By: Jake Rajala

The Dallas Cowboys have a freak talent at left tackle by the name of Tyron Smith. The Texas legend, Duane Jerry Jones, drafted Smith ninth overall in the 2011 NFL Draft. The rampage by Smith was established in 2013 (when he made his first Pro Bowl). It didn’t take long for him to be a cream of the crop OT after 2013, as he garnered first-team All-Pro honors in 2014. The behemoth-like figure also snatched AP honors in 2016. In his entire career, Smith registered a whopping eight Pro Bowl selections.

With that enunciated, there is a pivotal, intriguing question surrounding the Boys LT: Is Smith a future Hall of Famer?

I have zero doubt that Smith is a HOF lock at this point in time. He has been a true John Wick-like figure for the Boys OL over the past decade. His accumulation of awards led him to be named to the 2010s All-Decade team. It would be more than a shame if one of the top OL in that span would not be cast into football heaven.

Smith may be a Goliath-like football player, but he isn’t sinless. The Cowboys OT missed three contests in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. In 2020, he even sadly missed 14 contests. The story of his injury habits arose in 2021 (six missed games) and he has yet to play in 2022. He may be gifted, but he has struggled to maintain an imposing, on-field presence in his NFL journey.

Similar to fellow Cowboys royalty, Tony Romo, Smith has failed to win a World Championship in his career. Nonetheless, Smith certainly still has time at 31 years old to win a Super Bowl. It should be noted that former elite Rams LT Andrew Whitworth won a Lombardi trophy at the age of 40 last season. The potential cap casualty in Dallas, Smith, may not win an SB ring with the Boys, but he can surely aspire to taste the Super Bowl triumphs elsewhere.

I expect Smith, who is coming off a Pro Bowl season in 2021, to play a few more seasons in this league. If he can garner a couple of more Pro Bowl seasons or win a Super Bowl with a loaded squad, he should cement himself as a first-ballot HOFer.

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By: Jake Rajala

The San Francisco 49ers exhibit a big-foot-like left tackle in Trent Williams. The former Washington profile has been a pillar of dominance over the past decade. The bruising OL impressively made his ninth-straight Pro Bowl last season. In 2021, he was proudly able to make his first first-team All-Pro nod. PFF also handed Williams an unusually potent 97.8 grade for his performance.

Of course, he spews out charisma along with talent.

With that said, there is a fascinating, pivotal question surrounding Williams entering the 2022 season: Is Trent Williams a future Hall of Famer?

I believe it would be wise to compare Williams’s resume to the career output of the Dallas Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith — who will certainly be cast into football heaven at some point in the future. Well, the Cowboys unearthly talented, yet injury-prone LT has made eight Pro Bowl selections and garnered two first-team All-Pro nods in his career. Furthermore, Smith was named to the 2010 NFL all-decade team. Of course, Smith has scooped up one more first-team All-Pro selection in his career.

It should be noted that each OT has had similar flaws – such as injury issues. Since 2016 – Smith has missed a whopping 32 games! Meanwhile, the very scary 49ers LT has sadly been MIA for 17 games since 2016.

The optimistic part for each OT is that they’re still competing and pushing for a Super Bowl ring. I expect each OT to pick up at least a couple of more Pro Bowl nods, too.

Ultimately, I undoubtedly believe Smith’s resume should make Williams feel positive about his chances of landing in Canton. I honestly forsee Williams, who is on an excellent path with the Kyle Shanahan-led 49ers, to join Smith as first-ballot HOFers in the future.

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By: Jake Rajala

The athletic behemoth Andrew Whitworth entered the league with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2006. The Thanos clone was a constant brick wall in his football career as an offensive tackle. Whitworth made his first Pro Bowl in 2012 and then continued to blossom in the back-end of his career. He garnered first-team All-Pro honors in 2015 and then obtained first-team All-Pro honors in 2017. In addition to his superb resume, he hauled in his elusive Super Bowl ring w/ Sean McVay’s gang last season.

Of course, Whitworth retired this off-season and it was clear that he really rode off into the sunset. With that stated, there is an intriguing and pivotal question regarding the former Rams All-Pro OT: Is Whitworth a future Hall of Famer?

Contrary to Sean McVay’s unbiased opinion on whether Whitworth deserves to be in Canton, I don’t believe Whitworth should be cast into the HOF. I don’t believe he had enough AP honors (as he had two AP seasons) or SB rings to make up for his lack of AP seasons. I respect that Whitworth played in the NFL for millennia, but I still don’t believe he did enough in his bearded journey to be a greek god-like OL.

The Cowboys OT Tyron Smith is a borderline HOF candidate at this moment, but I expect him to make it into Canton after 2-3 more Pro Bowl seasons. With that stated, Smith already separates himself from Whitworth. They both share two first-team All-Pro nods, but the Cowboys veteran OT made four more Pro Bowls than Whitworth. It should be noted that Whitworth has an SB ring, but I still like Smith’s resume and mark on the NFL a bit more than the long-time Bengals OT. There is no denying that Whitworth was a workhorse, talented, and an inspirational human being, but I don’t forsee him getting into football heaven.

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By: Jake Rajala

The Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott may have lost to San Francisco in the playoffs, but I believe there is astronomical potential for Dak and his offense. Dak has stated, “We definitely haven’t taken a step back”. I believe Prescott has better than the 1-20 odds that NFL.com gives him at winning MVP next season (behind the likes of Russell Wilson, Justin Herbert, and Joe Burrow). With that said, I’m going to untwine three reasons why Prescott is an underrated MVP candidate.

Healthy Dalton Schultz

The Cowboys were confident when they delivered Amari Cooper out of Dallas. The young TE Dalton Schultz will aspire to thrive with the empty chair that Cooper left behind. Schultz had 89 targets in 2020, a career-high 104 targets and I expect him to be a more popular target next season. After Michael Gallup missed countless games in 2021, Schultz was a major factor. The 25-year-old TE should have a bigger piece of the pie in the Cooper-less offense moving forward.

Tyron Smith

The Cowboys legendary LT Tyron Smith missed 14 games in 2020 and the Cowboys were happy to have a healthy, talented LT in 2021. Smith missed six games last season, but he was still able to make the Pro Bowl last season. I love that the Boys have held onto the expensive, injury-riddled veteran LT in hopes that Prescott can take bigger steps in the near future.

Strength of schedule

The reigning Super Bowl champions (Los Angeles Rams) have the most difficult schedule, while the Boys have the easiest schedule in the league (tied with Washington). Aaron Rodgers has preyed on the weak NFC North competition over his last two MVP seasons and it’s surely time for Prescott to feast on a very favorable 2022 schedule.

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