By: Justin McGonigle
SteelerNation.com
The year was 2017, and the Dallas Cowboys were about to be on the clock with the 28th selection in the NFL Draft. Wisconsin linebacker, T.J. Watt was anxiously watching as the first round was about to come to a close. Then his phone rang. His parents quickly pulled on Dallas hats, but it wasn't the Cowboys on the other end of the phone. It was Pittsburgh.
Fun story talked to T.J Watt ahead of this one and he told me he and his family were so convinced that when his phone rang ahead of the #Cowboys pick his parents immediately put on the Cowboys hat...he had to quickly tell them to take it off it was indeed the #Steelers https://t.co/fF3Qgvo6Ra
— Jane Slater (@SlaterNFL) November 6, 2020
The Cowboys decided to select Taco Charlton from Michigan instead of Watt, and that left him on the board for the Steelers two picks later. Charlton is playing on his third team in the NFL.
Cowboys COO, Stephen Jones wishes he could have that one back.
“Obviously, if you had that to do all over again, I wish we would have done that. And, of course, he’d fit probably better in some of the things we’re trying to do with Coach [Mike] Nolan and our defense. He’s obviously a great player, he’s already on his way to a great career, not unlike his brother, and I congratulate the Steelers for getting him.”
The Cowboys were running a 4-3 under former defensive coordinator, Rod Marinelli, and Marinelli had second thoughts on how Watt would hold up against the run.
"I think the biggest issue was we were playing a 4-3 there with Rod, and Rod was concerned about how he’d hold up against the run in the 4-3, and (he) didn’t have that same concern with Taco," Jones told 105.3 the Fan in Dallas.
Looking back at the situation, now it's silly to think they were concerned about anything with Watt. But he was very raw coming out of college with limited time on the defensive side of the ball.
Regardless, SteelerNation is very happy the Cowboys made a boneheaded selection.
