Rank our top 5 players thus far

[AsthmaField]

I'm not sure exactly who the top 5 are... but I've been invaluable as a fan.

 

[17yearsandcounting]

Carr is the one you're thinking of there

I will agree and add him to my list
Lee
Hacher
Dez
Romo
Carr

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

1. hatcher
2. dez
3. free (eating crow)
4. church
5. scandrick

I agree with this except i'd switch out Free for Tyron.

 

[percyhoward]

1. Romo
2. Dez
3. Ware
4. Tyron
5. Hatcher

This is the best list. I left Ware off mine probably because I'm disappointed in the defense and I took it out on him. (As I suspect some people are doing with Romo and the offense).

 

[jobberone]

This is the best list. I left Ware off mine probably because I'm disappointed in the defense and I took it out on him. (As I suspect some people are doing with Romo and the offense).

I put Ware and Selvie up together but I'm a tad disappointed in Ware and more so worried about his health.

 

[gimmesix]

This is the best list. I left Ware off mine probably because I'm disappointed in the defense and I took it out on him. (As I suspect some people are doing with Romo and the offense).

I'm not sure that Tyron has been better than Free, though, although the fact that we can make an argument for either (or both) in the top five makes me feel good.

I didn't think Ware played well last week, but that's probably because he's held to lofty standards. I think Church deserves a spot instead, but after the secondary got picked apart last week, it's also hard to reward any of our DBs right now.

I do have to give an honorable mention to George Selvie, too.

 

[percyhoward]

I put Ware and Selvie up together but I'm a tad disappointed in Ware and more so worried about his health.

I'm not sure that Tyron has been better than Free, though, although the fact that we can make an argument for either (or both) in the top five makes me feel good.

I didn't think Ware played well last week, but that's probably because he's held to lofty standards. I think Church deserves a spot instead, but after the secondary got picked apart last week, it's also hard to reward any of our DBs right now.

I do have to give an honorable mention to George Selvie, too.

Expectations have a lot to do with it, yes. Selvie's one of the top 5 biggest surprises.

Free gets help often, and Smith never does. We could withstand the loss of Free, but we'd be in big trouble without Tyron.

 

[Tabascocat]

The lack of love for Selvie is concerning. W/O him, do we win the Giants game? W/O him, did we even have a chance against KC? He has been the 2nd best player on the D-line behind Hatcher. If he didn't step up, no telling how this team fared in the past or fares in the future. Through the first four games, Ware is not in the top 5 IMO.

 

[Tuomas]

1. Hatcher
2. Church
3. Bryant
4. Free
5. Romo

 

[jobberone]

Expectations have a lot to do with it, yes. Selvie's one of the top 5 biggest surprises.

Free gets help often, and Smith never does. We could withstand the loss of Free, but we'd be in big trouble without Tyron.

I don't know PH. I thought Parnell was going to replace Free eventually this year and we'd have a solid swing tackle/3rd tackle. Right now I don't know about Parnell and Weems isn't ready to play IMO. So I've been worried since TC about the state of affairs at tackle. Hopefully Smith and Free stay healthy and on the field.

Today Free is the top ranked T in the league. He's given up 6 pressures and Smith is #21 and has given up 10 pressures. I don't have the breakdown of our offensive formations right now so I don't know about a tight Y on the right more than left. We are running left more. Free grades out better than Smith in the run as well but not a lot. I'm happy with both of them right now.

 

[percyhoward]

II'm happy with both of them right now.

As am I. Free has been better than expected, and the entire OL has improved. But imagine Free trying to protect Romo's blind side against the elite pass rushers, basically by himself. And like you said, not only do we prefer to run left (42% of the time, and the league average is 24%), we actually favor the left side over the right to a greater degree than any other team. A combination of Free/Parnell at the tackles affects how we run the ball, and changes the dynamics of how we pass protect, whereas a combo of Tyron/Parnell doesn't change either very much.

 

[starfrombirth]

I'm not sure that Tyron has been better than Free, though, although the fact that we can make an argument for either (or both) in the top five makes me feel good.

I didn't think Ware played well last week, but that's probably because he's held to lofty standards. I think Church deserves a spot instead, but after the secondary got picked apart last week, it's also hard to reward any of our DBs right now.

I do have to give an honorable mention to George Selvie, too.

Ware was non-existant against a backup. Not even pressure. That's ridiculous and only adds fuel to people saying he doesn't show up when we need him. No, I would not put him in my top 5 this year.

Hatcher
Church
Carr
Romo
TFred

 

[Stinger_Splash]

4. Tony Romo (He's doing his best Peyton Manning-lite impression, is it strange that I miss his Favreisms?)


* = http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol

LOL. What games have you been watching? More like his Alex Smith impression.

 

[Oh_Canada]

Hatcher
Free
Tyron
Dez
Church

 

[RS12]

Disregarding importance of position so primarily by talent/production.

1. Sean Lee (This guy is everywhere, absolute stud)
2. Dez Bryant (He's only on track for 1,128 yards, yet no one is mentioning that because he has been producing despite double coverage, a minimal running game and subpar performance in the passing game outside of him)
3. DeMarcus Ware (I expect him to reclaim #1 by the end of the season)
4. Tony Romo (He's doing his best Peyton Manning-lite impression, is it strange that I miss his Favreisms?)
5. Tyron Smith (I was debating between Smith & Frederick. It's close but I have to give the edge to Smith. Who would've predicted we'd have the 7th best offensive line in the NFL*?)


* = http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol

Lee hasnt been bad but he hasnt been the best player on the squad either.

 

[Phoenix]

1. Chris Jones
2. LP
3. Ware
4. Tyron
5. Dez

 

[Toruk_Makto]

Hmmmmm interesting, including Doug Free. I kind of like that, but at the same time I'm not sure I completely agree he's in the top 5.

I do think he's certainly the most improved player from last year; dudes pulled a complete 180 so far, but I think it's tough to put him ahead of Carr, Church, or even Murray. Or Lee for that matter. Still, a good list.

What's a little frustrating is that 4 of our top 5 players imo are on offense....and the unit has still struggled.

 

[XxTDxX]

Dez, Hatcher, Carr, Free, Scandrick.

 

[jobberone]

As am I. Free has been better than expected, and the entire OL has improved. But imagine Free trying to protect Romo's blind side against the elite pass rushers, basically by himself. And like you said, not only do we prefer to run left (42% of the time, and the league average is 24%), we actually favor the left side over the right to a greater degree than any other team. A combination of Free/Parnell at the tackles affects how we run the ball, and changes the dynamics of how we pass protect, whereas a combo of Tyron/Parnell doesn't change either very much.

I'm thinking they are running over the left due to success but also the combo of Fred, Bernie and Free are not on the same level as Fred, Learhy, and Smith. I think they just have more confidence with the left and not all due to yards. I believe that Fred, Waters and Free will help balance that issue. And it is an issue as we don't want teams scheming that left side. I just haven't seen the coaches film other than cursory and I'm wondering what we're doing with our ZBSs and running to daylight. Have you looked at this?

I've been away from home for awhile and I don't have my bookmarks for stats on this computer. I can get the run snaps over each OL but I can't remember where to look for our formations on each play. I'd like to look at the 12 and 13 as well as what side the Y is when tight as well as power run blocking vs ZBS runs. I'm not sure where to look for the latter especially.

 

[Clove]

Dez
Hatcher
Church
Romo
Free/Tyron