DC.COM: Houck Expects 'Special' Smith To Move To LT; Talks Doug Free

[WoodysGirl]

Posted by jellis at 1/11/2012 5:09 PM CST on dallascowboys.com

Outgoing offensive line coach Hudson Houck freely admits it wasn't a great year for the Cowboys up front, but believes the team has some keepers at the position group he leaves behind.

Foremost among them is 2011 first-round pick Tyron Smith, he said Wednesday at Valley Ranch, while tying up loose ends as he prepares for retirement. Smith, he hinted, could be in line to switch to the more high-profile left tackle spot sooner rather than later.

"I think the right tackle (Smith), that may be moved, he's going to be really, really special," Houck said. "A 20-year-old kid who played pretty well for being thrown in there. This was a unique year for these young kids, no minicamps andno OTAs, this is unprecedented."

Read the rest: http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/josh_ellis.cfm?plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&userid=8ad9a5ae-68fd-47d1-a7d7-e4c8fcb84090&plckPostId=Blog%3a8ad9a5ae-68fd-47d1-a7d7-e4c8fcb84090Post%3a8b98c41b-2c2d-4573-b95f-4001367e8ef0&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest

[Teague31]

Posted by jellis at 1/11/2012 5:09 PM CST on dallascowboys.com

Outgoing offensive line coach Hudson Houck freely admits it wasn't a great year for the Cowboys up front, but believes the team has some keepers at the position group he leaves behind.

Foremost among them is 2011 first-round pick Tyron Smith, he said Wednesday at Valley Ranch, while tying up loose ends as he prepares for retirement. Smith, he hinted, could be in line to switch to the more high-profile left tackle spot sooner rather than later.

"I think the right tackle (Smith), that may be moved, he's going to be really, really special," Houck said. "A 20-year-old kid who played pretty well for being thrown in there. This was a unique year for these young kids, no minicamps andno OTAs, this is unprecedented."

Read the rest: http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/josh_ellis.cfm?plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&userid=8ad9a5ae-68fd-47d1-a7d7-e4c8fcb84090&plckPostId=Blog%3a8ad9a5ae-68fd-47d1-a7d7-e4c8fcb84090Post%3a8b98c41b-2c2d-4573-b95f-4001367e8ef0&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest

:bow:

[jobberone]

I'd be surprised if they don't switch them.

[ScipioCowboy]

So did Houck actually use air quotes when describing Tyron?

[Risen Star]

"I think the right tackle (Smith), that may be moved, he's going to be really, really special," Houck said. "A 20-year-old kid who played pretty well for being thrown in there. This was a unique year for these young kids, no minicamps andno OTAs, this is unprecedented."

And that's why I make the case that this may be the most impressive rookie campaign we've ever had.

But I can't speak for anything that happened before 1980.

[Sasquatch]

Not a rijging endorsement for someone who recently signed a big contract (Free). "He is what he is"?

[ScipioCowboy]

Not a rijging endorsement for someone who recently signed a big contract (Free). "He is what he is"?

Signing marginal talent to longterm deals is, for all intents and purposes, why the Cowboys are in the position they're in.

Hopefully, moving Free to RT ameliorates his strengths and covers his weaknesses.

[Gaede]

Ouch, that is not encouraging re: Free.

[CCBoy]

This was a comment made in Star:

'Smith should be moved to left tackle. As in today. I am willing to give Free another year at right tackle. But that is enough of him at left tackle for his lifetime.'

[Risen Star]

Ouch, that is not encouraging re: Free.

Yeah, I love to hear stuff like "he's reached his ceiling" and "he is what he is" about the T we just paid so handsomely.

[Doomsday101]

This was a comment made in Star:

'Smith should be moved to left tackle. As in today. I am willing to give Free another year at right tackle. But that is enough of him at left tackle for his lifetime.'

I thought the job he did in 09 at RT was very good. I think he can make that move back to RT and hopefully Tyron is ready to move over to the LT spot.

[CCBoy]

I thought the job he did in 09 at RT was very good. I think he can make that move back to RT and hopefully Tyron is ready to move over to the LT spot.

This is one player that being right upon as to his overall utility is a major piece in the immediate future. I hope that his past reflects in his move back to the right side as well.

[Cowboys22]

Signing marginal talent to longterm deals is, for all intents and purposes, why the Cowboys are in the position they're in.

Hopefully, moving Free to RT ameliorates his strengths and covers his weaknesses.


Based on his contract year in 2010, Free was not a marginal talent. He was worth every penny he was given based on 2010. If Free continued to play at that level, he would be underpaid. The problem is that he now appears to be another in a long line that played very well in the year or two leading up to free agency only to significantly regress after getting their big money deal. This is the root of all problems at Valley Ranch. There is a culture of signing their own guys and then letting them regress. No one at Valley Ranch makes them accountable. Players get their money and then seem to do just enough to not get cut. I think Romo, Witten, and Ware are the only guys who have broken this mold.

[Picksix]

As for Free, I thing a couple things hurt him. One, not having any offseason of minicamps, OTA's, and workouts. Two, this was his second year playing LT. Often coaches will have time during the offseason to really examine opponents and find their tendencies, and thus find ways to exploit them. I think a full offseason, along with moving him back to RT, will do a lot for him.

[Doomsday]

Free will be a solid RT, he wasnt great at LT but he was far from horrible as well.

[AbeBeta]

Not a rijging endorsement for someone who recently signed a big contract (Free). "He is what he is"?

That statement from him makes no sense. It was clear that his play in 2011 was worse than 2010. How can 2011 be his ceiling?

[Sasquatch]

That statement from him makes no sense. It was clear that his play in 2011 was worse than 2010. How can 2011 be his ceiling?

It's puzzling. Maybe Free only appeared so good because Columbo's play was so atrocious?

I just hope this doesn't mean we're going to have to draft another tackle in the near future.