Z.Martin has quietly become one of the all time Cowboy greats

[mattjames2010]

Erik Williams was the best of the best, T Smith does not compare imo.

Erik Williams had a couple elite seasons in the league, Tyron Smith has been a top 3-5 tackle since 2012 or 2013. Smith has had a far far far better career than Williams. Smith is a 2x first team all-pro, 2x second team all-pro, 2010s all-decade player - he will most likely be in contention for the HOF as well as Martin.

Let's not glorify every single Cowboys player from the early 90s.

 

[Jstopper]

Quenton Nelson is the gold standard....and it's not even close.

Zack has been doing it way longer than the new flavor of the month Nelson. Bad takes from you as usual

 

[mattjames2010]

LOL, looks like your history of the Cowboys began in the 90's. There are some named Neely, Wright, Tuinei, Gurode, Fitzgerald, Manders, Rafferty, Niland who were not too shabby. Not to downgrade that list of yours, but just that there were some greats even before the 90's who were as great and actually more successful. But goes to show you how great of a history the Cowboys have. That's all we got now to brag about.

The only questionable one on that list is Williams. The rest, you'd be hard to actually argue aren't the best we've had.

 

[RS12]

Erik Williams gained praise for his ability to dominate Reggie White and create running lanes for Emmitt. A strong case could be made for Rayfield Wright to be the all time starting RT as evidenced by his HOF induction. I will give Rayfield Wright the better career and Erik Williams the better three year stretch.

 

[Az Lurker]

Second best lineman in Cowboys history is pretty good when Larry Allen is probably the best in NFL history

 

[Calvin2Tony2Emmitt2Julius]

Already HOF as far a I'm concerned

 

[IceBowler]

.. with out a doubt.

 

[Fontaine]

Don’t think it’s that quiet at all. He dominates every game he plays.

 

[Runwildboys]

Not as good as Larry Allen.

Who is?

 

[buybuydandavis]

I feel he has been the constant for almost a decade. He’s been dominant. I seriously hope he can get a ring one day because it would complete a hall of fame career imo

Stays healthy he's going to the HOF.

 

[JoeKing]

Super Bowl Champ would be a great way for Zack to end his great career.

 

[JoeKing]

Who is?

Didn't someone try to sell the idea that Aaron Donald is? Boy was that dumb!

 

[Streifenkarl]

Probably my favorite Cowboy for a couple of years now. Simply because he doesn't annoy us with this "bad m*****f****r* or "golden year" crap, but instead quietly playing at top notch level ever since he got into the league. Wish this whole team would take that as an example. Shut your piehole and work your *** off. Nothing else matters.

 

[mattjames2010]

Stays healthy he's going to the HOF.

He and Smith are most likely already going to the HOF - there's not a ton of all-decade players that don't find themselves in the HOF eventually.

 

[john van brocklin]

I feel he has been the constant for almost a decade. He’s been dominant. I seriously hope he can get a ring one day because it would complete a hall of fame career imo

1000% agree.

 

[LACowboysFan1]

It's a shame we couldn't ride these great offensive lines we've had to a Super Bowl like Gibbs did with the Hogs, Jimmy did with the Great Wall and Parcells did with the Giants.
Coaching matters.

No, no, no. All that matters is having an "elite" quarterback, surely you know that.

 

[Motorola]

Quenton Nelson is the gold standard....and it's not even close.

Nelson has definitely established himself as currently one of the best -- but let's see if he keeps it up over time.
Nelson - four seasons, 64 games (reg season + playoffs)
Martin - eight seasons, 126 games (reg season + playoffs)

 

[buybuydandavis]

He and Smith are most likely already going to the HOF - there's not a ton of all-decade players that don't find themselves in the HOF eventually.

Zack is a lock. Tyron is on the edge. Probably makes it, but might not.

Pro Football reference has a HOF Monitor where they've developed a regression model to predict who makes the HOF, and who doesn't. And it seems pretty predictive, in that the higher scores are the ones who got in.

By their metrics, Zack is significantly ahead of Tyron, and with fewer years in the league.

Tyron only has 2 years as 1st team all pro. Martin has 5. More than twice what Tyron has. With 3 fewer years in the league.

The only guards ahead of Zack are recent retires not yet eligible. A few players ahead of Tyron long retired.

If Tyron had stayed healthy, he would have been a lock long ago. But I'm sure that's true of a number of players who will never make it.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/hof/hofm_G.htm

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/hof/hofm_T.htm

 

[buybuydandavis]

Nelson has definitely established himself as currently one of the best -- but let's see if he keeps it up over time.
Nelson - four seasons, 64 games (reg season + playoffs)
Martin - eight seasons, 126 games (reg season + playoffs)

Yep. Tyron was the gold standard for a while, but the injuries starting in 2017 took him down a peg. Still in the conversation at the top, but he hasn't been the gold standard (for a full season) since 2016, his last year as 1st Team All Pro.

 

[buybuydandavis]

Stays healthy he's going to the HOF.

I was wrong. Zack is already in, IMO. He'd have to put a lot of bad work on tape to possibly not make it.