The NFL draft is only a few hours away and this year promises to be one of the more unpredictable and exciting drafts in many years. No one really knows what to expect but one thing is for sure; whoever the Dallas Cowboys draft in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft is sure to be criticized by a large portion of the fanbase. This seems to be the case no matter how high profile or talented the player is. Even if they draft a player like CeeDee Lamb, who no one dreamed would have fallen to pick #17 in the 2020 draft, there are going to be fans that complain about positions of need. Last year, fans were up on arms when the Cowboys drafted an off-ball linebacker named Micah Parsons only to eat their words when he was voted the unanimous Defensive Rookie of the Year and was even in contention for Defensive Player of the Year honours in his rookie season. Still, the very next year the same cynical fans will doubt the ability of the front office to make a competent selection with their first round pick. It is becoming exceedingly rare that a Cowboys draft pick is widely celebrated by the majority of the fanbase. That will likely be the case again For the 2022 NFL draft. This year, more than 2000 fans were surveyed in a study conducted by USBets.com and the Dallas Cowboys were voted 1 of 5 teams most likely to fumble their draft pick.
The other teams in the top 5 are the Cleveland Browns, New York Jets, Detroit Lions, and Chicago Bears; Not exactly great company to keep. The Dallas Cowboys are the only NFC East team included in that lot and that doesn’t seem to paint a very accurate picture of reality. Here is comparison of first round picks for all of the NFC East teams since 2010:
| DALLAS COWBOYS | NEW YORK GIANTS | WASHINGTON COMMANDERS | PHILADELPHIA EAGLES | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Dez Bryant, WR | Jason Pierre Paul, DE | Trent Williams, OT | Brandon Graham, DE |
| 2011 | Tyron Smith, OT | Prince Amukumara, CB | Ryan Kerrigan, DE | Danny Watkins, G |
| 2012 | Maurice Claiborne, CB | David Wilson, RB | Robert Griffin III, QB | Fletcher Cox, DT |
| 2013 | Travis Frederick, C | Justin Pugh, OT | NO PICK | Lane Johnson, OT |
| 2014 | Zack Martin, G | Odell Beckham Jr, WR | NO PICK | Marcus Smith, LB |
| 2015 | Byron Jones, CB | Ereck Flowers, OT | Brandon Scherff, OT | Nelson Agholor, WR |
| 2016 | Ezekiel Elliott, RB | Eli Apple, CB | Josh Doctson, WR | Carson Wentz, QB |
| 2017 | Taco Charlton, DE | Evan Engram, TE | Jonathan Allen, DT | Derek Barnett, DE |
| 2018 | Leighton Vander Esch, LB | Saquan Barkley, RB | Darron Payne, DT | NO PICK |
| 2019 | NO PICK | Daniel Jones, QB Dexter Lawrence, DT | Dwayne Haskins, QB Montez Sweat, DE | Andre Dillard, OT |
| 2020 | CeeDee Lamb, WR | Andrew Thomas, OT | Chase Young, DE | Jalen Reagor, WR |
| 2021 | Micah Parsons, LB | Kadarius Toney, WR | Jamin Davis, LB | Devonta Smith, WR |
The Cowboys track record actually looks pretty good compared to their division rivals. To be completely fair, they have been one of the better teams in the league when it comes to drafting players recently, particularly in the first round. So how can this widespread cynicism be explained? Perhaps these fans are simply being prejudiced by the Dallas Cowboys recent championship drought and their lack of playoff success since the dynasty years of the 90’s. It could be spawned from the general disdain Cowboy fans have towards their teams’ outspoken billionaire owner/GM Jerry Jones. Or maybe the new public enemy number one in Dallas, Jerry’s son Stephen Jones. Stephen has adopted the nick name “cap boy” because of his reluctance to spend money in free agency and to drag out contract negotiations. Even Jerry has gotten on board with the Stephen hate as he threw his son under the bus recently blaming him for the Taco Charlton pick (one of the few misses they have had in recent years) while taking credit for selecting Micah Parsons. Whatever the reason for this belief, the fact remains that the fanbase doesn’t have a whole lot of faith in the organization and whoever the Dallas Cowboys draft tonight is unlikely to be the peoples’ choice.