Best 5 Guard Combos, Smith and Booker don't make the list

[John813]

IMO with Safety, Guard and Tight end, my thought was it's fine if you believe they can be elite at their position.

Not everyone is Zach Martin, but at least a top 3-5 guard, who is unique in their skillset. Perfect technique, or super strong etc some trait that isn't just commonly available.
Downs hopefully is that next Hamilton or healthy Derwin James etc...
With Warren, I was warming up to him, but at the same time you had to hope he was a Shockley, or Olsen, or Gronk type of T.E. that had elite traits that made them hard to cover/gave an advantage where 95% of LBs couldn't keep up and the safeties just got bodied trying to cover them. More upset on missing on LaPorta, especially when the guy we ended up taking was Mazi Smith

I think Smith and Cooper should be top 5 very soon. But can see some arguments for just being out of the mix based off last year and Smith clearly hampered from that injury

 

[erod]

Yet.

 

[gtb1943]

Not the way to build a team. Not a premium position. Spending a 1st to replace The President and help continue a strong OL was important. Taking one of the top defensive players in the draft when you have the worst D in the league is smart.

The Cowboys offense has cooked the last few years. Adding a TE in the 1st doesn't move the needle and help us win games. Strong line play does. Improving the D does.

a strong O line is a must if you want to do well in the red zone; which is where we have failed all too often

 

[cowboyec]

they are.
he is playing pretend.

 

[Rockport]

I wanted Tyler Warren in the worst way. But no, Jethro chose Booker. It was a huge reach. Now the duo of Smith and Booker are not regarded as an elite guard duo. Who would have known that these two first rounders are really not elite v

You’re very gullible.

 

[zrinkill]

You’re very gullible.

Funny coming from a Jerry sycophant

 

[CWR]

Oooo I don’t know about that. I think the gap is huge between Booker and Hoffman or Bass was substantial. Like I said above he brought a nasty and toughness I haven’t seen on this line in a long time. It set the tone for a lot of games. And he did it as a rookie. Warren is a great player but I just don’t know in an offense with already Flurnoy, Pickens and Lamb if Warren would have the same impact here as Booker.
At best he would be behind
Pickens, Lamb and Javonte. I don’t like taking guard in the first or tight end….but if it can change my culture I can get behind it. And Booker for sure did.

Yes Booker is a leader and the type to create an identity for the unit. Warren would've been awesome but we haven't proven to use a dynamic TE properly anyway.

 

[dupree89]

I agree that these rankings are all pointless. But I believe we all need to be consistent. When one clown rates a player of ours favorably, we cant be celebrating and taking it as fact and then call the next guy a clown because we're upset because we feel he was too negative about our team/ player(s). Its everything or nothing IMO.

 

[fivetwos]

Question about Thomas….

So is the consensus that he isn’t going to be a tackle or even work there? They really don’t have many options and a rookie behind Guyton doesn’t inspire confidence….even if Guyton has dramatically improved.

If Thomas is no longer a viable option at tackle they are playing with fire if they don’t bring in a veteran swing. I’m not sure if that player is currently out there. Probably after camp, which isn’t ideal but may have to suffice.

 

[Redsfan_83]

I wanted Tyler Warren in the worst way. But no, Jethro chose Booker. It was a huge reach. Now the duo of Smith and Booker are not regarded as an elite guard duo. Who would have known that these two first rounders are really not elite v

At that stage, he would have been a luxury, we need/needed impact OL....the jury is clearly still out on Booker, but TE wasn't the pick at that time

 

[Pokes12]

You are basing this on this joker's opinion?


Matt Verderame is a national NFL staff writer for Sports Illustrated, writing features, columns and more. Before joining Sports Illustrated in March 2023, Verderame wrote for FanSided and SB Nation. He’s a proud husband to Stephanie and father of two girls, Maisy and Genevieve. In his spare time, Verderame is an avid collector of vintage baseball cards.

Are you high? You do not tie your homage to Mr. Verderame to any conclusion. I watched Warren for four years, unlike you, I played in a division one football program. My view is that Warren was a much better talent than Booker. Booker is all hat and no cattle. He will be a mid-range guard and no better.

 

[Catpappy]

They are the least of our problems. Both good players

 

[beware_d-ware]

I wanted to draft Warren, but tough to be upset either way. They've both turned out to be beasts, and I think both have an All-Pro team in their future.

 

[Pokes12]

Greg Olsen is a good comparison although Warren possess down-field wide receiver like combo of speed, jump range, and sure hands. Fundamentally, he is a football player. At Penn State he played quarterback, halfback, slot receiver, and tight end. He was their offense, period end of statement. Had he had any support from the wide receivers he would have been even greater. The defense always had two people on him.

 

[AstroPilota]

Good grief, we can't field 11 All-Pros on the field at once, nobody can. And Booker was a rookie, improvement will come, he has the make-up to be at least better than average.

 

[Pokes12]

It would be a downgrade on the OL for sure, but I also think the gap between Booker and Bass/Hoffman was less than the gap between Warren and Ferg, both as receivers and blockers.

If both Booker and Warren end up with similar career paths I'd probably rather have the TE over the G, especially if they end up being top5/top10 at their positions. The exception being if Booker turns into the Larry Allen type of outlier.

Totally agree with your analysis. Booker is marginally better than Bass/Hoffman while Warren is light year's ahead of Ferguson, the tight end with the least amount of YAK in the entire league. I dislike his play. He plays like a very old Witten, without having the great years that Witt had when he was younger. Behind Ferguson we have JAGs, especially Schoonmaker who has done nothing since being drafted 2nd round. We have a long history of failed TEs drafted in the second round and Ferg is probably the worst.

 

[Pokes12]

Good grief, we can't field 11 All-Pros on the field at once, nobody can. And Booker was a rookie, improvement will come, he has the make-up to be at least better than average.

Better than average, yes. Warren will be better than good. He will be a generational talent for the next 12 years.

 

[Pokes12]

You created this whole thread to cry, without taking into consideration this guy's opinion is just his opinion. Nice.

Nopel, you are wrong. I created the thread to remind fans that Dallas had the opportunity for greatness but chose a hyped player who just wasn't that great in a program built with studs all around. It was a bad decision, and it still irks me. That is all. Now go back to flipping hamburgers.

 

[AsthmaField]

Fans rue’ing the Booker draft pick don’t really know what they’re looking at when they watch OL play.
He is going to be really good for a really long time, and he’s exactly the type of OL you want to add to your team culture.

 

[speedkilz88]

Are you high? You do not tie your homage to Mr. Verderame to any conclusion. I watched Warren for four years, unlike you, I played in a division one football program. My view is that Warren was a much better talent than Booker. Booker is all hat and no cattle. He will be a mid-range guard and no better.

You are clearly the one high. You are the only one that has mentioned Warren. What you did was declare Booker a bad pick and based it on one clowns opinion on who the top OG combos are.