MikeWest502 wrote:Just my thoughts but I think you missed some special very talented players!
First I'll start with Dan Reeves #30. He was a monster in the 60's era teams. You can replace Zek Elliot there. The starters imo would be Calvin Hill & Dan Reeves! In that Pro Set/Near/Far backfield we talked about! Tony Dorsett was way better and more dynamic than E.Smith!
Don Meredith should be #3 QB behind #2 Aikman and #1 Staubach! Romo is over rated and shouldn't be on the list period! I think you're wasting space with 6 QBs! Only the top 3 should be on the team!
I did read that it was Iron Mike Ditka who was a beast TE, was the guy who recommended to Landry to go with the Shotgun formation. Novacek or Dupree can be replaced. But Ditka should be the starter.
Bullet Bob Hayes is the best WR the Cowboys ever had, not the cocaine addict Michael Erving. And Golden Richards could easily replace Tony Hill. And T.O should easily replace Dez Bryant! Bryant & Hill should be practice squad guys!
On defense there is this LB that went by the name Hollywood Henderson. I'm shocked he's not on the team! He was a LB returning punts in the SB!
At CB, Walls should be over Sanders, Deion couldn't tackle anyone including my grandma!
I don't see how Deion Sanders is the starting punt returner over Bob Hayes! Or Cliff Harris beats Hayes out as the starting KR! How on earth is Terrance Newman or Sean Lee considered to be on this team?
1. Dan Reeves had less of an impact than a lot of players, and Elliott is already on pace to pass up Hill in overall production soon. Likely this season. Reeves was very good, and will absolutely be on my 1960s decade team, but he was only a full time starter for two seasons. A few RBs were ahead of Reeves, notably Don Perkins, as well as FB Walt Garrison. Calvin Hill almost made the cut, but again, Elliott has had better production on a per-season basis than Hill, and will pass him up in most stats he hasn't already this season provided he's healthy. Hill had two or three amazing seasons, but that was pretty much it.
2. Romo is statistically the best QB in Dallas history in almost every category. Meredith was great, but he was outperformed in most metrics by all of the QBs I listed above him, except only one metric, which was Pro-Football-Reference Approximate Value per season as a starter. In that metric, he actually beat out Troy Aikman of all people. The only reason Romo is third on my depth chart is because Aikman and Staubach are Hall of Famers. Though... let's be fair, he'd never beat out Staubach in a million years. If you think "Dallas Cowboys", you think "Roger Staubach." As for having 6 QBs... honestly, I did that because there just weren't really enough players that I would consider for those 14 PS spots, so all of the top remaining QBs were added. Plus White can punt haha.
3. Mike Ditka only started in Dallas for a single season. Outside of that he was a backup for three years. He was not even slightly in consideration. In fact, TE had the least competition of all. Witten is easily #1, and no other tight end came close to topping Novacek or DuPree too. Only one who I would have ever considered would have been Frank Clarke, but he was more productive as a WR. And he did make the PS. Doug Cosbie was decent, but he never reached any of the highs that Witten did, and for Novacek and DuPree... I guess Cosbie could give them a run for their money, but DuPree was a stand out blocker at TE and Novacek was a key component on three Super Bowl teams. Ditka had a huge impact on the team, but not as a player.
4. Michael Irvin is, without question, the best WR in Dallas history. Statistically, he was an absolute monster. And don't judge him for his character. He has since changed his life, and also you must keep in mind that half of the team was on something in the 1990s haha. Especially when Switzer came in and just let them run wild. I actually almost had Drew Pearson above Bob Hayes on the depth chart, but upon reviewing their production, and considering how drastically Hayes changed the game, I had to list him as a starter. But he's not above Irvin. As for Richards, he didn't really ever do much. He was a decent #2 but nothing more, and is easily surpassed by every WR on my list. His career high in yards in a season was just 467. I know passing was not as big a deal back then, but still, he was overshadowed by Pearson in every way. Decent player, but not all-time material. All-decade maybe. Not all-time. For Owens... his three years in Dallas were really impressive and he was great, but again... longevity is something I value, and Owens didn't have that with Dallas. Had he been on the team more than three years, he easily would have made it, but at the same time, had those three years not been so good, he wouldn't even be considered for the PS. Though I will say there are versions of this team that had him on it.
5. Hollywood was definitely good, and his story of dealing with his addictions and how Tom Landry saved him is frankly awe-inspiring, but again... no longevity. He was only a starter for three season, and only two of them were great seasons. I love the guy and his story, but he doesn't make the cut.
6. I originally had Walls over Sanders, but Sanders was SO dominant in his five seasons, I had to put him in the slot. No one dared throw his way. But I don't disagree that Walls was great. On another day he may even be #3, but for now I gave it to Sanders. His job wasn't to tackle, but to shut down receivers, and he did that better than anyone at the time. And I put Sanders as the punt returner because he is tied for the most punt return touchdowns in team history and has the best punt return average of anyone on this team. As for Harris as a kick returner, he has the second highest kick return average of anyone on this team. No touchdowns though.
7. Newman is on the team because, frankly, I wanted a 5th cornerback and no one else was close in any of the metrics I looked at. Outside of the top four, Dallas doesn't have a hugely impressive history of cornerbacks. Even Mel Renfro arguably had his best seasons as a free safety. Newman was a solid contributor for a long time, made a few Pro Bowls, and never got burned too bad until he was older. His last year or so was hard to watch, sure, but he's still their fifth best corner I think. As for Lee, Lee has had a lot of injuries, but his performance in seasons when he started at least half of the team's games was absolutely dominating, especially in 2016. His impressive skill when healthy, combined with there not being all that many great inside linebackers, got him a spot. He came out well above Bradie James and Eugene Lockhart, who were the other inside linebackers I considered. Plus Lee has played all three linebacker positions, which is something James and Lockhart can't say, and he's at least been decent at all of them. I guess Jerry Tubbs could go there, but I think Lee had a much greater impact on his seasons than Tubbs did.
Hopefully those responses helped illuminate my decision making a bit.