Looking back 10 years

With the draft less than a week away I decided to look back at the Cowboys 1999 draft.  With most of these guys either on different teams or out of the NFL it makes it easy to grade.

1st round (20) Ebenezer Ekuban, DE, North Carolina. 

He is still in football although not in Dallas.  He was a Cowboy from 1999-2003.  He played one season in Cleveland before being traded to Denver.  He is still with the Broncos signed for this season.

Stats with Dallas:  60 games 34 starts.  12.5 sacks. 

Our next pick was at 55 in the 2nd round.  Notatable players picked between 20-55.  Antoine Winfield pick 23, Patrick Kearney pick 30, Al Wilson pick 31, Mike Rucker pick 38, and Dre Bly pick 41.

2nd round (55) Soloman Page, G, West Virginia.

Page played with us through the 2002 season before being let go and playing one season with San Diego.

Stats with Dallas:  59 games 51 starts.

Our next pick came in the 3rd round at pick 85.  Notable players picked in between.  Joey Porter pick 73, Gary Stills pick 75, Marty Booker pick 78, and Martin Gramatica pick 80.

3rd round (85)  Dat Nguyen, ILB, Texas A&M.

Our first real big hit in the draft.  Played with us his entire career from 1999-2005.  Was forced to retire in 2006 because a neck injury failed to improve.  Was hired in 2007 to be the assistant linebackers and defensive quality control coach.

Stats with Dallas:  90 games, 516 tackles, 6 sacks, 7 INT.

Our next pick came in the 4th round at pick 118.  Only one player of note was picked in between and that is Aaron Smith at pick 108.

4th round (118)  Wane McGarity, WR, Texas

This was mostly a wasted pick on a 5-8' WR.  He played with Dallas through about half the 2001 season before being picked up by New Orleans.  Didn't find another team after that.

Stats with Dallas:  39 punt returns for 407 yards and 2 TD, 38 receptions for 365 yards and 1 TD.

4th round (132)  Peppi Zellner, DE, Fort Valley St.

Hung around in Dallas through the 2002 season then played 2003 in Washington and 2004 in Arizona, out of football after that.

Stats with Dallas:  57 games 17 starts, 6 sacks and 102 tackles.

6th round (193)  MarTay Jenkins, WR, Nebraska-Omaha.

Never played with Dallas but did alright as a returner in Arizona through 2002.

7th round (229)  Mike Lucky, TE, Arizona.

Had a unimpressive career.  Played with Dallas through the 2002 season.  Didn't play after that.

Stats with Dallas:  46 games 9 starts, 19 receptions for 143 yards and 1 TD.

7th round (243)  Kelvin Garmon, G, Baylor.

Spent his first 2 seasons on the injured reserve but did start all 16 games in 2001.  Had started the first 5 games of 2002 and then was traded to San Diego.  Started 21 games in San Diego before signing with Cleveland where he started 8 games before being injured and retiring.

Looking back 10 years that is pretty bad.  Really only two players amounted to much.  Dat Nguyen was having a good career that got derailed by injuries and Garmon was a good enough guard.