List of Dallas Cowboys first - round Draft picks - wikipedia List of Dallas Cowboys first - round Draft picks The Dallas Cowboys are professional American football team based in Dallas, Texas. The Cowboys team is a franchise of the National Football League ( NFL ) and plays in the East Division of the National Football Conference. The first draft in which the Cowboys participated was the 1961 NFL Draft. Before their initial NFL Draft, the Cowboys franchise participated in the 1960 NFL Expansion Draft. In the NFL Draft, each NFL franchise annually adds new players to its roster. Teams are ranked in reverse order based on their records during the previous season, therefore the team with the worst record selects first. There are two exceptions to this order : the Super Bowl champion from the previous season selects last, and the Super Bowl runner - up selects second to last. Teams have the option of trading away their selections to other teams for different selections, players, cash, or any combination thereof. It is common, therefore, for the actual draft selection of a team to differ from their initial assigned draft selection or for a team to have either extra selections or no selections in any round because of such trades. All - time first - round draft selections Hall of Famer † Pro Bowler * Year Pick Player College Position Notes 1961 13 Bob Lilly † TCU DT 1962 -- -- No Pick -- -- 1963 6 Lee Roy Jordan * Alabama LB 1964 Scott Appleton Texas OT 1965 5 Craig Morton California QB 1966 5 John Niland * Iowa OG 1967 -- -- No Pick -- -- 1968 20 Dennis Homan Alabama DE 1969 24 Calvin Hill * Yale RB 1970 23 Duane Thomas West Texas St. RB 1971 25 Tody Smith USC DE 1972 26 Bill Thomas Boston College RB 1973 20 Billy Joe Dupree * Michigan State TE Ed `` Too Tall '' Jones * Tennessee State DE 22 Charley Young North Carolina St. RB Randy White † Maryland LB 18 `` Hollywood '' Henderson * Langston LB 1976 27 Aaron Kyle Wyoming DB 1977 Tony Dorsett † ( Heisman Trophy Winner ) Pittsburgh RB 1978 28 Larry Bethea Michigan State DE 1979 27 Robert Shaw Tennessee 1980 -- -- No Pick -- -- 1981 26 Howard Richards Missouri 1982 25 Rod Hill Kentucky State DB 23 Jim Jeffcoat Arizona State DE 1984 25 Billy Cannon, Jr. Texas A&M LB 1985 17 Kevin Brooks Michigan DE 1986 18 Mike Sherrard UCLA WR 12 Danny Noonan Nebraska DT 1988 11 Michael Irvin † Miami WR 1989 Troy Aikman † UCLA QB 1990 17 Emmitt Smith † Florida RB 1991 Russell Maryland * Miami DT 12 Alvin Harper Tennessee WR 20 Kelvin Pritchett Mississippi DT 1992 17 Kevin Smith Texas A&M DB 24 Robert Jones * East Carolina State LB 1993 -- -- No Pick -- -- 1994 23 Shante Carver Arizona State DE 1995 -- -- No Pick -- -- -- -- No Pick -- -- 1997 22 David LaFleur LSU TE 1998 8 Greg Ellis * UNC DE 1999 20 Ebenezer Ekuban UNC DE 2000 -- -- No Pick -- -- 2001 -- -- No Pick -- -- 2002 8 Roy Williams * Oklahoma 2003 5 Terence Newman * Kansas State CB -- -- No Pick -- -- 2005 11 DeMarcus Ware * Troy State LB 20 Marcus Spears LSU DE 2006 18 Bobby Carpenter Ohio State LB 2007 26 Anthony Spencer * Purdue LB 2008 22 Felix Jones Arkansas RB 25 Mike Jenkins * South Florida CB 2009 -- -- No Pick -- -- 24 Dez Bryant * Oklahoma State WR 2011 9 Tyron Smith * USC OT 2012 6 Morris Claiborne LSU CB 2013 31 Travis Frederick * Wisconsin 2014 16 Zack Martin * Notre Dame OT 2015 27 Byron Jones Connecticut CB 2016 Ezekiel Elliott * Ohio State RB 2017 28 Taco Charlton Michigan DE 2018 19 Leighton Vander Esch Boise State LB Footnotes Players are identified as a Hall of Famer if they have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro Bowl at any time in their career. The Cowboys took Lilly with their second first - round selection. Their first selection, the second overall, was traded to the Washington Redskins for Eddie LeBaron. The Cowboys traded