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The Cowboys’ roster has talent, but any big-time locks for the Hall of Fame?
The Dallas Cowboys have a pretty young team as far as things tend to go, but there is definitely a lot of experience in important areas. Of course, the presence of Jason Witten inflated the average age of the team as he is much older than your standard NFL player, but while they may be young, the Cowboys do have a lot of experience on their team.
Speaking of Jason Witten, the guys from the Around the NFL Podcast (plus special guest Mina Kimes from ESPN) had an interesting discussion on their latest episode. How many active players in the NFL are undeniable locks for the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
The Cowboys only have one, and it’s who you would have guessed
For the purposes of this discussion we’ll assume that Jason Witten isn’t on the 2020 Cowboys roster (although he’s obviously going to be in Canton one day). With that caveat, it feels like there are a few players who might be in the discussion, but only one who truly fits the definition today.
Zack Martin is really the only true “lock” if we’re being honest with ourselves. There are certainly cases to be made for Tyron Smith and Travis Frederick, but their careers (as great as they are) simply don’t touch Martin’s.
Consider that in six seasons Zack Martin has never not been named an All-Pro (second team twice), or received Pro Bowl honors. He isn’t just a lock for a gold jacket, he is having one of the greatest careers that any player in NFL history has ever had. That doesn’t mean anything negative about Smith or Frederick, they just aren’t on that level.
Winning a Super Bowl would obviously really make the case for Martin all the more obvious and it would go a long way towards helping Smith and Fredrick ultimately getting in. It’s unfortunate that this group has been together for all of Martin’s career to this point (although they obviously missed Frederick in 2018) and that they haven’t been able to win a title despite multiple quarterbacks, running backs, and receiving options that were all very good.
If you really want to try and figure out which active Cowboys might have a chance at the Hall of Fame besides these three, the next-closest case might be Ezekiel Elliott (L.P. Ladouceur truthers are likely shaking their fists). Let me be clear that I don’t think this is the case as of now, but Zeke has an incredible résumé for having only played four seasons. If he continues on the pace that he’s been on he could make the conversation very interesting, especially if this group does ultimately win a championship.
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