On more than one occasion, the Dallas Cowboys have had top-tier talents fall to them in the first round of the NFL draft.
They've pounced, selecting standouts who have become lynchpins for their team.
Consider that from 2020 through 2022, Dallas landed CeeDee Lamb, Micah Parsons and Tyler Smith despite picking no higher than No. 12 in that time. Those three players have combined for 10 Pro Bowl selections.
Sitting at No. 12 for the first time since taking Parsons in that slot in 2021, the Cowboys will weigh need and talent like always, but they won't let a game-changer fall past them if it comes to that once again.
"I mean, we never went into that draft -- Micah's draft -- thinking we were gonna pick Micah, a pass rusher/linebacker," Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said Tuesday during the team's pre-draft news conference. "The year we picked CeeDee, we were thinking we were going pass rusher all the way and we end up with a receiver. You know, great things happen when you do things like that."
There's needs aplenty for the Cowboys to fill, with wide receiver, running back and cornerback among them. Many have prognosticated Dallas taking a wide receiver, such as Texas' Matthew Golden and Arizona's Tetairoa McMillan. NFL Network's Jane Slater identified Golden, Tennessee edge James Pearce Jr. and Ole Miss defensive tackle Walter Nolen as players to keep an eye on for the 'Boys.
It would seem no position is off the board if Dallas' grade is high enough. Not even quarterback, despite Dak Prescott signing a massive extension last season and the team trading for Joe Milton III. Asked by Slater what would happen if a highly-rated QB fell to the Cowboys, Jones didn't flatly say no. Thus, unlikely as it is that the Cowboys would spend a first-round pick on a signal-caller, Jones' views on talent and depth are clear.
"Well, we've got a major commitment with Dak," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. "And so, you weigh all of that. But I was going to add to this whole conversation that it's very often that somebody will step up and say, 'We got this guy right here. We've got him, and we just signed him under contract.' Well guess what? -- guys get hurt. So, you bet your whole house that you got him and then all of a sudden you don't have him. So that's when your old mind starts saying, 'Well, if his guy did get hurt, what would we do this year?' There you go.
"There you go, but don't misinterpret. All I'm saying is you have to figure that, rather than say, 'We've got him, we don't have that need.' You have to figure that there's some injury to be. Now, how important is that player as opposed to the one you're looking at on the board, and could he fill that need right there? I do that. I really do, and so if we've got depth and that guy gets hurt, that's one thing. If you're left out in the cold for right now, and you need that, that's another thing."
That's a whole lot of word salad to take a bite out of, but one thing seemingly clear is that the Cowboys aren't in the process of letting great players get by them, no matter what they need.
"We had no idea that Micah Parsons would drop down there to us when he did and so, it do happen," Jerry Jones said. "We certainly are not going to knowingly let a great player run through us for strategy or trades up or down."
Dallas got Lamb at No. 17 in 2020, Parsons at No. 12 in 2021 and Smith at No. 24 in 2022. Since then, though, the results haven't been the greatest as Mazi Smith (No. 26, 2023) and Tyler Guyton (No. 29, 2024) are very much works in progress. Guyton garnered a 49.4 overall grade as a rookie, per PFF, while Smith has two sacks in two seasons and garnered a 34.8 PFF grade last year.
Draft grades are paramount for the Cowboys and ultimately what they'll rely on when deciding who they take in the first round. In other words, talent will win out over positional need.
"We were just having that conversation the other day about, you know, you just gotta stay true to where these grades are and what these players are, and good things will happen," Stephen Jones said. "Because, in this league, players, they rotate through and if you got young guys coming, it allows you to maybe put resources rather than keeping a guy that you can put with somebody else that enables your team to be better. And that's ultimately our goal."
