Ranking an incredibly talented roster

[erod]

This is one helluva talented roster right now. Even a lot of the backups are damn good players. Many of the best players are 25 or younger. Probably only 3-4 spots on the roster even available. Great job by the personnel department.

So, let's play a game.

I'm going to rank the starters from best to least best (plus a few more guys that will see a lot of time). I'm going to assume everybody is fully healthy (Lee and Cobb), and some guys will be low just because they are young or just got here. No kickers, punters, specialty guys, or Randy Gregory.

And we're off......

1. Zack Martin - 2nd best Cowboys guard all time behind Larry Allen
2. Zeke Elliott - the heart and hammer of the offense
3. Tyron Smith - still as good as it gets even at 90%
4. Travis Frederick - hoping he's fully recovered to his former incredible self soon
5. Demarcus Lawrence - will handle the contract well
6. Amari Cooper - silky smooth routes are a pleasure to behold
7. Leighton Vander Esch - crazy athleticism and shadowed Lee all offseason
8. Chidobe Awuzie - finished strong last year and about to break out as our best corner
9. Jaylon Smith - if his lateral quickness would return, he could rocket to top five
10. Sean Lee - still the smartest dude on the team
11. Byron Jones - I need to see more, not totally buying it, but last year was good
12. Robert Quinn - bigger acquisition than we realize, will love being here
13. Jason Witten -will look the same steady guy as he did 3 years ago
14. Tyrone Crawford -way underappreciated, good football player
15. Anthony Brown - one of the steadiest players on the team
16. Maliek Collins - dominant at times when his foot is healthy
17. Dak Prescott - biggest year of his career, gotta make the WR corp fast and dynamic with Moore
18. Joe Looney - this is a tremendous backup and a good locker room guy
19. Randall Cobb - like Miles Austin, can he keep his legs together?
20. Jourdan Lewis - talented, but freelances too much
21. La'el Collins - fairly solid, but not as advertised out of college
22. Dorance Armstrong -will become more impactful this year with an offseason
23. Michael Gallup -could go way up the chart, but need to see it
24. Antuan Woods - love this guy, but he tailed off at the end
25. Jeff Heath - better than given credit for, but Iloka looms
26. Xavier Woods - could break out if he prepared to fend off Iloka
27. Connor Williams - will rise when he gets to RT eventually
28. Trysten Hill -who knows, but they're counting on him to get his head on right and play
29. Blake Jarwin - intriguing player late, the coaches love him
30. Taco Charlton - Dude.....

And there are still solid and intriguing guys like Frazier, Pollard, Covington, Thomas, Sua-Filo, Schultz and these track star rookie receivers on the team.

Some really good, promising players are about to get cut. That's a good sign.

 

[ClappingCarrot]

I keep telling you guys not to sleep on Tony Pollard.

Could be our own version of Tarik Cohen.

 

[Hennessy_King]

This is one helluva talented roster right now. Even a lot of the backups are damn good players. Many of the best players are 25 or younger. Probably only 3-4 spots on the roster even available. Great job by the personnel department.

So, let's play a game.

I'm going to rank the starters from best to least best (plus a few more guys that will see a lot of time). I'm going to assume everybody is fully healthy (Lee and Cobb), and some guys will be low just because they are young or just got here. No kickers, punters, specialty guys, or Randy Gregory.

And we're off......

