A peak inside the Dallas Cowboys' war room as the clock ticked on their first-round pick

The Dallas Cowboys' draft process, officially, began Jan. 22, when the club lost their NFC divisional round game in San Francisco. The decision on their first round selection didn't come until the final seconds ticked off the clock.

The club produced its own 47-minute, fly-on-the-wall documentary of its 2023 draft, and while the most shared portion was when assistant director of college scouting Chris Vaughn made the call to draft his own son, Kansas State running back Deuce Vaughn, in the sixth round. But the most interesting part was this clip, shared below by Dallas Morning News beat writer Michael Gehlkin.

In it, the war room debates between Michigan defensive tackle Mazi Smith and Syracuse offensive lineman Matthew Bergeron for the 26th pick. As someone offscreen alerts the room they have two minutes to make a pick, head coach Mike McCarthy jokes, "We're just getting started." In addition to COO/executive VP of player personnel Stephen Jones, two Jones children (Jerry Jr. and Charlotte) with no personnel responsibilities are seated prominently at the table, along with three Jones grandchildren. It's chaos.

And then there's this. Despite employing an octogenarian with a wandering eye and a 27-year NFC title game drought as its GM, the Cowboys are objectively good at drafting. The team, which went 12-5 and won a playoff game, allotted more snaps to its own draft picks in 2022 than any other in the NFL. 

The reason why is clear. Jerry Jones may have the title of GM and he may make the call to the league, but VP of player personnel Will McClay drafted Mazi Smith. 

"Will, who would you take?" Stephen Jones asks.

"Personally, I would go with Mazi," McClay answers. "I know that he helps us now. With the guard -- love the guard, too -- my question is, you're adding something to it where we have depth. The defensive line, that gives you an immediate starter and something for the future." 

Jerry Jones and McCarthy offer nothing, saying they'd be good with either player. But when it comes time to actually pick one of the two, McClay says, "We've had offensive linemen (in the first round), we've not had an interior defensive linemen in quite some time."

Soon after, Smith became the Cowboys' first-round defensive tackle since Russell Maryland, the No. 1 overall selection in 1991. Bergeron would ultimately be taken 38th by the Atlanta Falcons. 

And now we need the footage from the other 31 teams. My DMs are open.