In the last decade alone, the Dallas Cowboys have rolled the dice by drafting players with pre-existing injuries.
To be fair, they aren’t the only team to do this. But in the past decade alone, Dallas has done it three times with early picks.
For a franchise in the midst of a 29-year drought in getting beyond the divisional round of the playoffs, hitting those early picks is a must.
But the results of the last three gambles would indicate they haven’t paid off. That, along with that pesky drought Stephen Jones loves to dismiss.
Here are the last three players of note that the Cowboys drafted despite knowing the player had a serious injury issue at the time:
- Shavon Revel Jr. – 2025 – 3rd Round
- Luke Schoonmaker – 2023 – 2nd Round
- Jaylon Smith – 2016 – 2nd Round
A Desperate Gamble?
In the 2016 Draft, the Cowboys shocked everyone by taking Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith.
Smith had shredded his knee in his final collegiate game a few months earlier in the Fiesta Bowl. The Cowboys’ team doctor performed the surgery.
Apparently, Dallas was convinced by his report and, after failing to trade up to draft Paxton Lynch, selected Smith in the second round.
They dodged a bullet by missing out on Lynch, and drafted Dak Prescott two rounds later instead.
But how did the gamble on Smith pay off on the field? The first year, not so well.
Smith missed the entire 2016 season.
He started in six of the 16 games he played in for the 2017 season, recording 81 tackles and one sack. He also forced two fumbles that year.
He would start all 48 games for Dallas in the next three seasons, recording a total of 417 tackles, eight sacks, two interceptions, four forced fumbles, and five fumble recoveries over that stretch.
But he fell off the table in 2021, playing only four games in Dallas that year. He played two for Green Bay and another four for the Giants that season.
He played in New York in 2022, and appeared in one game with the Raiders in 2023 and hasn’t been in the league since.
The Cowboys got four good years from the gamble, but the long-term payoff wasn’t there.
The players taken in the second round after Smith?
Fellow linebacker Myles Jack, defensive tackle Chris Jones, wide receiver Michael Thomas, safety Kevin Byard, and cornerback James Bradberry. Oh yeah, and some running back named Derrick Henry.
I wonder what became of those players?
The Game Is Afoot
More recently, in the 2023 Draft, the Cowboys appeared to panic over a tight end run in the draft. They selected Michigan’s Luke Schoonmaker.
They did so knowing full well that the already old Schoonmaker was dealing with plantar fasciitis, a foot injury that is difficult to treat and play with.
A tight end with a bad foot seemed like a bad idea at the time, as evidenced by him being in a walking boot after OTAs that year.
Schoonmaker’s rookie season did little to dispel that notion. With the ascension of Jake Ferguson, Schoonmaker was a backup in his rookie year.
While he did score two touchdowns, he only had eight catches for 65 yards.
He also came up an inch short in Philadelphia to help the Eagles seal a win as he ran his route too short.
Last year, with Ferguson dealing with an injury of his own, Schoonmaker got six starts in his 17 games played. He finished with 27 catches for 241 yards and one touchdown.
He clearly had a better sophomore season in Dallas.
He will be a 27-year-old player in his third year. If the Cowboys’ gamble of 2023 is to pay off better than Smith’s, Schoonmaker needs this season to be his breakout year.
History Repeats Itself
Last month, the Cowboys used a third-round pick on East Carolina cornerback Shavon Revel Jr.
Revel blew out his knee after three games last year and did not play in the Pirates’ final 10 games. Like Smith, the Cowboys’ team doctor performed the surgery.
Like 2016, the front office seems to like the report they got.
At least they waited until the third round to start gambling, so there’s that.
Depending on how Trevon Diggs and Caelen Carson’s recoveries are going, Revel could be forced into the starting lineup as early as the first game.
That’s assuming he is fully recovered from his own knee injury.
That’s a lot of “hopium” coming out of The Star. Here’s hoping that they don’t get burned by playing with fire one too many times.
