Quote:
Originally Posted by Murphy3
Many forget that some of those lineman weren't thought of nearly as highly as the were after Emmitt came along. So what came first..the chicken or the egg?
|
1989 -- Tuinei, Newton, Rafferty, Ker, Gogan -- 1-15, Paul Palmer led the team in rushing (does anyone else remember Paul Palmer? I do)
1990 -- Tuinei, Ker, Stepnoski, Gesek, Newton -- 7-9, Smith makes pro-bowl as a rookie.
1991 -- Tuinei, Gogan, Step, Gesek, Newton -- Smith leads the league in rushing
With practically the same group of players in place (vet Rafferty ~= very young Step), the offensive line went from an abysmal group on an offense that could not move the football (forwards, anyway) to a group blocking for the league's leading rusher. I submit that this has a heckuva lot to do with the ability of that running back.
There's no question that the line of Tuinei, Allen, Step, Newton and Erik Williams (~94, 95....) was epically good, but Smith was already winning rushing titles before that group was completely in place. It's like I'm saying to jthig --
yeah, the offense of the early cowboys had very good players at every position--that's why they were one of the greatest teams ever. Smith himself was quite great and he would have been great had he run the ball behind the Detroit Lion's offensive line.