The Best 7th-Round Draft Pick in Dallas Cowboys History

The Dallas Cowboys will have the No. 17 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and plan to improve their stacked roster heading into 2020. The good news is that Jerry Jones and Co. are pretty damn good at finding talent across all rounds of the weekend event.

The NFL Draft was narrowed down to seven rounds beginning in 1993, so let's take a look at the best seventh-round pick in Cowboys franchise history since then.

Taken with the No. 224 selection in the seventh round of the 2005 NFL Draft, Jeremiah "Jay" Ratliff is one of the best Cowboys defenders since the turn of the century.

Ratliff began his career as a pass rushing specialist at defensive end for Dallas. Stuck behind higher picks in Chris Canty and Marcus Spears, Ratliff started just one game his first two years in the league.

But in 2007, Ratliff received a huge opportunity when starting nose tackle Jason Ferguson was sidelined with a season-ending bicep injury in Week 1. Despite being undersized for the position, Ratliff slotted to start at nose tackle in Week 2.

He quickly proved worthy of taking on a large role in the Cowboys defense. He deflected four passes and had 30 combined tackles in 2007. The Cowboys went 13-3 that season.

That was just the start for Ratliff. He would play eight total years with the Cowboys, was named to four Pro Bowls, and was a First-Team All-Pro in 2009. All in all, across 104 games (85 starts) in Dallas, Ratliff accumulated 285 tackles and 35 sacks. He also started 16 games in four straight seasons from 2008-2011.

That's pretty incredible for a seventh-round pick, right?