to get the pick totally, utterly, and completely wrong.

 

[Idgit]

Here's the list of fifth-round picks before Sherman was taken, so I think it's safe to say in that round almost everyone missed on even finding a contributor. What-if is a fun game to play without looking at the entire picture, if your goal is to just make Dallas look bad.

132 Carolina Panthers Kealoha Pilares WR Hawaii
133 Buffalo Bills Johnny White RB North Carolina
134 Cincinnati Bengals Robert Sands DB West Virginia
135 Kansas City Chiefs Ricky Stanzi QB Iowa
136 Arizona Cardinals Anthony Sherman RB Connecticut
137 Cleveland Browns Buster Skrine DB Tennessee-Chattanooga
138 New England Patriots Marcus Cannon T Texas Christian
139 Minnesota Vikings Brandon Burton DB Utah
140 Kansas City Chiefs Gabe Miller LB Oregon State
141 Green Bay Packers D.J. Williams TE Arkansas
142 Tennessee Titans Karl Klug DT Iowa
143 Dallas Cowboys Josh Thomas DB Buffalo
144 Houston Texans Shiloh Keo DB Idaho
145 Atlanta Falcons Jacquizz Rodgers RB Oregon State
146 Washington Commanders DeJon Gomes DB Nebraska
147 Jacksonville Jaguars Rod Issac DB Middle Tennessee State
148 Oakland Raiders Denarius Moore WR Tennessee
149 Philadelphia Eagles Dion Lewis RB Pittsburgh
150 Cleveland Browns Jason Pinkston T Pittsburgh
151 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Ahmad Black DB Florida
152 Houston Texans T.J Yates QB North Carolina
153 New York Jets Jeremy Kerley WR Texas Christian

There's a fair number of DBs on that list, too.