The NFL’s all-time rushing king has seen some impressive ballcarriers come and go since he last wore the star in 2002.

And while the Hall of Famer has never been shy about calling for his former team to get back to establishing a smashmouth run game like the one that got him over 17,000 yards in Dallas, Smith doesn’t believe the Cowboys should be too quick to select Boise State phenom Ashton Jeanty with their first-round pick in the upcoming draft.

It’s a surprising stance from one of the greatest running backs the sport has ever seen. But his reason for saying so is even more of an eye-opener.

In New Orleans ahead of Super Bowl LIX, Smith sat down with the crew from All DLLS. Talk naturally turned to the Cowboys’ current need to find a rushing attack after a season in which they placed at or near the bottom of the league in total rushing yardage, yards per carry, and rushing touchdowns.

The most popular fix in the mock draft world is Jeanty, who logged an incredible 2,601 yards in 2024 (just 27 yards shy of the collegiate single-season record) and scored 29 touchdowns on the ground (almost five times what the entire Cowboys ground attack tallied in three more games).

But when asked if the Cowboys should select Jeanty with the 12th overall pick, Smith was blunt.

“I don’t think so.”

It’s not, Smith went on to explain, because he doesn’t think the Frisco native is a talented young star in the making.

In fact, that’s exactly why Smith says he hopes this current iteration of the Dallas organization steers clear.

“I don’t think the Cowboys clearly understand what they really want,” the three-time Super Bowl winner said. “They’re after excitement and thrills and stuff, and they don’t have a plan. First of all, they don’t even have a plan, truly, for Dak Prescott, let alone CeeDee Lamb. Where’s the plan? The plan they have right now has not made sense over the last couple years, so all of a sudden you’re going to wake up and come up with a plan for a new kid?”

Smith- and other former Cowboys players- have been increasingly vocal about the Cowboys’ apparent lack of direction in recent years: playing games with superstars’ contracts, refusing to spend on high-quality free agents, and paying nothing more than lip service to the idea of assembling a roster designed to contend for championships on a regular basis.

Adding another playmaker to an offense that is already fumbling about with Prescott and Lamb in the huddle is not the answer, according to Smith.

“Plan for what you already have and allow things to fit that plan and be committed to that plan,” Smith said, “and I think that’s been the problem.”

He pointed to the Cowboys team that drafted him 17th overall in 1990. With head coach Jimmy Johnson firmly in control of all football operations, the team improved from 1-15 the year before Smith’s arrival to 7-9 in his rookie season to a playoff berth the following year and a Super Bowl win the next. (And then two more over the next three years.)

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Cowboys fans can guess what “problem” Smith is really alluding to: the team’s ownership. For too many years, owner Jerry Jones has treated the football team as just one product line offered by the larger $10 billion brand of the Dallas Cowboys. Victories on the field are great, and titles would boost the bottom line. But win or lose, there are headlines to make and jerseys to sell and season tickets to hawk and corporate sponsorships to negotiate and a stadium to fill with high-priced events the other 355 days a year.

The Cowboys brand can succeed- and is clearly doing so- even if the team is losing. Smith clearly believes too much effort is being placed on the former… and not nearly enough is being done to address the latter.

And not even the addition of Jeanty would be enough. At least not all by itself.

“There’s been a commitment to excellence on the brand side, but on the operations, when it comes down to the football side, there’s no commitment to who we are and the brand that was built,” Smith offered. “And the brand that was built was balance: Troy, Michael, myself. That’s why you call us the Triplets. You cannot have one without the other; you’ve got to have it all. You’ve got to have a ground attack as well as an air attack.

“Now, Ashton Jeanty could be good for us under the right plan and under the right commitment and under the right vision. Right now, I think these things are bifurcated, and that’s why you’re getting all this disjointedness throughout the last 25, 30 years.”