Usually, it is never a good time to give the team from down Arlington this much attention, but with the NY Giants season right around the corner, let's get some Cowboys fans mad online. You could easily blame the fans for being the reason players on a franchise that hasn't been to a Super Bowl since the mid-90s are so overrated.
But, the national media also plays a big role. When a franchise gets so many eyeballs for being mediocre since the turn of the century, the players are going to get scrutinized even more than the average Joe. With that being said, let's break some Cowboys fans' hearts and show them their guys aren't as good as they think. Here are four in particular:
4. LB Leighton Vander Esch
Admittedly, linebacker Leighton Vander Esch is probably one of the guys on this team I hate the least. He is quiet, goes about his business and doesn't really give you any reason to hate him. But, I've seen Cowboys fans treat this guy like he is a Top 5 linebacker in the league, and he simply is not.
He had a monster rookie year, I'll give him credit where it's due. That year he had 140 total tackles, seven passes defended and two interceptions. Since then, his production hasn't even come close.
He has an injury history, missing 13 total games in 2019 and 2020, but as they say the best ability is availability. You could use the injuries as an excuse, but nowadays Vander Esch is a pretty one dimensional linebacker. He'll get tackles, but that’s it.
He doesn't offer much in terms of pass defense, only accounting for six passes defended and one interception since his rookie year, and he doesn't get after the quarterback with only 3.5 sacks and five quarterback hits for his entire career. Again you could attribute some of this to injuries, but Vander Esch isn't as elite as some fans make him out to be.
3. WR Michael Gallup
With the acquisition of Brandin Cooks, Michael Gallup is now where he should be on the depth chart:. Wide receiver No. 3. He was always a No. 3, never a No.2 and no, never a No. 1. Around some circles on Twitter, Cowboys fans would talk Gallup up like he was fighting CeeDee Lamb as the go-to guy on the roster.
Maybe that was just hopeful arrogance from Cowboys fans, which we are all guilty of when it comes to our teams, but at some point your eyes have to open. Gallup is fine, and that's it. He is not a weapon that will put you over the top and if he is your No. 2 guy, the receiving corp probably isn't that deep.
Over the past two seasons, Gallup doesn't even have 1,000 yards combined and only has six touchdowns. Yes, like Vander Esch, the injury bug has had its way with Gallup and that's not a detriment to his skill as a player. Even though, it supports the point of how can people think this guy is so good if he can't even stay on the field?
2. QB Dak Prescott
There could be novels written about these next two players being overrated, but we don't have the time for that, unfortunately. We begin with quarterback Dak Prescott. The only reason he isn't No. 1 on this list is because it seems some Cowboys fans are starting to see what the rest of us have seen for years: Prescott is an above average quarterback and nothing more.
He's in the top half of the league, but he is not worthy of the Top 10 rating he is always given. In seven season in the league (really six because of that gruesome injury in 2020), Prescott has averaged more than 250 yards a game just three times and more than 300 yards a game only twice.
Yes, you have to be elite to continuously throw an average of 300 yards a game. But, Prescott is routinely considered as such, so why not hold him to the same standard? Prescott has been the beneficiary of elite talent around him, such as Dez Bryant, Ezekiel Elliott and CeeDee Lamb and still can't get it done in the playoffs. You can't have all the talent in the world around you, an elite offensive line and still not even make an NFC Championship game. Football is a team game, but Prescott is talked about as a guy who can carry the load. History shows he can't.
1. CB Trevon Diggs
If we look at cornerback Trevon Diggs stats on the surface, he is perfectly rated as a top cornerback in the game. Maybe even the best. However, as the great Lee Corso would say, not so fast my friend. You could simply use your eyes to see how many time Diggs gets burned game in and game out, but if you want to look at the numbers, we can do that, too.
In the three years Diggs has been in the league, Diggs is allowing a 57 percent completion rate when the ball is thrown his way. Last season was his worst as he allowed a completion percentage of 64.7. You mean to tell me the best cornerback in the game is allowing two of every three passes to be completed?
We can also look at the yards Diggs has allowed as a "shutdown" cornerback. Receivers average 14.3 yards per completion and 8.3 yards per target against Diggs. To put all these numbers in perspective, an actually elite cornerback, Sauce Gardner, put up these numbers as a rookie: 53.5 percent completion allowed, 9.8 yards per completion, and 5.3 yards per target.
Diggs has put up some crazy interception numbers. He already has more than half of what Darrelle Revis put up his entire career, but, don’t let those numbers fool you. They aren't the whole story.