Now that the NFL Draft has come and gone, it’s time for big-time media analysts and local market writers alike to give their instant grades and analysis to decide which teams had the best and worst drafts. As entertaining as it is to give our instant thoughts and opinions on the most recent draft, you cannot accurately assess draft picks until three to four years later. That’s why here at SportDFW, we have decided to review and re-grade the Dallas Cowboys and their recent draft classes, beginning with the 2016 draft.
It wasn’t known then, but the 2016 NFL Draft was the beginning of a new era for the Dallas Cowboys as they were about to see their franchise quarterback of the last decade replaced by a relatively unknown fourth-rounder out of Mississippi State.
Immediately following the 2016 draft, ESPN gave the Dallas Cowboys a C. So let’s rewind and break down each pick almost eight years later, giving Dallas our grade.
Round 1, Pick #4 – Ezekiel Elliott
In today’s day and age, the NFL doesn’t value running backs as they did when the Cowboys won three Super Bowls within five years, but that didn’t stop Jerry Jones from drafting Elliott fourth overall in 2016. For years, Jones would openly state that Zeke was the “straw that stirs the drink,” and the offense went as Elliott went.
It’s easy to see why Jerry thought that way. In Elliott’s first year, he racked up 1,631 rushing yards, the second all-time for a rookie, and 1,994 scrimmage yards. He also finished second for offensive rookie of the year, third in MVP voting, fifth for offensive player of the year, made the Pro Bowl, and was named a member of the All-Pro First Team.
Since his rookie year, Zeke has never quite duplicated his inaugural season efficiency-wise but was amongst the best at his position up through the 2019 season. Elliott captured two rushing titles in his first four seasons, which most likely would have been three if it wasn’t for his off-the-field issues/suspension, and made three Pro Bowls. If this front office had focused on putting more talent around the offense from the beginning of Elliott’s time in Dallas, he likely could have been a focal point to a sixth Lombardi for the Cowboys.
Overall, the selection of Ezekiel Elliot as the fourth overall selection was a success. Although the Dallas Cowboys could have grabbed a better long-term option, such as Jalen Ramsey, we must recognize Elliott’s body of work on the field. Since entering the league, he has the second-most yards, behind Derrick Henry (who went 41 picks later), and the second-most rushing touchdowns. If the front office had addressed the aging offensive weapons before 2018, nobody would care that Zeke was taken fourth overall and made the highest-paid running back, as the Cowboys may have ridden Elliott to their ninth Super Bowl appearance.
Individual Grade: A
Round 2, Pick #34 – Jaylon Smith
Jaylon Smith is the Dallas Cowboys’ riskiest pick of the 2016 NFL Draft and was likely the riskiest of the entire draft. Jaylon was drafted with the thirty-fourth overall pick and recovering from a terrible knee injury suffered on January 1, 2016, which caused nerve damage. As a result, a few analysts stated he was “undraftable,” and many medical professionals told him he might never play football again.
Smith defied all odds and would return to the field in 2017 after missing his entire rookie year. He started six games, forced two fumbles, one sack, three tackles for loss, and placed fourth in comeback player of the year voting.
Jaylon Smith would continue to excel alongside rookie Leighton Vander Esch through the 2018 season to earn a contract extension with the Cowboys for six years at $68,421,000. Much like Ezekiel Elliott, it appeared that Smith would be a hit through his first four years. However, from 2018-2020, Jaylon Smith had the sixth most tackles (254) in the league, four forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries, and one touchdown, which led to a Pro Bowl nomination.
With a glimpse of success, Smith became a star in the NFL, but the honeymoon phase soon began to wear off. From 2017-2020 Jaylon played in 54 games as a starter. In 2021, he played in ten games and started in only four. He also played for three teams: Dallas, Green Bay, and New York (Giants). Smith is now a free agent and played thirteen games for the New York Giants in 2022.
