The question under consideration today: Will Jerry Jones and his Dallas Cowboys pounce on Mike Pouncey with the number nine pick in the 2011 draft or will Prince Amukamara be given the blue and silver sceptre?

Plenty of prognosticators have the Cowboys snagging Prince with their top ten pick. Not many of them, however, are willing to say that the Prince is a lock to become Cowboys backfield royalty.

CBSSports.com has this to say about Amukamara:

Overrated: Prince Amukamara, Nebraska: Amukamara has proven throughout his career that he has the size, physicality and athleticism to be a first-round pick. Most teams believe that to warrant consideration as a top-10 pick, a cornerback has to have elite ball skills. This is the area of concern for Amukamara, despite the fact that he was a standout running back in high school. Amukamara intercepted only five of the 27 passes he broke up over his career. Oddly, all five interceptions came during his junior season. – Rob Rang, NFLDraftScout.com

Cornerback Patrick Peterson of LSU is widely regarded as the best at his position in the class of 2011, and some say he is the best prospect in the draft. Period. Peterson will not last through the first eight pickers. So, will the Cowboys roll the dice and spend a coveted top 10 draft pick on a guy considered a distant second at his position?

Not if Mike Pouncey is tweeting the truth.

On April 7, Mike Pouncey, the offensive guard out of the University of Florida, tweeted, Headed back to pittsburgh…. would be shocked if i wasnt in a dallas uniform nxt year! The draft is april 28th so we will see….

Pouncey’s twin brother, Maurkice (whom their mother loved more and gave the cooler name), already plies his wares in the NFL for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

NFLDraftBible.com logs the following about Mike Pouncey:

Like his twin brother Maurkice, Mike Pouncey is not only schematically versatile; he can play multiple positions along the offensive line. The interior lineman started all 14 games both as a sophomore and a junior, mostly at the right guard position, and also started on the left side last year. This season he is expected to take over at center, replacing his brother who left early for the NFL. The remaining Gator is skilled to the point that the team even used him at tackle this past spring and some of the coaches at Florida believe he can play center, guard and tackle. That would give new meaning to the term ‘jack-of-all-trades’ when it comes to scouting offensive linemen.

Pouncey and Amukamara are certainly strong candidates for that ninth pick. They are not, however, alone. Texas A&M linebacker Vonn Miller, the Butkus award winner, might have something to say about it. USC tackle Tryon Smith is moving up draft boards, as well.

Then, there is always the chance Jerry Jones trades out of the pick altogether.

By the way, I was joking about  Maurkice being his momma’s favorite. Mike is a perfectly good name, even if you do not trick up its spelling.

Sam Hurd is done in Dallas. The Dallas Cowboys elected not to tender the restricted free agent.

In his four seasons with the Cowboys, Sam Hurd caught just 45 passes for 630 yards and two touchdowns. He has languished on the bench as a second- and third-string wide receiver for the entirety of his career. Despite showing flashes of potential, bigger names and contracts have always taken precedent. (Hello, Roy Williams.)

Sam Hurd has been a standout as a special teams player. The Cowboys, however, do not think that warrants a tender and Hurd is not satisfied to remain in his current role. He wants to be in a place where he can challenge for a starting position.

In other restricted free agent news, The Cowboys did give Doug Free the highest tender, meaning that another team wanting to offer him more would have to give the Cowboys a 1st and 3rd round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft in order to do so, provided the Cowboys did not match whatever offer the other team made.

It would have cost the team $10 million to slap the Franchise tag on Doug Free, so the Cowboys have taken a calculated risk with the RFA tender, especially when you consider that Free was hands down, far and away, unquestionably (and any other superlative qualifiers you might think of) the best offensive lineman on the team in 2010.

In addition to Free’s tender, defensive ends Stephen Bowen and Jason Hatcher received 2nd round tenders and safety Alan Ball was given a 7th round tender.

Of course, this all assumes that, when the NFL and the NFL Players Association finally shake hands on a new deal, the Restricted Free Agent rules still apply in the same way they currently do.

If all goes according to plan, Hurd is free and Free is herded into the fold for at least another year.

