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Dallas Cowboys 2023 draft review: Opening statements left plenty to be desired
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The 5 best Dallas Cowboys draft picks of the Jerry Jones era, including 4 Hall of Famers
The 2024 NFL draft is right around the corner and with the No. 24 overall pick the Dallas Cowboys have a chance at striking gold.
As the draft nears, let’s look back at the top five draft picks during Jerry Jones’ ownership of the Cowboys.
1. Troy Aikman
Draft: 1989, first round, first overall
Position: Quarterback
The first player the Cowboys selected under the ownership of Jerry Jones became the most successful quarterback in franchise history. Aikman wasn’t the most athletic quarterback ever to wear the star on his helmet. He wasn’t the most mobile or statistically the most accurate. But the team captured three Super Bowl titles during his leadership, and Aikman thrived in big games.
The Cowboys won the Lombardi trophy every time Aikman led them to the Super Bowl, including Super Bowl XXVII when he was named MVP. He compiled an 11-4 career record in postseason starts. And though the Cowboys were not a good team upon Aikman’s arrival, he teamed up with Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith to quickly turn the franchise’s fortunes around.
After a rugged rookie season during which he lost all 11 starts, Aikman went 94-60 for the remainder of his regular-season career. He held or tied 47 club passing records at his retirement.
2. Emmitt Smith
Draft: 1990, first round, 17th overall
Position: Running back
No back in NFL history has rushed for more yards than Smith. And given the changes in the game since Smith’s retirement, it’s a record that could stand the test of time. Smith finished his career with 18,355 yards on the ground and 164 touchdowns.
He wasn’t the flashiest back of his generation, but he was far and away the most durable and consistent. Smith announced his arrival with a season that earned him offensive rookie of the year. He led the NFL in rushing four times, broke the 1,000-yard barrier in a season 11 times and was both league and Super Bowl MVP during the 1993 season.
In addition to his accomplishments on the ground, Smith caught 515 passes for another 3,224 yards and 11 touchdowns in his career.
3. Larry Allen
Draft: 1994, second round, 46th overall
Position: Guard
Allen is the rare athlete who was twice named to all-decade teams, first for the 1990s and then again in the 2000s. He was All-Pro seven seasons and made 11 trips to the Pro Bowl (10 as a Cowboy), a franchise record he held alone for more than a decade. Tight end Jason Witten tied the mark with his 11th berth after the 2017 season. Allen, a hulking lineman, blocked for eight of Emmitt Smith’s 11 seasons surpassing 1,000 yards rushing.
He played every position but center during his Cowboys career and was named to the Pro Bowl as a tackle and a guard. Bruce Matthews and Chris Hinton are the only other players in NFL history to pull off the two-position Pro Bowl combo. In a sport known for brute strength, Allen is legendary. He was able to bench press 700 pounds and squat lift 900 during his playing days.
Amazingly, at 325 pounds, he had some wheels, too:
I’ve seen this video too many times to count and every time my favorite part are the announcers saying “LARRY ALLEN” in pure astonishment after he runs down this linebacker. pic.twitter.com/8UjzVVh3pU
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) July 6, 2018
4. DeMarcus Ware
Draft: 2005, first round, 11th overall
Position: Outside linebacker/defensive end
Few players have gotten to the quarterback more in their career than Ware. He totaled 117 sacks in nine seasons with the Cowboys, making him the franchise’s all-time leader. He recorded double-digit sacks in seven consecutive seasons, only the fifth person in NFL history to accomplish that feat.
It took the Cowboys linebacker 113 games to reach the 100-sack plateau. Hall of Famer Reggie White (96 games) is the only player in league history to get there quicker. A Pro Bowl fixture before leaving for the Broncos, he made seven consecutive trips for Dallas. Ware retired after the 2016 seasons with 138.5 career sacks, the eighth most in NFL history.
In August of 2023 Ware joined the first three entries on this list in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor shortly after.
5. Jason Witten
Draft: 2003, third round, 69th overall
Position: Tight end
In 2012, he set the NFL single-season record for catches by a tight end. In 2015 he surpassed 1,000 receptions in his career. Witten spent the first 16 years of his NFL career with the Cowboys, with a one-year break to go to the Monday Night Football booth. His 1,215 receptions rank fourth in league history and is a franchise record. Witten also holds club records for yards receiving (12,977), most receptions in a single game (18), most games played (239) and most consecutive starts (179).
