Who is your biggest surprise player so far this season?

[Stash]

We've got a bunch of really solid contributors this year, when a lot of us (not all) were expecting a significant drop off.

Just curious who have been your biggest pleasant surprises?

While I've been a fan of Tony Pollard, and we've seen what he can do, he's really broken out this season. I think we all wondered how much of a heavier load he could actually handle, and boy has he answered the call.

I think he's got to be my pick, with honorable mentions going to terrence steele and dorrance armstrong.

Tyler Smith.

I didn’t think he’d be ready to play LT as a rookie, and the young man has been INCREDIBLE!

 

[SoBlue128]

For me it’s Rush, I thought the season was over once Dak went down.

 

[jaybird]

We've got a bunch of really solid contributors this year, when a lot of us (not all) were expecting a significant drop off.

Just curious who have been your biggest pleasant surprises?

While I've been a fan of Tony Pollard, and we've seen what he can do, he's really broken out this season. I think we all wondered how much of a heavier load he could actually handle, and boy has he answered the call.

I think he's got to be my pick, with honorable mentions going to terrence steele and dorrance armstrong.

for me a toss up between Bland and Smith

 

[xwalker]

We've got a bunch of really solid contributors this year, when a lot of us (not all) were expecting a significant drop off.

Just curious who have been your biggest pleasant surprises?

While I've been a fan of Tony Pollard, and we've seen what he can do, he's really broken out this season. I think we all wondered how much of a heavier load he could actually handle, and boy has he answered the call.

I think he's got to be my pick, with honorable mentions going to terrence steele and dorrance armstrong.

I am going to go with Smith. Tough spot for him taking over at LT with the other Smith went down. This is after playing a lot of guard early. I know he had talent, penalty prone and from a smaller school like Tulsa but darn he has been impressive. Very hard to do what he is doing. I will also say McGovern. He was lousy up to this season but he has really come into his own.

Good question!

• NOT Surprised:
  • Tyler Smith: I expected him to be good. He was my favorite player in the entire 2022 draft.
  • Pollard: He had already proven his ability.
  • Steele: I said last season that he was better than La'el then.
  • Armstrong: He has been good in previous seasons in limited snaps. I didn't expect this many sacks from him but not too surprised by it.
  • Noah Brown: I've always been a fan of his style of play.

 

[Zman5]

Considering they didn't even have Rush on the initial 53 roster and Maher wasn't even brought in until after they found out the rest of the kickers sucked, they are the two biggest surprises for me.

 

[Reid1boys]

Obvious Rush is the EASY choice. Lets see how this Niner Rookie does for the rest of the regular season.

After that, its Bland. Guy was a longshot to even make the team, and he has come up pretty big everytime he has gotten some extended playing time.

 

[UncleRico]

We've got a bunch of really solid contributors this year, when a lot of us (not all) were expecting a significant drop off.

Just curious who have been your biggest pleasant surprises?

While I've been a fan of Tony Pollard, and we've seen what he can do, he's really broken out this season. I think we all wondered how much of a heavier load he could actually handle, and boy has he answered the call.

I think he's got to be my pick, with honorable mentions going to terrence steele and dorrance armstrong.

I’ll say it, LVE. He has had a really good year so far. Of course, having Micah on the field and next to him helps free him up some but nonetheless he has been really solid.

there’s other too: Donovan Wilson, Tyler Smith, Dorance Armstrong

 

[quickccc]

1.Sam Williams
2 Brett Maurer
3.Damone Clark
4 Terrence Steele
5 Cooper Rush

Honorable Mention: Dorace Armstrong, Daron Bland, Tyler Smith, Noah Brown, Hendershot

- i didn't expect inexperience rookie Williams to flash this consistent, even if its' nickel rush role
- SMH when we started with him, a totally different and much better FG guy vs last experience here.
- Clarke went from expected " red shirt " to playing major snaps- and has look good doing so.
- Rush only lost one game filling in, and I had him cut and replaced by Wil Grier by summer's end.
- Steele very consistent vs his rookie year where he allowed sack every game.

 

[Proof]

• NOT Surprised:
  • Tyler Smith: I expected him to be good. He was my favorite player in the entire 2022 draft.
  • Pollard: He had already proven his ability.
  • Steele: I said last season that he was better than La'el then.
  • Armstrong: He has been good in previous seasons in limited snaps. I didn't expect this many sacks from him but not too surprised by it.
  • Noah Brown: I've always been a fan of his style of play.

