Inside The Star
In the last decade alone, the Dallas Cowboys have rolled the dice by drafting players with pre-existing injuries.
To be fair, they aren’t the only team to do this. But in the past decade alone, Dallas has done it three times with early picks.
For a franchise in the midst of a 29-year drought in getting beyond the divisional round of the playoffs, hitting those early picks is a must.
But the results of the last three gambles would indicate they haven’t paid off. That, along with that pesky drought Stephen Jones loves to dismiss.
Here are the last three players of note that the Cowboys drafted despite knowing the player had a serious injury issue at the time:
In the 2016 Draft, the Cowboys shocked everyone by taking Ohio State linebacker Jaylon Smith.
Smith had shredded his knee in his final collegiate game a few months earlier in the Fiesta Bowl. The Cowboys’ team doctor performed the surgery.
Apparently, Dallas was convinced by his report and, after failing to trade up to draft Paxton Lynch, selected Smith in the second round.
They dodged a bullet by missing out on Lynch, and drafted Dak Prescott two rounds later instead.
But how did the gamble on Smith pay off on the field? The first year, not so well.
Smith missed the entire 2016 season.
He started in six of the 16 games he played in for the 2017 season, recording 81 tackles and one sack. He also forced two fumbles that year.
He would start all 48 games for Dallas in the next three seasons, recording a total of 417 tackles, eight sacks, two interceptions, four forced fumbles, and five fumble recoveries over that stretch.
But he fell off the table in 2021, playing only four games in Dallas that year. He played two for Green Bay and another four for the Giants that season.
He played in New York in 2022, and appeared in one game with the Raiders in 2023 and hasn’t been in the league since.
The Cowboys got four good years from the gamble, but the long-term payoff wasn’t there.
The players taken in the second round after Smith?
Fellow linebacker Myles Jack, defensive tackle Chris Jones, wide receiver Michael Thomas, safety Kevin Byard, and cornerback James Bradberry. Oh yeah, and some running back named Derrick Henry.
I wonder what became of those players?
More recently, in the 2023 Draft, the Cowboys appeared to panic over a tight end run in the draft. They selected Michigan’s Luke Schoonmaker.
They did so knowing full well that the already old Schoonmaker was dealing with plantar fasciitis, a foot injury that is difficult to treat and play with.
A tight end with a bad foot seemed like a bad idea at the time, as evidenced by...
