Epic failure of Cowboys’ 2017 draft class echoes through organization

The Dallas Cowboys are very much a team which values their draft capital and prefers to build their roster through this method of cost-effective talent acquisition. Through the first half of the 2010s, the Cowboys had an incredible drafting run where they were able to add an impact player with their first-round pick as well as several other useful players who’ve stuck around over the years.

Their more recent drafts have been far less fruitful than what their reputation suggests, however. The book is far from written for many of these newer players, but it’s already wrapped up for the 2017 class, a relative disaster compared to the 2016 haul which brought in franchise quarterback Dak Prescott, star running back Ezekiel Elliott, linebacker Jaylon Smith and cornerback Anthony Brown.

Only two of the nine players the Cowboys drafted in 2017 remain with the team — CB Jourdan Lewis and WR Noah Brown signed three and one-year deals this offseason, respectively — and many of the holes the team tried to address then are still unfulfilled today. What went wrong for these players in Dallas, and is the fate of the next Cowboys draft picks scheduled to hit FA any brighter?

Round 1: DE Taco Charlton

(AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth)

The 2017 draft class was perhaps doomed from the start. Dallas selected DE Taco Charlton at No. 28 with would-be pass-rushing star T.J. Watt still on the board. The long-limbed Charlton was seen as the better scheme fit at the time, albeit with hopes that former DC Rod Marinelli would be able to maximize his potential. Instead, Charlton seemed to immediately fall out of favor in Dallas and was released just two weeks into his third NFL season. He would play in just 27 games and record four total sacks over his two seasons as a Cowboy, providing extremely little return for the team that drafted him. It's sometimes slim pickings at the bottom of the first round, but this was a misstep that certainly still haunts Dallas considering what could've been, a DeMarcus Lawrence-Watt pass rushing combo that would've set them up for years. Charlton is on his third team in five seasons. He was picked up by the Dolphins after Dallas waived him, and was recently re-signed by the Chiefs after spending 2020 in Kansas City. Still just 26-years-old, Charlton has a chance to change his narrative, but his story will always start with the disaster in Dallas.

Round 2: CB Chidobe Awuzie

The Cowboys entered the 2017 draft after losing both their staring CBs to free agency (Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne). The need at the position was obvious, and Dallas's first crack at addressing it was CB Chidobe Awuzie out of Colorado at 60th overall. The Cowboys hoped his athleticism would translate at the NFL level, but he didn't exactly flourish with the opportunities given to him, and never seemed to develop the ballskills necessary to be a shutdown corner. With Byron Jones on the other side, teams often took their chances targeting Awuzie, and often found success. https://twitter.com/NFLFilmStudy/status/1064258512824528896 Over his four seasons with the Cowboys, Awuzie appeared in 49 games (42 starts), recorded four interceptions and 213 total tackles. Dallas considered moving him to safety near the end of his tenure, perhaps signaling how they viewed him as he entered his walk year. The Cowboys would eventually allow Awuzie to hit free agency, where he promptly signed a three-year, $21.75M deal to join Cincinnati.

Round 4: WR Ryan Switzer

Seen as a potential dynamic slot receiver and punt returner, expectations were high when the Cowboys drafted Switzer in the fourth round out of North Carolina. Instead, he was seldom used on offense (six catches, 41 yards), and his role on the team was effectively replaced when Dallas traded for WR Tavon Austin on Day 3 of the 2018 draft. Switzer himself was then traded to the Raiders for DT Jihad Ward, a player who failed to make the Dallas roster that year. Switzer was again traded, this time to the Steelers, where he spent two seasons before joining Cleveland's practice squad in 2020. His time with the Cowboys ultimately wasn't meant to be, but he did return a memorable punt for a touchdown vs Washington on a Thursday Night game. https://twitter.com/jonmachota/status/936633178860777473

Round 6: DB Xavier Woods

(Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)

The new Vikings safety spent his first four seasons as an over-achieving sixth-round pick tasked with solving the Cowboys' longstanding need at safety. Dallas actually traded up to select Woods at No. 191 overall out of Louisiana Tech, and by his second season, he was a full-time NFL starter at FS. He was a solid player and still has room to grow, but ultimately Woods didn't move the needle enough for a lackluster Cowboys secondary, who didn't seem to have much interest in bringing him back this offseason. Over his four seasons in Dallas, Woods played in 60 games, recorded five interceptions and 247 total tackles. He's a potential high-upside signing for the Vikings, where he'll join a secondary that includes Harrison Smith and Patrick Peterson.