Witten played the final games of his career as a member of the Las Vegas Raiders, signing a one-day contract with Dallas to retire in 2021. Since his retirement he had a stint in the broadcast booth before starting his journey through the high school coaching ranks. His success continued: As head coach of Argyle Liberty Christian, he led the Warriors to the TAPPS Div. II state championship title.
More from the 2024 draft:
— Dallas Cowboys 2023 draft review: Opening statements left plenty to be desired
— The 2024 NFL draft’s best offensive linemen, including Joe Alt, JC Latham and others
— Potential Dallas Cowboys targets for each round of the NFL draft
— Calvin Watkins’ seven-round Cowboys mock draft: Boosting OL early; Speedy Day 2 pick?
—2024 NFL mock draft roundup: See whom experts say Cowboys will select at No. 24
Find more Cowboys coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
What Drake London’s new deal could mean for George Pickens
Falcons WR Drake London is now the NFL’s third-highest paid wide receiver in AAV, signing a four-year, $141 million extension with $100 million guaranteed and $35.26 million per year.
London, who is 25, is the same age as Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens, and both are heading into their fifth seasons in the NFL. Pickens too was seeking a long-term contract, but the Cowboys told him and his representation that would not happen this offseason, and he instead signed his $27.3 million franchise tag that keep shim under contract for the 2026 season.
Pickens’ one-year deal on the tag makes him the 17th highest-paid wide receiver in the league in AAV. Should Pickens go out and post a year similar to his 2025 campaign where he had more than 1,400 receiving yards and nine touchdowns, a deal similar to London’s may be in the ballpark of what Pickens could seek. For reference, CeeDee Lamb is the league’s fifth-highest paid WR at $34 million annually. If Pickens surpasses him and is closer to London’s $35 million per year mark, he and Lamb would become the highest-paid WR duo in NFL history, surpassing the Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, who currently combine for $69 million per year. – Tommy Yarrish
The Texas Department of Public Safety, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Garland Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Abby Policastro and Marissa Aulbaugh prosecuted the case.
“This verdict should send a clear message to drug dealers that we will dismantle any effort to peddle deadly fentanyl in our community,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould. “I want to thank our law enforcement partners for their dedicated collaboration in taking thousands of fentanyl pills off the streets of Dallas.”
If the Dallas Cowboys want to get over the hump and back into the playoffs in 2026, they’ve got to see a massive improvement in the defense.
Owner Jerry Jones was brutally honest with just how much the Cowboys were held back by their defense in 2025, and the numbers very clearly spell that out.
How does a Cowboys team that ranked top 10 in passing, rushing and points on offense still miss the playoffs?
Well, Dallas also ranked 30th in total yards allowed, 32nd in passing yards, 23rd against the run and 32nd in points against, that’s how. That putrid showing rightly cost Matt Eberflus his job, which set the stage for Dallas to hire Christian Parker.
It also set the stage for a total overhaul of the defense, with Dallas making many additions to that side of the ball, including at corner, where the Cowboys were bad on the boundary and in slot last season.
Fow now, we’re more focused on the boundary competition, as the Cowboys appear set to roll with Caleb Downs in the slot.
Cowboys’ CB competition is crucial for 2026
The Cowboys won’t have much hope for a playoff appearance if the cornerback play doesn’t improve. Of the 10 teams that landed in the bottom 10 in passing yards allowed last season, only two of them made the postseason.
Of course, the pass-rush played a part in that, and while Dallas has made multiple additions to that group this offseason, there really aren’t any guarantees with Rashan Gary, Malachi Lawrence or Donovan Ezeiruaku.
If that trio fails to improve a pass-rush that was tied for the seventh-fewest sacks in the NFL in 2025, the cornerbacks become even more crucial.
DaRon Bland and Shavon Revel did not play well in 2025, and while the former appears safe for now when it comes to a starting job on the outside, his leash could be short if he struggles again.
Revel, on the other hand, isn’t locked into a starting job on the boundary and is competing with Durant and Caelen Carson. It’s also worth keeping an eye on who finishes in second in that battle because that player could replace Bland if he struggles or gets hurt again.
There is hope Revel can bounce back now that he’s another year removed from the torn ACL he suffered in his final year in college and can enjoy a full offseason, but we’ll have to see it first before we can believe it.
“It’s very beneficial,” Revel said of having a normal offseason. “Just because I can clean up a lot of things, a lot of errors I didn’t see last year, or I did see last year, that I could clean up this year.”
“My knee is 100%, so now it’s time to focus on situational ball and I’ve got to see what I need to fix or get better at,” Revel added.
When training camp kicks off next month, we’re going to be locked into watching the battle at cornerback because it could very well make or break Dallas’ entire 2026 campaign.
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