3 Cowboys stars, 1 famous missed connection make list of best draft picks over last 10 years
The cards will be turned in, the names will be called, the bro-hugs will play out on TV. Immediately afterward, the report cards will be handed out and the projections will start to roll in.
But once we get even a few years into the future beyond the 2023 NFL draft, how many of the names we’re obsessing over right now will still be considered stars? Of the 259 college prospects about to have their lives changed, how many will go on to achieve real superstar status?
Not many.
Sports Illustrated narrowed down the 20 best draft picks of the past 10 years. Any team, any position, any round.
Only two of the players listed as the best of the best were top-three selections, suggesting that maybe the difference between the choices now facing Carolina and Indianapolis aren’t as life-or-death as they feel to their front offices and fans. What’s more, six of the 20 weren’t even first-rounders, meaning that greatness can be found all draft weekend long.
The Cowboys, traditionally an excellent drafting team, has two recent picks on the list, one infamous missed opportunity, and another ex-playmaker landing a perhaps controversial honorable mention.
6. Zack Martin, G: 16th pick, 2014
Dallas Cowboys guard Zack Martin leaves the field after an NFL football game against the Carolina Panthers in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Roger Steinman)
Martin is ranked as the sixth-best draft pick of the past decade, but Cowboys fans will recall that the 16th overall selection of the 2014 draft almost went another direction entirely, at least according to popular legend.
Coming off their third consecutive 8-8 season, Dallas was desperate to move the needle, and arguably no one in college football was more electrifying (or more polarizing) than Texas A&M quarterback and former Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel.
Manziel was there for the taking with the 16th pick, and Jerry Jones was said to be infatuated with him, although that story has likely been exaggerated greatly over the years. The Steelers snatched linebacker Ryan Shazier with the pick right before Dallas, leaving the Cowboys to go with the other player they liked, the offensive lineman from Notre Dame.
Martin is a six-time first-team All-Pro and has been named to eight Pro Bowls. Shazier sustained a career-ending injury in 2017. Manziel lasted just two years in the NFL and is now playing Fan Controlled Football.
9. T.J. Watt, LB: 30th pick, 2017
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt (90) rushes against Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Daryl Williams (75) during the first half of an NFL football game in Orchard Park, N.Y., Sunday, Dec. 13, 2020. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
This one still stings for Cowboys fans, and is a rare example of a Dallas draft-day disaster.
With the 28th pick in 2017, the Cowboys were thinking defense. Despite going 13-3 season the year prior, they had finished in the bottom 10 in pass yards allowed and were just middle of the pack in team sacks. But instead of taking the younger sibling of three-time Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt, the Cowboys left his Badger brother T.J. on the board in favor of Michigan defensive end Taco Charlton.
Watt was grabbed by Pittsburgh two picks later. He’s amassed five Pro Bowl nods, three first-team All-Pro selections, has led the league in sacks twice and is tied for most ever in a single season, and earned his own DPOY award in 2021.
Stephen Jones has since admitted that the team regrets not taking Watt when they had the chance.
“He was in serious contention [to be our pick],” Jones has said. “I think the biggest issue was we were playing a 4-3 there with Rod [Marinelli, defensive coordinator] and Rod was concerned about how he’d hold up against the run in the 4-3. Didn’t have that same concern with Taco.”
But Dallas released the underwhelming Charlton two weeks into the 2019 season, with just 27 game appearances on his resume, after failing to find a trade partner willing to take him.
17. Micah Parsons, LB: 12th pick, 2021
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA – DECEMBER 18: Micah Parsons #11 of the Dallas Cowboys sacks Trevor Lawrence #16 of the Jacksonville Jaguars during the first quarter of the game at TIAA Bank Field on December 18, 2022 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images)
What’s staggering in hindsight is that Dallas actually traded back in the 2021 draft and still landed a generational talent whose star remains very much on the rise. The Cowboys sent the 10th pick to Philadelphia, who nabbed wide receiver DeVonta Smith, no slouch himself. But the Cowboys took over the 12th selection and spent it on an off-the-ball linebacker who hadn’t played football in 16 months.
To many at the time, it seemed like a huge gamble.
All Parsons did was switch to edge rusher in his second NFL game and then go on to win Defensive Rookie of the Year. And he’s earned a Pro Bowl nod, a first-team All-Pro placement, and Defensive Player of the Year votes in each of his two seasons in the league.
Parsons comes in 17th on this list, but he’ll likely rank much higher in subsequent years.
Honorable mention: Ezekiel Elliott, RB: 4th pick, 2016
Nov 24, 2022; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott (21) runs for a first down against the New York Giants during the first quarter at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
For all the gnashing of teeth from draft gurus about how running backs don’t matter and should never be drafted early, Elliott still nearly made the list of the top 20 picks of the last 10 years, even going fourth overall.
To be fair, Derrick Henry is the only rusher to make the official top 20; Elliott joins Todd Gurley and Christian McCaffrey in the honorable mention category, so there’s still something to that logic except in rare cases.
Elliott’s production over seven seasons have indeed been undeniable: 8,262 rushing yards and 68 touchdowns on the ground, already placing him in the NFL’s all-time top 50 in both stats. His swift decline in skills over the past couple years and his uncertain future don’t diminish what the two-time rushing champ (and should’ve been three-time if not for that suspension) has brought to the table in a career that started on the first night of the 2016 draft.
