Recent Cowboys’ first-round pick history almost guarantees a Pro Bowler

The Dallas Cowboys have had quite the frustrating offseason. First of all, it started way too soon after a brutal loss in the first round of the playoffs. From there, the front office made numerous frustrating and questionable decisions that included re-signing a bunch of depth players and saying goodbye to key pieces of the roster. Cowboys fans have been waiting for a true, meaningful external signing, but nothing has happened yet.

However, there is some hope. Despite most of the fan base having little-to-no faith in Stephen and Jerry Jones, there is one thing they do well: draft. Let’s be fair, Will McClay deserves a lot of credit for that, too. McClay helps oversee the draft process and plays a lead role in scouting and recruiting. Regardless, the Cowboys have proven clear success in who they pick, especially in the first round.

As seen in the tweet below, in the last 11 years, nine Dallas draft picks have gone on to become Pro Bowlers. The only years where the Cowboys didn’t have their first-round pick go on to be a Pro Bowler were 2017 and 2012. In 2017, the team selected Taco Charlton, a man often thought to be one of their worst draft picks in recent history. In 2012, Dallas selected linebacker Morris Claiborne.

Jori Epstein of USA Today Sports points out another interesting fact. The players on the list below run the gamut from linebacker to wide receiver to center and more. They also come from a variety of NCAA conferences.

In the last 11 drafts, the Cowboys have selected nine players that went on to be Pro Bowlers

This is a pretty impressive feat. No matter how much research and scouting you do, it’s always hard to know whether a collegiate talent is cut out for the NFL outside of the top couple of picks. Even then, we have seen highly-touted quarterbacks go on to flop in the league.

While the Cowboys have certainly made some questionable decisions regarding the off-field character of their draft choices, they somehow seem to be pretty great at predicting top NFL talent. And, this doesn’t just apply to the Pro Bowl. As seen below, Dallas also has the most All-Pro draft picks since 2010. It’s a bit frustrating to know that this team can clearly draft talent but somehow doesn’t know how to translate the talent into championships.

Assuming the front office doesn’t trade away the first-round pick, these stats actually give us some faith that the Cowboys may be able to bring in a stellar talent with the 24th overall pick. Whether it’s a surprise pick, one of the guys expected to go to Dallas, or anyone else, let’s hope this trend of impressive first-round selections continues.