1. Zack Martin - 2nd best Cowboys guard all time behind Larry Allen
2. Zeke Elliott - the heart and hammer of the offense
3. Tyron Smith - still as good as it gets even at 90%
4. Travis Frederick - hoping he's fully recovered to his former incredible self soon
5. Demarcus Lawrence - will handle the contract well
6. Amari Cooper - silky smooth routes are a pleasure to behold
7. Leighton Vander Esch - crazy athleticism and shadowed Lee all offseason
8. Chidobe Awuzie - finished strong last year and about to break out as our best corner
9. Jaylon Smith - if his lateral quickness would return, he could rocket to top five
10. Sean Lee - still the smartest dude on the team
11. Byron Jones - I need to see more, not totally buying it, but last year was good
12. Robert Quinn - bigger acquisition than we realize, will love being here
13. Jason Witten -will look the same steady guy as he did 3 years ago
14. Tyrone Crawford -way underappreciated, good football player
15. Anthony Brown - one of the steadiest players on the team
16. Maliek Collins - dominant at times when his foot is healthy
17. Dak Prescott - biggest year of his career, gotta make the WR corp fast and dynamic with Moore
18. Joe Looney - this is a tremendous backup and a good locker room guy
19. Randall Cobb - like Miles Austin, can he keep his legs together?
20. Jourdan Lewis - talented, but freelances too much
21. La'el Collins - fairly solid, but not as advertised out of college
22. Dorance Armstrong -will become more impactful this year with an offseason
23. Michael Gallup -could go way up the chart, but need to see it
24. Antuan Woods - love this guy, but he tailed off at the end
25. Jeff Heath - better than given credit for, but Iloka looms
26. Xavier Woods - could break out if he prepared to fend off Iloka
27. Connor Williams - will rise when he gets to RT eventually
28. Trysten Hill -who knows, but they're counting on him to get his head on right and play
29. Blake Jarwin - intriguing player late, the coaches love him
30. Taco Charlton - Dude.....

And there are still solid and intriguing guys like Frazier, Pollard, Covington, Thomas, Sua-Filo, Schultz and these track star rookie receivers on the team.

Some really good, promising players are about to get cut. That's a good sign.

You're rankings of Witten, Ty Craw, and Dak are all I need to know lol. And they ban me for my posts.

 

[CouchCoach]

It is a very good roster, one of the top 8 in the NFL...…...on paper. It is a playoff worthy roster. Maybe even a NFCCG or SB roster.

And we have seen how good some of these players are on the field as well so it's just not about on paper; however, is it a true team? A true team will be the whole is greater than the parts, like in NE, LA, NO but in the past this has been a parts are greater than the whole kind of team.

The ingredients are there for a 5 Star dish, the question remains is this the chef to pull all of that together? Is that kitchen filled with enough support with the saucier, sous and pastry chefs to make the head chef better? Are the line cooks good enough to bring all of the ingredients together into one fine dining experience?

Some will say that they're giving this chef prime filet mignon and he can only make burgers. And his restaurant isn't one where you can have it your way, it only comes as prepared.

I do believe this team will go as far as the team defense can take them. Against NO, they showed what a real team D should look like but then against IND and LAR, they fell apart and the parts could not come together to make the whole.

And to further complicate this, the same head chef made burgers the first half of the season and Chateaubriand the last half. For dessert, we were served Baked Alaska followed by rotten fruit.

This head chef is known for coaxing all of the flavor out of a single ingredient but bringing that together into a 5 Star dish, not yet.

 

[erod]

You're rankings of Witten, Ty Craw, and Dak are all I need to know lol. And they ban me for my posts.

Yeah, but you are the classic stereotypical Cowboys fan. You just mimic what your emotions tell you. It's OK, there are literaly hundreds of thousands of you.

 

[G2]

You're rankings of Witten, Ty Craw, and Dak are all I need to know lol. And they ban me for my posts.

What, no gathers?

 

[charron]

We have a lot of guys that could step up and that's what we need to know. Who do they keep, who steps up, who gets hurt etc.

 

[GenoT]

Just be thankful that Jason Garrett’s still our head coach. Otherwise, we might underachieve.

 

[Stash]

This is one helluva talented roster right now. Even a lot of the backups are damn good players. Many of the best players are 25 or younger. Probably only 3-4 spots on the roster even available. Great job by the personnel department.

So, let's play a game.

