The Landry Hat
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Dallas Cowboys: 15 best first-round picks of all-time

By John Buhler

30 JAN 1994: RUNNING BACK EMMITT SMITH OF THE DALLAS COWBOYS FLASHES THE NUMBER ONE SIGN DURING THE COWBOYS 30-13 VICTORY OVER THE BUFFALO BILLS IN SUPER BOWL XXVIII AT THE GEORGIA DOME IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA. SMITH RUSHED FOR TWO TOUCHDOWNS AND WAS SELECT
30 JAN 1994: RUNNING BACK EMMITT SMITH OF THE DALLAS COWBOYS FLASHES THE NUMBER ONE SIGN DURING THE COWBOYS 30-13 VICTORY OVER THE BUFFALO BILLS IN SUPER BOWL XXVIII AT THE GEORGIA DOME IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA. SMITH RUSHED FOR TWO TOUCHDOWNS AND WAS SELECT /
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DeMarcus Ware, Dallas Cowboys
DeMarcus Ware, Dallas Cowboys. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

Best first-round draft picks in Dallas Cowboys history: 4. DeMarcus Ware

Though he’s not yet eligible for Canton enshrinement, he one day will be a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. When the Cowboys selected outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware No. 11 overall out of Troy, they couldn’t have known he would end up as the franchise leader in sacks.

Ware played nine of his 12 soon-to-be hall of fame seasons with the Cowboys. He made the Pro Bowl in seven straight seasons with the Cowboys from 2006 to 2012. Ware would be First-Team All-Pro in four of those seasons and Second-Team All-Pro in the other three. He led the league in sacks twice in 2008 and again in 2010.

After nine years with the Cowboys, Ware would be released by the team before the 2014 NFL season. He would play his final three NFL seasons with the Denver Broncos, where he would make his last two trips to the Pro Bowl and win a Super Bowl as part of the 2015 Denver team. Ware would retire after the 2016 NFL season.

Ware is the all-time leader in sacks for the Cowboys at 117.0. He is also the franchise leader in forced fumbles at 32. Ware made the NFL 2000s All-Decade Team. In the next few years, Ware will certainly be inducted into the Cowboys Ring of Honor, as well as the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Pass rushers like Ware don’t come around very often and he made the most of his nine years with the Cowboys for sure.

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