More PFF honors: Zack Martin, DeMarcus Lawrence featured as midseason All-Pros

Zack Martin and DeMarcus Lawrence made the PFF midseason All-Pro team, individual bright spots in an otherwise drab year in Dallas.

With the NFL hitting its midway point, and the Dallas Cowboys with an upcoming bye, it’s a good time to reflect on some of the positive things that have happened in an otherwise disappointing season in Dallas.

Pro Football Focus, compiled their annual midseason All-Pro and All-Rookie teams. Tyler Biadasz played his way onto the All-Rookie team, and two Cowboys, guard Zack Martin and defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, have continued their impressive careers and found themselves on the other PFF All-Pro rosters.

Few things in sports are as consistent as Zack Martin’s dominance in a Dallas Cowboys uniform. Martin, likely a future Hall of Famer, was a first-team All-Pro in this midseason analysis by PFF. In the six seasons he has under his belt, the standout right guard has made the Pro Bowl every season, and was named to an All-Pro team in four of his six years.

This season has seen much of the same from the mauler out of Notre Dame, in spite of the inconsistencies surrounding the rest of the offense. With a revolving door at quarterback, and countless shuffling across the offensive line, Martin has still shined. Even when asked to play right tackle in an emergency pinch in Week 3 against Seattle, Martin not only stepped up to the plate, he showed that he’s probably the third best tackle on the Cowboys roster behind injured Pro Bowlers Tyron Smith and La’el Collins.

The perennial All-Pro guard transitioned so smoothly to tackle midgame that many Cowboys pundits, including our own K.D. Drummond, believe it is in Dallas’ best interest to move Martin to right tackle full-time for the remainder of the season.

The Dallas coaching staff has been dismissive of the idea of shifting Martin long-term. Wherever the Cowboys play their lone star lineman, he’ll continue his excellence on the way to what could be his fifth All-Pro selection (Larry Allen had six in his career).

DeMarcus Lawrence started the year a bit slow, as it was clear a knee injury was hindering his ability to compete at the level we’ve seen from him in the past. As the season progressed, his knee healed, he got more familiar with Mike Nolan’s new scheme, and the Lawrence that Cowboys fans know and love returned.

Despite not fully thriving until the last four games, Lawrence was named to PFF’s midseason All-Pro second team at the edge defender position (Khalil Mack and T.J. Watt were first-team at the spot).

Boxscore watchers may lazily point to Lawrence’s three sacks through nine games as a way to criticize the fiery defender’s performance, but sacks often  do not get close to telling the story of an edge defender’s effectiveness.

The former Boise State Bronco has been excellent against the run.  According to PFF, his 18 run stops are the most among edge defenders in the league, and the second-most of all defensive lineman (via John Owning).

As mentioned earlier, it really has been a tale of two seasons for Lawrence. Through the first four games of the year, Lawrence had just one QB pressure, one QB hurry, and zero sacks. In the following five games, Lawrence racked up ten pressures, six hurries, and three sacks. If Lawrence can continue on the tear he’s been on the last handful of weeks, he could certainly play his way onto PFF’s All-Pro first team.

The duo of Lawrence and Martin were both a part of the 2014 Cowboys draft class, Martin at 16th overall and Lawrence at 34th. The two have been cornerstones of this franchise for the last half-decade, and should continue to be for seasons to come.

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