7 Reasons Why Emmitt Smith is Underrated: Reason #5 The offensive line and supporting cast argument is overblown

(Con’t from Reason #4: Tougher Competition; https://cowboyscoffeetalk.com/7-reasons-why-emmitt-smith-is-underrated-reason-4-tougher-competition/

Emmitt Smith taking a hand off from HOF QB Troy Aikman and running behind “Moose” Johnston and the “Great Wall of Dallas”. Photo by © Mbr Images | Dreamstime.com.LLC

Reason # 5: The offensive line and supporting cast argument is overblown

Dare I say it, the above is considered blasphemy where I come from. Of all the arguments that Barry Sanders supporters hang their hat on, the “What If Barry had Dallas’ offensive line?” trumps them all. When I engage in the debate of Emmitt Smith vs Barry Sanders that question is inevitably brought into the conversation, and my first response is always to ask, “Can you name one of those offensive lineman?” Predictably very few can name even one, and even fewer can name more than that. This shows that the legend of the great Dallas offensive line has grown to mythical proportions and somewhere along the line many football fans have lost touch with reality.

The reality is that “The Great Wall of Dallas” were a unit that received far more credit than any other group before them. They are more than deserving of their fame but they were not the only great offensive line that ever was. Most linemen play in relative obscurity, but the Cowboys group were thrust into the spotlight by commentators like John Madden during prime time exposure with “America’s Team.” Is it possible that John Madden did a disservice to Emmitt Smith with his constant praise for the Cowboys linemen?

Emmitt Smith is the only running back whose accomplishments seem to be diminished by playing behind a great offensive line. What about Jim Brown? Here is a running back who was named the greatest football player of all time according to a New York Daily News poll of NFL experts and the #2 greatest player of all time according to the NFL network in 2010. He is often considered the greatest running back in NFL history yet he played on perhaps the greatest offensive line in NFL history on a powerhouse Cleveland Browns team. Here is a list of some of those players, many who were highly touted All-Americans coming out of college, and their accomplishments:

John Morrow:	2x pro-bowler	Mike McCormack:	6x pro-bowler (HOF)
John Wooten:	2x pro-bowler	Gene Hickerson:	6x pro-bowler (HOF)
Dick Schafrath:	6x pro-bowler	Lou Groza:	9x pro-bowler (HOF)
Jim Ray Smith:	5x pro-bowler

Brown also played with a superb blocking tight end Johnny Brewer who was also a pro-bowler. That group had already paved the way for one hall of fame back (Bobby Mitchell) before Jim Brown arrived in Cleveland and after he retired he was replaced by another hall of fame running back (Leroy Kelly).[1] The Dallas Cowboys on the other hand did not produce a 1000 yard rusher the year before Emmitt Smith was drafted nor did they the year after he departed for Arizona.

Emmitt Smith did have a great offensive line and a pro-bowl full back to boot, there is no denying this. This unit was probably the best in the league BUT, unlike Jim Browns’, only for the first 5 or 6 years of Smiths’ career. Eventually the inevitable occurred.

John Gesek:	left via free agency 1994
Kevin Gogan:	left via free agency 1994
Mark Stepnoski:	left via free agency 1995
Mark Tuinei:	retired 1997
Nate Newton:	left via free agency 1998
Erik Williams:	left via free agency 2001

Over the years free agency and retirement depleted an aging Cowboys offensive line and yet Smith still consistently produced 1300 yard/10 touchdown seasons while fighting injuries. “Consistently” being the appropriate adjective because it takes more than a handful of good seasons to rush for 18,355 career yards.

Emmitt Smith does owe a lot to his offensive line but I am a firm believer that there is synergy between a great running back and a great offensive line. No running back can be successful without a great offensive line and no offensive line can create a great running back. As great as Emmitt’s offensive line was most of those players were third and fourth round prospects already drafted long before Emmitt Smith was. Mark Tuinei, (1983) Nate Newton (1986) and Mark Stepnoski (1989) never earned recognition as pro-bowlers until Emmitt Smith arrived. In fact, they had played during the time where the Dallas Cowboys were considered the laughing stock of the NFL. The best offensive lineman that Emmitt Smith played with, Hall of Fame tackle Larry Allen, was drafted in 1994 after Emmitt Smith had already won three consecutive rushing titles.

With regards to Barry Sanders, there is a misconception that he played behind a terrible offensive line and dodged 6 defenders in the backfield every time he touched the ball. Interestingly enough, Emmitt Smith and Barry Sanders both ran behind the same number of hall of fame offensive linemen: ONE. While Emmitt Smith had Larry Allen, Barry Sanders had the great Lomas Brown. Barry also played behind multiple pro-bowl offensive lineman Kevin Glover and Jeff Hartings who went on to become an All-pro in Pittsburgh. All of those talented linemen were high draft picks out of college. There is a no doubt that the Dallas Cowboys offensive line in their prime years was superior to the Detroit Lions but the Lions had a solid group as well. Barry Sanders believed it even if Lions fans did not. Why else would he gift engraved gold bracelets to each of his starting offensive linemen and fly his linemen, full backs and tight ends plus their families to the Pro Bowl following his 2000 yard rushing season?[2] He also reputedly footed the bill for that entire group during their stay in Hawaii. Barry must have felt that those players deserved some of the credit for his success.[3]

Detractors of Emmitt Smith will also point out that besides playing behind a great offensive line, he also played on a great team with a great offence highlighted by hall of famers Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin. Barry Sanders, according to those same people, seemingly was the only bright spot on an otherwise awful team. Actually, the Detroit Lions were not such a bad team during Sanders’ career and they made the playoffs 5 out his 10 seasons there.

It is often mentioned further that the Cowboys had a franchise QB and the Lions did not, but shockingly Troy Aikman only threw more than 20 TD passes once in his career. The most yards passing that he had in a season was 3445 and he only played 3 full 16 games seasons ultimately retiring in 2000 due to concussions. Michael Irvin was a stud WR but he was the only player on the Cowboys to top 1000 receiving yards while he played and he retired in 1999 after a neck injury cut his career short. Statistics can often be deceiving and I don’t fail to acknowledge that the Cowboys offence was dynamic but make no mistake, Emmitt Smith was the centerpiece of it.

Barry was the best player on his team but he was far from a one man band. Scott Mitchell was in retrospect an awful signing for the Lions but in comparison to the pedestrian numbers that Troy Aikman produced, he did have one season where he threw for 4338 yards and 32 TD’s with only 12 interceptions. This is mainly because the Lions run and shoot offense was one of the most explosive in the league for years. They possessed an elite group of wide receivers led by Herman Moore who was an absolute beast and one of the best WR’s in the entire league. They also had Brett Perriman who put up some gaudy numbers as a number 2 WR and Johnny Morton had 4 seasons of 1000+ yards receiving.

While the fact that Emmitt Smith had a better offensive line and played on a better team cannot be disputed, the outrageous idea that Barry Sanders played on a terrible team with a terrible offensive line is completely false.

Continued with……..Reason #6: Different running styles, different systems

7 Reasons Why Emmitt Smith is Underrated: Reason #6 Different running styles, different systems