Our continuing series looking at the Top 10 Biggest Draft Busts Of The Jerry Jones Era rolls on with #4. The guidelines - Must have been drafted during Jerry Jones' era (1989 - present), needs to be a player chosen in the 1st or 2nd round. Anybody below that is excused for sucking. It's not a list of the worst players, but a list of the worst value to the team, based on lack of contributions and when they were drafted. Also, certain intangibles can be thrown into the mix.
4. Ebenezer Ekuban (1999, 1st round, #20, DE, North Carolina)
Ekuban actually played in the NFL for 9 seasons, so he's not your typical bust. But for the Cowboys, he has to be considered a major bust given he was the 20th overall pick in the draft in 1999. At that spot in the draft, you expect to get an impact player, that's not what Dallas got.
In five season with the Cowboys, Ekuban was the regular starter in only two years (2002, 2003). During those two years as a starter he managed a total of 3.5 sacks. His best season came as a backup in 2000 when he somehow got 6.5 sacks. But that was really the only year he made a major impact.
He left for the Cleveland Browns in 2004 and also played for the Denver Broncos. The worst part of this for Dallas was that he actually became a much better player once he left the Cowboys. In five seasons for Dallas he totaled 12.5 sacks. That's barely over 2 sacks a year on average (he did miss most of the 2001 season). But in four seasons after he left Dallas, he had 24 sacks, averaging 6 a year. Dallas never really got what they wanted out of him, then to add insult to injury, he played much better after leaving the Cowboys.
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