How many of our starters are top 10 players?

[sonnyboy]

Reading through the top 5 defensive players thread got me thinking about a few things.

Having 3 defensive top 5 players is impressive.

You have 32 starting players at all 22 positions on the field.

Just how many of our starters rank in the top third?

This gets a little complicated comparing 3-4 and 4-3 defenses.

On offense you have teams that don't start a FB. They have a 3rd WR or 2nd TE listed as a starter. Since enough teams are using the RB committee approach, I think its fair to consider depth when ranking RB.

So taking all this into account I tried to come up with a list of starting positions to fit all formations.


QB
RB
FB/3rd WR/2nd TE
#1 WR
#2 WR
TE
LOT
LOG
OC
ROG
ROT

ROLB/RDE
RDE/1 gap DT
NT/2 gap DT
RMLB
LMLB/MLB
LDE
ROLB
RCB
LCB
FS
SS


So who amoung our projected starters rank in the top 5 at their position?
How many in the top 10?
Who might fall into the bottom third?

 

[BourbonBalz]

I know for sure right off the bat that we have two players that are the absolute best at their positions: Ware and Witten. Might able to throw Leonard Davis and Gurode (barring his ocassional high snap) in the conversation as well. Romo is at least Top 10, maybe Top 5. Ratliff is Top 5. Newman is Top 5 or 10 (when healthy). The combination of Barber, Felix, and Choice make us Top 5 at the RB position IMO. Depending on how Roy Williams pans out, he could be a Top 10 receiver, but that remains to be seen. Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

 

[EveryoneElse]

qb- Romo
rb- Barber
wr- none
te- Witten
OL- Columbo,Davis,Guroude

DL- Ratliff
LB- Ware
DB- Newman

 

[SLATEmosphere]

top 5 in thier position.
Ware
Ratliff
Witten
BIGG
Newman
Gurode

Romo is a top 10 QB
Barber is a top 10 RB
Bradie is a top 10 ILB
Hamlin is a top 10 FS
Columbo is a top 10 RT

and drum roll please..................
Roy Wi11iams is a top 10 #1 reciever

 

[Vintage]

All are top 10 players. Which is why we went 9-7.

 

[sonnyboy]

Thanks for the responses. Here's my take

QB Romo top 5 for certain.

RB Barber/Jones top 10 at least. Jones is the wild card. Gives us the potential of top5.

#1WR Williams might end up as a top 10 guy, can't put him there now.
#2WR Austin has to go as a bottom 10 guy for now
TE Witten is certainly top 5.
LOT Adams is top 10 in my book. When he's 100%, he's top 5.
LOG Koiser is perhaps better than bottom 10
OC Geroude is top 10
ROG Davis is top 5
ROT Columbo is a boderline top 10 guy.

ROLB Ware is top 5
RMLB James made the jump to top 10 last year and could be a top 5 guy.
NT Ratliff is a top 5 guy. But he's really a one gap DT.
LOLB Based on performance you have to put Spencer as a bottom 3rd guy. I don't see him there this year.
LCB Newman is top 5 for sure.

 

[sonnyboy]

All are top 10 players. Which is why we went 9-7.

So what are you saying? Is this a contribution to the thread?
Do you have any opinions on the OP?

Is it possibly the team underachieved do to injuries?

Or does the simple fact we won only 9 games mean we have no good players?

 

[SLATEmosphere]

So what are you saying? Is this a contribution to the thread?
Do you have any opinions on the OP?

Is it possibly the team underachieved do to injuries?

Or does the simple fact we won only 9 games mean we have no good players?

Never mind him..He's an idiot. He's a Bills fan..I mean Owens fan..I mean Cowboys fan..

 

[Vintage]

So what are you saying? Is this a contribution to the thread?
Do you have any opinions on the OP?

Is it possibly the team underachieved do to injuries?

Or does the simple fact we won only 9 games mean we have no good players?

Or the team underachieved... because that's what they do, year in, year out. They are quite consistent in it.

Injuries (last year) or not (the year before).

 

[Vintage]

Never mind him..He's an idiot. He's a Bills fan..I mean Owens fan..I mean Cowboys fan..

ROFL.

Except for the fact that I was on record saying I didn't care if they cut Owens/kept Owens.... before the actual cutting of Owens happened.

You are way off base. As usual.

edit: http://cowboyszone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146403&highlight=Owens

from 2/14

edit (again): I will say this. I think in terms of talent, we downgraded by cutting Owens. That can be offset if Owens truly was a distraction and holding the team back, if Austin develops, if we run the ball more, and it does save us cap space in the long run (beneficial).

 

[TheBeast]

top 5 in thier position.
Ware
Ratliff
Witten
BIGG
Newman
Gurode

Romo is a top 10 QB
Barber is a top 10 RB
Bradie is a top 10 ILB
Hamlin is a top 10 FS
Columbo is a top 10 RT

and drum roll please..................
Roy Wi11iams is a top 10 #1 reciever

Based on what exactly? He's done nothing of substance in this league to warrant a top ten position. No one game plans for Roy Williams.

Fitzgerald
Boldin
Johnson
Johnson
Moss
Smith
Owens
Wayne
White
Marshall
Jennings
Evans
Bowe
Edwards

Are all better receivers than Roy Williams.

 

[EveryoneElse]

top 5 in thier position.
Ware
Ratliff
Witten
BIGG
Newman
Gurode

Romo is a top 10 QB
Barber is a top 10 RB
Bradie is a top 10 ILB
Hamlin is a top 10 FS
Columbo is a top 10 RT

and drum roll please..................
Roy Wi11iams is a top 10 #1 reciever

You know how I feel about Bob Sanders, right?

Roy Williams is to the WR position, what Bob Sanders is to the Safety. position.

 

[adamc91115]

Romo top 5 QB
Barber top 10 RB
Witten top 5 TE
Davis top 5 RG
Gurode top 10 C

Ware top 5 LB
Ratliff top 5 NT
Newman top 10 CB

 

[SLATEmosphere]

Based on what exactly? He's done nothing of substance in this league to warrant a top ten position. No one game plans for Roy Williams.

Fitzgerald
Boldin
Johnson
Johnson
Moss
Smith
Owens
Wayne
White
Marshall
Jennings
Evans
Bowe
Edwards

Are all better receivers than Roy Williams.

I'm talking about next year..and he's 2 years removed from a 1300 yard probowl season.

 

[MCowboys]

Romo, Witten, Gurode, Davis, Ratliff, James, Ware all were last year.

Newman and Flo are both top 10 when healthy, Colombo is close.

I don't think you could really make a good case for Barber or Hamlin based on what they did last year.

 

[Future]

Talent-wise, the Cowboys have top-10 players pretty much everywhere. Working hard and putting it all together are different though.

RW is a perfect example, aren't many more talented than him but he's a sloppy route runner and has been knocked for not working hard.