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Every year, the NFL Draft produces stories of teams making regrettable decisions that, in hindsight, look either crazy or stupid.
There's the Chicago Bears using the No. 2 pick in 2017 on quarterback Mitch Trubisky when Patrick Mahomes was available. Of course going back to the 2000 draft, every team passed on Tom Brady multiple times until he went 199th overall to the New England Patriots.
The Dallas Cowboys have been there, done that, and one of those regrettable decisions is coming to confront them on Sunday when they face T.J. Watt and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
In that same draft when the Bears passed on Mahomes, the Dallas Cowboys had the 28th pick in the first round. They needed a pass rusher. So they took defensive end Taco Charlton out of Michigan.
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Two spots later, the Steelers took outside linebacker T.J. Watt out of Wisconsin.
Three years later, T.J. Watt is an All-Pro performer who is in serious contention for NFL Defensive Player of the Year this season.
Taco Charlton, meanwhile, is a backup on the Kansas City Chiefs, his third NFL team in four pro seasons.
NFL Week 9: Dallas Cowboys admit regret over not drafting T.J. Watt
In an radio interview with 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones admitted it was a regrettable choice.
"Absolutely," Jones said. "You always do that, if you’re truthful and you’re honest – what you might could have had.”
In the Dallas Cowboys' defense, the scheme they were playing at the time under defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli might not have been the best fit for Watt's skill set and natural position.
Of course, now the Dallas Cowboys' scheme under defensive coordinator Mike Nolan would be the perfect fit for Watt.
"Obviously, if you had that to do all over again, I wish we would have done that," Jones told The Fan. "Of course, he would fit in probably better in some of the things we’re trying to do now with coach Nolan and our defense. So, you know, he’s obviously a great player. He’s already on his way to a great career."
The Dallas Cowboys have a lot more problems on their plate this week than worrying about what could've been with Watt.
At 2-6, they don't even look capable of competing in an NFC East division where the top team is the 3-4-1 Philadelphia Eagles. The Dallas Cowboys will be starting Garrett Gilbert at quarterback against Pittsburgh, their fourth starting QB this season. Star QB Dak Prescott is out for the season with a broken ankle, backup Andy Dalton is sidelined with a concussion, and third-stringer Ben DiNucci looked bad enough in his first start against the Eagles last week that the Dallas Cowboys decided to go with the journeyman Gilbert this week.
In addition to a banged-up offensive line, slumping star running back Ezekiel Elliott, and arguably the NFL's worst defense backing him up, Gilbert will also have Watt chasing him around throughout the day.
