Mailbag: Is there a second-round curse?

(Editor's Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in 'Mailbag' presented by Miller Lite.)

With the release of Trevon Diggs, it made me wonder about the second-round picks the Cowboys have drafted since the turn of the century. Few have accomplished what you'd expect from a second rounder. Why is that? Do the Cowboys have a second-round curse? – Garet Tanaka/Wailuku, HI

Nick: Well, first of all, I think we need to clarify how Trevon Diggs' career with the Cowboys turned out. Sure, the last two years were rather odd and definitely not to the level you'd want from a player making the kind of money he got in his second contract.

But if we're being fair about the actual draft pick in 2020, I don't think it'd be accurate to say Trevon Diggs was a bad pick. In fact, it was a great pick. What other second-round picks have made two Pro Bowls, an All-Pro, tied a 40-year-old franchise record and then signed a $97 million extension? Isn't that the definition of a great pick? What happened after the new contract is another thing but I think the Cowboys probably made one of their best second-round picks.

So we can argue the merits of the Diggs but you're not wrong about some of the others. I don't know if it's a curse or just a way of thinking that I believe needs to change. So many times we've seen the Cowboys use that pick to take a player who might have "first-round" potential but there's something in the way holding him back. Maybe it's an injury or off-the-field concerns, or both. But the Cowboys have fallen in love with the upside of a Sam Williams or Kelvin Joseph, Luke Schoonmaker, Trysten Hill, Connor Williams, Jaylon Smith and Randy Gregory types over the last decade or so, but more often than not, the things that drooped the player to the second round were still existing when they got to the league.

Since free agency has never been a huge vehicle to land talent for the Cowboys, I think the second-round pick needs to be safer than ever, instead of trying to hit a home run. There have been too many swings and misses.

Kurt: Sure seems like there's a second-round curse, right? Since 2000, the Cowboys have had 26 picks in the second round, which includes a pair of second-rounders in 2001, 2002 and 2004 and no picks in 2007, 2009 and 2012.

Of those 26, five eventually earned a trip to the Pro Bowl – Andre Gurode (2002 draft), Sean Lee (2010), DeMarcus Lawrence (2014), Jaylon Smith (2016) and Trevon Diggs (2020) – with only two of those, Lee and Diggs, capturing one All-Pro nod.

The jury is still out on Sam Williams (2022), who just finished up his fourth year, and Luke Schoonmaker (2023) and Donovan Ezeiruaku (2025), who have played three seasons and one, respectively. But outside of those recent picks and the five Pro Bowlers, just one of the other 18 prospects was signed to a second contract by the Cowboys, and that was Randy Gregory, a player who was suspended multiple times during his time in Dallas for violating the league's substance abuse policy.

In all, having two-thirds of your second-round investments fail to spend more than four seasons on the roster doesn't seem ideal, which begs the question, Why has it been such a struggle for the Cowboys to hit on their second-round picks?

Well, they've gambled on a few players in the second round, selecting prospects who perhaps fell in the draft due to injuries, like Smith or Bruce Carter (2011), or had off-the-field questions, such as Gregory or Kelvin Joseph (2021). And considering four times they've drafted a tight end, a case could be made the club simply chased needs and reached for players in the second round on several occasions.

Unfortunately, the Cowboys have also just run into some bad luck. Though neither was a sure-fire star, Dwayne Goodrich (2000) and Quincy Carter (2002) eventually left due to legal troubles while Williams, Chidobe Awuzie (2017) and obviously Diggs were hampered by injuries. And then there is the tragic case of Marshawn Kneeland (2024).

But considering that second-rounders are expected to be impact players, failing to consistently land those types has no doubt hurt the team both in the starting lineup and its depth. The Cowboys simply need to get better results from their second-round picks, a problem that, as of now, they won't get to remedy, given Dallas currently doesn't have a second-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.