Dallas Cowboys draft challenge: The Nominees
by Brandon Worley on Apr 7, 2008 11:03 PM CDT
in Dallas Cowboys News
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PrintHere are the final nominees for the biggest steals and worst disappointments in Dallas Cowboys draft history:
Biggest steals:
Roger Staubach, QB; Round 10, 1964
Bob Hayes, WR; Round 7, 1964
Herschel Walker, RB; Round 5, 1985
Rayfield Wright, OT; Round 7, 1967
Chad Hennings, DE; Round 11, 1988
Worst disappointments:
Shante Carver, DE; Round 1 #23, 1994
Danny Noonan, DT; Round 1 #12, 1987
Quincy Carter, QB; Round 2 #53, 2001
David LaFleur, TE; Round 1 #22, 1997
Billy Cannon, LB; Round1 #25, 1984
Narrowing each list down to five proved to be a harder task than I thought it would be. Everyone made some very astute observations and nominated guys who are more than worthy of being a final nominee. I whittled the list down first by excluding the guys that were only nominated once. For the biggest draft steals, I made the executive decision that it had to be a latter round pick. When a team drafts a player in the first or second round it is expected that he will become a valued contributor to the team. I used the opposite to pick the nominees for worst disappointments; when a player is taken in the first round it becomes a wasted pick if he ends up not doing anything worthwhile in the league.
Over the next few weeks leading up to the NFL draft, Blogging the Boys will present a short profile on each player above. As we prepare ourselves for the excitement of draft weekend the BTB community will vote on who is the outright best and worst draft pick in the history of the Dallas Cowboys.
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I remember when
we drafted LaFleur. The guy just looked like an NFL TE. I remember that my only complaint really was his route running. If you needed 4 yards for a 1st down he'd consistently run a 3 yard route or something like that. Then it was like he was gone one day and I never heard about him again.
by kameleon1 on Apr 7, 2008 11:31 PM CDT reply actions
Didn't he keep getting injured
I think his back got messed up. Not that he was ever going to be as good as Novacek, who they were desperate to replace.
by APerfectStar on Apr 7, 2008 11:43 PM CDT up reply actions
Yeah,
I remember his back problems. He never went to another team so I guess that's what caused him to retire. Didn't Novacek retire because of back problems??
He Grizz, where did Mike Sherrard rank on your final list of busts??
by kameleon1 on Apr 7, 2008 11:54 PM CDT up reply actions
It's not my list
it's Brandon's.
by Dave Halprin on Apr 8, 2008 12:04 AM CDT up reply actions
Dang.
Sorry. Didn't look close enough.
by kameleon1 on Apr 8, 2008 12:12 AM CDT up reply actions
Mike Sherrard is a bust to me
But I wanted this to be a BTB list and not mine, which is why I held it open for nominations. The thing with Sherrard is, the Cowboys were so bad at the time and Michael Irvin came in 2 years later that everyone just forgot that he never panned out for the Cowboys. He was promising his rookie year and fractured his leg his second season. He went on to have a long career elsewhere though.
by Brandon Worley on Apr 8, 2008 1:04 AM CDT up reply actions
Just my opinion...
... but if he didn't sustain the career-ending back injuries, I really think LaFleur would've had a very productive career in the NFL.
Dang shame when stuff like that happens.
What?
No Everson Walls?
No Larry Brown?
Boooooo.
Dissapointments...
No Spears?
No Roy Williams?
Boooooo.
That Danny Noonan pick was a must for me and then the kid stunk it up so bad.
Danny Noonan should've stuck to
Being a golf caddy at Bushwood.
Miss it, Noonan, miss it!
by APerfectStar on Apr 7, 2008 11:45 PM CDT up reply actions
He He
Larry Brown: While it IS a steal to get a Super Bowl MVP in the 12th round, he never did anything after that and truly never really did anything before it either. And his plays in SB XXX weren't spectacular: he benefited from O'Donnell's horrible throws and playing opposite Deon.
Everson Walls was undrafted. Can't be a draft steal.
Marcus Spears: While disappointing, not as much as the other guys.
Roy Williams: While he has fallen off from his dominating play, he is Pro Bowler and is still better than most. As long as he isnt covering Shockey.
by Brandon Worley on Apr 7, 2008 11:49 PM CDT up reply actions
Some fans are just so ignorant
To even dream that Roy Williams should be on this list.
He's started since he's been here, been to multiple Pro Bowls. Even if you think that his skills have fallen off since his rookie year (they have), he's nowhere near the flops that people who played (sparingly) for a few years and fell off the earth.
Ever heard of...
The guy hasn't even finished playing so obviously I wasn't serious about him.
Criteria
Obviously, how we decide who's the best and worst is somewhat subjective, but IMO, Chad Hennings doesn't belong on that first list. He was a fine player, and a real steal in the 11th round, but he was not a Hall of Fame caliber player. Of course value matters, but I would think that level of performance would matter too. On that scale, I'm not sure anyone can beat Staubach.
In the second list, I won't argue with any of the guys on there or any of the other first rounders who didn't amount to much. But I still favor the Carter pick. That's a harsh assessment, as he actually had some success (at least as measured in wins and losses). But he became a public relations disaster, and he just wasn't that good. In retrospect, his years as a starter were wasted time for the Cowboys; they could've been developing someone better. And all of the shenanigans around his being drafted make it even juicier -- the trading down and up, the reach in the 2nd round for a guy who was rated a 4th rounder, the unusually long contract, the fact that Jerry was apparently aware of drugs in his past -- just clinch it for me.
Early first rounders are expected to be good, but I just don't think we should eliminate them from the possibility of being the best Cowboy draft pick ever. Just because guys like Bob Lilly and Tony Dorsett were taken early doesn't mean they had to be good.
by preacher on Apr 8, 2008 12:20 AM CDT reply actions
You're right, it is subjective
That is why I had the BTB community throw out names for nominations. The guys who were named the most got put on the final list.
And in essence it is a list of the biggest draft day steals.
Sure you want superstars to come from the first two rounds, but a solid, competitive team is built in the later rounds of the draft.
by Brandon Worley on Apr 8, 2008 12:56 AM CDT up reply actions
What, no love for a hall of famer, Sort of!!
what about the Wide receiver from Kentucky selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the 11th round of the 1967 NFL entry draft, a very gifted athlete who was voted into the Hall of fame yesterday. Well. he never actually played for the Cowboys, but he was drafed by them. That player was Pat Riley, the headcoach of the Miami Heat of the NBA, although better known as the headcoach of the LA Lakers of the eighties and New York knicks.
No way. I did not know that.
Riley was drafted by the Cowboys?
That would make for an interesting trivia question.
One of the best second rounders ever HOF WR......
Jimmy Smith A great small school gem that I was so excited we grabbed, came down with complications from a blown appendix...infected, lost all sorts of weight and strength, Made a stink over money witheld, would eventually get released, and go on to a HOF career in Jacksonville.
...one of the biggest blunders of Jimmy Johnson was to let this guy go too early.
by BoyzRback07 on Apr 8, 2008 6:14 PM CDT reply actions
I still say that
Billy Cannon jr. has to be one of the biggest busts in the history of #1 picks of the cowboys. He only played 8 games....in his Rookie year and for his career and to top it all off...he sued the Dallas cowboys and actually reached a settlement in 1990. Not only was he a bust but he sued our Team!!!!!
I smell a winner.....
or at least the top loser LOL!
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