their first selection in 1962 to the Cleveland Browns for Offensive Tackle Paul Dickson and the Browns ' first selection in 1961. Scott Appleton signed with the Houston Oilers of the American Football League. The Cowboys traded their selection to the Houston Oilers for the rights to linebacker George Webster. The Cowboys received this selection from the New England Patriots in exchange for Ron Francis, David Howard, Eugene Lockhart, a first round and a second round pick. The Cowboys received this selection and a fifth round pick from the Washington Redskins in exchange for an earlier first round pick. The Cowboys traded this first round selection ( 22nd overall ) to the Buffalo Bills for Bills ' second round selection ( 43rd overall ), fifth round selection ( 144th overall ), and first round selection in 2005. The Cowboys received this selection from the Buffalo Bills as well as the Bills ' selections in 2004 in the second ( 43rd overall ) and fifth rounds ( 144th overall ) for the Cowboys ' first round selection in 2004 ( 22nd overall ). Dallas traded their original first round selection ( 22nd overall ) to the Cleveland Browns for the Browns ' first round selection in 2008 and the Browns ' second round selection ( 36th overall ) in this draft. Dallas then traded that additional second round selection ( 32nd overall ), their third round selection ( 87th overall ), and their fifth round selection ( 159th overall ) to the Philadelphia Eagles for the Eagles ' first round selection ( 26th overall ). The Cowboys received this selection from the Cleveland Browns as well as the Browns ' second round selection ( 36th overall ) in 2007 for the Cowboys first round selection in 2007 ( 22nd overall ). Dallas received this selection from the Seattle Seahawks for Dallas ' original first - round selection ( 28th overall ) and Dallas ' fifth - and seventh - round selections ( 163rd and 235th ). The Cowboys traded their 20th overall pick ( first round ), the 82nd overall picks ( third round ), and 192nd overall pick ( sixth round ) in the 2009 draft for wide receiver Roy Williams from the Detroit Lions. The Cowboys received a seventh round pick from the Lions in the 2010 draft. Dallas traded their original first round and third round selection ( 27th and 90th overall ) to the New England Patriots for the Patriots ' first round selection and a fourth - round selection in 2010 to select Dez Bryant over the Baltimore Ravens. Dallas traded their original first round pick ( 18th overall ) to the San Francisco 49ers for the 49ers ' first and third round selections References Jump up ^ Alder, James. `` '' NFL Draft Basics : Determining Order of Selection `` ''. football.about.com. Retrieved 2008 - 07 - 15. Jump up ^ `` 42nd Award Winner ''. Archived from the original on June 1, 2008. Retrieved 2008 - 08 - 04. Jump up ^ http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/12/cj_mosley_gets_jump_on_ray_lew.html Jump up ^ `` 1962 Draft ''. Pro Football Hall of Fame website. Retrieved 2008 - 11 - 24. Jump up ^ `` 1991 Draft ''. Pro Sports Transactions website. Retrieved 2016 - 02 - 10. Jump up ^ `` 1991 Draft ''. Pro Sports Transactions website. Retrieved 2016 - 02 - 10. `` NFL Draft History : First Round by Team : Dallas Cowboys ''. National Football League. Retrieved 2008 - 11 - 06. `` History : Dallas Cowboys Draft History ''. Dallas Cowboys official Web site. Archived from the original on October 21, 2008. Retrieved 2008 - 11 - 04. `` Hall of Famers by Franchise ''. Pro Football Hall of Fame official Web site. Retrieved 2002 - 11 - 06. `` History : Pro Football Draft History - The 1960s ''. Pro Football Hall of Fame official Web site. Retrieved 2008 - 11 - 06. `` History : Pro Football Draft History - The 1970s ''. Pro Football Hall of Fame official Web site. Retrieved 2008 - 11 - 06. `` History : Pro Football Draft History - The 1980s ''. Pro Football Hall of Fame official Web site. Retrieved 2008 - 11 - 06. `` History : Pro Football Draft History - The 1990s ''. Pro Football Hall of Fame official Web site. Retrieved 2008 - 11 - 06. `` History : Pro Football Draft History - The 2000s ''. Pro Football Hall of Fame official Web site. Retrieved 2008 - 11 - 06. `` Historic Drafts Archive ''. knowyourdallascowboys.