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Cowboys 1st & 10: The 5 Worst First-round picks in Dallas History

In this edition of First and 10, I dig into Dallas Cowboys history and find the five worst NFL Draft first-round picks in team history, plus Cowboys news of the week.
Matthew Postins|
Cowboys 1st & 10: The 5 Worst First-round picks in Dallas History
Cowboys 1st & 10: The 5 Worst First-round picks in Dallas History

In this edition of First and 10, I dig into Dallas Cowboys history and find the five worst NFL Draft first-round picks in team history, plus Cowboys news of the week.

1) THE 5 WORST FIRST-ROUND PICKS IN COWBOYS HISTORY

With less than two weeks to go before the start of the 2020 NFL Draft, I dug into the Dallas Cowboys’ past 59 NFL Drafts to see which five players should go down as the ‘worst’ first-round picks in Cowboys history. 

The criteria? Well, I guess it’s my gut since it’s my list. But I’ll also look at the player’s longevity, expectations for the player, impact on the Cowboys during their playing days and much more. You expect something in return from a player when you select them in the first round, right? That ‘return on investment’ is going to be a significant factor.

Then, next Sunday I’ll do a much more enjoyable list — the five best first-round picks in Cowboys history.

So, here we go, in alphabetical order.

Bobby Carpenter: Taken No. 18 overall in the 2006 NFL Draft, Carpenter was a national champion and a two-time All-Big Ten Second Team selection at linebacker. The Cowboys drafted him on the recommendation of then-head coach Bill Parcells, who had coached Bobby’s father with the New York Giants. With Demarcus Ware on the outside and Bradie James on the inside, the expectation was that Carpenter would step in and play a leading role. 

Carpenter never panned out in four seasons, as he didn’t even clear 100 tackles for his Cowboys career and sacked the quarterback less than four times. Carpenter did all this even though he missed just six games in his Cowboys career (he started only three). The expectations were much higher for Carpenter.

Taco Charlton: Too soon? Actually not. Charlton played two seasons for Dallas, playing 27 games and starting seven of them. Charlton had just four sacks and a fumble recovery. Taken at No. 28 overall in the 2017 NFL Draft, Cowboys fans were immediately unhappy with the selection, especially after Pittsburgh selected T.J. Watt, the brother of J.J. Watt, shortly after the Cowboys took Charlton. T.J. Watt has 34.5 sacks in three NFL seasons. 

The Cowboys took Charlton hoping he could pair nicely with Demarcus Lawrence at left defensive end. That never materialized consistently. After two seasons, the Cowboys dumped him, and in Miami he actually put up better numbers, registering five sacks in 2019. But his short time in Dallas yielded practically nothing in return for the Cowboys.

Rod Hill: Hill played just two seasons in Dallas after being taken No. 25 overall in the 1982 NFL Draft. He stepped into a stacked group at defensive back, including Everson Walls, Ron Fellows, Dextor Clinkscale, Michael Downs, Dennis Thurman and Benny Barnes. Even with that talent, there were expectations attached to Hill, especially because of his athletic ability. The defensive back never started a game in Dallas and played just 23 games. He made his biggest impact as a return man in 1983, when he returned 30 punts and 14 kickoffs. But he could never crash the starting lineup. 

The Cowboys dealt him for three draft picks in 1984. The selection of Hill provided practically nothing in return for the Cowboys. They had envisioned that he would be a defensive back of the future. He never was.

Tody Smith: Smith is a player you should know. He was part of USC’s ‘Wild Bunch’ defensive line, which included Al Cowlings. He was also the brother of Baltimore Colts defensive end Bubba Smith. Tody Smith was the Cowboys’ No. 25 overall pick in the 1971 NFL Draft. By that point, the Cowboys’ defensive line teemed with talent, including Bob Lilly, Jethro Pugh, George Andrie and Larry Cole. The Cowboys drafted Smith knowing that he had a sprained ankle that caused him to miss most of the 1970 season. 

