The underrated greatness of Travis Frederick

Bobhaze · Apr 6, 2020

When Travis Frederick announced his retirement a couple of weeks ago, I was saddened but not shocked. Not only has he been great on the field, but he has also shown to be a man whose values guide his decisions.

He probably could have played at a pretty high level in 2020, but I believe he was concerned about his long term health, and wanted to be remembered as consistent in great performance rather than be seen as someone in decline. I admire that very much. (I wish more players had that attitude) Travis Frederick has been one of the most underrated Cowboys players in recent memory.

So here are some indicators of just how great TF was that some of us may have missed:

He was extremely durable. Until his bout with Gillian-Barre, he never missed a game due to injury. He played over 1,000 snaps in every season he played.
He was brilliant at reading defensive fronts and at calling the blocking and pass protection schemes needed. His teammates often said he was THE best in the NFL at this.
When the OL trio of TF, Tyron Smith and Zack Martin all played together, we averaged only allowing 29 sacks per season.
In 2018, the year T-Fred was out, the Cowboys allowed 56 sacks! That’s not a coincidence. Last year, upon his return, the OL only allowed 23 sacks!
T-Fred was a 5 time Pro Bowler and 1st or 2nd team ALL PRO 3 times.
He was seen as a respected leader and friend in the locker room. (Ty Smith paid great tribute to TF)

When a truly great player retires, it’s worth stopping down from our offseason discussions and tip the cap to a guy that will be very difficult to replace. I think he’s ROH quality.

ChronicCowboy · Apr 6, 2020

He was the best center in the NFL from 2014-2017. The line has never recovered from his diagnosis.

Bobhaze · Apr 6, 2020

ChronicCowboy said:
He was the best center in the NFL from 2014-2017. The line has never recovered from his diagnosis.

I was surprised how many folks on our forum were saying, “we will be fine”. Well I certainly hope so. But replacing this kind of talent and not expecting a drop off is tough.

ChronicCowboy · Apr 6, 2020

Bobhaze said:
I was surprised how many folks on our forum were saying, “we will be fine”. Well I certainly hope so. But replacing this kind of talent and not expecting a drop off is tough.

We’ve been dealing with a drop off for two years. TF did his best last year but he wasn’t very good. I think Looney has a chance to be better than Travis was last season.

Bobhaze · Apr 6, 2020

ChronicCowboy said:
We’ve been dealing with a drop off for two years. TF did his best last year but he wasn’t very good. I think Looney has a chance to be better than Travis was last season.

Hope so. Looney is not known to be that great at calling protection at the line. The year he replaced TF, our sacks given up nearly doubled.

ChronicCowboy · Apr 6, 2020

Bobhaze said:
Hope so. Looney is not known to be that great at calling protection at the line. The year he replaced TF, our sacks given up nearly doubled.

Don’t remind me :facepalm:

. If sacks become an issue next season, we may see McGovern get a chance at C.

JoeyBoy718 · Apr 6, 2020

Bobhaze said:
I was surprised how many folks on our forum were saying, “we will be fine”. Well I certainly hope so. But replacing this kind of talent and not expecting a drop off is tough.

I don’t think it’s that people undervalue Frederick. I think it’s more that people are hopeful that Looney or McGovern will do well and that people have been used to not relying on Frederick much in the past two years. But we’re definitely in a transition period with this OL. We no longer have Frederick, Leary and Free from our glory days, and Smith hasn’t been the same player. I don’t think people expect the OL will ever be that good, but they’re hoping it’ll be good enough with Martin leading new faces like Collins, Williams and McGovern.

Batman1980 · Apr 6, 2020

Bobhaze said:
I was surprised how many folks on our forum were saying, “we will be fine”. Well I certainly hope so. But replacing this kind of talent and not expecting a drop off is tough.

Best center we've ever had, IMO. Joe Looney isn't even half the player Fredbeard is.

Bobhaze · Apr 6, 2020

Batman1980 said:
Best center we've ever had, IMO. Joe Looney isn't even half the player Fredbeard is.

