Dallas Cowboys: 5 Biggest draft busts in franchise history

4. Taco Charlton, DE: 2017 | Round 1, Pick 27

This is the one that still haunts Dallas Cowboys fans.

Much like what we are seeing heading into the 2021 NFL Draft, Dallas was dead-set on adding defense in 2017. This was after they went 13-3 with Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott leading the way as rookies, but the defense struggled to stop a nose bleed.

Dallas held the No. 27 pick and they were said to be looking at players such as Kevin King, Charles Harris, and Takk McKinley. However, fans were holding out hope that Wisconsin pass rusher T.J. Watt would be on the board for them.

As fate would have it, the Cowboys were ready to pick at 27 and Watt was there — whereas Harris and McKinley were not (and neither proved to be worthy of their selections). Fans still were divided some about King and Watt but in the end, the front office threw a curveball and took Taco Charlton from Michigan.

The selection was met with immediate disgust but the coaching staff (especially former defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli who was given far too much control of their draft picks) said his measurables made him the right choice.

Marinelli talked him up all he could but it didn’t take long for Charlton to prove he was a bad pick. He registered 19 tackles and three sacks as a rookie but none of them stood out as great plays — mostly just clean-up sacks where he was in the right place at the right time.

Then in 2018, he had just 27 tackles and one sack, showing he wasn’t really improving. In the end, that proved to be his final season in the league as he was waived after just two seasons.

Charlton is now with the Chiefs in a rotational role and just to add insult to injury, T.J. Watt has become one of the best edge rushers in the NFL. He has had double-digit sacks in three-straight seasons and now has 49.5 in four years. But hey, ol’ Rod said he couldn’t put his hand in the dirt, so none of that would have happened in Dallas, right?