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- Apr 7, 2013
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- 120,189
By Jon Machota 35m ago
A couple of weeks ago, I was thinking about the Cowboys’ current depth chart when, for no great reason, my thoughts turned to who would be in the starting lineup if every player in franchise history was in their prime. I compiled a list and tweeted it out. Of course, there were some disagreements.
Reading through the names of players some believe I should have included, I decided to take it a step further and construct an entire 53-man roster. There will be disagreements with this group as well. That’s fine. I look forward to reading the comments at the bottom of this post.
One thing is pretty clear, though: This all-time team would stack up well against any other franchise’s best-ever 53-man roster.
Quarterbacks (3): There will be those who believe Don Meredith, Danny White or maybe even Dak Prescott deserves some consideration. Heck, I could probably have saved a roster spot by making White my third QB and punter. Oh, well. There’s no debating the first two.
Roger Staubach
Troy Aikman
Tony Romo
Running backs (5): How could I possibly leave off Daryl “Moose” Johnston? What about Walt Garrison? The top two are among the greatest the game has ever seen. The next three give the group a lot of versatility. Don Perkins is the only fullback in the Ring of Honor. Calvin Hill made four Pro Bowls in six seasons in Dallas. The Cowboys won two NFC championship games and a Super Bowl during that time. In four seasons, Ezekiel Elliott has won two rushing titles, been to three Pro Bowls and put himself only 812 yards behind Perkins for third place on the franchise’s all-time rushing yards list.
Emmitt Smith
Tony Dorsett
Don Perkins
Calvin Hill
Ezekiel Elliott
Wide receivers (5): The first four spots were relatively easy to finalize. The final one came down to Tony Hill and Terrell Owens. Hill never had a three-year statistical run like Owens did during his time in Dallas. But Hill, a three-time Pro Bowler, is third on the franchise’s all-time receiving yards list. He was Dallas’ top receiver for eight of his 10 NFL seasons.
Michael Irvin
Drew Pearson
Bob Hayes
Dez Bryant
Tony Hill
Tight ends (3): It came down to Doug Cosbie and Billy Joe DuPree for the final spot. Each went to three Pro Bowls. Cosbie had more receiving yards. DuPree had more touchdowns. The difference came down to the playoffs. In 11 postseason games, Cosbie caught 22 passes for 243 yards and three touchdowns. In 22 postseason games, DuPree caught 39 passes for 447 yards and four touchdowns.
Jason Witten
Jay Novacek
Billy Joe DuPree
Offensive line (10): There were a lot of tough decisions here to get this list down to 10. These four were the most difficult to leave off: Pat Donovan, Flozell Adams, Tom Raferty and Mark Tuinei. All of them have a case to be on the roster, but which of the 10 in this ridiculously loaded group would you leave off?
Larry Allen, OG
Rayfield Wright, OT
Zack Martin, OG
Tyron Smith, OT
Travis Frederick, C
Erik Williams, OT
Nate Newton, OG
Ralph Neely, OT
John Niland, OG
Mark Stepnoski, C
Special teams (4): Rafael Septien vs. Dan Bailey was the toughest call. Each went to one Pro Bowl. Bailey was more accurate, converting 186 of his 211 field goal attempts (88 percent). Septien converted 162 of 226 (72 percent). Bill Bates was included here instead of with the defensive backs because special teams is where he made his greatest impact. He was the first player to make the Pro Bowl for his special-teams contributions.
Dan Bailey, K
Mat McBriar, P
L.P. Ladouceur, LS
Bill Bates
Defensive line (9): Similar to the offensive line, it wasn’t easy trimming this group down to only nine. Larry Cole, Jim Jeffcoat, Tony Tolbert, La’Roi Glover and others deserve some consideration. But not over these nine. DeMarcus Lawrence has a chance to be in the conversation with a couple more standout years.
Bob Lilly, DT
Randy White, DT
DeMarcus Ware, DE
Ed “Too Tall” Jones, DE
Charles Haley, DE
Harvey Martin, DE
George Andrie, DE
Jethro Pugh, DT
Leon Lett, DT
Linebackers (5): There might be too much recency bias with this group. Dave Edwards, D.D. Lewis and Bob Breunig are all deserving. There’s no arguing with the top two, but the next three spots are highly debatable. Dexter Coakley was a three-time Pro Bowler. Ken Norton Jr. was one of the faces of the 1990s Cowboys defenses. Hollywood Henderson was a significant part of the 1977 Super Bowl team. Norton Jr. and Henderson each made one Pro Bowl while in Dallas.
Chuck Howley
Lee Roy Jordan
Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson
Dexter Coakley
Ken Norton Jr.
Defensive backs (9): Michael Downs and Dennis Thurman were both in consideration. But the final group is a good mix of corners and safeties that played from the 1960s to as recent as 2011. The total ended up coming out to 26 on offense and 24 on defense (with Bates), making for a pretty balanced group on both sides of the ball.