He might be although Mark Stepnoski and Tom Rafferty may need to be in the mix too.

CouchCoach · Apr 6, 2020

Bobhaze said:
I was surprised how many folks on our forum were saying, “we will be fine”. Well I certainly hope so. But replacing this kind of talent and not expecting a drop off is tough.

Mark Schlereth didn't agree with that, he was never the same after he had that.

sean10mm · Apr 6, 2020

Cowboys fans tend to have their view of individual players soured by them playing during the team's "malaise era." I hope that doesn't happen to Frederick. You can hardly hang the team's lack of titles on the center, of all people, no matter how good they are. And Frederick was ELITE at his position.

Tussinman · Apr 6, 2020

Damn good player. I don't think people will under-rate him, he was the 4th best center of the entire 2010 decade for crying out loud (that's top level)

big dog cowboy · Apr 6, 2020

ChronicCowboy said:
I think Looney has a chance to be better than Travis was last season.

You spelled McGovern wrong.

CouchCoach · Apr 6, 2020

I remember the day he was drafted and like almost everyone on the old forum went "who"? The majority believed he could have been taken in the 2nd round but the word came out that BAL would have taken him.

The front office was sold Yosemite by the new HC at AR, his former coach at WIS. Bielema was known as a lineman's coach and he said after they took Yosemite that he was the smartest player he'd ever coached.

So, I started to do some research on the guy and every piece of information I found made me more comfortable with that selection at exactly where they took him. The only negative I could find was in the scouting report that he was slow to get to the second level. So when he played, I looked for that and wondered what had they been watching? When getting to the second level was called for, he had no problem doing that.

The value of a smart center cannot be overrated and we have the difference in the O and Aikman when Stepnowski was allowed to walk. He was small but smart and was as much an asset to Aikman as Irvin, Smith and Novacek.

I think the OL will miss his smarts as much as they missed Leary's attitude. We always seem to dismiss losing an OL like they're all replaceable. Bet you McC, Moore, Prescott and the other OL aren't so casual about him retiring.

kskboys · Apr 6, 2020

Awesome player!!!!! If he hadn't come down w/ a disease, he'd be talked about as the best C of all time.

If McG can't replace him, then it was a bad draft pick.

cern · Apr 6, 2020

CouchCoach said:
I remember the day he was drafted and like almost everyone on the old forum went "who"? The majority believed he could have been taken in the 2nd round but the word came out that BAL would have taken him.

The front office was sold Yosemite by the new HC at AR, his former coach at WIS. Bielema was known as a lineman's coach and he said after they took Yosemite that he was the smartest player he'd ever coached.

So, I started to do some research on the guy and every piece of information I found made me more comfortable with that selection at exactly where they took him. The only negative I could find was in the scouting report that he was slow to get to the second level. So when he played, I looked for that and wondered what had they been watching? When getting to the second level was called for, he had no problem doing that.

The value of a smart center cannot be overrated and we have the difference in the O and Aikman when Stepnowski was allowed to walk. He was small but smart and was as much an asset to Aikman as Irvin, Smith and Novacek.

I think the OL will miss his smarts as much as they missed Leary's attitude. We always seem to dismiss losing an OL like they're all replaceable. Bet you McC, Moore, Prescott and the other OL aren't so casual about him retiring.

I was among the unknowing as well. until the second preseason game that year and saw just how good he was.

freemanjc19 · Apr 6, 2020

I'm sure they will find a viable replacement. Maybe not as good as Freddy, but viable. The roster has not been finalized as of 6 Apr 20, has it?

cowboyec · Apr 6, 2020

our all-time greatest center...although i do love me some Tom Rafferty.
a true Cowboy.
a pro's pro...and a man's man.
gonna miss 72...one helluva all-time good'n.
:bow:

AsthmaField · Apr 6, 2020

Frederick was very good. However, Dallas hasn’t had the dominant Frederick since 2017. In 2018 he didn’t play and in 2019, he wasn’t his old, dominant self. So while I do understand lamenting the loss of an All-Pro center, just remember that the grieving needed to start before the 2018 season. It isn’t new and we know what the loss of him looks like.

