Cowboys' Player Personnel Braintrust in Need of an Overhaul

The Dallas Cowboys became one of the NFL's glamour franchises because of their skill with the college draft.

Player personnel boss Gil Brandt, general manager Tex Schramm and coach Tom Landry drafted five Hall of Famers in the 1960s including Mel Renfro, Bob Hayes and Roger Staubach in 1964 alone. But the only enshrinee from the original braintrust's final 11 drafts was its final first-rounder, Michael Irvin in 1988.

Owner/general manager Jerry Jones and coach Jimmy Johnson took over the Cowboys in 1989 and selected first-ballot Hall of Famers Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith with their initial pair of first-rounders. Immediately after his split with Johnson in 1994, Jones landed likely enshrinee Larry Allen in the second round, but the drafts were pretty barren until Bill Parcells arrived in 2003. Shopping for the groceries and cooking the meals as the Tuna liked to say, he chose multiple Pro Bowl picks Terence Newman and Jason Witten as well as top tackler Bradie James in his first draft and elite pass rusher DeMarcus Ware and longterm starters Marcus Spears, Marion Barber and Chris Canty in his third. All except Canty are still in Dallas.

However, Jones' four drafts since Parcells' departure have produced just four current starters: Mike Jenkins, Anthony Spencer, Doug Free and Alan Ball. The 2009 draft class is looking particularly bad with Tuesday's release of linebacker Jason Williams, a third-rounder who managed five tackles in 10 games over his two seasons while failing to make much of an impact on special teams either.

So just four of the 12 players chosen by the Cowboys in 2009 remain on the roster: kicker David Buehler, reserve linebackers Victor Butler and Brandon Williams and reserve quarterback Stephen McGee, who has yet to see action. Tight end John Phillips and linebacker Stephen Hodge are on injured reserve. Offensive tackle Robert Brewster is on the practice squad

The jury is still out on this year's class which includes dynamic return man/receiver Dez Bryant and the Cowboys' stunning 1-6 record can't be blamed on the lack of younger reinforcements since most of the starters are so talented, but at some point the series of poor drafts will come back to haunt Jones.