In an attempt to prove that the team's first-round pick, former Tulsa offensive lineman Tyler Smith, was higher on their draft board than two players who were drafted ahead of him, Dallas Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones last week pulled out a laminated sheet of paper containing what appeared to be the first two rounds of the Cowboys' draft board. Jerry was predictably admonished by team vice presidents Stephen Jones and Will McClay for showing off the board, but apparently he held it out there just long enough for it to be deciphered.
To prove to reporters that the Cowboys had Tyler Smith ranked higher on their board than Kenyon Green and Zion Johnson, Jerry Jones showed a copy of the team’s draft board.
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) April 29, 2022
Jerry Jones: “I’m dead serious.”
Stephen Jones: “Don’t show them that. … Put that sheet down.” pic.twitter.com/vvj2NV4aEr
Our friends at The Athletic enlarged and enhanced the photo and were able to figure out the first 34 of what appeared to be 39 players with first or second-round grades on the Cowboys' board. According to Jon Machota, the Cowboys had 14 players with first-round grades. That group appears to be as follows:
| Rank | Player | Team | Pick |
| 1 | Kayvon Thibodeaux, ED, Oregon | NYG | 5 |
| 2 | Evan Neal, OT, Alabama | NYG | 7 |
| 3 | Aidan Hutchinson, ED, Michigan | DET | 2 |
| 4 | Garrett Wilson, WR, Ohio St | NYJ | 10 |
| 5 | Ahmad Gardner, CB, Cincinnati | NYJ | 4 |
| 6 | Derek Stingley, CB, LSU | HOU | 3 |
| 7 | Travon Walker, ED, Georgia | JAX | 1 |
| 8 | Kyle Hamilton, S, Notre Dame | WAS | 14 |
| 9 | Ikem Ekwonu, OT, North Carolina St | CAR | 6 |
| 10 | Drake London, WR, USC | ATL | 8 |
| 11 | Jordan Davis, IDL, Georgia | PHI | 13 |
| 12 | Charles Cross, OT, Mississippi St | SEA | 9 |
| 13 | Lewis Cine, S, Georgia | MIN | 32 |
| 14 | Jameson Williams, WR, Alabama | DET | 12 |
Notably, the top two players on Dallas' drafted board were selected at Nos. 5 and 7 overall by the division rival New York Giants, giving the team the top offensive and defensive player in the draft, according to Dallas. The Philadelphia Eagles nabbed Dallas' No. 11-graded player, Jordan Davis, at No. 13 overall.
Among that group of 14 players, 13 were already off the board by the time the Cowboys came on the clock at pick No. 24 of the first round. The only one left was safety Lewis Cine, who was eventually selected by the Vikings with the final pick of the first round.
The Cowboys have shown us over the years that they do not value the safety position all that highly, as they have not selected a safety in either the first or second round since Roy Williams in 2002. Instead of Cine, the Cowboys took a player three spots lower on the board, who had one of their top two second-round grades.
| Rank | Player | Team | Pick |
| 15 | Chris Olave, WR, Ohio St | NO | 11 |
| 16 | Tyler Smith, OG, Tulsa | DAL | 24 |
| 17 | Devin Lloyd, LB, Utah | JAX | 27 |
| 18 | Daxton Hill, S, Michigan | CIN | 31 |
| 19 | Breece Hall, RB, Iowa State | NYJ | 36 |
| 20 | Kenyon Green, OG, Texas A&M | HOU | 15 |
| 21 | George Karlaftis, ED, Purdue | KC | 30 |
| 22 | Zion Johnson, OG, Boston College | LAC | 17 |
| 23 | Treylon Burks, WR, Arkansas | TEN | 18 |
| 24 | Kyler Gordon, CB, Washington | CHI | 39 |
| 25 | Tyler Linderbaum, C, Iowa | BAL | 25 |
| 26 | David Ojabo, ED, Michigan | BAL | 45 |
| 27 | Jahan Dotson, WR, Penn St | WAS | 16 |
| 28 | Jermaine Johnson, ED, Florida St | NYJ | 26 |
| 29 | Kaiir Elam, CB, Florida | BUF | 23 |
| 30 | Arnold Ebiketie, ED, Penn St | ATL | 38 |
| 31 | Trent McDuffie, CB, Washington | KC | 21 |
| 32 | Quay Walker, LB, Georgia | GB | 22 |
| 33 | Devonte Wyatt, IDL, Georgia | GB | 28 |
| 34 | Logan Hall, DL, Houston | TB | 33 |
Low-first and top-second grades are often quite close to each other, but the sequencing does make one wonder if the Cowboys may have missed out on a potential trade-down opportunity. Stephen Jones said during the team's post-Round 1 press conference that they had a trade-down option, but that the team attempting to come up to No. 24 later told him that it would have selected Tyler Smith with that pick. Had they moved down and seen Smith come off the board, the Cowboys likely would have been selecting from a group that included Cine, Devin Lloyd, Daxton Hill, Breece Hall, and George Karlaftis.
Give this to Jerry, though, the board does indeed show that the team had Smith graded ahead of Kenyon Green and Zion Johnson, who were the two players many thought the Cowboys would be targeting at No. 24. So, at least he wasn't lying about that.
