Vrentas NFL Power Rankings: Did the Cowboys Make The Top 10?
FRISCO - As Jenny Vrentas points out in her latest SI NFL Power Rankings, we plow ahead working on the assumption - OK, maybe "hope'' - that in 2020 we'll even have something beyond rankings. You know, the actual football games, which in the end, come up with thei own ranking system, called "Wins and Losses.''
But for now? Vrentas' rankings feature a very natural pick as the No. 1 team; when you are the defending Super Bowl champs and your roster hasn't been pillaged by free agency, you sit up top. That's where she has the Kansas City Chiefs.
Jenny also digs into the Tom Brady influence on the stature of two teams. Does his departure from New England sink the Patriots? Does his arrival in Tampa Bay buoy the Bucs?
And then, most important to Cowboys Nation: What of the Dallas Cowboys, for so long now seemingly on the cusp of greatness - or, at least, the cusp of goodness?
Vrentas has Dallas just outside of the top 10. She writes:
Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott and Amari Cooper are all still Cowboys, albeit at a steep price. Travis Frederick was not a member of the present-day Cowboy triplets, but the retirement of the All-Pro center will certainly affect the triplets’ ability to do their jobs. The resources spent on offense meant key losses on defense like cornerback Byron Jones and defensive end Robert Quinn.
We can certainly argue that the "steep price'' on Dak will likely end up being very cap-friendly, that Dallas is as equipped as possible given the circumstances at center, and that the D-line beef up makes the 2020 group look superior to its predecessor.
But ... all of the top-10 Cowboys points are valid enough, all enough to place Dallas at No. 11 on her list, and all just a tad bothersome because there is an NFC East foe ranked a tad higher than the Cowboys. Read Jenny's rankings here.