He only played 17 games in two seasons for the Cowboys, and even though he claimed a Super Bowl ring in the 1971 season. Despite the aging of players like Lilly and Andrie (the latter of which retired in 1972), the Cowboys were ready to trade him before the 1973 season. After the trade to Houston, Smith played three more seasons with the Oilers and started 40 games. So, he had talent. But it never made much of an impact on the Cowboys.

Bill Thomas: In 1972 the Cowboys took Thomas, a running back, as the No. 26 overall pick, hoping he might serve as a long-term replacement for Duane Thomas, who was traded. Calvin Hill and Walt Garrison returned and were the Cowboys’ Top 2 backs. Bill Thomas, who went to Boston College, had more than 1,000 yards from scrimmage for the Eagles. With the Cowboys he played one season and never carried the ball as a running back. He returned two kicks for 50 yards. The next season he was in Houston. He was the very definition of "no return on investment in the first round.''

2) MY SECOND COWBOYS SI 7-ROUND MOCK DRAFT ‘LESSONS LEARNED’

Earlier this week I published my SECOND Cowboys SI 7-Round Mock Draft lessons learned piece. After doing nine mock drafts, it was time to step back and look at what I’ve learned from the process since January. Does that mean we KNOW what the Cowboys will do in a couple of weeks? Of course not, because only the Cowboys know that. But perhaps the process allows us to have some educated guesses.

Check out the piece here. And, next week, look for Mock No. 10.

And, don’t forget, links to my previous 7-round mocks are below:

Mock Draft 1.0 (Jan. 27)

Mock Draft 2.0 (Feb. 4)

Mock Draft 3.0 (Feb. 11)

Mock Draft 4.0 (Feb. 18)

Mock Draft 5.0 (March 5)

Mock Draft 6.0 (March 12)

Mock Draft 7.0 (March 19)

Mock Draft 8.0 (March 26)

Mock Draft 9.0 (April 3)

In other Mock Draft news, our Mike Fisher wrote about the ‘impossible’ decision the Cowboys might face in the first round if certain players are on the board when they’re on the clock.

Plus, the Cowboys had a call with Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts. Why? Fish has the details here.

3) MORE DRAFT NEWS

Earlier this week the Dallas Cowboys announced that they would be raising money for the Salvation Army COVID-19 relief effort during the 2020 NFL Draft. It’s part of the NFL’s ‘Draft-A-Thon’ during the three-day NFL Draft in two weeks.

The “Draft-A-Thon” will be featured across the live Draft coverage on ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes and NFL Network on April 23-25 and pay tribute to healthcare workers and first responders in a variety of ways — including raising funds for the work being done to combat the impact of COVID-19.

4) DOES JOE BUCK REALLY ‘HATE’ THE COWBOYS?

There is perhaps no national play-by-play announcer that polarizes the populate quite like Joe Buck. And, personally, I don’t get it. I think he’s one of the best announcers in any sport. And when I talk to fans about Buck, and these are fans of teams that aren’t the Cowboys, it seems they think Buck ‘hates’ their team. too. That just tells me that Buck is doing the best job possible.

Cowboys fans get a lot of Buck during football season because he and Troy Aikman call plenty of Cowboys games. So, during his podcast with Oliver Hudson, ‘Daddy Issues’ he talked about the ‘hate’ and why it seems to exist whenever he calls a game. He gets it. He understands why. But, at age 50, he’s not going anywhere, kids.

5) COWBOYS BOLSTER THE SECONDARY A BIT

Free agency has slowed down around the NFL, but the Cowboys did make a signing earlier this week, grabbing a former Alabama defensive back in Saivion Smith. You might know Smith better as a member of the XFL’s Houston Roughnecks (incidentally, the XFL shut its doors on Friday, so Smith would have been looking for work anyway).