I'm going to rank the starters from best to least best (plus a few more guys that will see a lot of time). I'm going to assume everybody is fully healthy (Lee and Cobb), and some guys will be low just because they are young or just got here. No kickers, punters, specialty guys, or Randy Gregory.

And we're off......

1. Zack Martin - 2nd best Cowboys guard all time behind Larry Allen
2. Zeke Elliott - the heart and hammer of the offense
3. Tyron Smith - still as good as it gets even at 90%
4. Travis Frederick - hoping he's fully recovered to his former incredible self soon
5. Demarcus Lawrence - will handle the contract well
6. Amari Cooper - silky smooth routes are a pleasure to behold
7. Leighton Vander Esch - crazy athleticism and shadowed Lee all offseason
8. Chidobe Awuzie - finished strong last year and about to break out as our best corner
9. Jaylon Smith - if his lateral quickness would return, he could rocket to top five
10. Sean Lee - still the smartest dude on the team
11. Byron Jones - I need to see more, not totally buying it, but last year was good
12. Robert Quinn - bigger acquisition than we realize, will love being here
13. Jason Witten -will look the same steady guy as he did 3 years ago
14. Tyrone Crawford -way underappreciated, good football player
15. Anthony Brown - one of the steadiest players on the team
16. Maliek Collins - dominant at times when his foot is healthy
17. Dak Prescott - biggest year of his career, gotta make the WR corp fast and dynamic with Moore
18. Joe Looney - this is a tremendous backup and a good locker room guy
19. Randall Cobb - like Miles Austin, can he keep his legs together?
20. Jourdan Lewis - talented, but freelances too much
21. La'el Collins - fairly solid, but not as advertised out of college
22. Dorance Armstrong -will become more impactful this year with an offseason
23. Michael Gallup -could go way up the chart, but need to see it
24. Antuan Woods - love this guy, but he tailed off at the end
25. Jeff Heath - better than given credit for, but Iloka looms
26. Xavier Woods - could break out if he prepared to fend off Iloka
27. Connor Williams - will rise when he gets to RT eventually
28. Trysten Hill -who knows, but they're counting on him to get his head on right and play
29. Blake Jarwin - intriguing player late, the coaches love him
30. Taco Charlton - Dude.....

And there are still solid and intriguing guys like Frazier, Pollard, Covington, Thomas, Sua-Filo, Schultz and these track star rookie receivers on the team.

Some really good, promising players are about to get cut. That's a good sign.

I disagree with a lot of it, but I very much appreciate your efforts and think it's a fine conversation starter. And something like that is definitely welcome at this slow news time of year.

 

[McKDaddy]

Is Zach the best? These last two seasons haven't been all world. Certainly still very good but I need to see him rag doll'ing folks again to say he's the best player on the team.

Can you really put anyone but Zeke and maybe DLaw in the running for best as of today? With another good year Cooper, Byron & the LB'ers could be in the mix.

Tyron is not #3 at this stage of his career.

Nice effort to put the list together & try to come up with an interesting topic. Agree with the premise that there is a lot of talent but can't really get on board with the rankings.

 

[Stash]

It is a very good roster, one of the top 8 in the NFL...…...on paper. It is a playoff worthy roster. Maybe even a NFCCG or SB roster.

And we have seen how good some of these players are on the field as well so it's just not about on paper; however, is it a true team? A true team will be the whole is greater than the parts, like in NE, LA, NO but in the past this has been a parts are greater than the whole kind of team.

The ingredients are there for a 5 Star dish, the question remains is this the chef to pull all of that together? Is that kitchen filled with enough support with the saucier, sous and pastry chefs to make the head chef better? Are the line cooks good enough to bring all of the ingredients together into one fine dining experience?

Some will say that they're giving this chef prime filet mignon and he can only make burgers. And his restaurant isn't one where you can have it your way, it only comes as prepared.

I do believe this team will go as far as the team defense can take them. Against NO, they showed what a real team D should look like but then against IND and LAR, they fell apart and the parts could not come together to make the whole.

