34. Travis Frederick, C, Cowboys

Travis Frederick has always been a mauler in the zone run game, but it's his development as a pass protector that makes him the NFL's best center.

Doug Farrar | Jul 11, 2016

34. Travis Frederick, C, Cowboys /

Remember when Dallas took Frederick with the 31st overall pick in the 2013 draft and everybody thought it was ridiculous? Nobody's laughing now. Frederick has become the most reliable and technically sound center in the NFL, and the epicenter of the league's finest offensive line. In 1,027 snaps last season, per Football Outsiders' charting database, he amassed just six blown blocks, allowed one sack, and just two hurries. Frederick has always been a mauler in the zone run game, but it's his development as a pass protector that makes him the best center in the NFL.

Published Jul 11, 2016

DOUG FARRAR

SI.com contributing NFL writer and Seattle resident Doug Farrar started writing about football locally in 2002, and became Football Outsiders' West Coast NFL guy in 2006. He was fascinated by FO's idea to combine Bill James with Dr. Z, and wrote for the site for six years. He wrote a game-tape column called "Cover-2" for a number of years, and contributed to six editions of "Pro Football Prospectus" and the "Football Outsiders Almanac." In 2009, Doug was invited to join Yahoo Sports' NFL team, and covered Senior Bowls, scouting combines, Super Bowls, and all sorts of other things for Yahoo Sports and the Shutdown Corner blog through June, 2013. Doug received the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse from SI.com in 2013, and that was that. Doug has also written for the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the New York Sun, FOX Sports, ESPN.com, and ESPN The Magazine. He also makes regular appearances on several local and national radio shows, and has hosted several podcasts over the years. He counts Dan Jenkins, Thomas Boswell, Frank Deford, Ralph Wiley, Peter King, and Bill Simmons as the writers who made him want to do this for a living. In his rare off-time, Doug can be found reading, hiking, working out, searching for new Hendrix, Who, and MC5 bootlegs, and wondering if the Mariners will ever be good again.