News: USAToday: Cowboys 2010s All-Decade Team and Top 50 players

[NewsBot]

The Dallas Cowboys have one of the most storied traditions and histories in all of football, though that legacy has been tested a bit in the last 25 years of existence. With Monday’s announcement of the NFL’s All-Decade team for the 2010s, and with the inclusion of Tyron Smith and Zack Martin, recent history is at the forefront of all conversation around the league.

What better way to further the conversation than to name the All-Cowboys, All-Decade team from the previous 10 seasons?

Using a tweaked version of our proprietary formula used for last year’s Top 100 Cowboys of all time, we dissected players from the last decade to see who would man each position.

The rules? A player had to play at least two seasons in a Cowboys uniform between 2010 and 2019. Only their time with the Cowboys would count. We considered overall performance, longevity, health, peak and positional importance in ranking 60 players.

We then filled out the first and second teams from there based on positional fit. Following the teams, scroll through to see the individual rankings based on play since 2010.

CowboysWire’s
2010s Cowboys All-Decade Team

FIRST TEAM​

Position​

SECOND TEAM
Dak Prescott​

Quarterback​

Tony Romo
Ezekiel Elliott​

RB1​

Felix Jones
Demarco Murray​

RB2​

Lance Dunbar
Jason Witten​

TE​

James Hanna
Dez Bryant​

WR1​

Cole Beasley
Miles Austin​

WR2​

Terrance Williams
Amari Cooper​

WR3​

Michael Gallup
Tyron Smith​

OT1​

La’el Collins
Doug Free​

OT2​

Jermey Parnell
Zack Martin​

OG1​

Ron Leary
Kyle Kosier​

OG2​

Mackenzy Bernadeau
Travis Frederick​

C​

L.P. Ladouceur
DeMarcus Ware​

Edge1​

Tyrone Crawford
DeMarcus Lawrence​

Edge2​

Anthony Spencer
Jay Ratliff​

IDL1​

Jason Hatcher
Maliek Collins​

IDL2​

Nick Hayden
Sean Lee​

LB1​

Jaylon Smith
Leighton Vander Esch​

LB2​

Bradie James
Byron Jones​

CB1​

Chidobe Awuzie
Brandon Carr​

CB2​

Morris Claiborne
Orlando Scandrick​

CB3/LB3​

Anthony Hitchens
Jeff Heath​

S1​

Gerald Sensabaugh
Barry Church​

S2​

Xavier Woods
Dan Bailey​

K​

Kai Forbath
Chris Jones​

P​

Mat McBriar​

The biggest gripe likely belongs to Cole Beasley. The formula used is based off of Pro Football Reference’s Approximate Value metric, and they never appreciated Beasley’s value as both Romo’s and Prescott’s security blanket.

When looking over the list, especially in the Top 40 rankings to follow, it is obvious how lackluster play has been in the defensive secondary over the past decade. Only two secondary players made the Top 20, and only three made the Top 30. Likewise, there was only one interior defensive lineman in the Top 20.

Top 50 Players of the Last Decade​

Continue reading...