Jaylon Smith’s future is uncertain, but we know that his time with Dallas is done, and they have moved on from their former second-round pick. Although he did provide flashes of promise, Smith proved to be a risk that wasn’t worth taking. Then, to top it all off, Myles Jack was selected two picks later by the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Individual Grade: C
Round Three, Pick #67 – Maliek Collins
The Dallas Cowboys rarely invest in the interior defensive line with their earlier picks but made an exception when drafting Maliek Collins in 2016. During his time in Dallas, he was considered a rising star as an interior defensive lineman.
During his four-year stint with the Dallas Cowboys, he racked up 40 quarterback hits paired with 14.5 sacks. These numbers may not pop off the page if you look at the box score, but defensive tackles are not known for putting up league-leading sacks or padding their stats when asked to stuff the run a majority of the time. Nevertheless, Maliek showed he could be a starter for the Dallas Cowboys and had flashes of superstardom during his time in Big D.
Collins appears to have found a home back in Texas, just not with America’s Team. He is now on his third team in the last five years, with the Houston Texans, due to multiple injuries and several surgeries to his foot. Collins had a down year and dip in production during his time with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2020. However, he showed glimpses of his old self again in 2021, earning himself a two-year contract extension with the Texan for $17,000,000.
Coming off of a career year in 2022, Collins will again have to prove himself as he is in a contract year and will be a free agent following the 2023 season. Although he didn’t sign a second contract with the Dallas Cowboys, Collins was a formidable piece of the interior line during his time in Dallas. If it wasn’t for his injuries and multiple surgeries on his foot, Collins might still be a Cowboy.
Individual Grade: B-
Round 4, Pick #101 – Charles Tapper
Charles Tapper is the biggest bust from the Dallas Cowboys’ 2016 draft. Selected with the one hundred and first overall pick, Tapper was a failed attempt to bolster the Cowboys’ 25th-ranked pass rush coming off the 2015 season.
Coming out of college, Tapper showed flashes of potential greatness paired with speed as he ran a 4.56, 40-yard dash at the combine. That speed showed up on film in his last year in school as he tallied seven sacks and ten tackles for loss in a scheme that wasn’t designed for him to make plays.
With a vast upside, Dallas expected Tapper to compete and beat out their fifth-round selection from 2015, Ryan Russell. The Cowboys felt that Tapper wasn’t used correctly in college, and they could bring out the best in him. Unfortunately, that thought was short-lived, as Charles did not play a single snap in 2016 and only suited up for two games in his career and was not named the starter in either game.
In 2018, the Dallas Cowboys released Tapper from their practice squad, and he never played another down in the NFL. His last attempt at keeping his career alive was with the New York Jets in 2020, where he was eventually waived and released.
Individual Grade: F
Round Four, Pick #135 – Dak Prescott
Thirty-four picks after the Dallas Cowboys took their biggest bust of the 2016 draft, they made their best pick and took a gamble, selecting 23-year-old Dakota “Dak” Rayne Prescott out of Mississippi State.
The 2016 draft opened up with a pair of quarterbacks, with Jared Goff going to the Los Angeles Rams first overall and Carson Wentz with the number two pick by the Philadelphia Eagles via trade with Cleveland Browns. Dak Prescott was the 8th quarterback selected in the 2016 draft behind guys like Paxton Lynch and Connor Cook, both targets for Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys, who were taken before Jerry could swipe either for himself.
Many fans were starting to wonder if their current franchise quarterback, Tony Romo, could still stay healthy and perform at a high level as the Cowboys Headed into the draft. Romo was coming off a broken left collarbone against the Carolina Panthers in 2015, marking the second time he had broken his collarbone since 2010. It was clear that Romo’s body was having difficulty holding up as he only started 16 games in four of his nine full seasons as the Dallas Cowboys starter.
