Cowboys and the Curse of the 3rd round

[Rock Slamdance]

With all the talk the last few days of bad Dallas draft picks, specifically the 3rd rounders of two years ago, I started thinking about our third round picks. Its not pretty. We had a big slam dunk with Witten, but for the most part it has been atrocious. Which sucks, because the 3rd round should be a premium round. Here is the list, going back to 1994, the first post-Jimmy draft:

2010- No 3rd Round Pick
2009- Jason Williams & Robert Brewster
2008- No 3rd Round Pick
2007- James Marten
2006- Jason Hatcher
2005- No 3rd Round Pick
2004- Stephen Peterman
2003- Jason Witten
2002- Derek Ross
2001- Willie Blade
2000- No 3rd Round Pick
1999- Dat Nguyen
1998- No 3rd Round Pick
1997- Dexter Coakley, Steve Scifres, Kenny Wheaton
1996- Stepfret Williams, Clay Shiver, Mike Ulafale
1995- Darren Benson, Charlie Williams
1994- George Hegamin

Awful. In that span, we had five years without a 3rd round selection, and made 18 picks.

As I said, we hit big with Jason Witten, and got very solid starters in Coakley and Nguyen. That leaves us with 15 misses. Only three positive 3rd round picks in almost 20 years.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Wasn't Clay Shriver at least average? Or am I thinking of someone else?

 

[Mr.Po]

That is dreadful.........nauseatingly bad. In a 3 year span from 95 - 97 we had 8 picks combined in that round and only came away with one serviceable starter(Coakley) who was a contributor. Shiver and Charlie Williams got some significant playing time but both were less than memorable to say the least.

This organization has had some lackluster coaches after Jimmy but it's hard to win no matter who you are when your talent base erodes and you try and fill in the voids with less than marginal NFL talent. I don't like Campo as much as the next guy but he had no chance to succeed with the left over dribble he had to work with. An aging Emmitt's saying " a diamond surrounded by trash" was right on the money.

 

[Cr122]

I'm nautious.

 

[Rock Slamdance]

Wasn't Clay Shriver at least average? Or am I thinking of someone else?

As Po said, guys like Shriver and Charlie Williams played and started, but only because our roster deteriorated so quickly.

 

[Rock Slamdance]

I'm nautious.

Tell me about it. While I was putting that list together, I puked twice.

 

[Cr122]

As Po said, guys like Shriver and Charlie Williams played and started, but only because our roster deteriorated so quickly.

Ayuh, that usually happens when your team can't draft properly.

 

[Rock Slamdance]

Ugh....don't look at the 2nd round either...Larry Allen, Flozell Adams, Andre Gurode, and a bunch of jackasses.

 

[Cr122]

Ugh....don't look at the 2nd round either...Larry Allen, Flozell Adams, Andre Gurode, and a bunch of jackasses.

After those three it's embarrassing.

 

[sbk92]

Wasn't Clay Shriver at least average? Or am I thinking of someone else?

You're thinking of someone else.

He flamed out quickly.

 

[sbk92]

Ugh....don't look at the 2nd round either...Larry Allen, Flozell Adams, Andre Gurode, and a bunch of jackasses.

Yeah, it's not a curse of a particular round. It's a curse of the GM.

 

[Rock Slamdance]

Yeah, it's not a curse of a particular round. It's a curse of the GM.

lol

If I listed all draft picks since 1994...our membership would drop due to suicide.

 

[Cythim]

The drafting was bad but so was the coaching. Some of those guys might have been good under a different staff.

 

[Rock Slamdance]

You're thinking of someone else.

He flamed out quickly.

I remember during Aikman's HOF speech, he named off a bunch of his lineman, and included Shriver. I wounder if Troy ever got those compromising photos back?

 

[Rock Slamdance]

The drafting was bad but so was the coaching. Some of those guys might have been good under a different staff.

Possibly, but that list is littered with a lot of severe reaches. i remember us getting blasted for taking Willie Blade in the 3rd, when he could have been had much later...much later.

 

[sbk92]

The drafting was bad but so was the coaching. Some of those guys might have been good under a different staff.

Yep. The whole thing was screwed. Bad talent evaluation, poor development, circus environment with a coaching staff with no authority.

When you start talking about devoting draft classes to backups and special teams, you know you have a serious problem in the front office.

 

[sbk92]

There were a few of those bums that I actually thought might pan out.

I thought Solomon Page would be better. Willie Blade and Derek Ross too. I even had high hopes for Colston Weatherington.

But 90% of them you knew immediately were awful selections.

 

[SixisBetter]

Funny thing about this.

A little research showed some pretty stellar 3rd rounders in the 70's Charlie Waters,Harvey Martin,Danny White,Butch Johnson,Bob Bruenig,Tony Hill,Doug Cosbie.

But after Cosbie in '79,we had 2 guys with 25+ starts in the 80's,Crawford Kerr and Glen Titensor,both guards.

And 8 or 9 guys you never heard of,coincidental with the Team going south until Jimmy got here.

Mean anyting?**** if I know.Just found it interesting.