Other than the DE they just cut, the 1st round has been good to Dallas recently. But under the Jerry Jones GM regime, the Dallas Cowboys second round picks frustrate even the most loyal Cowboys Nation member.
Second round picks are supposed to be starters and get a second contract on your team. In four years a perfectly healthy 2nd round pick should give your team 64 games. Twice that if he gets a second contract, which should happen. You are supposed to keep your own talent. The player should also be a starter or a serious cog in a rotation. He should give you not only games but a steady snap count. Backups don’t do that.
To me, it seems that Jerry Jones views the second round almost as a throw-a-way pick. Sure, he has hit on a few. Heck, his first second-round pick as a GM he nabbed Larry Allen who went on to the Hall of Fame. NOT too shabby! Of course, his first round selection was Shante Carver. Go figure.
But sticking with the second round Jones has a history of swinging for the fences and more often than not, he misses. And even when he hits it’s not a win-win as he seems to value the bragging rights about a pick more than what they deliver on the field. Examples abound. Sean Lee who was drafted on his second knee injury is a GREAT player when he is on the field. Out of a possible 160 games over his 10-year career, he has played in 98 of them. That is not counting this season where he has done well as a rotation player. To break it down Lee has been an asset for the team 61% of the time he has been with them. My job requires me to be here 100% of the time or I get replaced.
But Jones hit on LB Jaylon Smith, right? Not so fast. Out of 48 possible games Jaylon has been “available” for 37 of them. But not really. He was a shell of his former self. In reality, the Cowboys got 16 games out of him so far or 33% of his value.
Look at the picks for the last 20 years and we will point out a few interesting items after.
Cowboys Second Round Picks
| Year | Position | Player | Games Played | Status |
| 1999 | OG | Solomon Page | 67 | Backup |
| 2000 | DB | Dwayne Goodrich | 16 | Backup |
| 2001 | QB | Quincy Carter | 17 | Starter |
| 2001 | DB | Tony Dixon | 56 | Starter |
| 2002 | OG | Andre Gurode | 65 | Starter |
| 2003 | OC | Al Johnson | 66 | Starter |
| 2004 | RB | Julius Jones | 94 | Rotation |
| 2004 | OT | Jacob Rogers | 2 | Backup |
| 2005 | DE | Marcus Spears | 124 | Starter |
| 2006 | TE | Anthony Fasano | 180 | Backup |
| 2007 | N/A | N/A | 0 | N/A |
| 2008 | TE | Martellus Bennett | 144 | Backup |
| 2009 | N/A | N/A | 0 | N/A |
| 2010 | LB | Sean Lee | 102 | Starter |
| 2011 | LB | Bruce Carter | 101 | Starter |
| 2012 | DL | Tyrone Crawford | 98 | Starter |
| 2013 | TE | Gavin Escobar | 64 | Backup |
| 2014 | DL | Demarcus Lawrence | 74 | Starter |
| 2015 | DL | Randy Gregory | 28 | Backup |
| 2016 | LB | Jaylon Smith | 42 | Starter |
| 2017 | DB | Chidobe Awuzie | 35 | Starter |
| 2018 | OL | Connor Williams | 23 | Starter |
| 2019 | DL | Trysten Hill | 3 | Backup |
Jones loves to draft backup TE’s in the second round. Fasano, Bennett, and Escobar gave the Cowboys 388 games. All as backups. And Bennett was not a willing participant who was an issue in the locker room. Escobar was the only guy not able to carve out a long career elsewhere.
Jones has a thing for injured players in the 2nd round. Jacob Rodgers, Sean Lee, Bruce Carter, Randy Gregory, and Jaylon Smith all had issues that impacted their ability to be on the field. The Cowboys got less than 50% return on these picks in games played and even less in longevity.
Dallas selected a highly talented DL this last NFL Draft with their second-round selection and again, Jones seems to have swung for the fences. Trysten Hill is a highly talented player that was demoted to the rotation his senior season. Physically he is extremely gifted. So was Taco Charlton the former 1st round pick they cut a couple of weeks ago. After having the Rams run roughshod over them in the playoffs last season an interior DL upgrade seemed like quite a reasonable proposition. Yet Hill is the last guy in the DL rotation and played only 11 snaps last week as Green Bay put on a rushing clinic IN Dallas. 11 snaps is a non-factor and that is NOT how you want to reference your second-round draft pick.
The winless Jets are up next for the ‘Boys and if they don’t watch it Le’Veon Bell will get his first big day as a Jet in New York.
Trysten Hill needs to show up on the field and in the snap count column. The Cowboys need their second round picks to play. Learning, healing, recouping or going to rehab are not activities that help out on the scoreboard.
Another Left Coast Sports Post