Was Romo fragile, unlucky, or a bit of both? Unfortunately for him, it didn’t matter because, on the third play of the Cowboys’ 2016 pre-season game against the Seattle Seahawks, Romo was injured on a tackle by Cliff Avril. It was thought that Romo would be sidelined for 6-10 weeks and retain the starting job once he returned, but that was not the case as we know now.
Throughout the 2016 pre-season, Dak Prescott dazzled and lit up opposing defenses. With Romo recovering from another injury, fans clamored for Jerry to name Dak the official starter even when Tony returned. Fans would slowly realize this was the case, as Dak never relinquished the starting job, and Romo would retire following the season. Meanwhile, Prescott was impressive as a rookie throwing for 3,667 yards, 23 touchdowns, and four interceptions, earning his first Pro Bowl and winning offensive rookie of the Year.
Since entering the league, Prescott has seen more than his fair share of criticism for only winning two playoff games in seven seasons and coming up empty-handed in big moments, particularly against the San Francisco 49ers in the playoffs the past two seasons. A lot of this is unfair criticism as the lights are brighter in Dallas, and the media and Cowboys Nation tend to over-criticize their players with the team currently on a 26-year NFC Championship Game drought. Overall, Dak has exceeded expectations as a fourth-round draft pick and is arguably a top-three all-time quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys and currently a top-ten quarterback in the NFL.
I’m not suggesting that people throw out the lack of playoff success the Cowboys have had under Dak Prescott, but we also need to be honest and realize that they are going on 27 years since their last NFC Championship appearance. So Dak has only been a part of the drought for seven years, just over one-fourth of the time.
Stacked against the loaded history of the Dallas Cowboys quarterback position, Dak currently sits among the best with 16+ starts.
- Yards – 3rd
- Completion % – 1st
- Interception % – 1st (lowest)
- Yards per Attempt – 5th
- Passer Rating – 1st
If that wasn’t enough to justify Dak being one of the best quarterbacks since entering the league, he also holds his own against all-time greats and active quarterbacks.
- Passer Rating (All-Time/Active) – 8th/7th
- Passing Yards Per Game (All-Time/Active) – 16th/10th
- Yards per Attempt (All-Time/Active) – 23rd/8th
- Pass Completion % (All-Time/Active) – 8th/7th
- Touchdown % (All-Time/Active) – 42nd/10th
- Interception % (All-Time/Active) – 9th/8th
As a fourth-round selection, Prescott has far exceeded expectations with little left to prove purely as a quarterback. However, he needs to further succeed in putting the team on his shoulders when it counts the most. Only seven years into his career, Dak has plenty of time to prove he can. Whether or not Jerry Jones or the fans feel the same is yet to be seen.
Individual Grade: A+
Round Six, Pick #189 – Anthony Brown
Anthony Brown has been with the Dallas Cowboys since he was drafted and has started 69 of a possible 94 games (73%).
If you ask those that analyze football, they aren’t going to tell you that Brown is a top-tier cornerback. Instead, they will say that Brown is an average starter and a solid depth/rotational piece, as he will not blow you away with his boxscore stats.
Coming out of college, Brown picked up steam with his combine scores as he posted a 4.35 40-yard dash and 19 reps in the bench press; this was one of the top performances among those testing. However, scouts pegged Brown as a backup-caliber player due to his issues with penalties in college and his giving up five touchdowns his senior year.
It’s safe to say that Anthony Brown has exceeded expectations as he has been a starter for 74% of his career. But, setting that aside, you can still safely say Brown has left fans and coaches wanting more. He has struggled with missed tackles and has been exposed in the passing game the last two years, giving up nine passing touchdowns and a rating of 83.85 when targeted. He’s gotten better as the years have passed, but it will not be enough to keep his job alongside Trevon Diggs heading into the near future.
Individual Grade: C+
Round 6, Pick #212 – Kavon Frazier
Once you start getting into rounds 6-7, it’s hard to expect too much from most of these players. A few will go on to become starters or superstars, but most are camp bodies, backups, or practice squad/developmental guys.
