Name a former Dallas Cowboy player you believe is the most underrated

[Motorola]

Eugene Lockhart was a good linebacker on some bad teams

"Mean Gene, the hitting machine" - he was a VERY GOOD linebacker on some bad teams.
Lockhart was the best player on those mid-to-late 1980s diminishing Cowboys teams under those last seasons coached by Landry.
He really should be under consideration for ROH status IMO.

 

[krs1bro]

James Washington and Preston Pearson

 

[leeblair]

Kellen Moore.

And it's cost the Cowboys dearly.

 

[xwalker]

He was never the same after that brutal car wreck

Yes, not close to his pre-wreck self; however, after the wreck he made All-Pro 2 times and the Pro Bowl 3 times.
- 60% of the 92/93 version of Erik Williams was still better than most players...

 

[xwalker]

Lee Roy Jordan who belongs in the Hall of Fame. And Erik Williams who is not mentioned enough outside of Dallas Cowboys fans.

Erik Williams:
In this 1st year as a full time starter (2nd season), he received offensive player of the week honors for shutting down this guy:

2× NFL Defensive Player of the Year (1987, 1998) 3× UPI NFC Defensive Player of the Year (1987, 1991, 1995) USFL Man of the Year (1985) 8× First-team All-Pro (1986–1991, 1995, 1998) First-team All-USFL (1985) 5× Second-team All-Pro (1992–1994, 1996, 1997) 13× Pro Bowl (1986–1998) 2× NFL sacks leader (1987, 1988) NFL 1980s All-Decade Team NFL 1990s All-Decade Team NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team Bart Starr Award (1992) Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame Philadelphia Eagles 75th Anniversary Team Philadelphia Eagles No. 92 retired Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame Green Bay Packers No. 92 retired Unanimous All-American (1983) SEC Player of the Year (1983) First-team All-SEC (1983) Tennessee Volunteers No. 92 retired NFL records Most consecutive seasons as sacks leader: 2 (tied)[a] Most consecutive seasons with 10+ sacks: 9 Most seasons with 15+ sacks: 5
Total tackles: 1,111 Sacks: 198 Forced fumbles: 33 Fumble recoveries: 20 Interceptions: 39 Defensive touchdowns: 2
.
Pro Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame

 

[SHAMSzy]

Tony Romo
Darren Woodson
Marion Barber
Anthony Spencer
Dak Prescott

 

[Elusiv1]

Dexter Coakley and Bill Bates

 

[DallasMike]

It's a toss-up between Everson Walls and Harvey Martin but I am going with Harvey. Oddly, his name is barely mentioned among some of the all-time greats. I read his profile about 12 years ago and had no idea how he was.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Martin

My first thought was Everson Walls.

 

[Cowboy2525]

Dan Reeves

 

[StuckMojo]

I honestly think a lot of NFL talking heads and even some Cowboys’ fans underrate how great Emmitt Smith was as a RB.

 

[exciter]

He played through injuries his last year in Dallas and gave up several big plays.

Dallas let him go.

Then he went on to have a whole other career after Dallas.

He was also like 25 or 26 when he came into the NFL and had a long career.

Meniscus!
Think it was more than just the injury. He was a zone corner and they were wanting to move to a predominantly man scheme I think!

 

[Motorola]

I honestly think a lot of NFL talking heads and even some Cowboys’ fans underrate how great Emmitt Smith was as a RB.

I feel it's not that he is underrated by NFL pundits / sports media; to me the matter in question that always comes up among fans is who was the better running back.
The ongoing, most mentioned (at times contentious) debate over the last few decades regarding that topic is Emmitt versus Barry.

Just like when I was growing up in the 1960's, seems like the one comparison that came up most of the time was Mantle vs. Mays.
(RIP "Say Hey Kid".)

 

[doomsday808]

Butch Johnson and Charlie Waters.

 

[jsb357]

Jay Novacek

this is the correct answer....

 

[kskboys]

"Mean Gene, the hitting machine" - he was a VERY GOOD linebacker on some bad teams.
Lockhart was the best player on those mid-to-late 1980s diminishing Cowboys teams under those last seasons coached by Landry.
He really should be under consideration for ROH status IMO.

I think Eugene was a borderline HOFer.

 

[Cowboys5217]

Everyone except the offensive linemen of the best dynasty ever - the 1992-1995 Cowboys. Aikman, Smith, Irvin - none of them get the respect they deserve and earned, even from some Cowboys fans.

They were the strongest team ever. They would beat any other team from any other era two out of three times, and likely blow them out in at least one of them.

They dominated the strongest era of the NFL. In their own division they had to overcome the two most recent SB champions.

Outside their division they had to deal with the team of the 1980s 49ers who were themselves only a few season removed from back to back SBs and were still a top 3 roster.

They also had to deal with the only team to win four consecutive conference titles in the SB twice in the Bills.

Emmitt racked up career records that not only still stand, but are safe for the rest of our lives. There is nobody active that is going to match his career rushing yards or rushing TDs records.

Aikman was one of the greatest playoff QBs ever. Top 5 as far as results go.

And yet all we ever hear about them is how they weren't that great. They never get their proper rankings as a team or as players. Everything gets attributed to the offensive line which didn't play defense nor had any HoF other than Larry Allen who came to the team after they had already won back to back SBs.

 

[KJJ]

Troy Aikman

Hard to call a Hall of Fame player underrated. However, he doesn’t receive the love some QBs have because he didn’t put up big numbers and the Cowboys offenses under him revolved around Emmitt Smith, and their running game. He certainly wasn’t the most underrated Cowboys player. It’s hard to come up with one player who clearly was, but it wasn’t Aikman.

 

[RoboQB]

Amari Cooper

 

[khiladi]

Kevin Smith pre-injury was elite. After injury, the refs targeted him for a lot of BS calls, especially with Sanders on the other side.

 

[khiladi]

Kevin Smith pre injury was pretty special. Imagine a healthy Kevin & Deion together.

First guy I thought of when I saw this post. He used to give Jerry Rice the business.