Archer: Cowboys roster rank: Tony Romo at the top spot

Cowboys roster rank: Tony Romo at the top spot

By Todd Archer

IRVING, Texas -- Today marks the end of the ranking of the Dallas Cowboys' roster with their most important pieces.

This ranking is not only about the best player; importance to the roster is also a major part of it. I do not have mysterious formulas to go along with some alphabet soup abbreviations like the analytic types but I don't know how Tony Romo can't be No. 1.

If the Cowboys lose him for a number of games or the season, then their hopes take a gigantic hit. I don't know if he can play better than he did last season, when he threw 34 touchdown passes, was intercepted nine times and completed nearly 70 percent of his passes. Maybe he could avoid a game like the season-opening loss to the San Francisco 49ers (three interceptions) but he was at his best late last season.

Is he their best player? Personnel types would go with Tyron Smith and/or Dez Bryant, but I don't think there is any question Romo is the Cowboys' most important player. Take him out of the equation and the Cowboys just aren't the same. As much as the Cowboys took pressure off Romo last year with such an effective running game, he was their most valuable player and made the key plays down the stretch.

Spots 10-1:

1 -- Tony Romo

2 -- Dez Bryant

3 -- Tyron Smith

4 -- Jason Witten

5 -- Orlando Scandrick

6 -- Tyrone Crawford

7 -- Zack Martin

8 -- Travis Frederick

9 -- Sean Lee

10 -- Greg Hardy

Analysis: Hardy will miss the first four games, so the Cowboys will only have to know what life is like without him for a month. Heck, they don't know what life is like with him, but they signed him because he was the best pass rusher in free agency. They need him to make an impact. They also need Lee to return to the form he had in 2013 and overcome his second torn anterior cruciate ligament. The Cowboys unfortunately know what life is like without Lee, but desperately want to see what it is like with him and a solid supporting cast. Three of the top 10 spots go to offensive linemen, which tells you how the Cowboys have built their team. Even though he has only three career sacks, Crawford might be too low. The Cowboys would have to go to a committee to replace him as the under tackle if he gets hurt. He will be one of the biggest keys to success for the defense, as will Scandrick. You want more interceptions from him, but he can play all over the field and has a toughness to him that can permeate a defense. Witten is at No. 4 because the Cowboys would need three players to do what he can do. We have seen Romo operate at different times without an ace receiver and still thrive. A big part of that reason is Witten. He does so much for the offense that we don't know about, like helping with protection calls. Bryant and Smith are two of the best in the league at their positions. Just having Bryant on the outside should help the Cowboys' running game. Having Smith protect the blindside certainly makes Romo feel comfortable. At spots 1-10, the Cowboys should be considered one of the most talented teams in the NFL.

When did Scandrick become so overrated? No way is he better than Martin or Frederick, or probably Lee or Hardy.

I guess when he became our only even decent corner.

Chocolate Lab said:

When did Scandrick become so overrated? No way is he better than Martin or Frederick, or probably Lee or Hardy.

I guess when he became our only even decent corner.

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I think that's it. He is the only one in the secondary at average or better. He is a cubic zirconia among trash.

Crawford ranked above Martin is pretty comical as well although I don't think this is a pure BPA type of ranking, it seems that it's a ranking of "most important", and theoretically it'd be easier to mitigate losing a guy like Martin or Frederick because of the strength of the rest of the OL than it would be losing Crawford.

But yea, Martin, 1st team All-Pro as a rookie.

Let that simmer.

You're right about the most important part, though I'd always rather lose a decent player than a really good one.

And I don't even hate corners like you guys, but I had to LOL at Archer's claim that the toughness of a slot corner permeates the entire defense.

Personally, I think losing Fred would be disastrous, unless maybe it was early enough that Martin became good at it and Collins stepped right in and played great at G. Losing Tyron could cause a trainwreck also.

Scandrick was the closest thing we had to a leader defensively last year. He showed it in the Bears game and I think his determination sealed that game as much as anything.

Here is my list for most important/best Cowboys:

1 -- Tony Romo
2 -- Tyron Smith
3 -- Dez Bryant
4 -- Whoever the Hell the lead RB is
5 -- Greg Hardy
6 -- Tyrone Crawford
7 -- Sean Lee
8 -- Travis Frederick
9 -- Jason Witten
10 -- Zach Martin/The next RB

Chocolate Lab said:

You're right about the most important part, though I'd always rather lose a decent player than a really good one.

And I don't even hate corners like you guys, but I had to LOL at Archer's claim that the toughness of a slot corner permeates the entire defense.

Personally, I think losing Fred would be disastrous, unless maybe it was early enough that Martin became good at it and Collins stepped right in and played great at G. Losing Tyron could cause a trainwreck also.

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Frederick has to be our next top priority to resign, I don't give a fuck whom we have to restructure. Great Centers are a commodity that can be hard to find for a long long time and a good one can last equally long.

I wouldn't worry much about re-signing guys like Frederick, Martin and so forth. If we so choose Frederick would not be a UFA until the spring of 2018, at which point Romo (38), Witten (36) and Lee (32) will be gone or nearly gone, as well as Carr obviously. Those are 4 of the top 7 or so contracts on the team right now, and the cap will obviously go up over the next few years.

Basically, if Jerry/Stephen want to keep Frederick, and barring catastrophe they most certainly will, he isn't going anywhere. I definitely understand the desire to extend him early and potentially save money but I don't really think we'd be saving much. Rodney Hudson just got 9 a year, Frederick can obviously demand about 10 now, so we might as well just wait a few years because I doubt the salary for centers will increase to much more than 11-12 a year come 2017 or 2018.

Right now the only guys who are coming up over the next 2 years that I really prioritize re-signing are Crawford and potentially Hardy.

Picking Frederick in the 1st instead of trading into the 2nd is turning out to be a smart fucking move.