Selecting the Dallas Cowboys' best draft pick ever is a difficult task with their history. Their first draft pick, Bob Lilly, is tough to top, as is Roger Staubach or any of their other Hall of Famers. But the pick for the best in team history comes from Sonoma State, Hall of Fame guard Larry Allen.

Why Allen is best pick in Cowboys history: Last week I wrote Roger Staubach was the best late-round pick in team history and he very well could be the best pick in team history for what he meant to the franchise. But he was a Heisman Trophy winner and a household name when the Cowboys took him in the 10th round of the 1964 draft. Picking Allen in the second round in 1994 took a big leap of faith. He played at tiny Sonoma State, hardly a football powerhouse. He had a rotator-cuff issue that scared some teams that took the time to investigate him. The Cowboys had a compensatory pick in the second round and took him with the 46th overall pick. At the time it was the highest the Cowboys had drafted an offensive lineman since 1981. All Allen did from 1994 to 2005 was dominate the NFL and become one of the best -- if not the best -- guards in NFL history. He played in 11 Pro Bowls. He was a seven-time All-Pro. He won a Super Bowl ring in his second year. Not only was he a dominant guard, but he was a deft tackle as well. He was one of the strongest players the Cowboys have had. Troy Aikman wondered if he was the best player in the NFL. The Cowboys have made a tremendous amount of great picks in their history, but Allen's rise from Sonoma State to the Pro Football Hall of Fame makes him the best.

HONORABLE MENTION

Bob Lilly, DT: The Cowboys' first draft pick in 1961. He became a force for the Cowboys from the day he arrived from TCU. He was an 11-time Pro Bowl pick, which is a franchise record. He was a seven-time All-Pro. He made the NFL's 75th anniversary team. He was the foundation to the original Doomsday Defense. All these years later he is still Mr. Cowboy.

Emmitt Smith, RB: The NFL's all-time leading rusher went with the 17th overall pick in the first round. And if James Francis had not gone to the Cincinnati Bengals, Smith would not have been a Cowboy. How different would NFL history have looked if that scenario played itself out? Smith was the last piece to the equation for the Triplets with Michael Irvin and Troy Aikman. His record might never be broken.

Jason Witten, TE: The Cowboys got lucky when they grabbed Witten in the third round of the 2003 draft, No. 69 overall, out of Tennessee. Amazingly he was the fifth tight end picked that year. He has played in 10 Pro Bowls, set the team record for consecutive games played, and is the franchise's all-time leading receiver. He turns 34 in May and has yet to slow down.

Bob Hayes, WR: The Cowboys bet on a Florida A&M track star with their seventh-round pick in 1964 and it paid off in a big way. He came to the Cowboys as the world's fastest human thanks to his gold medal in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and changed the way the game was played.