Cowboys Late-Round Draft Picks Flop, Undrafted Free Agents Shine

0:00On March 30, the Dallas Cowboys crushed it in the early NFL draft rounds, turning 72% of their first four picks into starters since. 2010, ranking 6th league wide. But late rounds, that's where they flop hard. Out of 66 picks in rounds 5-7, only 12 became starters. And 18.2% hit rate that lands them 26th. Out of 32 teams, way below the league's 23% average, league wide, those late picks are tough sledding, with just 23% overall becoming starters. Top dogs like the 49ers at 34.2% and Eagles at 31.3% show it's possible to mine gold there. Even the old commander squad hit 27.1%. Cowboys fans might shrug it off as backups only, but rivals prove you can snag real contributors deep. This hurts because the Cowboys already boasts talent up top. Blocking paths for rookies, yet they found 16 starters from undrafted free agents.

1:00Since 2010, better odds than their late picks. Fans feel the stingwatching contenders build depth that way, turning long shots into impact players while Dallas lags. Digging into patterns, their fifth round game is dead last at 17%, but sixth and seventh are near average. Success spiked mid-decade under Scout Wilma Clay, then dipped. Recent undrafted signings dropped too, from 20 plus a year to just 9 in 2025, raising eyebrows on strategy shifts. Bottom line, with four late picks this year, Cowboys' brass should trade up for sure shots, swap for vets, or grab special teams gems to save. Cap anything but roll the dice on futility. Smart moves could flip this script and stack the roster right.