IRVING, Texas -- Twenty-two years ago, the Cowboys traded up from No. 21 to No. 17 to select Florida running back Emmitt Smith.
That move created some buzz at the time, and it turned out being one of the best decisions in franchise history. But rarely have the Cowboys boldly traded into the top 10 the way they grabbed LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne at No. 6 last weekend.
Smith, now a Hall of Famer and the league's all-time leading rusher, called the Cowboys' trade up from No. 14 "a tremendous move."
"When you lose an asset like (Terence) Newman and you bring in a younger asset that's probably bigger, that says a lot. It gives Rob Ryan an opportunity to do some things creatively that can help our defense get better," Smith said Thursday.
"We definitely need our corners to be able to play man to man and bump and run in order to bring the eighth man in the box to stop the run if necessary and not get beat deep. That's a wonderful thing to have."
