Top 5 Most Underrated Cowboys of Last 5 Seasons

[The Fonz]

I know many will laugh at that, but I agree that Jeff Heath was better than too many folks around here acknowledge.

so was Lynn Scott

 

[xwalker]

I'm referring more to the last year he was here, they just couldn't put it together.

His last season in Dallas was 2018.

His top 2 years in Dallas with regards to receptions and catch percentage were 2016 and 2018, both with Dak as the QB.

 

[xwalker]

Collins was basically 1st round talent we received because of his alleged off field discretions. . Not sure how he’s been under rated. If anything over rated.

Gallup has been our starting #2 reciever. Again not under rated. Great 3rd round pick.

Jarwin going to be our starting TE this season. How is that under rated?

And Brown has been a steal for a 6th round pick . Not sure how’s he’s under rated?

Im confused by this thread.

Underrated by fans.

There are hundreds of posts claiming Brown sucks and that Lewis is the next best thing to Prime Deion Sanders..

 

[xwalker]

I thought Hitchens was overpaid, and he was, but he is a very good player and a key part of a very good D.

Nobody is overpaid if they started for the Super Bowl winner...

 

[xwalker]

Definitely La’el Collins.

Jourdan Lewis is underrated by the coaches and media, but not us fans. It’s sickening how this kid doesn’t get his playing time. He’s going to be on another team in 2021 and absolutely crushing it as a slot corner. I think he’s our most talented/versatile DB.

Lewis was terrible in 2019.

499 bad plays and then 1 INT causes fans to crown him as the 2nd coming of Deion.

The best comedy was how fans crowned him as super-duper-awesome because he "shut down" Kamara in 2018.
- In reality he only played 8 snaps in that game.

During his rookie season (2017) he and Brown both played about 800 snaps. Brown had 2 INTs and Lewis had 1.

 

[Kwyn]

Third on the team in passes defensed, 6th on the team in tackles (only 16 less than Awuzie, who played 2 more games). So Woods was worse, but Heath is gone, so Woods will take his place, wow that's great, replace one bad player with a worse one...

I think we may be seeing the phasing out of th traditional strong safety in Dallas for awhile. We’ve all heard about it for years and their reluctance to draft or sign strong safeties is obvious. We’ll see the Chido move to safety, assuming these rookies can play. Iloka said that’s Chido had already talked about it with him.

we seem to be moving to a heavy coverage nickel and dime package.
I hope our linebackers are ready and have their wheels on cause they are gonna be chasing down runners like crazy

 

[xwalker]

Heath knew what to do, but due to physical limitations he all too often couldn't do it.

Physical limitations? He as faster and bigger than many NFL starting Safeties.

He has a 6.88 3-cone which is better than many CBs.

4.48 forty and 1.59 10-yard split are good for a Safety.

 

[InTheZone]

Heath for sure

 

[Ranched]

Crawford, Lewis & Brown

Lewis was terrible in 2019.

Lewis actually suffered due to simply not fitting Richard’s prototype for what he wants at cornerback in his system. I feel as though players decline on performance simply because of coaching.

 

[HellCrowe]

I don’t underrate LP. He has one job and he does his job great! He just goes unnoticed just like every LS on other teams. No ones ever traded for one either lol. Do they even make the pro bowl? It’s ok. Love LP. Definitely need to start finding his replacement though.

 

[xwalker]

I think we may be seeing the phasing out of th traditional strong safety in Dallas for awhile. We’ve all heard about it for years and their reluctance to draft or sign strong safeties is obvious. We’ll see the Chido move to safety, assuming these rookies can play. Iloka said that’s Chido had already talked about it with him.

we seem to be moving to a heavy coverage nickel and dime package.
I hope our linebackers are ready and have their wheels on cause they are gonna be chasing down runners like crazy

Nolan has played a base 2-deep Safety alignment.

Both Safeties are deeper than an in the box SS but not as deep as a single-high FS.

The Safety responsibilities in Nolan's 2-deep scheme are basically right/left instead of short for the SS and deep for the FS.

Each Safety has the ability to move up towards the line based on the offensive alignment on his side of the the field.
- One advantage is less movement of defenders when offensive player motion from one side to the other pre-snap.
- Another advantage is that there is less need for size at SS which allows for both Safeties to be good coverage players.
- It is also good for roster management because both Safeties can be similar physically.
- It also makes it a bit easier to use a big CB at Safety. Their keys are just half the field which is similar to a CBs thought process.
- The downside is that it's 7 men in the box on many snaps. The front 7 needs to be good in run defense.
- It puts a bit of an extra emphasis on the Nickel CB to play run defense because he is up near the line with the Safeties back.

 

[xwalker]

Crawford, Lewis & Brown
Lewis actually suffered due to simply not fitting Richard’s prototype for what he wants at cornerback in his system. I feel as though players decline on performance simply because of coaching.

Brown was only 1 inch taller and 4 pounds heavier than Lewis (based on pre-draft weights).

The decision to play Brown over Lewis was not really about size.

Brown is faster and Brown was better at getting off blocks which is a big issue for Nickel CBs that are up right at the end of the DL.

I had hoped that Lewis would push for more playing time but he got extended playing time in 2019 and failed miserably. His run defense was horrible.
- He played over 70% of the snaps in 8 games in 2019.
- His job in run defense was just to slow down the RB as the initial force defender that needs to force the RB to cut to one side and slow his momentum.
- Lewis repeated failed in that task in 2019.

 

[xwalker]

If someone wants to call Heath an NFL starting S that's fine, but he isnt one on a team that ought to expect to be any good.

Heath started looking ok because dudes like Woods and Thompson were worse.

There was a huge drop-off in the games that Heath missed in 2019.

Of the 5 games that the Cowboys allowed the most points, Heath missed 3 of them.

Of the 5 games that the Cowboys allowed the most rushing yards, Heath missed 3 of them.

 

[fivetwos]

There was a huge drop-off in the games that Heath missed in 2019.

Of the 5 games that the Cowboys allowed the most points, Heath missed 3 of them.

Of the 5 games that the Cowboys allowed the most rushing yards, Heath missed 3 of them.

Sure, he was better than his backups.

Proper respect, but that doesnt mean he was any good.

He played on all those coverage teams that stunk too.

He got better as he went along, but he continued the getting faked out of his shoes routine along with some seriously curious angles to the ball.

He wont be missed.

 

[fivetwos]

....and speaking of the dropoff last year when Heath was out....I recall and acknowledge that.

One of the guys I'm seriously hoping steps up his game is Donovan Wilson.

I do not want Thompson anywhere near the final 55.

 

[Diehardblues]

Many, many fans are underrating them. There were still some complaining about Lael during the season last year, not realizing he has now become a top 10 ORT.

I get it . These players are under rated by fans who are clueless. lol

 

[mattjames2010]

I don't think any of these guys are underrated. If we are going by forum opinion, I think Tyron Smith has gotten way too much criticism on this board recently.

 

[StarBoyz83]

Jeff Heath ....

Heath was a terrible safety until last season but he always tried and had heart unlike jaylon and dlaw.

 

[Kwyn]

Heath was a terrible safety until last season but he always tried and had heart unlike jaylon and dlaw.

Define "heart" in either a statistical or even subjective way. I'm really curious.

 

[StarBoyz83]

Define "heart" in either a statistical or even subjective way. I'm really curious.

Not giving up on plays is a good one.

I dont see the fire in dlaw and jaylon they had before they got paid.