If there is any team in the NFL that understands the importance of the offensive line, it’s the Dallas Cowboys. No team has a better track record than the Cowboys when it comes to selecting offensive linemen in the first round of the draft over the past 15 years.
2022 first-round draft pick Tyler Smith looks to be Dallas’ next success story in that regard. After making his first Pro Bowl appearance and being named to the All-Pro Second Team in his second year, Smith has established himself as one of the game’s elite guards. He’ll look to pile on the Pro Bowl and All-Pro accolades and move up the list of the Cowboys’ greatest offensive linemen.
The offensive line is a difficult position to rank because there are no counting statistics that apply to most positions. Today’s linemen have the benefit of advanced metrics like pressure rate, sacks allowed, block grades and QB hits that weren’t available until just after the turn of the century.
So, we’ll compare the careers of the most decorated blockers in Cowboys history. All-Pro nominations, Pro Bowls and Super Bowl wins will all be taken into consideration, but we’re not just blindly ranking who has the most accolades.
Frederick’s career was unfortunately cut short by Guillain-Barré syndrome, a neurological disorder that causes nerve damage and muscle weakness. Frederick missed the entire 2018 season due to the illness, but recovered well enough to play in the Pro Bowl in 2019 before retiring that offseason.
Frederick was a first-round draft pick out of the University of Wisconsin in 2013. Though he only played six seasons, he is the best center in Cowboys history, making four straight Pro Bowls from 2014 to 2016 and earning three straight All-Pro selections from 2014 to 2016.
Adams was drafted by the Cowboys in 1998 after the dynasty had ended. But there’s no doubt that Adams had the talent and tenacity to be worthy of the “Great Wall of Dallas.” A second-round pick, Adams started an unprecedented 16 games in 11 of his 12 seasons with the Cowboys. His exceptional durability led to Adams appearing in 182 games, ranking him 15th in team history.
Adams wasn’t selected to the Pro Bowl until his sixth season, but he did make five Pro Bowl appearances over a six-year span from 2003 to 2008. Although the Cowboys struggled to win many games after the dynasty ended, Adams brought stability to the left tackle position for over a decade.
One of the centerpieces of Tom Landry’s Cowboys, Neely played at right tackle and left tackle during his 13-year career. A lifelong Cowboy, Neely was named to the NFL’s All-Rookie Team in 1965. Though he was only selected to the Pro Bowl twice, he was named All-Pro four times. He was named First Team All-Pro three consecutive seasons from 1967-69.
Neely was on both of Landry’s Super Bowl winning teams and was selected to the 1960s All-Decade Team. He is not inducted into the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor or the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The “what if” questions are tricky for Williams, as he was seriously injured in a car accident in 1994 and missed the remainder of the season. Williams was coming off a season in which he was named All-Pro at right tackle in 1993. He regained his starting spot in 1995 and, against the odds, was named to the All-Pro team again in 1996.
In 1992, Williams became the Cowboys’ first ever NFC Offensive Player of the Year after holding the unblockable Reggie White without a sack in a win over the Eagles.
Williams played in 133 games over 10 seasons with Dallas, was selected to four Pro Bowls and was a key contributor to three Super Bowl wins in the ’90s. If not for his injuries, he may have gone down as the best lineman in Cowboys history, but his career was more than good enough to earn him a top 10 finish.
Niland, Rayfield Wright and Ralph Neely formed one of the league’s most potent offensive lines during the 1960s and 1970s. Arguably the second-best left guard in Cowboys history behind the late Larry Allen, Niland was selected to six consecutive Pro Bowls from 1968-73, a dominating career that also included three First Team All-Pro nominations in 1969, 1971 and 1972.
Niland played a key role in Dallas’ first Super Bowl in 1971. He is one of four offensive linemen in franchise history to make six Pro Bowl appearances.
Smith is arguably the best left tackle of his generation. When discussing the best left tackles of the 2010s, only Trent Williams ranks alongside Smith. He went to seven consecutive Pro Bowls from 2013-2019 and was a four-time All-Pro nominee (twice to the first team).
In that span alone, Smith may have been a failure in Canton. Unfortunately, injuries have ruined Smith’s last four seasons, but he turned the clock back in 2023 and was named a second-team All-Pro. Over the last decade, he has allowed the second-lowest pressure rate in true pass sets. It’s no surprise that Smith is a member of the 2010s All-Decade team.
It’s unfortunate that Smith never got to play for the Cowboys in his lifetime and win a Super Bowl with Dallas, but it’s only a matter of time before he gets a ring of honor and a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Newton was a key part of the Cowboys’ offensive line for 11 seasons from the mid-1980s through the 1990s, earning his first Pro Bowl selection during his sixth season in 1992, the first of Dallas’ three Super Bowl wins in the ’90s.
Newton was selected to the Pro Bowl five consecutive years from 1992-1996, including one in 1998. He was named First-Team All-Pro in 1994 and 1996. Only three players — Larry Allen, Zack Martin and Tyron Smith — have more Pro Bowl appearances than Newton’s six. Newton played 13 seasons with Dallas and was the Cowboys’ most unfairly left out of the Hall of Fame after Jimmy Johnson was inducted last season.
Martin is one of the best blocking guards in NFL history. That’s it. There are plenty of statistics and accolades that show Martin’s dominance at left guard, but here’s one that stands out: Prior to the 2023 season, Martin had received as many holding penalties (7) as he had Pro Bowl appearances.
Martin, 33, was named first-team All-Pro as a rookie and finished second in Offensive Rookie of the Year voting. He has been named first-team All-Pro in seven of his 10 seasons, with the only season he wasn’t named second-team All-Pro coming in 2020 when he missed six games due to injury.
Since he stepped into the league, Martin has been a top-five offensive lineman regardless of position he’s played in. Guards aren’t as highly rated as tackles, but Martin is just as talented as the Cowboys’ OL.
One of the unheralded stars of the Tom Landry era, Wright was actually drafted as a tight end and moved to right tackle before his third season in 1969. By 1971, Wright had established himself as one of the game’s top tackles.
Wright played in five Super Bowls, winning two, as the Cowboys’ starting right tackle. He was selected to six consecutive Pro Bowls from 1971-1976, during which he was named First Team All-Pro three times. A member of the NFL All-Decade Team of the ’70s, Wright was inducted into the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor in 2004 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.
Allen died in June at age 52 while vacationing with his family in Mexico. The flood of tributes, while jarring, was a reminder of just how good a player Allen was: He’s widely regarded as one of the best offensive linemen in NFL history, and maybe the best player the Cowboys ever played, regardless of position.
One of the best second-round picks of all time, Allen was an All-Pro selection at three positions: left guard, left tackle and right guard.
Allen anchored the Cowboys offensive line for 12 seasons during which he was named to the Pro Bowl 10 times and the All-Pro team seven times, won a Super Bowl in 1995 and was named to an unprecedented two NFL All-Decade teams in the 1990s and 2000s, as well as to the Centennial Team.
Rank
player
Years with the Cowboys
game start
1.
Tom Rafferty
1976 to 1989
182
2.
Nate Newton
1986 to 1998
180
3.
Floselle Adams
1998 to 2009
178
Four.
Larry Allen
1994 to 2005
170
Five.
Ralph Neely
1965 to 1977
168
6.
Tyron Smith
2011 to 2023
161
7.
Zack Martin
2014 to present
152
8.
Mark Thuney
1983 to 1997
147
9.
Andre Grodet
2002 to 2010
122
Ten.
Herbert Scott
1975 to 1984
114
