DALLAS — Defensive end Taco Charlton earned the ignominious distinction of becoming the first Dallas Cowboys first-round pick since linebacker Bobby Carpenter in 2010 to fail to play out his rookie contract when the club waived him Sept. 18.
Even though the Cowboys personnel and scouting department has done a fabulous job of producing five All-Pros among their nine first-round picks since 2010 and probably have earned a pass, chief operating officer Stephen Jones believes the club has to learn from such a mistake made with a premium pick.
"You try to sit down and go through and understand what we saw, what we didn't see, and red flags we should pay even more attention to in the future," Jones told "G-Bag Nation" Friday on 105.3 "The Fan" [KRLD-FM]. "You're never going to be perfect on these picks as we all know. Nobody, but you damn sure will learn from them when you make a mistake, especially when you're talking about a high pick, a first-round pick, a second, a third. You really hope to have success with those picks. We'll hold ourselves accountable to that."
According to Jones, vice president of player personnel Will McClay discussed with him as far back as the end of the 2018 season on the lack of progress from Charlton, who was activated for 11 games, starting in seven of them, and collecting 27 combined tackles with 1.0 sack, five tackles for loss, a pass breakup, and a fumble recovery.
The stat line was a drop in production from his rookie season when he was active for all 16 games, notched 19 combined tackles, 3.0 sacks, three tackles for loss, a pass breakup, and a forced fumble.
When asked by co-host Jeff Cavanaugh if he could identify what the red flags were relative to the pick, Jones was forthright in his response.
Said Jones: "You know, I think we know eyes wide open that there was a little bit of, in terms of his motor, and how he played was good and not great, and [defensive coordinator] Rod (Marinelli), you try to get him players that play with rare motors, maybe a little bit on the skill set side. With Rod, he's a lot more demanding on that aspect of it. I'm sure you've heard him talk about how he especially holds that defensive line group to a high standard when it comes to the motor they play with, not taking any plays off and that type of thing."
"There's a lot of players, great players, who are successful. Sometimes their motor is good, not great. With us, with the coaches we have in Coach Marinelli, we need to understand that and hold them to a higher standard."
In the 2017 offseason, the Cowboys were desperate for defensive line help as they suffered another early exit from the divisional round of the playoffs at the hands of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the second time in three seasons.
Rodgers was too comfortable in the backfield surveying the field and also scrambling to make plays. Taking Charlton was part of a strategy to address the need, even though edge defender T.J. Watt was taken 29th overall the next pick and produced a Pro Bowl for the Pittsburgh Steelers that very season.
Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence bloomed for the Cowboys in 2017 with a 14.5-sack season and followed it up with 10.5 in 2018, part of two straight seasons' worth of Pro Bowl appearances. In terms of long-term effects of the Charlton miss, they appear to be minimal. However, Jones doesn't want to make any excuses for not getting a first-round pick right.
"We have gone over that and certainly understand we won't make those same mistakes again," Jones said.
What do you think the Cowboys can take away from the Taco Charlton debacle? Share your thoughts with the Mark on Twitter @therealmarklane.