'He's Still The Best': How High Do Experts Rank Dallas Cowboys Tyron Smith?
FRISCO - He's still got it.
Tyron Smith, one of the handful of finest offensive tackles of his generation, is according to one critic, "Old and injured.''
And yet that same critic, in pitching in to ESPN's survey of more than 50 league executives, coaches, scouts and players to rank the top 10 players at each position, considers the Dallas Cowboys standout "still the best.''
Smith, 31, was ranked ninth in this same survey a year ago. Now the All-Pro left tackle jumps up to the No. 5 spot, largely because unlike the previous year, he was healthy enough to help.
“Smith spent 2021 reminding us all what happens when he’s healthy: Defenders get thrown around,” ESPN's Jeremy Fowler wrote. “In 11 games played, Smith posted the highest Pro Football Focus rating of his career at 91.9, and his 78.3% run block win rate was No. 7 among tackles. He’s known to have two of the heaviest hands in the modern NFL, which helps for clubbing pass-rushers off the play.”
All of that is familiar stuff to Cowboys fans who are meanwhile troubled by the fact that Smith last played a full NFL season in 2015.
“I know he’s old and injured, but I don’t care,” said an NFL coordinator who voted him No. 1. “He’s still the best. … Athleticism and strength accented by vet savvy and toughness.”
Smith, who has said he'll play "until the wheels fall off,'' will now be dealing with the big-brother'ing of an heir, with Dallas having used a first-round pick on Tyler Smith this spring. But for now? Tyron is affordable (his $12.2 million per year salary ranks 25th among tackles) and is a force in protecting QB Dak Prescott and in helping lead a Dallas offense that in 2021 was ranked top-four in most categories.
The handful of players ranking above Smith: the Chargers' Rashawn Slater was fourth, Green Bay’s David Bakhtiari was third, Tampa Bay’s Tristan Wirfs was second and San Francisco’s Trent Williams came in first. Oh and La'el Collins, cut by Dallas this offseason, ranked 10th in the survey.
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