Kevon Frazier was no exception to the above statement, as he only started two games in his six-year career. Both of those starts came in 2018 with the Dallas Cowboys. During his four-year stint with the Cowboys’ Frazier was primarily a special teams contributor, playing 53.5% of the snaps. After being released from Dallas in 2019, he would go on to play one year for the Miami Dolphins in 2020 and 1 game for the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022, where he was purely a special teams guy as well. He was last released from the Raiders in March of 2022.
Individual Grade: D
Round 6, Pick #216 – Darius Jackson
If there were ever a player that embodies the phrase “camp body” or “practice squad warrior,” Darius Jackson would be that guy. Drafted in 2016 with the Dallas Cowboys, Jackson only played four total games, running the ball six times for sixteen yards in 2018. He spent two games active with the Cowboys and two games with the Green Bay Packers. Outside of those two games, Jackson has been signed in training camp or assigned to the practice squad for seven different teams, including Dallas, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Tampa Bay, Las Vegas, Green Bay, and Houston. It’s safe to say that Darius had some appealing potential but never panned out in the big leagues.
Individual Grade: D-
Round Six, Pick #217 – Rico Gathers
With their last pick of the 2016 draft, the Cowboys took former Baylor basketball star Rico Gathers. He was drafted without having any formal football training. He hadn’t played football since middle school but opted to try football professionally instead of basketball.
At 6’7″, 290 pounds, the Dallas Cowboys figured they would give Rico a chance to transition to football and play tight end. It wasn’t completely unheard of as players before him had shown they could successfully transition from basketball to football (Antonio Gates, Jimmy Graham).
Unfortunately for Rico and the Cowboys, it didn’t work out as planned. Not for lack of trying, as the Cowboys let Gathers start four games and play in fifteen during the 2018 season. Dallas also kept Rico around as a backup or practice squad player until August 2019, just before he was suspended and reinstated shortly after. After that, the Cowboys decided not to pursue any further future with him, and he spent 2019 trying to make the Cleveland Browns, only to be released a few days later.
Rico Gathers had a ton of athleticism, but his lack of formal football training was too much to overcome.
Individual Grade: D+
Conclusion
The Dallas Cowboys 2016 NFL Draft was initially given an average of a C+ across the various media platforms. That was when Tony Romo was “healthy” before reinjuring his left collarbone three plays into their preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks. Looking back on what we know, you can justifiably raise their grade significantly.
Ezekiel Elliott was a top-five pick, and no matter how you feel about selecting running backs in the first round, everyone knew Zeke would be a star. He came into the league with power, vision, and an accomplished pass-protector. Earning two-rushing titles and having the second-most rushing yards since entering the league, Elliott has lived up to the hype and then some.
The Cowboys received a mixed bag with Jaylon Smith, Maliek Collins, Charles Tapper, and Anthony Brown. Jaylon Smith was a top-five talent before his injury. It showed flashes after his recovery, but he never could obtain his old form, and Collins couldn’t avoid injuries to fulfill his full potential. As mentioned before, Tapper was a straight bust for the Cowboys but appears to be succeeding in Houston. Anthony Brown is the only time-proven pick of these four, and he is still more of an average starter than a top-half cornerback in the league. But, at pick number 189, Brown has done more than many thought he would.
As stated before, rounds six and seven are dart throws and are usually reserved for developmental guys and camp bodies. That only leaves the Cowboys’ fourth-round selection, Dak Prescott. Prescott alone brings the value of this draft up into the B range. It’s not often that you find a franchise quarterback who bests a Cowboys’ all-time great in the fourth round, supplanting Romo as the Cowboys’ new starting quarterback.
The 2016 Draft for the Cowboys wasn’t an instant success, but with seven years’ worth of data, it’s safe to say that this draft changed the franchise’s trajectory and ushered them into a new era.
Final Re-Grade: A