Dallas Cowboys: 5 Biggest draft busts in franchise history
By Randy Gurzi
With the 2021 NFL Draft around the corner, we look back at some Dallas Cowboys draft history that’s not so pleasant with these five all-time busts
The 2021 NFL Draft is nearly here and the Dallas Cowboys are completely focused on what they plan to do with the No. 10 overall pick. And their plan isn’t exactly a surprise.
Executive vice president Stephen Jones recently spoke about the draft and hinted strongly that defense is the way they will go. Of course, he didn’t guarantee it — and even alluded to the way CeeDee Lamb fell to them in 2020 — but he said he believes some defensive talent will be there for them to improve.
Now, the only hope is that the front office makes the right pick — which isn’t something they have always done. In fact, we have several whiffs made by this front office and since the Jones family has been around since 1989, we can even pick their five biggest busts since then.
And coming in at No. 5 was one player team owner Jerry Jones was sure would come into the NFL and “wow” us all.
5. Felix Jones, RB: 2008 | Round 1, Pick 22
Jerry Jones has always been a fan of Arkansas football but that got him in trouble in 2008. That year, he infamously said he wanted to add some “wow factor” to the offense and that led to him taking Felix Jones at No. 22 in the draft.
Now Jones wasn’t a terrible player by any means, but the problem was, they took a running back who was No. 2 in a committee behind Darren McFadden and wanted him to be No. 2 in a committee behind Marion Barber.
Jones did have some success early on, running a kickoff back for a touchdown as a rookie was one example but he never lived up to the first-round status. In all, he played five seasons in Dallas and had 2,728 yards with 11 touchdowns on the ground and 1,062 yards on 127 catches with three more touchdowns.
He also never replicated the success he had in the return game during his shortened six-game rookie campaign. In the end, he proved to be a bust — but mainly because he was overdrafted.