DMN: The five best Dallas Cowboys offensive linemen of all time, ranked

[Irving Cowboy]

The five best Dallas Cowboys offensive linemen of all time, ranked: Larry Allen reigns; who is after him?
By SportsDayDFW.com

Editor's note: SportsDay is beginning a series that attempts to figure out the best Dallas Cowboys players at each position. Today, we examine offensive linemen.

The Dallas Cowboys' organization is one of great success and has an illustrious history. There have been some big names who have worn jerseys for America's Team.

Out of all of the offensive linemen in franchise history, who was the best? That's what our panel of writers and columnists tried to determine.

Voters each named their top eight linemen. A first-place vote counted for eight points, second place gets seven points, third place gets six points and so on.

Those who listed their top eight players include Brandon George, Kate Hairopoulos, David Moore, Jon Machota, Tim Cowlishaw, Rick Gosselin and Kevin Sherrington.

1. Larry Allen (7 first-place votes), 56 points
2. Rayfield Wright, 49 points
3. Ralph Neely, 37 points
4. Erik Williams, 35 points
5. Nate Newton, 27 points

Others receiving votes
John Niland (23 points), Mark Stepnoski (12 points), Flozell Adams (8 points), Tyron Smith (3 points) and Pat Donovan (2 points).

The rundown
George: Neely was ahead of his time as one of the premier offensive linemen in the 1960s.
Hairopoulos: The Cowboys' current offensive line, producing three Pro Bowlers the last two seasons, could soon impact this list.
Moore: Tyron Smith is poised to crack this list by the end of this season.
Machota: As good as this current offensive line is, the 1990s group is a gold standard that'll be tough to ever reach.
Cowlishaw: Ten Pro Bowl selections make Larry Allen a big man in a very small class.
Gosselin: Had Erik Williams not crashed his car in 1994, he might already be in the Hall of Fame and considered the best of all these linemen.
Sherrington: Ranking offensive linemen is the toughest of all positions, but there's no doubting Allen. Man bench pressed 700 pounds.

 

[English Cowboy]

I'm giving honorable mention to Mark Tuinei.

 

[onlyonenow]

I'm giving honorable mention to Mark Tuinei.

at his best Erik was second only to LA.

LA was the greatest offensive Lineman I ever saw play. The combination of power, mobility, speed, technique, discipline and pure nasty just put him above all others. At his peak DTs would ask their teams to put them on the injured list so they would have an excuse when LA humiliated them. Those that saw LA after his 2002 injury saw only a shell of what he once was.

Erik was the only one that I think came close to LA; and even then the gap was not small.

 

[theoneandonly]

No mention of Herb Scott and Tom Rafferty.

 

[dbair1967]

We've had a fair share of outstanding OL over the years for sure.

 

[ZeroClub]

Erik Williams was drafted in 1991. He was outstanding in '92 and all world in '93, but his accident happened in 1994.

I realize that he was all pro following his accident, but he wasn't really the same player.

I guess I'm not sold on him making the list. I'd probably rank Nate Newton over Williams.

It was a real achievement to play well despite that bad knee, so maybe he gets some credit for that.

 

[bbgun]

No mention of Herb Scott and Tom Rafferty.

that guy played forever. still wore his 1970s-style jersey well into the late 1980s. but this list is more about dominance than longevity, so he misses the cut.

 

[Irving Cowboy]

that guy played forever. still wore his 1970s-style jersey well into the late 1980s. but this list is more about dominance than longevity, so he misses the cut.

Had a face that looked like he went hunting with Dick Cheney.

 

[ZeroClub]

I've always thought that John Fitzgerald was underappreciated.

 

[dbair1967]

I've always thought that John Fitzgerald was underappreciated.

Yep, quality player for sure

 

[bbgun]

I've always thought that John Fitzgerald was underappreciated.

The irony is that he and Wright had their worst games ever in the Hail Mary game. Fitz was pulled on the last possession because his shotgun snaps were too low, and Wright was a turnstile all day. Then he got abused by LC Greenwood in SB X.

 

[Omegasupreme]

What's the over/under on the amount of posts before someone posts the Larry Allen saints LB chase down?

 

[bbgun]

 

[Omegasupreme]

Forgot about that. Even better

 

[Iamtdg]

What's the over/under on the amount of posts before someone posts the Larry Allen saints LB chase down?

I will go with 0.

[video=youtube;DFcWMC9vkZg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFcWMC9vkZg[/video]

 

[Doomsday]

That's a good video too, for people who like to say Aikman couldn't run. Not only could he run, he knew how to take angles too.

 

[TheZoneSucks]

Who the fuck voted for Flozell? Talk about over rated. That guy stunk on ice for most of his time here. Did Hostile, Reality, and Idgit comprise some of the voters for this ranking?

 

[Iamtdg]

Who the fuck voted for Flozell? Talk about over rated. That guy stunk on ice for most of his time here. Did Hostile, Reality, and Idgit comprise some of the voters for this ranking?

Flozell only looked good because he had Larry Allen next to him. All he had to do was stay the fuck out of the way.

 

[onlyonenow]

you two MORONs just showed how lousy you are at OL evaluation. The Hotel was a very good OT. Yeah too many false starts but if you had bothered to look rather then open up your big mouths first you would find that until his last couple of years when his legs gave out he was very good. Now the best could beat him but even that did not happen a lot. Certainly no HOF or ROH player, but very good. There was a reason he held down the LT for so long. Now I would also not put him in the top 5 of all time Dallas OTs but he was good.

 

[Iamtdg]

you two MORONs just showed how lousy you are at OL evaluation. The Hotel was a very good OT. Yeah too many false starts but if you had bothered to look rather then open up your big mouths first you would find that until his last couple of years when his legs gave out he was very good. Now the best could beat him but even that did not happen a lot. Certainly no HOF or ROH player, but very good. There was a reason he held down the LT for so long. Now I would also not put him in the top 5 of all time Dallas OTs but he was good.