You kind of have to wonder whether, as the the Dallas Cowboys assemble their war room for the 2011 NFL draft, they will hang a few “Most Wanted” pictures up on the wall. After the Great Collapse of 2010 (a name I just made up for the disaster that was last season), this team has been shown for what it is: A team with the potential to be a contender, if they can fill a few gaping holes.

Obviously, there are not ten gaping holes on this team. They are not the Carolina Panthers. Still, the way drafts go, you cannot always address your greatest need with a given pick. For instance, you may need a safety really, really bad, but if there is not one on the board that warrants being taken with the pick in hand, you turn your attention to other things.

So, here we go: My version of the Dallas Cowboys top 10 positional needs this off-season, from greatest to least.

Number One: Strong Safety— The Alan Ball experiment at free safety was an unmitigated disaster. His inability to be a play-maker back there put immense pressure on the cornerbacks and even brought Gerald Sensabaugh’s effectiveness down a notch.

Sensabaugh could be more than serviceable as a free safety, if he is next to a run-supporting, ball-hawking, play-making whirling dervish as strong safety. If you want to be a top defense in the NFL, you almost have to have that guy. Look around the league at the best defenses and you will find team leaders and play-makers galore at the safety position.

Number Two: Right Tackle— Marc Colombo has been a good player in his day. He has been a fierce competitor and a leader on the offensive line. His day appears to be past. With the emergence of Doug Free at left tackle, the Cowboys must turn their attention to getting younger, healthier and more mobile on the right side.

Number Three: Guard— I am not saying whether it is right guard or left guard, because either Kyle Kosier or Leonard Davis needs to be replaced. Kosier has battled the injury bug and Davis, a man for whom they named a mountain range out in the west Texas wilds (I assume they did; I could be wrong), takes up a ton of space, but doesn’t open running lanes or provide pass protection as well as you would think.

Number Four: Cornerback 1— It is my contention that Terence Newman has always been a little bit overrated. He has been to two Pro Bowls, but in this age of players begging out of the game and substitutes being named left and right, who hasn’t?

Newman actually recorded five interceptions in 2010, a career high. If you watched all 16 Cowboys games, however, you had to come away with the impression that Newman was at his least effective in 2010. A receiver catching a ball over his shoulder with Newman looking like a vapor trail behind him was an all-too-familiar sight in 2010.

Number 5: Defensive End— I guess everyone who thought Marcus Spears was a bust just didn’t know what a bust really looks like. Meet Igor Olshansky. I swear, this guy ought to have to buy a ticket and sit in the nose-bleeds to watch a game. The only thing he brought to the stadium was a cool Russin hit man-sounding name and an over-enthusiastic dance when he made one of those extremely rare plays during the course of the season.

The over-tatted, muscular Olshansky started 16 games and recorded 17 tackles. He was brought here by Wade Phillips and it says here he can leave and go dance “with the one that brung ‘im.”

Number Six: Inside Linebacker— Keith Brooking has been a great player, a great influence, and an all-around great guy throughout his career. Two of those three things are still true. Might be time for him to go into coaching. Bradie James has been hit and miss throughout his fairly solid career. He needs more hits and fewer misses.

The Cowboys were ranked 23rd overall defensively in 2010. They gave up 108.6 yards per game, putting them at number 16 in that category. They were most vulnerable straight up the middle, where they were often gashed for huge chunks.

Number Seven: Nose Tackle— Look, I know Jay Ratliff is a player. I love him. I love him on this team. I just wonder if the Cowboys signed a big-bodied run-stopper at nose tackle, moved Ratliff to defensive end and kicked Olshansky to the curb, would it fix what ailed the porous, ineffective defensive line of 2010? Ratliff is undersized for a nose tackle. On run plays, he is too easily man-handled by the double team, putting the opposition’s runner into the second level of the defense, where the linebackers miss him and the safeties try to run him down.

Number Eight: Halfback— Felix Jones ran for 800 yards and averaged 4.3 yards per carry. That is not a bad showing. He scored one touchdown. That is a bad showing. Jones did not display that burst he had earlier in his career. The home run hitter became a hit-for-average guy, which is not scaring any defensive coordinators. Tashard Choice ran for 243 yards and three touchdowns.

Put those numbers together and you have a thousand yard back and four touchdowns. (Feel free to yawn here.) That is marginally acceptable, but not impressive by any means. One of these guys has to take charge or someone (from Alabama, perhaps) needs to be drafted.

