From Quincy Carter to Taco Charlton, Jerry Jones’ best draft day ‘winners’ | Opinion
Selecting Jerry Jones’ best NFL Draft day quote is a lot like picking which of your children is your favorite.
The only difference is there are not hundreds of children from which to choose.
The Cowboys have made their 2021 first-round pick, Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons. Cue the Jerry pom poms.
As excited (or irritated) as you may be at the arrival of another Dallas Cowboys draft class, now is a good time to remind you of our Pro Football Hall of Fame GM’s best draft zingers.
These are all collected from drafts since Jimmy Johnson left after the ‘93 season.
Enjoy the memories.
1995
“We are really pleased with not only the way we were able to trade down, but also with the players that we had pinpointed. We could, in this draft, really make a difference on our football team in 1995.”
—Jones talking about a draft class that featured Sherman Williams, Kendall Watkins, Shane Hannah, Charlie Williams and Eric Bjornson. The Cowboys won the Super Bowl that season.
1998
“We wanted to have a player with that pick who was of outstanding character.” ... “I just didn’t have the stomach to take that risk.”
—Jones discussing why the Cowboys selected North Carolina defensive end Greg Ellis with the eighth overall pick and passed on Marshall receiver Randy Moss. Moss was a “character” concern coming out of college, and he is now a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
2000
“A pure five.”
—Jones describing second-round pick, Tennessee Dwayne Goodrich; a “five” was the top of the Cowboys’ grading system. Goodrich played two seasons before he was released after a hit and run accident killed two people.
2001
“We’ve got this thing logically sequenced.”
“Making Quincy a second-round pick, we knew we’d have the time and patience for him to develop. That’s why it’s so important to get a five-year contract and make a statement to Quincy that he is more than [a middle-round projection] to us.”
—Jones on the Cowboys’ quarterback situation. They had signed veteran free agent Tony Banks to start, and selected Georgia’s Quincy Carter in the second round. Banks was cut in training camp and Carter was the Week 1 starter.
2002
“I hope that it will enhance our abilities to manage the Cowboys and manage the football team. I understand why we have been critiqued. I do believe I know more about what I’m doing than I did 10 years ago. I think what we’ve done over the past few days has given us positive credibility.”
—Jones after the Cowboys selected Oklahoma safety Roy Williams in the first round, and Colorado offensive lineman Andre Gurode and Pitt receiver Antonio Bryant in the second round.
2003
“There is nobody in sports who is not afraid to take risks more than me. There is also no one more conservative than me. There is a time and place for everything. When we are picking high in the draft, we should draft well. We got good value already. This was no time to take risks.”
—Jones after the first draft with new coach Bill Parcells. The team selected Kansas State defensive back Terence Newman with the fifth overall pick, and Tennessee tight end Jason Witten in the third round.
2006
“He has a great upside through osmosis with his dad. He has a high motor. He practices hard. He plays hard. He will complement what we are doing with [DeMarcus] Ware and be an immediate contributor.”
—Jones on the first-round selection of Ohio State linebacker Bobby Carpenter. (FYI: This was a Parcells’ pick all the way.)
2007
“We looked the alternative right in the eye, Brady Quinn. Here was a guy we had rated high. I can remember looking back and thinking how would this franchise ever get in a spot to get a quarterback that had those kind of credentials without being right at the top.
“We looked it right in the eye and we liked where we are with Tony Romo.”
—Jones after the team passed on selecting Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn in the first round. Give Jerry this one.
2008
“Let’s be accurate about this thing; we’re also seeing that when Bill was here we also made a lot of mistakes, too. Not him, we. It would be unfair to say that some of our picks, where we are on [tight end Anthony] Fasano and where we are on [Bobby] Carpenter, that’s on Bill. That’s very unfair. That’s not Bill. That was us.
“By the same token, it’s unfair to really say without Bill here, the good stuff is changing. That’s not right.”
—Jones on drafting since Parcells left after the 2006 season.
2009
“We really maximized our draft without a No. 1. Everybody would have loved to have a No. 1. But I would not have wanted it at the expense of not having [receiver] Roy Williams. I think we were able to direct the picks at the part of the draft in the third and fourth round and do some damage in getting players to help us in a lot of different ways.”
—Jones after the team traded out of the first round and eventually selected 12 players in the class, none of whom did much in the NFL.
2010
“The kind of thing we did with this draft ... was to maybe address more quality than quantity, which logically tells you that, ‘Hey, you feel pretty good about your team.’ I think that what Sean Lee can bring immediately and Dez [Bryant], and what we can get out of them, if we haven’t materially improved with those guys we are already pretty excited about, then we did miss here.”
—Jones after the team selected Oklahoma State receiver Dez Bryant in the first round and Penn State linebacker Sean Lee in the second. It’s fair to say the Cowboys got those right.
2012
“He is the best cornerback prospect our scouts have graded since Deion [Sanders]. He is a difference-maker.”
“We said before the draft the only player we had an interest in moving up to get was Claiborne. We had serious doubts he would get to six. But then the opportunity presented itself, and they started taking players in front of him and the price was right for us. To go from 14 to six, you got to give up something. By a lot of charts you got to give up more. To a get a difference-maker on defense, we pulled the trigger.”
—Jones after the Cowboys moved up in the first round to select LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne with the sixth overall pick. Claiborne played five seasons with the Cowboys, struggled with injury, and signed with the Jets in 2017.
2015
“I have never had a problem with any of the ones I have signed on to be a good associate with and be a good team member with because of how significant they are to everybody’s success around here.”
—Jones on selecting “troubled” Nebraska defensive end Randy Gregory in the second round. Gregory was projected as a first-round player but “character” issues changed his status. He missed all the 2017 and ‘19 seasons to NFL suspensions, and has started one game in four NFL seasons.
2016
“When we evaluated him, we were keenly aware we had as good of information about his recovery as we ever could have. All that makes you comfortable. We were as comfortable as an old shoe.”
—Jones on selecting Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith in the second round despite him coming off a major knee injury sustained in his team’s bowl game monthsearlier. Smith was projected as a top-five pick before the injury.
2017
“From my perspective, he has real athleticism. He has the length we are trying to get at the right defensive end, arm length. He gives you a real good player who can play the left side and play inside as well. You got a lot of flex here. His size is one of his greatest attributes. He looks like a defensive player and defensive end in the NFL.”
—Jones after selecting Michigan defensive end Taco Charlton with the 28th overall pick in the draft. Charlton was cut by the Cowboys in September of ‘18, and has since spent time with the Dolphins and Chiefs.
2018
“We said we weren’t going to have an elite 1 receiver. We said we’re going to have to do it by committee, by numbers or by scheme. I think this draft represented that. We honored the fact that the top receiver wasn’t that. We drafted that way. Having a real clarity as to what we weren’t going to be helps you make those decisions.
“I think we are better because I think we had a great read on where we were. As we sort through Dez and the ‘what ifs’ on Witten and where we are in the (offensive) line, I think we got more clarity.”
—Jones on his team’s status at wide receiver without Dez Bryant. When it became apparent this plan was not working, the team traded a 2019 first-round pickto Oakland during the season for Amari Cooper.
This story was originally published April 29, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
