Over the course of 62 drafts, the Cowboys have made just shy of 800 picks. The team has selected prospects from every corner of the country, from San Diego State to the University of Maine, and taken Washington Huskies as well as Miami Hurricanes in nearly equal numbers.
From an Akron Zip (Al Kerkian, defensive end, 1967’s 13th round) to not one but two Penguins from Youngstown State University (linebacker Greg Fitzpatrick and end Johnny Norman, both taken in 1979), there’s an astonishing variety of colleges and universities represented in the Cowboys’ past rosters.
But, of course, there are tendencies. And as experts, fans, and even other teams try to guess who’s going to do what come Thursday night, any scrap of information can provide a clue as to the identity of the next player who might come off the board.
Here, Cowboys Wire presents the 20 schools that have produced the most Dallas draft picks, according to the team’s records. And while it may not actually help decipher the secrets of the front office’s big board for this year, it’s an interesting list to look over.
There are some surprises waiting. Plain old math and good common sense dictates that the nation’s biggest and most consistent powerhouse programs will funnel the greatest number of players to the NFL, so whatever perennial contender you’re thinking of right now, you’d assume they’re here somewhere… but not all of them are.
Some pretty major programs didn’t crack the Top 20. Michigan, for example. LSU. Clemson. Wisconsin.
(And if you’re going solely by which teams have dominated the college football playoffs in recent years, you’ll be warm… but it won’t help you guess who sits at No. 1.)
Another unexpected twist may be that Texas schools aren’t disproportionately represented. Pundits love to talk about local kids and homegrown talent- and it may pertain to free agents brought in and signed after the draft- but there’s only one in-state school among the Top 20. So geography doesn’t matter.
And as for that popular perception that Jerry Jones has some irrational soft spot for players from his alma mater, that myth has been busted. Over the history of the franchise, the Cowboys have only ever drafted three Arkansas Razorbacks, and one of them was taken when Jones was a 30-year-old in the insurance biz.
Here are the 20 universities that have produced not just the most Cowboys draft picks, but also some of the all-time best… not to mention several of the biggest names the war room is sure to be sweating over once the 2023 picks start flying.
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