Number Nine: Cornerback 2— After a Pro Bowl year in 2009, Mike Jenkins took a huge step in the wrong direction in 2010. He recorded only one interception while giving up a ton of yardage. He was also spotted, more than once, playing Matador with ball carriers. He made what Deion Sanders famously called “business decisions,” meaning he elected not to stick his head into a play and make a tackle.

I am beginning to worry about a possible knucklehead factor with Jenkins. Hopefully, he rights his ship in 2011, under the direction of new defensive coordinator and renowned cusser, Rob Ryan.

Number Ten: Kicker— David Buehler is the best athlete the Cowboys have ever had at the kicker position. That and five bucks will get you a Grande coffee at Starbucks. Buehler was 24 for 32 on field goals (75%), which is respectable. He was just four for seven from 30–39 yards out, which is not respectable.

One has to wonder if the studly kicker isn’t better suited to kicking off and covering kickoffs than kicking game-winners as time expires.

As you can see, the Dallas Cowboys have plenty of work to do. If they can just get the whole talent-evaluation thing down, it seems like they can hardly go wrong in the 2011 draft. They have needs—some urgent, some not so much— all over the field. If they can plug just two or three of the most glaring holes, I could see them making a hearty playoff run next season.

Then Cowboys fans can take down their “Most Wanted” pictures. You know, the ones with Jerry Jones’ mug on them.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wants to draft Cam Newton. Is the Dallas Cowboys owner officially crazy— or is he crazy like a fox?

One of the entertaining things that happens around this time of year is the way prospective rookies allegedly “move up and down” the draft boards of NFL teams. This often occurs for no other reason than some writer or commentator throws out a suggestion and, like bloody meat in  a pool of sharks, it creates a mindless feeding frenzy.

But then you have those stories generated by statements from teams and players themselves. This is the case with the Cam Newton to Dallas Cowboys furor. It was none other than Cowboys Owner/GM Jerry Jones that said he was, in fact, considering taking Newton with the Cowboys’ number nine pick.

Then Cam Newton confirmed the Cowboys’ interest.

“I did have a meeting with the Cowboys last night for 15 minutes,” Newton admitted, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “It was one of those teams that I did speak with. As far as any teams right now… I’m not going to get particular [about] which teams that I’m interested in, because right now I’m interested in every single team that’s in the NFL who’s willing to take me as a player.”

All of this raises the question: Is Jerry Jones serious about drafting Cam Newton, or is this a bluff?

Certainly, part of the intrigue of the NFL Draft is the games these men play with one another. It is like watching the World Series of Poker. Who is really doing what?

Jerry Jones could be feeding the Newton fire as a bluff for a couple of reasons:

• Interest in Newton is gaining steam, even by teams at the top of the board. With Carolina, Denver and Buffalo sitting one, two, three, it is unlikely the Auburn phenom and Heisman trophy winner makes it past those guys. Jerry could simply be confirming for them the perceived value of the pick, nudging them onward.
• It makes sense that the Cowboys would like for teams to take as many quarterbacks as possible before they pick at nine. Each pick burned by a position that is not a need for the Dallas Cowboys pushes a player they do want another notch down, closer to them.
• The Redskins are picking at eleven. If Newton slides down the board, the Cowboys may be looking to move down, but not too far down. Maybe the Redskins, who do need a quarterback and would be salivating at the prospects of nabbing Newton, would give up the family farm to move two slots and get their man, especially if Jerry Jones is threatening to take their man to Dallas.

Of course, it may not be a bluff at all. Jones and Jason Garrett may actually believe in Cam Newton. Or, maybe they have lost faith in Tony Romo? I do not believe that. But it is possible.

The problem with Newton to the Cowboys is that the team would be burning a rare top ten pick on a player that would not likely see the field for two years, at least. It is highly unlikely that they would throw him to the sharks his rookie year, especially when they seem to believe they have the talent to compete for the Super Bowl right now, if they can just get a couple of key pieces.

The Cowboys drafting Cam Newton would confirm to me that Jerry Jones is, as suspected, more suited to running a circus than a football team. He is just the 21st Century’s version of P.T. Barnum.

