The NFL Draft is two days away, so let's take a second to look at some recent draft history. Earlier, we took a quick peek at Aaron Rodgers' fall in the 2005 draft through the lens of Jon Gruden, whose Buccaneers failed to draft Rodgers. Now, let's take a more macro-level look.
What team has been the best at drafting in the past 15 years? According to this chart, it's the Cowboys -- by a wide margin.
Cowboys' draft picks have been selected to a combined 17 MORE Pro Bowls than any other team since 2002. pic.twitter.com/KSLFVBFye8
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 25, 2017
Before we get into the major flaw of the chart, let's give the Cowboys credit for some solid drafting in recent years. Some notable selections:
- Ezekiel Elliott
- Dak Prescott
- Dez Bryant
- Travis Frederick
- Tyron Smith
- Zack Martin
- Sean Lee
- DeMarcus Ware
- Martellus Bennett (who's onto his fifth team, but still)
- Not Johnny Manziel
With that being said, the Cowboys' positive draft history hasn't really translated to the field. In that span, they've averaged 8.73 wins per season. They've won two playoff games and, of course, zero Super Bowls. Meanwhile, a certain team slotted below the Cowboys has won four Super Bowls since 2003. You can probably guess which team I'm talking about.
The point being, Pro Bowl appearances really aren't the best way to judge draft success -- or anything, really.
Still, it's a reminder that the Cowboys are a competent organization that has its fair share of talent. They will, however, likely need to hit on their draft picks this year if they want to experience more postseason success than they did last season, when they went one-and-done.
The Cowboys hold the 28th overall pick and desperately need help on defense. Last week, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones indicated that the team is not looking to trade up in the first round.
