Cowboys rank in top 5 on offense and defense for PFF’s best drafting teams in the first round
The Dallas Cowboys are a good drafting team, which is fortunate considering they depend heavily on it to build their roster. Of course, maybe they depend heavily on it because they are so good at it. Cause and effect.
Regardless, the draft is what this team does well, and they are especially good at landing great talent on Day 1. This has been something the team has hung its hat on for quite some time, as their first-round résumé is quite impressive.
2010 – Dez Bryant
2011 – Tyron Smith
2013 – Travis Frederick
2014 – Zack Martin
2015 – Byron Jones
2016 – Ezekiel Elliott
2018 – Leighton Vander Esch
2020 – CeeDee Lamb
2021 – Micah Parsons
2022 – Tyler Smith
Over a span of 13 years, the Cowboys landed 10 players who earned All-Pro honors. That is a remarkable record of first-round drafting.
Many of us have heard that song before, but what does it mean for this team more recently? Last week, Pro Football Focus examined which teams have had the most success drafting players in the first round over the last five years. Using cumulative PFF grading, here are the top five first-round drafting teams on offense since 2020.
| RANK | TEAM | PFF GRADE | PLAYERS |
| 1 | Cincinnati Bengals | 95.9 | Joe Burrows, Ja’Marr Chase, Amarius Mims |
| 2 | Minnesota Vikings | 95.1 | Justin Jefferson, Christian Darrisaw, Jordan Addison, J.J. McCarthy |
| 3 | Detroit Lions | 92.2 | Penei Sewell, Jameson Williams, Jahmyr Gibbs |
| 4 | Dallas Cowboys | 91.3 | CeeDee Lamb, Tyler Smith, Tyler Guyton |
| 5 | Atlanta Falcons | 91.3 | Kyle Pitts, Drake London, Bijan Robinson, Michael Penix Jr. |
Not surprisingly, the Cowboys make the list. CeeDee Lamb is a superstar wide receiver, and Tyler Smith is one of the better interior offensive linemen in the game. Even with an unflattering first year from last year’s rookie, Tyler Guyton, the collective group still grades out extremely well. They are in some impressive company as that list shows some fantastic draft hauls from other teams in recent years.
Doing the same for defense, here are the top five first-round drafting teams according to PFF.
| RANK | TEAM | PFF GRADE | PLAYERS |
| 1 | Dallas Cowboys | 91.6 | Micah Parsons, Mazi Smith |
| 2 | Los Angeles Rams | 89.6 | Jared Verse |
| 3 | New York Jets | 89.0 | Sauce Gardner, Jermaine Johnson, Will McDonald IV |
| 4 | Houston Texans | 87.9 | Derek Stingley Jr., Will Anderson Jr. |
| 5 | Denver Broncos | 87.5 | Pat Surtain II |
This is where we get a surprise. As we mentioned, this is cumulative grading, so drafting a few good players doesn’t reflect as well as drafting a smaller sampling of great players. For the Cowboys, that sampling is largely effected by the superstardom that is Micah Parsons. Even with less than stellar grades from Mazi Smith weighing them down, the Cowboys still take down the top spot. The thing to take from this is that Parsons is a remarkable talent so anytime you hear whispers of trading him or not being worth the big money, one should just kindly discard those takes in the nearest receptacle.
While the draft offers no guarantees, the Cowboys have a good Day 1 track record. Yes, there will be some Tacos and some Claibornes sprinkled here and there, but overall, Will McClay and his team do a very good job on the first day of the draft. With the 12th overall pick in this year’s draft, it’s okay to expect them to come away with their next star because the odds are in their favor.