Cowboys fans still have close to a month to ruminate over how the front office will spend their seven picks in the 2023 draft. And while seven selections is a nice number, the simple truth is that not all draft picks are not equal.
Hall of Fame coach Jimmy Johnson knew this all too well, and he helped develop a numerical chart that illustrates just how much more valuable the No. 1 pick is than No. 227… and even how pick values drop within each round. There’s a massive difference between the value of the first pick in the first round and, say, the 15th or eighth or even the third pick in the first round.
Johnson created his chart in the early ’90s while he was with the Cowboys, and every other team in the league eventually adopted some version of it. While analytics experts have refined the chart in the years since to make it more accurate according to historical trends, the numerical values that Johnson originally came up with (3,000 for the No. 1 pick and decreasing from there) still make for a useful tool when analyzing each team’s draft capital.
Good thing the Cowboys have been aggressive in improving their roster ahead of the draft this year, because the chart shows them bringing up the rear within their own division in terms of how much talent they can acquire with their current picks.
In fact, Dallas ranks 13th among NFC teams in draft capital; only the Rams, Vikings, and 49ers are scheduled to go into draft weekend with less buying power to work with.
Picks can still be traded, and the Cowboys can still improve their draft capital. But the numbers- and how they stack up against their divisional rivals’- show how imperative it is that the Dallas war room make smart choices with every single card they turn in.
Here’s how the NFC East squads shake out ahead of the 2023 draft, according to Drafttek and using Johnson’s point values.