Worst draft classes for a team

[Gary Najman]

Glenn Carano had to be a surprising one since they had Danny White and Roger already on the team. He must have been the best on their board at the time, but it prevented them from taking someone else that was the best on their board in Round 3 a few years later.

Also, their 1986 second rounder, Darryl Clack, didn't make sense at the time. They had Tony Dorsett and Timmy Newsome, and they drafted Herschel a year earlier.

Danny White was also the punter, so they needed a backup QB in 1977 since Staubach was going to be 35 years old. Many people don't remember that they also drafted Steve DeBerg later in that draft. I always thought the Cowboys should have report DeBerg instead of Carano.

You have to remember that Walker only joined the Cowboys in 1986 when the USFL folded, so they drafted Clack because Dorsett was going to be 32 years old. But Clack was injured most of his senior season at Arizona State (he had been one of the best RB in the Pac-10 Conference the previous two years) and wasn't effective with the Cowboys, and eventually became a kickoff returner.

[Gary Najman]

Dutton gave the Cowboys some solid play but "didn't work wonders for Dallas", Robert.

Yeah, I think Dutton was considered a flop in Dallas. Usually the Cowboys were always able to unload their garbage to other teams and pick up high draft picks, and this was like the first time the Cowboys got the short end of a trade. Its possible that was the reason for drafting Glenn Carano...have him on the roster, showcase him a couple times at the end of blowouts, then trade him to the Buccaneers for a 1st round pick.

On a related note, I think that is what helped Gil Brandt in the Cowboys glory years...even though they were winning Super Bowls he was still able to swing trades that brought high picks like Too Tall and Dorsett, and in general the Cowboys were always among the NFL leaders in number of draft picks. The Cowboys started making worse personnel decisions in the 80s, and that seemed to hurt them just as much as unproductive drafts. In the 80's they were no longer drafting at the top, and thats why their 1st/2nd round picks were so ho-hum.

From 1974-1977, the Cowboys drafted Ed "Too Tall" Jones, Randy White and Tony Dorsett (all three were top #1 and #2 picks overall of their drafts) while giving the Oilers, Giants and Seahawks older and washed-up players, and later draft picks for them. I have read that in 1981 the Cowboys wanted to trade up to the Giants for the chance of drafting Lawrence Taylor, and were willing to giving even more, but the Giants smartly, didn't wanted to trade. By this time most teams knew when the Cowboys tried to fleece them, and it showed in the Cowboys drafts.

[Gary Najman]

1980- Traded 1st round to Baltimore for John Dutton Turned out to work out wonders for Dallas

Others have commented on this, but in fairness to Dallas, their backs against the wall. They felt they were still in Super Bowl window and saw Larry Bethea was not going to fill Too Tall's shoes. So, Dutton holding out in Baltimore, they need someone to play DE, I guess figuring Duttong can fit at left DE pull the trigger.

The thinking had to have been Too Tall was never going to come back, or if he did, they wanted some sort of leverage, that part, who knows.

Living in Texas at the time, the fans liked the trade at first.

But, it took time for Dutton to learn the Flex, and played passing downs at first ... and worked his way ... but that first year -- not effective.

So, in 1980, Too Tall comes back and they have 3 DEs ... and they move him to DT and that first year, he couldn't beat Larry Cole out, so he played as rusher again, inside ...

From they he was, I guess, you'd call him a solid DT, but prob. not what they expected for what they paid.

Too Tall taking a year off caused a domino effect with that trade ... who knows who they may have been able to get with those picks ... one difference maker and history changes --- perhaps, anyway.

In fairness to "Too Tall" Jones, taking the 1979 season off fighting boxing matches really helped him when he returned to the Cowboys. He became a Pro Bowl player and an All-Pro. As you have said, Dutton was one of the top DEs in the NFL while playing with the Colts and wasn't seen as a bad trade at the time. He was a solid player with the Cowboys, but he didn't return to DE when Harvey Martin retired.

[Gary Najman]

Brant's drafts definitely went south after the draft was moved to April in 1976.

Here are the second rounders:

1976: RB Jim Jensen (solid player) and OG Jim Eidson

1977: Quarterback Glenn Carano

1978: FB Todd Christensen - Hall of the Very Good

1979: DB Aaron Mitchell

1980: No pick - trade for John Dutton

1981: WR Doug Donley

1982: LB Jeff Rohrer

1983 - LB Mike Walter - good player with 49ers

1984 - DB Victor Scott

1985 - LB Jesse Penn

1986 - RB Darryl Clack

1987 - DB Ron Francis

1988 - LB Ken Norton - good player

One sees what Jimmy Johnson meant in the Spring of 1989 when he said, "This is the Dallas Cowboys?" It is a testament to Landry they were able to win the division in 1985 and Gil Brant should not be in the Hall of Fame.

In 1982 the Cowboys drafted Rohrer 12 picks after the Patriots selected Andre Tippett. I remember watching Tippett playing at college at Iowa and I thought he was going to be drafted in the 1st round. The Cowboys should have drafted Tippett instead of Rod Hill.