All the sacks given up in 2018 can’t be attributed all to the loss of Travis. The biggest problem that year was the new OL coach, Alexander, came in and changed the technique used by the whole line. Plus, it wasn’t just Looney that was new to the line. Connor Williams was a rookie OT being switched inside next to Looney.

Add to that the fact that the WR corps was a mess and couldn’t get open to save their lives in the early part of the 2018 season. Dak was having to hold the ball for an eternity waiting for a marginal #1 receiver (he was actually a #2 at best) and his rookie running mate to break open.

The whole line was in turmoil that year and Looney was just one part of the equation. It was a recipe for disaster. It is disingenuous to say that Looney replaced Frederick and that caused the OL to give up all of those sacks.

If you watched Looney’s play from that season, it wasn’t bad at all. Was it Prime Frederick? Of course not, but it was more than adequate. Several times that year you could see Looney leading Elliott 30 yards downfield, blocking his butt off at the second and third level. He’s a solid player and his team mates love him.

And don’t forget, Dallas hasn’t had prime Frederick since 2017.

The loss of Travis isn’t catastrophic to the Cowboys line play. They’ll be solid with Looney. And that is if McGovern doesn’t take the job from him. There is a chance that McGovern comes in and wins the job, outright. He is a really good IOL and he just might be a pro bowl C himself.

Dallas is anything but devoid of options (and talent) at center. There are much bigger things to worry about.

Runwildboys · Apr 6, 2020

AsthmaField said:
Frederick was very good. However, Dallas hasn’t had the dominant Frederick since 2017. In 2018 he didn’t play and in 2019, he wasn’t his old, dominant self. So while I do understand lamenting the loss of an All-Pro center, just remember that the grieving needed to start before the 2018 season. It isn’t new and we know what the loss of him looks like.

All the sacks given up in 2018 can’t be attributed all to the loss of Travis. The biggest problem that year was the new OL coach, Alexander, came in and changed the technique used by the whole line. Plus, it wasn’t just Looney that was new to the line. Connor Williams was a rookie OT being switched inside next to Looney.

Add to that the fact that the WR corps was a mess and couldn’t get open to save their lives in the early part of the 2018 season. Dak was having to hold the ball for an eternity waiting for a marginal #1 receiver (he was actually a #2 at best) and his rookie running mate to break open.

The whole line was in turmoil that year and Looney was just one part of the equation. It was a recipe for disaster. It is disingenuous to say that Looney replaced Frederick and that caused the OL to give up all of those sacks.

If you watched Looney’s play from that season, it wasn’t bad at all. Was it Prime Frederick? Of course not, but it was more than adequate. Several times that year you could see Looney leading Elliott 30 yards downfield, blocking his butt off at the second and third level. He’s a solid player and his team mates love him.

And don’t forget, Dallas hasn’t had prime Frederick since 2017.

The loss of Travis isn’t catastrophic to the Cowboys line play. They’ll be solid with Looney. And that is if McGovern doesn’t take the job from him. There is a chance that McGovern comes in and wins the job, outright. He is a really good IOL and he just might be a pro bowl C himself.

Dallas is anything but devoid of options (and talent) at center. There are much bigger things to worry about.

The grieving starts now because we didn't know until now that he'd never be back, and in prime form.

The underrated greatness of Travis Frederick

Bobhaze

ChronicCowboy

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Bobhaze

ChronicCowboy

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Bobhaze

ChronicCowboy

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JoeyBoy718

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Batman1980

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Bobhaze

CouchCoach

sean10mm

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Tussinman

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big dog cowboy

THE BIG DOG

CouchCoach

kskboys

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cern

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freemanjc19

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cowboyec

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AsthmaField

Outta bounds

Runwildboys

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