What a lethal combination Cam Newton and Jerry Jones could be for Cowboys fans.

Newton has already declared himself bigger than the game of football: ”I see myself not only as a football player, but an entertainer and icon.”

That might work for guys like Lebron James in the narcissistic, superstar-driven NBA, where raw ball skills are enough to win titles. But in the complicated world of NFL football, a guy who hasn’t completed a single pass in the league already worrying about his “brand” has to be a red flag. Kind of makes you think maybe the big stud is actually his father’s son.

Here’s hoping Jerry Jones is bluffing. Here is hoping he is just goading some other poor slob to mortgage his team’s future on the NFL’s next great disaster. If not, here is hoping Jerry’s boy, Stephen, will grab the nearest straight jacket and have dad committed before he destroys what is left the Dallas Cowboys.

Stephen Jones has suggested that Cowboys’ management may need to do what Cowboys’ fans have often dreamed of doing: put his daddy, Jerry Jones, in a straitjacket. Stephen, of course, was joking about how hard it would be for Jones the Elder to sit still and stay put until the number fifty-one pick in today’s draft.

Shake It, Jerry!

Since his awkward leap onto the NFL’s center stage in 1989, no owner or General Manager has done more wheeling and dealing, or made more draft day splashes than Jerry Jones. He has made 51 draft day trades in those twenty years. People who know Jones best know that it will be torture for him to bide his time and bite his tongue and…wait his turn.

Todd Archer of the Dallas Morning News allows that Jerry has extra incentive to do just that this year. He writes:

If there was one thing that seemed certain at Thursday’s news conference at the team’s new stadium in Arlington, it was the Cowboys’ preference to stay out of the first round.

Salary-cap restraints will make it difficult for teams to work out contracts for top picks because of the uncertainty surrounding the collective bargaining agreement. Jones said that was one of the reasons he made the deal with Detroit last season, when the Cowboys traded their first-, third- and sixth-round picks this year for wide receiver Roy Williams and a seventh-round pick in 2010.

Perhaps it will be enough for the wildcatter to shake things up beginning in round two, using the eleven picks he has in his pocket. He may well stay out of the first round, but smart money says he won’t just wait his turn every time thereafter.

There has been a good deal of talk about Jerry and Co. looking for a player in this draft who can run some version of the “wildcat” offense. I had been thinking all along that they drafted a guy a couple years ago and converted him to a receiver, a guy who seems to fit the bill.

That guy, of course, is Isaiah Stanback. He played quarterback at at the highest level of college ball. He has the quickness, the speed, and he knows the position. So, why spend a draft pick to find a guy you already have in the fold?

Now, there is word that Jerry is talking about Stanback for just that role…and we learn from Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that they had plays in the playbook for Stanback last year, but never used them.

Maybe, if that little issue is settled, the Cowboys can focus on finding a legitimate quarterback to groom behind Tony Romo. If a Rhett Bomar or a Graham Harrell is NFL worthy and can be taught to run the team’s offense, that seems a much greater value than a guy who might run a play or two every other week or so.

At any rate, as draft day approaches, the bluebloods are getting anxious to see whether the Cowboys braintrust can be trusted to make sound decisions. They posted a good draft a year ago. String a couple together in a row and you might be building your way back to respectability.

But I digress. Back to the Wildcat formation and its usefulness. Hill Also points out that Felix Jones would be an important part of any Wildcat operations…and that makes perfect sense, with his pure speed and ability to hit the corner of the defense.

Concerning the newest rage in NFL offense, Hill writes:

In 2008, the Dolphins used the Wildcat formation 91 times, netting 580 yards (6.7 yards per play) and eight touchdowns.

However, the Wildcat didn’t always work.

The Patriots stopped it cold in the rematch, and the Baltimore Ravens were not fooled in a 27-9 wild-card playoff victory against the Dolphins.

Yeah. A tricked-up play here and there may bag you a big gainer, or even a win. But Cowboys fans are looking for more than regular season wins. It’s that elusive playoff victory that matters.

Let’s keep that in mind on draft day, boys.

The Dallas Cowboys brought in Ohio State wideout Brian Robiskie for a workout. According to Matt Mosely of ESPN.com, the Cowboys have been enamored with Robiskie for a long time.