Mel Renfro, CB
Darren Woodson, S
Cliff Harris, S
Deion Sanders, CB
Cornell Green, CB
Everson Walls, CB
Charlie Waters, S
Terence Newman, CB
Roy Williams, S
A couple of weeks ago, I was thinking about the Cowboys’ current depth chart when, for no great reason, my thoughts turned to who would be in the starting lineup if every player in franchise history was in their prime. I compiled a list and tweeted it out. Of course, there were some disagreements.
Reading through the names of players some believe I should have included, I decided to take it a step further and construct an entire 53-man roster. There will be disagreements with this group as well. That’s fine. I look forward to reading the comments at the bottom of this post.
One thing is pretty clear, though: This all-time team would stack up well against any other franchise’s best-ever 53-man roster.
Quarterbacks (3): There will be those who believe Don Meredith, Danny White or maybe even Dak Prescott deserves some consideration. Heck, I could probably have saved a roster spot by making White my third QB and punter. Oh, well. There’s no debating the first two.
Roger Staubach
Troy Aikman
Tony Romo
Running backs (5): How could I possibly leave off Daryl “Moose” Johnston? What about Walt Garrison? The top two are among the greatest the game has ever seen. The next three give the group a lot of versatility. Don Perkins is the only fullback in the Ring of Honor. Calvin Hill made four Pro Bowls in six seasons in Dallas. The Cowboys won two NFC championship games and a Super Bowl during that time. In four seasons, Ezekiel Elliott has won two rushing titles, been to three Pro Bowls and put himself only 812 yards behind Perkins for third place on the franchise’s all-time rushing yards list.
Emmitt Smith
Tony Dorsett
Don Perkins
Calvin Hill
Ezekiel Elliott
Wide receivers (5): The first four spots were relatively easy to finalize. The final one came down to Tony Hill and Terrell Owens. Hill never had a three-year statistical run like Owens did during his time in Dallas. But Hill, a three-time Pro Bowler, is third on the franchise’s all-time receiving yards list. He was Dallas’ top receiver for eight of his 10 NFL seasons.
Michael Irvin
Drew Pearson
Bob Hayes
Dez Bryant
Tony Hill
Tight ends (3): It came down to Doug Cosbie and Billy Joe DuPree for the final spot. Each went to three Pro Bowls. Cosbie had more receiving yards. DuPree had more touchdowns. The difference came down to the playoffs. In 11 postseason games, Cosbie caught 22 passes for 243 yards and three touchdowns. In 22 postseason games, DuPree caught 39 passes for 447 yards and four touchdowns.
Jason Witten
Jay Novacek
Billy Joe DuPree
Offensive line (10): There were a lot of tough decisions here to get this list down to 10. These four were the most difficult to leave off: Pat Donovan, Flozell Adams, Tom Raferty and Mark Tuinei. All of them have a case to be on the roster, but which of the 10 in this ridiculously loaded group would you leave off?
Larry Allen, OG
Rayfield Wright, OT
Zack Martin, OG
Tyron Smith, OT
Travis Frederick, C
Erik Williams, OT
Nate Newton, OG
Ralph Neely, OT
John Niland, OG
Mark Stepnoski, C
Special teams (4): Rafael Septien vs. Dan Bailey was the toughest call. Each went to one Pro Bowl. Bailey was more accurate, converting 186 of his 211 field goal attempts (88 percent). Septien converted 162 of 226 (72 percent). Bill Bates was included here instead of with the defensive backs because special teams is where he made his greatest impact. He was the first player to make the Pro Bowl for his special-teams contributions.
Dan Bailey, K
Mat McBriar, P
L.P. Ladouceur, LS
Bill Bates
Defensive line (9): Similar to the offensive line, it wasn’t easy trimming this group down to only nine. Larry Cole, Jim Jeffcoat, Tony Tolbert, La’Roi Glover and others deserve some consideration. But not over these nine. DeMarcus Lawrence has a chance to be in the conversation with a couple more standout years.
Bob Lilly, DT
Randy White, DT
DeMarcus Ware, DE
Ed “Too Tall” Jones, DE
Charles Haley, DE
Harvey Martin, DE
George Andrie, DE
Jethro Pugh, DT
Leon Lett, DT
Linebackers (5): There might be too much recency bias with this group. Dave Edwards, D.D. Lewis and Bob Breunig are all deserving. There’s no arguing with the top two, but the next three spots are highly debatable. Dexter Coakley was a three-time Pro Bowler. Ken Norton Jr. was one of the faces of the 1990s Cowboys defenses. Hollywood Henderson was a significant part of the 1977 Super Bowl team. Norton Jr. and Henderson each made one Pro Bowl while in Dallas.
Chuck Howley
Lee Roy Jordan
Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson
Dexter Coakley
Ken Norton Jr.
Defensive backs (9): Michael Downs and Dennis Thurman were both in consideration. But the final group is a good mix of corners and safeties that played from the 1960s to as recent as 2011. The total ended up coming out to 26 on offense and 24 on defense (with Bates), making for a pretty balanced group on both sides of the ball.
Mel Renfro, CB
Darren Woodson, S
Cliff Harris, S
Deion Sanders, CB
Cornell Green, CB
Everson Walls, CB
Charlie Waters, S
Terence Newman, CB
Roy Williams, S
