Do the Dallas Cowboys regret drafting Taco Charlton over T.J. Watt?

The Dallas Cowboys choose to select Taco Charlton over T.J. Watt in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Is the team now regretting that decision?

They say hindsight is 20/20. Some also say it takes at least three years to truly evaluate the results of an NFL draft. But it appears it hasn’t taken that long for the Dallas Cowboys to realize they made a monumental mistake in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft.

Owning the 28th overall selection in that draft, the Cowboys had their choice of two pass rushers:  Michigan’s Taco Charlton or Wisconsin’s T.J. Watt. Ultimately Dallas selected Charlton as the 6-foot-6, 275-pound defensive end was deemed to be a better scheme fit over Watt, who was an outside linebacker playing in a 3-4 scheme for the Badgers.

The Cowboys later admitted that they had a second-round grade on Charlton and that he was chosen in part as a developmental project. That was the first red flag.

But fans quickly forgot that after Taco recorded 2.0 sacks in the preseason. Unfortunately, that early hype did not translate to the regular season as the rookie pass rusher didn’t post his first official sack until Week Nine and ended his first year posting a total of 19 tackles and 3.0 sacks.

As for Watt, he was drafted three picks after Charlton, 30th overall, by the Pittsburgh Steelers. And during his rookie campaign, the younger brother of Houston Texans’ defensive end J.J. Watt recorded 40 total tackles and 7.0 sacks. Through 13 games of his second season in Pittsburgh, Watt has already posted a double-digit sack total (10.0).

In stark contrast, Charlton was a healthy scratch for this past weekend’s pivotal divisional victory over the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. It appears that Taco has lost his role within the Cowboys’ premier defense after battling a shoulder injury for weeks.

Here’s what head coach Jason Garrett told ESPN.com when asked about Charlton’s healthy scratch on Sunday.

"“We want to make it competitive. We want to make sure guys earn their opportunity and some of the other guys have done a good job in [Charlton’s] absence. So we’ll see how he practices this week if he gets an opportunity to play in the game.”"

Sadly, the Cowboys’ 2017 first rounder has posted just one sack so far this season. And that’s despite having entered his second-year with some hype following a stellar performance in the offseason and during training camp.

The early numbers clearly indicate the Dallas Cowboys made the wrong choice when they drafted Taco Charlton over T.J. Watt back in 2017. Still, they drafted Charlton knowing he needed time to develop. Maybe this regression and subsequent benching will be the key for the 24-year old to turn his young career around. But now we know that the Cowboys are willing to bench Charlton regardless of his draft status. And he’ll remain there until he shows some improvement.