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2008. Retrieved 2008 - 11 - 06. `` Dallas Cowboys All - Time Draft Listing ''. pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved 2008 - 11 - 06. Dallas Cowboys Founded in 1960 Based in Arlington, Texas Headquartered in Frisco, Texas Franchise Franchise History Coaches Players Seasons Expansion draft Draft history Starting quarterbacks First - round draft picks The Ford Center at The Star Stadiums Cotton Bowl Texas Stadium AT&T Stadium Culture NFL on Thanksgiving Day America 's Team Cheerleaders Doomsday Defense Crazy Ray Rowdy Jerry Jones Black Sunday ( film ) King of the Hill Lore Tom Landry Tex Schramm Captain Comeback Ice Bowl Hail Mary The Catch Herschel Walker trade Dirty Dozen Ring of Honor Bounty Bowl series Rivalries New York Giants Philadelphia Eagles Washington Redskins Green Bay Packers San Francisco 49ers Pittsburgh Steelers Houston Oilers / Texans Division championships ( 23 ) 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1976 1977 1978 1979 1981 1985 1992 1993 1994 1995 1998 2007 2009 2014 2016 Conference championships ( 10 ) 1966 1967 1970 1971 1977 1978 1992 1993 1995 League Championships ( 5 ) 1971 ( VI ) 1977 ( XII ) 1992 ( XXVII ) 1993 ( XXVIII ) 1995 ( XXX ) Media Broadcasters Radio network KRLD - FM Brad Sham Babe Laufenberg Current league affiliations League : National Football League Conference : National Football Conference Division : East Division Seasons ( 58 ) 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1984 1985 1986 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Championship seasons in bold Dallas Cowboys first - round draft picks Lilly Jordan Appleton Morton Niland Homan C. Hill D. Thomas To. Smith B. Thomas DuPree E. Jones Young R. White Henderson Kyle Dorsett Bethea Shaw Richards R. Hill Jeffcoat Cannon Brooks Sherrard Noonan Irvin Aikman E. Smith Maryland Harper Pritchett K. Smith R. Jones Carver LaFleur Ellis Ekuban R. Williams Newman Ware Spears Carpenter Spencer F. Jones Jenkins Bryant Ty. Smith Claiborne Frederick Martin B. Jones Elliott Charlton Vander Esch Lists of NFL first - round draft picks by team American Football Conference AFC East AFC North AFC South AFC West Buffalo Bills Miami Dolphins New England Patriots New York Jets Baltimore Ravens Cincinnati Bengals Cleveland Browns Pittsburgh Steelers Houston Texans Indianapolis Colts Jacksonville Jaguars Tennessee Titans Denver Broncos Kansas City Chiefs Oakland Raiders Los Angeles Chargers National Football Conference NFC East NFC North NFC South NFC West Dallas Cowboys New York Giants Philadelphia Eagles Washington Redskins Chicago Bears Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers Minnesota Vikings Atlanta Falcons Carolina Panthers New Orleans Saints Tampa Bay Buccaneers Arizona Cardinals Los Angeles Rams San Francisco 49ers Seattle Seahawks Defunct Teams Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Dallas_Cowboys_first-round_draft_picks&oldid=838454026 '' Categories : Lists of first - round draft picks by National Football League team Dallas Cowboys players Dallas Cowboys lists Talk About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 27 April 2018, at 03 : 17. 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Question: who did dallas pick in the first round of the draft
Answer: Leighton Vander Esch