The Rest: CB Marquez White, DT Joey Ivie, DT Jordan Carrell

Rounding out the 2017 Dallas draft class are a trio of players who did not survive the final round of roster cuts before the start of the season. Sixth-rounder CB Marquez White appeared in both the AAF and XFL after he was cut by Dallas, while DT Joey Ivie has bounced around several teams' practice squads since 2017. The 246th overall pick, and last of the Cowboys draft selections, DT Jordan Carrell, has not yet appeared back in the NFL since he was cut.

The 2018 class' prospects

(AP Photo/Ron Jenkins)

Dallas will next soon have to make these same decisions with their 2018 draft class, which has been more productive than 2017's, but could see a similar exodus next offseason. The Cowboys have about a month to decide whether they want to exercise LB Leighton Vander Esch's fifth-year option, something which seemed like a slam dunk after his rookie season, but the team might have to think twice at the $9.1 million price tag considering Vander Esch has only been able to play in 19 of the past 32 games. WR Michael Gallup, OL Connor Williams and TE Dalton Schultz have all played major recent roles for the team but it's hard to say whether any of them will get second contracts once their rookie deals expire after this season. Gallup has been a monumental success for a third-round pick, but Dallas already has Amari Cooper earning $20 million a season at the position and lucked into CeeDee Lamb in the first round of the 2020 draft. There doesn't appear to be room on the ledger for what Gallup would likely command on the open market. Fellow wideout Cedric Wilson dealt with injuries early in his career, but has carved out a role as Dallas' gadget guy, earning a RFA tender this offseason after being released from his original rookie deal. Williams has started 37 of the 40 games he's played over three years and while 2020 found him the last man standing as injuries ravaged everyone else on the starting OL, he's not a sure bet to win the starting nod this season. Schultz finally saw starter snaps in 2020 when Blake Jarwin went down with an ACL injury in Week 1 and ended up playing well, nabbing 60+ receptions and scoring four touchdowns. He'll likely go back to the bench in 2021, but may have a chance of seeing a second deal. DE Dorance Armstrong got plenty of chances in Mike Nolan's scheme in 2020, but didn't impress and it's unknown what role he'll have in Dan Quinn's revision. QB Mike White, LB Chris Covington and RB Bo Scarbrough didn't materialize.

2019 Class

Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

As for the 2019 draft class the jury is still out. There's no first rounder from due to the Amari Cooper trade, which was an obvious win, and DT Trysten Hill was the most polarizing Dallas pick since Taco Charlton. Hill seemed to improve in 2020, but his season ended after just five games, and he'll need a big showing this year to earn his stay. Apart from Hill only three other players (RB Tony Pollard, G Connor McGovern, and DB Donovan Wilson) are still with the Cowboys. Wilson seems to have an inside track at a starting safety position in 2021, McGovern could be the starter at left guard and Pollard is an exciting back who's hard to tackle but seems to have less impact the more work he gets. The Miami Jacksons (cornerback Mike, defensive end Joe), Oregon's Jalen Jelks and Ohio State RB Mike Weber are all elsewhere around pro football. While the early returns on the 2020 class seem promising, having three consecutive classes of bad-to-mixed results is potentially devastating for Dallas, who relies on these picks to supplement their typical stars-and-scrubs type roster approach. It also puts the pressure on to nail their picks in the 2021, where thankfully the Cowboys have four selections within the Top 100. But the margin for error is slim, and Dallas absolutely needs to hit on some of these upcoming picks to help transition into the next era of the team.

1

1