While Pro Football Focus’ methodology seems to always be under scrutiny when it comes to the peripheral positions like wide receiver and cornerback (just ask Cowboys CB Trevon Diggs), their work in evaluating the trenches seems to be well regarded. As they revealed their top 50 players heading into the 2022 season, Dallas’ stalwarts along the offensive line got the respect they deserve.
Left tackle Tyron Smith returned to his status as one of the game’s best after a lost 2020 season due to injury. Checking in at No. 41, Smith was the first of three Cowboys who PFF feels are among the best players in the league. The second was second-year phenom Micah Parsons, checking in at No. 29. The Cowboys’ offensive line gets their second inclusion, as right guard Zack Martin finds himself among the top-10 players in the league, checking in at No. 9.
9. G ZACK MARTIN, DALLAS COWBOYS
Martin may be the most underrated player in the NFL. He accrued a career-best 93.9 PFF grade last season, posting six separate PFF game grades above 90.0 during the season. He allowed 19 pressures on 688 pass-blocking snaps and has seen his performance improve in each of the past three years.
Imagine being widely considered the best guard in the game in 2019 and then be assessed as getting better each season as you age into your 30s.
Martin was drafted at No. 16 in the 2014 draft and has spent the better part of the last decade forging a path towards the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Following last season’s work, he now is a seven-time Pro Bowler and a five-time First-Team All-Pro to go along with two Second-Teams. He appears to be just a few more years away from cementing his place on a second NFL All-Decade team after being included in the 2010 team with just six seasons to choose from.
There is certainly renewed competition across the league as Quentin Nelson and Joel Bitonio have emerged as contemporaries of Martin, but no one does it as consistently or quite like the former Notre Dame tackle.
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