Damn, favorite player in the draft??? That's some excellent (not surprising) scouting. I remember you were high on him, but didn't know to that extent. Bravo.

And I can't believe I forgot Noah. It's a real testament to this team how nearly every player has been named so far lol

 

[diamonddelts]

Surprised no leaked pics of Jerry with escorts this year.

 

[Staubacher]

Whoever the latest long snapper is. He came in off the couch and has delivered

 

[Runwildboys]

Surprised no leaked pics of Jerry with escorts this year.

Escorts have gotten much more careful.

 

[Manster68]

Folks, just reading through this thread at all the great responses tells me that the 2022 Dallas Cowboys is going to be a very special team. Every spring I keep telling folks how fans want all of their draft picks to be instant superstars. Every year, no team comes remotely close to that. The offseason that looked like a nightmare for the Cowboys has turned out to be an incredible surprise. Praise goes all the way around from the front office, to player personnel, to coaches, and to the players themselves. The Dallas Cowboys, in early December, are 9-3 and considered one of the best in the league. Congratulations.

A couple of things to keep in mind.
1. Most of the time it takes several years for offensive linemen to blossom. Go back and look at great linemen of the past like Andre Gurode and Mark Tuenei. Now you see Tyler Biadiaz and Connor McGovern turning the corner - and Terrance Steele one of the best run blocking tackles in the game, dominating.

2. The tight end group doesn't have a player like Travis Kelce. What they do have is a quartet that compliment each other beautifully. Even after drafting Ferguson in the 4th round, the tight ends coach was pleading for Peyton Hendershot with one of the 5th round picks. How he didn't get selected in the later rounds became Dallas' gain.

3. Have you ever seen the NFL Films production titled Crunch Course? It came out in the mid 80s. In there, you can hear Bill Parcells saying, "If they don't bite as puppies, they usually are not going to bite." The puppies on the 2022 Cowboys are biting! In fact, one puppy from 2019 has grown into a junk yard dog named Donovan Wilson.

So picking one who you are the most impressed with, as seen on the previous posts in this thread, is like going up to a Vegas buffet table and enamoring a fat man's paradise.

 

[CowboyRoy]

We've got a bunch of really solid contributors this year, when a lot of us (not all) were expecting a significant drop off.

Just curious who have been your biggest pleasant surprises?

While I've been a fan of Tony Pollard, and we've seen what he can do, he's really broken out this season. I think we all wondered how much of a heavier load he could actually handle, and boy has he answered the call.

I think he's got to be my pick, with honorable mentions going to terrence steele and dorrance armstrong.

I’ll go with Rush.

never expected him to win all those games and play well.

 

[JayFord]

Tyler Smith

this guy comes in and plays a Franchise position at a high level and is killing it

 

[CT Dal Fan]

I could make arguments for any of the following:

1. Cooper Rush
2. Brett Maher
3. DaRon Bland
4. Tyler Smith
5. Peyton Hendershot
6. KaVontae Turpin

 

[Ren]

everyone on the OL what looked like a disaster on paper has turned into a strength

 

[OGCowboy]

Both rookie TE...to have TWO rookie TEs come in and give this team the quality snaps they’ve given is almost unheard of.
Not like they were top picks
TE position looks solid as a rock for years to come

 

[plasticman]

Happily, there are many.

Just off the top of my head....

Maher
Bland
Clark
Wilson
Ferguson
Rush

Choosing a finalist is probably the hardest task for a Cowboys fan than any other team's fans. That's a good thing.

 

[starfrombirth]

The great part is that there is no obvious answer. We had so many questions coming into this year and even more after Tyron and then Dak went down. We had lost Gregory (no big loss in my opinion), Amari, and Cedrick who everyone wondered about. Our o-line was atrocious last year and looked to be even worse this year. Oh no! ... we have no kicker or returner??? Bring on Maher (who almost no one thought was a good move) and Turpin. And how about our rookie class?? Tyler Smith, Sam Williams, DaRon Bland, Damone Clark (really? ). How about Donovan Wilson and Malik Hooker and Jayron Kearse? So many questions... and so many answers. It doesn't come together this quickly most of the time, so my hat's off to the front office and scouting department. Wonderful job this year!