It’s better to have a top position corps than a positioned top corpse, but it’s even better to have a top core of players and that’s what the Dallas Cowboys can boast heading into 2023. ESPN’s advanced stats wiz Seth Walder recently looked at all 32 NFL teams and ranked them based on their top-five players. Even though depth and surviving injury is a leading facet in which teams can make it through a 17-game gauntlet and find playoff success, having elite talent is just as important in the quest.
Sizing up the landscape of contenders, the Cowboys find themselves nestled in at No. 6. Just as importantly, despite their top five including a player entering his 11th season and another entering his ninth, Dallas is the second youngest team in the top 10.
Dallas’ group of Zack Martin, Dak Prescott, Trevon Diggs, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons clocked in at an average age of 26.8.
The Cowboys’ core is a clear display of why they are a true — perhaps even underrated — Super Bowl contender. Prescott isn’t at a Mahomes or Allen level, but he’s supported by a Defensive Player of the Year candidate in Parsons, a star No. 1 wideout in Lamb and a future Hall of Fame offensive lineman in Martin. And no player has more interceptions over the past two seasons than Diggs (14).
The only team younger? The Cincinnati Bengals at an average age of 25.6. The New York Jets added long-in-the-tooth Aaron Rodgers this offseason and checked in with the same average age as Dallas, but ranked eighth overall.
The Top 10:
- Kansas City: 28.6
- Cincinnati Bengals: 25.6
- Philadelphia Eagles: 28.8
- Miami Dolphins: 27.6
- Buffalo Bills: 29.4
- Dallas Cowboys: 26.8
- Los Angeles Chargers: 27.0
- New York Jets: 26.8
- Baltimore Ravens: 27.2
- San Francisco 49ers: 28.4