Robiskie, from Cleveland, Ohio, is listed by the Buckeyes as 6’3″, 199 pounds. In his senior season, he recorded 42 receptions for 535 yards and 8 touchdowns. He seems to have a flair for the spectacular catch. He runs sharp routes and sports a great pair of hands.

In the OSU player highlight video (below), one thing that jumps out at me is the absence of YAC (yards after catch). He appears to go down pretty easily, even with a flailing arm tackle. Scouts, Inc gives him a grade of 76. They rank him 75th overall and number 11 at his position.

That number 11 ranking is just another sign of the depth of the 2009 wide receiver crop. Surely, the Cowboys will find some help at that position in the draft this year.

The Dallas Morning News is reporting that the Cowboys are bringing in Sam Houston State quarterback Rhett Bomar for a workout. This could be an interesting kid to have a look at. I taught in the Grand Prairie (TX) School District when Bomar was in high school there. Rhett has mad skills, a big arm, mobile, smart…

The only question is the one between his ears. I do not mean his IQ, but rather his decision-making process, on and off the field. His highly-publicized demise at the University of Oklahoma did nothing to ease the fears that the kid might not make the best choices. The boy got caught up in a pay-for-not-showing-up job thing with a car dealer (and OU booster).

Of course, like a good coach, Bob Stoops first distanced from the incident, then lowered the boom on Bomar. Maybe he didn’t know a thing about it. Maybe ignorance is bliss. Maybe OU is as pure as the driven snow. Maybe angels will fly out of my arse.

At any rate, the kid was culpable. He paid the price. He left the promise of big-time, Division One football behind for the anonymity of Huntsville, Texas and Sam Houston State. He did not, however, leave his big arm, his athleticism, or his potential as a draft day steal behind, as the stats and notes found at gobearkats.com attest (to whom we owe thanks for these particular facts):

• All-time passing leader in Sam Houston history — 5,564 yards in 19 games

• All-time total offense leader in Sam Houston history — 6,159 yards in 19 games
• College Sporting News All-America honorable mention quarterback — 2008
• Two-time All-Southland Conference quarterback (honorable mention in 2007, second team in 2008)
• Nationally ranked in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision national statistics
  • No. 2 in total offense, 2008 (354.2 yards per game)
  • No. 4 in passing offense, 2008 (335.5 yards per game)
  • No. 8 in total offense, 2007 (290.6 yards per game)
• Passed for more than 300 yards in nine games during his Bearkat career
• Threw for passes of more than 50 yards 10 times including long of 80 yards

• His 507 yards passing vs. Southeastern Louisiana in 2008 is the second highest total in SHSU history
• One of only 11 players in NCAA FCS history to throw for more than 300 yards and rush for more than 100 yards in a single game (vs. North Dakota State, 2007)
• Selected to play in East-West Shrine Game
• Transfer from the University of Oklahoma
• Passed for 2,018 yards and 10 TDs for the Sooners in 2005
• Led Oklahoma to victories over Kansas State, Kansas, Baylor, Nebraska, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State
• Most Valuable Player in the Holiday Bowl, passing for 229 yards in 17-14 victory over Oregon
• Threw for more than 200 yards in six games
• Best performance was 20 of 28 for 298 yards in 36-30 victory over Texas A&M
• Passed for 6,097 yards and 58 touchdowns during his career at Grand Prairie for coach Jerry Bomar, his father
• Rushed for 1,623 yards and 33 TDs in high school

Like I said: Interesting kid.

Miles To Go?

Jerry Jones has insisted that the primary reason he gave T.O. the boot was to make room for the Cowboys’ young receivers to flourish. The one name he has mentioned as a plausible replacement for Owens, especially as a deep threat, is Miles Austin.

Today, the Dallas Morning News is reporting that the New York Jets are showing interest in Austin, who is a restricted free agent…

According to sources, the Jets have scheduled to meet with Austin, a restricted free agent, Thursday and Friday.

The Cowboys gave Austin a $1.545 million tender offer that would require a team to give up a second-round pick as compensation if the Cowboys did not match. The restricted free-agent signing period ends on April 17. Four restricted free agents have signed offer sheets this off-season, but their teams matched the offers.

