Jerry Jones oddly flaunts Cowboys big board to justify Tyler Smith pick

If you didn’t think Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones could get more ridiculous… think again! Last night, the Cowboys shocked many fans, reporters, and analysts by selecting Tulsa OT Tyler Smith with the team’s 24th overall pick in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. History shows that Dallas often goes with players on their official 30 pre-visit prospect list. Smith wasn’t on it. The Tulsa product was also graded by almost all analysts as a second-round prospect. Jerry Jones and his group didn’t seem to agree with that.

“This is a good move, and we’re proud of it,” Jones said to the press when trying to prove that Smith was the right choice for Dallas. The group of Cowboys execs also explained that they had three trade offers to move down, but instead stayed put to secure the Tulsa player. Earlier this week, Stephen Jones revealed that the team only had 14-16 players graded as first-round picks, which is an incredibly low number.

Apparently, Smith was No. 16 on that list. The team also claimed they had Smith higher on their list than both Kenyon Green and Zion Johnson, two names that were highly associated with the Cowboys. But instead of just telling the press that, unhinged Jerry decided to literally reveal the team’s big board and private draft information to the press. He held up a piece of paper and told reporters that it was printed three days ago and said, “can you see that?”

His son, the Cowboys EVP, swatted his hand down and said, “don’t show them that! Put that thing down.” Laughter erupted from reporters. Jones giggled and basked in the attention, but reiterated that he was dead serious in order to help justify the team’s selection. At this point, these Dallas beat writers probably just expect chaos whenever they have a talk with the Joneses.

Jerry Jones reveals Cowboys big board information during the post-first round draft press conference to justify selecting Tyler Smith at No. 24

The real question is… does this actually make anyone feel better? Why did the Cowboys have Smith ranked above Green and Johnson who will almost certainly be Week 1 starters? A huge caveat about the Tulsa product is that he was so highly penalized. He drew 16 flags in 2021, 12 of which were holding calls. This is exactly what the Cowboys have said they are trying to avoid next season. Head coach Mike McCarthy chimed in on that:

"“We need to focus on penalties (and) we’ve taken those steps already in our offseason program, as far as the emphasis on what we need to do better, particularly in the area of fundamentals. Tyler will be a part of the program when he gets here. I don’t have any concerns.”"

It certainly seems that Smith’s size and potential were the main draws. Offensive line coach Joe Philbin and McCarthy will have a lot of work to do if they want this redshirt sophomore to start for this team in September. The last thing the Cowboys needed out of their first-round pick was yet another depth player.