/Click here to view the Ultimate 53-man depth chart.
The most important part of each season may be the daily practice grind in July and August, when a team is truly built. As a countdown to this year's training camp, we celebrate the 53rd year of Cowboys football by constructing the team's all-time 53-man roster, picking one player for each season.
Not so much the 53 best players in club history, DallasCowboys.com has constructed the ultimate team, filling out the depth chart and making room for contributors at every position, including special teams, while at the same time looking ahead to how this year's 53-man roster might shake out.
The series begins today with 1960 and wide receiver Frank Clarke.
Name: Frank Clarke
Position: Wide Receiver
College: Colorado
Height/Weight: 6-1/215
Cowboys Tenure: 1960-67
Why Him? After he caught all of 10 passes in three seasons with Cleveland, the Browns exposed Clarke to the upstart Cowboys in the 1960 expansion draft. He showed big-play promise in his first year for Tom Landry's woeful team, catching only nine passes but amassing 290 yards and scoring three touchdowns. It was only a beginning, as things turned out, Clarke going on to lead the Cowboys in both yards from scrimmage and touchdowns in each of the next three seasons. In 1962, he caught 47 passes for 1,043 yards and 14 touchdowns, a record that stood for Dallas receivers until 2007.
The Role: Clarke was still in the developmental stage of his career in 1960, picking up the finer points of the position and taking a step closer to his star turn in the coming years. On our all-time 53-man roster, he fills the role of /fifth wide receiver, a player we hope can be ready to provide a much greater offensive impact in the not-too-distant future.
Back To The Future: For the 2012 season, the Cowboys would love to see signs of continued development from a young wideout like Andre Holmes. Unheralded and undrafted out of college, Holmes impressed coaches and teammates as a member of the practice squad last year, earning a call-up to the 53-man roster by the end of 2011. He has both the size and athleticism to become a big-time playmaker down the road.
