Dallas Cowboys: 5 Biggest draft busts in franchise history

2. Bobby Carpenter, LB: 2006 | Round 1, Pick 18

In 2003, the Dallas Cowboys hired Bill Parcells to coach their franchise and he did help turn them around. He was responsible for bringing in players such as Terence Newman, Jason Witten, DeMarcus Ware, and even Tony Romo.

While they never won it all, The Big Tuna started to return them to their winning ways and it began with solid drafting. Of course, not all of his picks were great — and as proof of that, all we have to do is look at his final first-round selection in Big D.

In 2006, Dallas had the No. 18 overall pick and Parcells was all-in on Bobby Carpenter from Ohio State. One of the biggest reasons Parcells believed in Carpenter was the relationship he had with Rob Carpenter, the father of Bobby. The elder Carpenter was a running back who spent time under Parcells with the New York Giants.

Parcells ended up coaching the younger Carpenter for just one season as his last year in Dallas was the same season Bobby Carpenter was a rookie. That year, he had just 22 tackles and 1.5 sacks but never really improved.

Even after Parcells left, however, Dallas continued to try and prove Carpenter was not a bust. They kept throwing him on the field and even had him serving in the role of a nickel linebacker. His best season came in 2009 when he had 46 tackles and two sacks thanks to being on the field so much on third downs, but he was never really effective.

Dallas finally admitted their mistake ahead of the 2010 season when he was traded to the St. Louis Rams for Alex Barron. He never even made the roster for the Rams and bounced around a few teams until 2012.