And to further complicate this, the same head chef made burgers the first half of the season and Chateaubriand the last half. For dessert, we were served Baked Alaska followed by rotten fruit.

This head chef is known for coaxing all of the flavor out of a single ingredient but bringing that together into a 5 Star dish, not yet.

Thanks for making me hungry!

 

[Stash]

Yeah, but you are the classic stereotypical Cowboys fan. You just mimic what your emotions tell you. It's OK, there are literaly hundreds of thousands of you.

And you are?

 

[Stash]

Is Zach the best? These last two seasons haven't been all world. Certainly still very good but I need to see him rag doll'ing folks again to say he's the best player on the team.

In terms of overall body of work, I think his spot is deserved. But I agree that Martin wasn't quite his usual dominant self last year and wonder how much the knee issue affected him? He wasn't impressive against Suh in that playoff game for sure.

Can you really put anyone but Zeke and maybe DLaw in the running for best as of today? With another good year Cooper, Byron & the LB'ers could be in the mix.

Tyron is not #3 at this stage of his career.

Nice effort to put the list together & try to come up with an interesting topic. Agree with the premise that there is a lot of talent but can't really get on board with the rankings.

I also take issue with much of the rankings while applauding the thread topic and the obvious work involved.

 

[CouchCoach]

I disagree with a lot of it, but I very much appreciate your efforts and think it's a fine conversation starter. And something like that is definitely welcome at this slow news time of year.

Plus, it's positive. That's what I don't like about not winning the SB, the malaise is all about the last loss. I can remember spending at least 6 months roasting Patrick Crayton for that drop in the playoff game against the Giants. And to make it worse, they went on to win the SB and some like to replace them with us as if we'd do the same thing the team that beat us did. There is some solace in losing to the SB winner and we got doubly happy as we lost to both participants.

 

[Hennessy_King]

Yeah, but you are the classic stereotypical Cowboys fan. You just mimic what your emotions tell you. It's OK, there are literaly hundreds of thousands of you.

I'm the cowboys fan used to winning. Something this team hasn't done in a long time

 

[Einstein]

I was on a different website where they talked about what current player in the NFL could be the best ever at his position some day and my first thought was Martin. Weird thing is I'm not even sure he is our best OG all time yet, but I think he has the potential to be. And putting him first on this list I agree with... now some of the others, maybe not, lol...

 

[Hennessy_King]

What, no gathers?

he's on your list I thought?

 

[Diehardblues]

It is a very good roster, one of the top 8 in the NFL...…...on paper. It is a playoff worthy roster. Maybe even a NFCCG or SB roster.

And we have seen how good some of these players are on the field as well so it's just not about on paper; however, is it a true team? A true team will be the whole is greater than the parts, like in NE, LA, NO but in the past this has been a parts are greater than the whole kind of team.

The ingredients are there for a 5 Star dish, the question remains is this the chef to pull all of that together? Is that kitchen filled with enough support with the saucier, sous and pastry chefs to make the head chef better? Are the line cooks good enough to bring all of the ingredients together into one fine dining experience?

Some will say that they're giving this chef prime filet mignon and he can only make burgers. And his restaurant isn't one where you can have it your way, it only comes as prepared.

I do believe this team will go as far as the team defense can take them. Against NO, they showed what a real team D should look like but then against IND and LAR, they fell apart and the parts could not come together to make the whole.

And to further complicate this, the same head chef made burgers the first half of the season and Chateaubriand the last half. For dessert, we were served Baked Alaska followed by rotten fruit.

This head chef is known for coaxing all of the flavor out of a single ingredient but bringing that together into a 5 Star dish, not yet.

Are there any other teams in NFL that are near as talented with playoff potential and biggest question mark their coaching?

 

[G2]

he's on your list I thought?

Of practice squad filler.

 

[Diehardblues]

How many teams are playing for championships without a #1 defense, Elite QB and or a top 10 offense?