Now that we are about halfway through the regular season, it is time to start considering which players are deserving of the Pro Bowl. For this series, we will look at the three most deserving candidates for each team. Obviously, some teams will have more or less than three players selected to the Pro Bowl, but for simplicity purposes, we will discuss the top three either way.
Top Midseason Pro Bowl Candidates: Dallas Cowboys
Tyron Smith
Tyron Smith has been one of the best left tackles in the league for a few years now. He was a Pro Bowler during the last two seasons and he was a first-team All Pro last season. While the Cowboys offense as a whole has struggled because of the injuries to Tony Romo and Dez Bryant, Tyron Smith has continued to excel this season. The scary thing is that he is only 24 years old right now and he has many dominant years ahead of him. He is the anchor of a very good offensive line and he excels in both run and pass blocking. The line and the offense as a whole has improved significantly recently, and Tyron Smith deserves a lot of the credit.
Greg Hardy
While this is certainly a bold choice, both because of the offseason issues and the loss of four games due to his suspension this season, Greg Hardy has been an animal on the field and if he continues to get after the quarterback, it will be hard to deny him of a Pro Bowl selection, even if he only makes it as an alternate. He is already in the Top 15 in terms of sacks recorded by defensive ends and that is with four less games than the other players. Right now, only Chandler Jones, Carlos Dunlap, and J.J. Watt have a higher sack per game average this season. Hardy has clearly been the most talented player on the Cowboys’ defense and he looks like he did during his 2013 Pro Bowl season again.
Zack Martin
Zack Martin and Travis Frederick are both very good players, but I’m going to give the edge to Martin here because I can only pick three players. Martin was sensational as a rookie, earning Pro Bowl and first-team All Pro honors. After eight games, there’s no reason to believe he won’t return to the Pro Bowl again this season. Like Tyron Smith, he might not look as appealing this year because of the struggles of the Cowboys’ offense as a whole, but the loss of key players certainly changed the landscape of this season. When Tony Romo returns, the offense should significantly improve, and Martin will look even better. Additionally, Darren McFadden has been putting up big numbers during the past few weeks, and Martin is creating space for him to run through. Like Tyron Smith, Martin has many more Pro Bowls in his future, and this season should be one of them.
Dan Bailey is also an option, as he has nailed all 16 field goal attempts so far this season, but once again, I can only pick three players.
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