I don’t believe this changes the Cowboys’ approach on Draft weekend. I still think the Cowboys are going to take a corner early. But Smith gives the Cowboys another competition piece at position that needs as much competition as it can get.

The Smith piece also includes our full Cowboys free agency tracker.

Meanwhile, Mike Fisher had the details on the ‘why’ of Byron Jones’ move from Dallas to Miami.

6) CELEBRATING THE COWBOYS’ 60TH

The Dallas Cowboys are celebrating their 60th season in the NFL in 2020 and Richie Whitt is counting down the 60 biggest moments in franchise history. Here’s the link to the full list.

7) WHITT’S END ON … COWBOYS ON THE 2010’S ALL-DECADE TEAM

This week in Whitt’s End, Richie Whitt writes a bit about the inclusion of Zack Martin and Tyron Smith on the recently-announced NFL All-Decade Team for the 2010s. In case you’re wondering, the vast majority of players that are named to an NFL All-Decade team end up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame one day. There is no guarantee of course (ask Drew Pearson about that). But Martin and Smith certainly have a path toward Canton should their careers continue on this track.

Elsewhere…

His thoughts on Dak working out With Dez.

Content ideas for sports networks.

The Cowboys’ mega-long quarantine.

And so much more.

8) APPARENTLY JERSEY NUMBERS ARE TRIGGER NUMBERS

The Cowboys’ new free agents have new numbers. And, apparently, that triggered a lot of debate on Twitter. It’s numbers, people. NUMBERS. Unless they belong to Roger Staubach and Bob Lilly. That’s a different situation. They’re pretty much the only two numbers the Cowboys don’t assign permanently (though I don't remember many No. 8's around here, either), even though they’re not ‘retired.’

9) COWBOYS BLITZCAST, BEST COAST COWBOYS BACK ON THE AIR

We've got Dallas Cowboys "risk/reward'' on NFL Free Agency just about behind us ... and Cowboys "risk/reward'' on the NFL Draft. Which was does Dallas lean?

Welcome to the ‘The Blitzcast – A Dallas Cowboys Podcast’ by Drunk Sports in partnership with CowboysSI.com. “BigRed” Lance Dorsett and Timm “IndyCarTim” Hamm are your hosts as we discuss all things Dallas Cowboys and all things NFL!

On this show, we introduce CowboyMaven+ found over at CowboysSI.com and we'll tell you how you can subscribe and why we know you'll love the premium content over there.

Then the guys discuss the Cowboys' hunt for a third receiver after the departure of Randall Cobb. Some think the team should take a flyer on Antonio Brown (it's not like Jerry hasn't signed high-risk players before) while others think the Cowboys have help with the receiving game already in the form of Tony Pollard.

Give CowboysBlitz a listen by clicking here.

Meanwhile, the Best Coast Boys is back this week with another episode.

Hosts Landon McCool and the Dallas Morning News’ John Owning welcome Locked On’s Marcus Mosher to dive into the all of the offseason news and notes surrounding the Dallas Cowboys and NFL as a whole. ... and Aldon Smith and Randy Gregory specifically.

After the pleasantries, the guys begin their discussion with the Aldon Smith signing. The guys detail their expectations for the talented D-lineman. Then, it’s on to talk about Gregory, who is pursuing reinstatement.

Listen to Best Coast Boys a listen by clicking here.

10) TWEET OF THE WEEK

Hey, if he can help the team why not?

Wanna talk Cowboys? Hit up Postins on Twitter at @PostinsPostcard or Mike Fisher on Twitter @FishSports

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Matthew Postins
MATTHEW POSTINS

Matthew Postins is an award-winning sports journalist writes for CowboyMaven. He also writes for Inside the Rangers, CowboyMaven,DallasBasketball.com, Longhorn Country, All Aggies, Inside The Texans, Washington Football, covers the Big 12 for HeartlandCollegeSports.com and is the Editor of the College Football America Yearbook.

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