The Jets may well force Jerry to put his money where his mouth is. Is the undrafted, untested speedster really more valuable than what you may find with a second round pick…or the leverage having those consecutive picks might give you? Expect Jones to pay whatever the fiddler requires. He has made a commitment to finding out just what Austin can be and do.

Since their first draft in 1961, the Dallas Cowboys have drafted 46 players in the first round. Five of these players have their busts in the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Way more than five of them were just busts. That is, of course, to be expected. The NFL Draft is an inexact science. All teams have more strikeouts than home runs.

In this post, we will take a look at the Cowboys’ first round draft history, and offer the following (mostly-subjective) observations:

• Identify the top five (best of the best) first rounders
• Identify the bottom five (worst of the best) first rounders
• Grade each player
• Grade the Cowboys’ overall first round drafting success by averaging the players’ grades
• Grade each of the Cowboys’ regimes, broken down as follows:
  • The Schramm/Landry Era
  • The Jones/Johnson Era
  • The post-Johnson/Jones Era

We will use a numerical grading system to provide a letter grade for each pick:

• 0-49 = F
• 50-64 = D
• 65-74 = C
• 75-89 = B
• 90-95 = A
• 96-100 = A+
• 100+ = A++

Points are earned as follows:

• 2 points for each year on the Cowboys’ roster
• 0.2 point for each game played as a Cowboy
• 1 point for each additional year in the league with another team
• 10 points for every Pro Bowl selection
• Career achievement:
  • 20 points for being a singular player
  • 10 points for exceeding reasonable expectations
  • 5 points for meeting reasonable expectations
  • 0 points for underachievement
  • -5 points for total failure
• 25 points for Hall of Fame consideration

It is important to note that the system selected for judging these draft picks is weighted toward their value to the team, even more than their value as a player. Some players had ok careers with Dallas and then moved on to do some good things in other places. That counts, but not much. It is also important to remember that these men were first round picks, so the bar is elevated. Pro Bowls, All Pro selection, and, of course, the Hall of Fame are all weighted disproportionate to just being there, playing the game for a long time.

It isn’t a perfect system. It surely is not a purely objective formula. But, it is a system and a formula…

So, here goes…

First, an overview of the Cowboys’ first-round draft selections:

There they are, in all of their glory. The list contains living legends, team standouts, serviceable players, and complete busts. In that regard, we can be sure, it is no different from any such list one might compile for any of the 32 NFL teams. But this is not just any list. This is our list, BlueBloods. So, let’s break it down.

We have graded each individual player using the above formula and posted the results here, because the spreadsheet just didn’t fit in this post. There is a link to the Grade Sheet in the sidebar to the right, as well. Using the results of our grading system, we give you…

The Top Five (The Transcendent Ones, the Blowers of Grading Curves)

These five players received the highest point totals in our grading system. Of course, each of them graded out A++

1. Bob Lilly, DT, 285.2 points – Mr. Cowboy was the first pick the franchise ever made, and it says here he is still the best they ever made.
   

   Mr. Cowboy

2. Randy White, DT, 267.8 points – The Manster was like the second coming of Lilly, once Landry figured out he was a defensive tackle and not a middle linebacker.
3. Emmitt Smith, RB, 259.2 points – the NFL’s all-time leading rushing and a major cog in the early 90′s wheel that crushed everything in its path to three Super Bowl championships.
4. Troy Aikman, QB, 186 points – The HOF quarterback with the golden arm and the steely nerves. He was the perfect leader of a dang near perfect team.
5. Michael Irvin, 169.8 points – Mike was the spiritual leader of a spirited bunch. The Play-Maker played his way into the Hall of Fame and into the top five list of all-time Dallas Cowboys first round picks.

