Pro Football Focus recently named the best player at each draft slot in the last 15 NFL drafts. While they may not have reaped much playoff success off their hauls, right near the top of the list sit the Dallas Cowboys.
The Cowboys had three clear candidates for this experiment with Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick, and Zack Martin, all who are Hall of fame Caliber players. Ultimately, Frederick and Martin were the two that made the cut for their draft slots of 31 and 16, respectively.
Smith was noted as an honorable mention for the best No. 9 pick, behind former Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly, but had Smith’s health been better in recent seasons he may have been the third Cowboy selected to the list.
Earlier in the week PFF conducted a similar demonstration but in reverse, as they found the worst draft picks from each first-round slot in the last 15 seasons. Thankfully, the Cowboys were not featured there, avoiding catastrophic picks. That being said, let’s take a look at PFF’s reasoning for the two Cowboys that made the positive version of the list.