Grading, Ranking every Cowboys player in 2022, how many can be called elite?

How does one define elite? Oxford says to be elite, one must be among a select group that is superior in terms of ability or qualities to the rest of a group or society. The NFL is certainly the top group of American football (World Cup is popping, don’t want to get a yellow) so compared to college and football the 848 players on rosters and the couple hundred on IR are certainly elite.

Within that 1,000 or so, there’s certainly a handful of elite players at each given position. The 2022 Dallas Cowboys certainly have a handful of players who can be considered among the elite at their positions. Just how many, though? In our latest player power rankings, the first since Week 1, we’re attaching grades to the order. Who are the elite players? Who are the superstars, the stars, the solid contributors and those who need to step it up? Take a walk through the Cowboys’ Top 40 at the Week 12 mini-bye.

5 Biggest Movers (from 2022 Week 1)

• Safety Donovan Wilson (+11)

• OL Connor McGovern (+11)

• TE Peyton Hendershot (+10)

• DE Dorance Armstrong (+9)

• TE Jake Ferguson (+8)

5 Biggest Drops (from 2022 Week 1)

(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

• DT Neville Gallimore (-22)

• DT Quinton Bohanna (-17)

• WR Jalen Tolbert (-17)

• CB Anthony Brown (-12)

• DT Osa Odighizuwa (-10)

Rookie Rankings

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• Outside Top 40

  • Safety Markquese Bell

  • WR Dennis Houston

  • OT Matt Waletzko

  • LB Devin Harper

  • WR Jalen Tolbert

• Top 40

  • TE Peyton Hendershot

• Top 30

  • WR/KR/PR KaVontae Turpin

  • DE Sam Williams

  • TE Jake Ferguson

• Top 20

  • OL Tyler Smith

Outside Free Agent/Trade Rankings

(Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

• Outside Top 40

  • WR James Washington

• Top 40

  • DT Johnathan Hankins

  • OL Jason Peters

• Top 30

  • DE Dante Fowler

  • LB Anthony Barr

40 ) S Israel Mukuamu - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 38 ) Change : -2 Grade: Solid Contributor

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39 ) C Matt Farniok - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 37 ) Change : -2 Grade: Not good enough

(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

38 ) DT Johnathan Hankins (Trade) - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: N/A ) Change : #VALUE! Grade: Not good enough

(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

37 ) DT Neville Gallimore - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 15 ) Change : -22 Grade: Solid Contributor

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

36 ) P Bryan Anger - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 41 ) Change : +5 Grade: Star

(AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson)

35 ) OL Jason Peters (FA) - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: N/A ) Change : #VALUE! Grade: Star

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

34 ) LB Damone Clark - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: N/A ) Change : #VALUE! Grade: Star

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33 ) OL Connor McGovern - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 44 ) Change : +11 Grade: Solid Contributor

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32 ) TE Peyton Hendershot (R) - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 42 ) Change : +10 Grade: Solid Contributor

(Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

31 ) CB DaRon Bland - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 31 ) Change : 0 Grade: Solid Contributor

Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

30 ) CB Anthony Brown - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 18 ) Change : -12 Grade: Not good enough

29 ) DE Dante Fowler (FA) - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 30 ) Change : +1 Grade: Solid Contributor

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28 ) WR Noah Brown - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 28 ) Change : 0 Grade: Solid Contributor

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27 ) ST C.J. Goodwin - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 27 ) Change : 0 Grade: Star

(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

26 ) LB Anthony Barr (FA) - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 23 ) Change : -3 Grade: Not good enough

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25 ) OL Tyler Biadasz - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 22 ) Change : -3 Grade: Solid Contributor

(AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)

24 ) DT Osa Odighizuwa - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 14 ) Change : -10 Grade: Solid Contributor

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23 ) WR KaVontae Turpin (R) - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 26 ) Change : +3 Grade: Star

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22 ) DE Sam Williams (R) - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 24 ) Change : +2 Grade: Star

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21 ) TE Jake Ferguson (R) - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 29 ) Change : +8 Grade: Solid Contributor

(Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

20 ) LB Leighton Vander Esch - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 21 ) Change : +1 Grade: Solid Contributor

Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

19 ) QB Cooper Rush - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: N/A ) Change : #VALUE! Grade: Solid Contributor

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

18 ) K Brett Maher - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: N/A ) Change : #VALUE! Grade: Elite

(Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

17 ) OT Tyron Smith - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 10 ) Change : -7 Grade: Incomplete

(AP Photo/Ron Jenkins)

16 ) S Jayron Kearse - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 9 ) Change : -7 Grade: Star

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15 ) OG Tyler Smith (R) - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 16 ) Change : +1 Grade: Star

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14 ) S Donovan Wilson - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 25 ) Change : +11 Grade: Star

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

13 ) OT Terence Steele - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 20 ) Change : +7 Grade: Solid Contributor

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12 ) TE Dalton Schultz - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 12 ) Change : 0 Grade: Solid Contributor

(Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

11 ) WR Michael Gallup - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 11 ) Change : 0 Grade: Solid Contributor

(Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)

10 ) DE Dorance Armstrong - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 19 ) Change : +9 Grade: Solid Contributor

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9 ) S Malik Hooker - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 13 ) Change : +4 Grade: Solid Contributor

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8 ) RB Ezekiel Elliott - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 7 ) Change : -1 Grade: Star

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

7 ) RB Tony Pollard - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 8 ) Change : +1 Grade: Superstar

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6 ) WR CeeDee Lamb - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 6 ) Change : 0 Grade: Superstar

(Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)

5 ) CB Trevon Diggs - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 5 ) Change : 0 Grade: Elite

(Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)

4 ) DE DeMarcus Lawrence - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 4 ) Change : 0 Grade: Elite

(Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)

3 ) QB Dak Prescott - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 3 ) Change : 0 Grade: Elite

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2 ) OL Zack Martin - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 2 ) Change : 0 Grade: Elite

(Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)

1 ) LB Micah Parsons - ( 2022 Week 1 Ranking: 1 ) Change : 0 Grade: Elite

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Story originally appeared on Cowboys Wire