Nfl’s Oldies Not So Golden So Far This Year Younger Players Are Putting Up All-Pro Numbers At Midseason

In most years, picking an all-pro team means just penciling in Emmitt Smith and Barry Sanders at running backs.

This year, if you pencil in Smith and Sanders, pencil them in behind Terry Allen, Terrell Davis, Ricky Watters and Jerome Bettis.

Halfway through the 1996 season, a lot of new faces are replacing old ones in the NFL’s star system. It’s the natural order of things, of course, but it’s also a case of good players being on bad teams or good players playing in the shadow of superstars on good teams.

Here’s a midway all-pro team:

WR - Jerry Rice, San Francisco; Henry Ellard, Washington. Two old guys, but Ellard has had an overlooked career. Honorable mention: Herman Moore, Detroit; Tony Martin, San Diego; Wayne Chrebet, New York Jets, the sentimental pick.

TE - Shannon Sharpe, Denver. Honorable mention: For a true tight end, Ken Dilger, Indianapolis, who’s being forced by injuries at fullback and on the offensive line to block rather than catch for a while; Ted Popson, San Francisco, who does nothing but get open in the end zone.

T - John Jackson, Pittsburgh; Gary Zimmerman, Denver. The usual suspects - Erik Williams, Richmond Webb and William Roaf - are just ordinary so far.

G - Randall McDaniel, Minnesota; Tre Johnson, Washington. Honorable mention: Keith Sims, Miami, the Dolphins’ best offensive lineman; Steve Wisniewski, Oakland, who has the stats - $80,000 in fines.

C - Dermonnti Dawson, Pittsburgh. He and Jackson are two reasons Bettis is averaging 104.5 yards a game.

QB - Brett Favre, Green Bay, but not by much over John Elway, Denver. Honorable mention: Of all people, Vinny Testaverde, Baltimore, has awfully nice numbers.

RB - Terry Allen, Washington; Terrell Davis, Denver. Their teams wouldn’t be 7-1 without them. On the other hand, the Steelers and Eagles wouldn’t be as good as they are without Bettis and Watters. Honorable mention: Curtis Martin, New England; Eddie George, Houston.

K - John Kasay, Carolina.

KR - Herschel Walker, Dallas. The Cowboys beat the Eagles because of one of his returns.

DE - Bruce Smith, Buffalo; Tony Tolbert, Dallas. An old standby and a good player overshadowed by more illustrious teammates. Honorable mention: Willie McGinest, New England, one of the new breed - a converted linebacker; William Fuller, Philadelphia; Wayne Martin, New Orleans, who’s having a good year on a bad team; Phil Hansen, Buffalo, Smith’s often-overlooked other half.

DT - Leon Lett, Dallas; Dana Stubblefield, San Francisco. Someone referred to “the great John Randle” on Monday night’s telecast from Minnesota, but Randle’s no better than fifth behind Lett, Stubblefield, Oakland’s Chester McGlockton and Stubblefield’s teammate, Bryant Young. Honorable mention: The Colts’ dynamic duo, Tony Siragusa and Tony McCoy.

OLB Junior Seau, San Diego; Levon Kirkland, Pittsburgh. Chad Brown, moved outside to replace the injured Greg Lloyd, gets more sacks for the Steelers, but Kirkland is dominant. Honorable mention: Lee Woodall, San Francisco; Lamar Lathon, Carolina.

ILB Sam Mills, Carolina. Just for the heck of it, a golden oldie. Honorable mention: Miami rookie Zach Thomas, who will be Mills some day, but not yet; Cory Widmer, New York Giants, a converted lineman who was a huge question mark starting the season.

CB - Phillippi Sparks, Giants; Craig Newsome, Green Bay. Honorable mention: Kevin Smith, Dallas, who’s made a remarkable comeback from an Achilles’ tendon injury; Darrell Green, Washington, a golden oldie; Daryll Lewis, Houston.

S - LeRoy Butler, Green Bay; Merton Hanks, San Francisco. Honorable mention: Darren Perry and Carnell Lake, Pittsburgh; Steve Atwater, Denver; Darren Woodson, Dallas.

P - Darren Bennett, San Diego. Honorable mention: Todd Sauerbrun, Chicago, who finally understands he’s not in college anymore.

PR - Darrien Gordon, San Diego. Honorable mention: Amani Toomer, New York Giants, a rookie who has two returns for touchdowns, but is gone for the season with a knee injury.

Utility (Special Category) - Deion Sanders, Dallas; Dale Carter, Kansas City.

The envelope, please

For MVP, Brett Favre is the defender and has done nothing to tarnish his image. But has anyone done more for his team than Denver’s Terrell Davis or Washington’s Terry Allen?

Here’s a vote for Allen and his 13 touchdowns. He’s doing as much for the Redskins as Emmitt Smith does for Dallas.

Coach of the half-season: The nominees: Dom Capers, Carolina; Norv Turner, Washington; Mike Holmgren, Green Bay; Ray Rhodes, Philadelphia; Bill Cowher, Pittsburgh; Mike Shanahan, Denver. Plus (gulp!) Barry Switzer of Dallas, who’s overcome all kinds of problems, and George Seifert of San Francisco, who has two Super Bowl wins and has gotten to 100 wins faster than anyone.

The winner: Cowher by a whisker over Turner, for winning without Greg Lloyd and with Mike Tomczak at quarterback.

Offensive player: Give this one to Davis over Allen for all-around offensive skills. Davis leads the league in overall yardage.

Defensive player: Leon Lett, Dallas. Take it from Jimmy Johnson: “He’s one of those people you have to account for on every play.” Honorable mention: Two perennials, Bruce Smith, Buffalo, and Junior Seau, San Diego.

Offensive rookie: Eddie George, Houston, a rare Heisman winner making an immediate impact with the Oilers. Honorable mention: Keyshawn Johnson, New York Jets; Eddie Kennison, St. Louis; Terrell Owens, San Francisco; Terry Glenn, New England.

Defensive rookie: Phil Simms says he believes Miami’s Zach Thomas is the NFL’s best defensive player this season. Sorry, Phil, but Jimmy Johnson’s middle linebacker always leads his team in tackles.

However, Thomas is the best defensive rookie at this point, even though he’s been suckered a few times.