You will note that these players all have in common the highest pinnacle of achievement in the sport: they are all hall of famers. (Well, I am granting Emmitt his seat, of course.) There is a hall of famer – and one of my all-time favorite Cowboys – left off the top five list. That just isn’t right, so here are the honorable mentions, the next five…

The A+ Honor Roll

1. Tony Dorsett, RB, 166.4 points – There was never anything in Cowboys history more beautiful than watching TD break a long run. He was poetry in motion and, before the Herschell trade, the best coup the Cowboys ever pulled in a trade, says me.
2. Lee Roy Jordan, MLB, 158.2 points – They never made an undersized middle linebacker with more spunk, spit, and gravel than my man, Lee Roy. It is time the HOF ended their longtime spite for 70s era Cowboys and put his bust in Canton.
3. Ed “Too Tall” Jones, DE, 153.8 points – Too Tall was too much for opposing defenders. When he wasn’t slinging QBs to the Texas Stadium turf, he was swatting their passes back in their chops. Another HOF travesty.
4. John Niland, G, C, 147.6 points – 10 years a Cowboys. Six Pro Bowls. Two times All-Pro. Seems like HOF numbers to me. If only he had been a Steeler, huh?
5. Billy Joe Dupree, TE, 115.8 points – 11 years and 3 Pro Bowls, Billy Joe was the first great Cowboys’ tight end. There have, as you know, been a couple pretty nice ones since. They weren’t taken in the first round. Billy Joe was.

The Flunkers and Klunkers (the worst 1st round picks ever to wear a Star…except for one, who didn’t)

1. Scott Appleton, OT, 0 points – Scott is the biggest bust ever only because he never played a down for the ‘Boys. He was drafted by Dallas in the NFL and Houston in the AFL, and the meathead went with Houston. It is just as well. He was never more than a spare part, and even playing his short career in Dallas would have only moved him up a few chairs in the Dunce line.
2. Billy Cannon, Jr, LB, 0.6 points – He was the 25th pick in the 1984 draft. He had the pedigree: his father, Billy Cannon, Sr was a Heisman trophy winner from LSU. Junior was a standout at A&M and the Cowboys had high hopes for him. But like much of the 80′s for Cowboys fans, Cannon gave us nothing to remember and plenty to forget. he didn’t even post a full season in the Silver and Blue.
3. Bill Thomas, RB, 2.4 points – He was the 26th pick in the ’72 draft. That much we know. What he did after, you might want to ask his mom. No one else will remember.
4. Mike Sherrard, WR, 10.2 points – Mike suffered what was thought to be a career-ending injury. The fact that he managed to keep it from being so earned him enough points to better the trio above. He actually had some nice years in San Francisco, and it was good to see him bounce back. Still, he was never what we thought he was.
5. Tody Smith, DE, 10.4 points – He played two years in Dallas after being taken with the 25th pick in 1971.
   

   No, Really! It's T-o-d-y

   Apparently, his only contribution was that goofy name his either dyslexic or sadistic mom gave him.

Honestly, I began this project because I wanted to see if that stiff, Bobby Carpenter, was the biggest first round miss in Cowboys’ history. As it turns out, his big fat flunking grade of 29.2 is only 13th worst in club history. Geez, that’s depressing, isn’t it? Well, we have had some great late-round and free agent finds along the way, so it all comes out in the wash.

And now, for part two of this experiment. How do the various eras compare against one another?

Grading the Teachers

1. The Landry/Schramm Era – 75.7 (B – barely)
2. The Jones/Johnson Era – 105 (A++ – only six picks, and two HOFers…and three rings)
3. The Post-Johnson/Jones Era – 59.2 (D – with names like Shante Carver and Bobby Carpenter and with several incompletes on the scorecard, how could this bunch win?)

The Double J Ranch

Landry and company drafted four Hall of Famers in the first round, out of 27 picks. Jones and Johnson drafted two out of just six taken. The only pick made since Johnson left that has a legitimate shot (so far) is DeMarcus Ware. With the nine picks taken in this latest era, six have earned an F, one (Terence Newman) is scoring a C so far, and two (Ware and Roy Williams) are A+ students, according to our scale.

So, what have we learned?

A few things:

1. There have been some mind-numbing busts in the first round by this team. 22 of the 46 players taken (47%) received an F on their report card.
2. The Cowboys have landed six of the greatest to ever play the game in those 46 tries…and the verdict is still out, but the prospects look good for a seventh (Ware).
3. Landry and Schramm were smarter than Jones alone for sure, but maybe none of them had the big brain Jimmy sports…or the eye for talent.
4. The Hall of Fame has some work to do to right some 70s wrongs.
5. Cowboys fans better pray that Jerry Jones has Dan Reeves somewhere nearby on draft day.

Oh, wait. They don’t have a first round pick this year.