What if the Cowboys could have the OL of your choice

[xwalker]

What if the Cowboys could have the OL of your choice, but no new players at any other positions (you can keep any Free Agents except Spencer and promote any Practice Squad players).

Assume that everyone including Ratliff, Austin, Church, Lee, Carter, etc.. are healthy for game 1.

Possible OLine:
LT Joe Thomas
LG Carl Nicks
OC Nick Mangold/Pouncey
Jari Evans
Tyron Smith

Would they Win the division?

[davidyee]

Originally Posted by xwalker

What if the Cowboys could have the OL of your choice, but no new players at any other positions (you can keep any Free Agents except Spencer and promote any Practice Squad players).

Assume that everyone including Ratliff, Austin, Church, Lee, Carter, etc.. are healthy for game 1.

Possible OLine:
LT Joe Thomas
LG Carl Nicks
OC Nick Mangold/Pouncey
Jari Evans
Tyron Smith

Would they Win the division?

...the division,but may not win the the SB.

You have to have balance. It's a fine line, but it's not beneficial to have Pro Bowlers on one side of the line and retreads at the safety position.

An opposing team will find your weakness. There's no place to hide.

[Woods]

I don't think we need an All-Pro Oline to win consistently.

What we need on the OL are 2 more quality, solid players.

That should be good enough to utilize our weapons.

We also need to add young blood on the DL and 1 quality Safety. Plus depth at WR and probably one more WR who can line up outside, though that isn't a top priority and can be drafted in April (Harris and Beasley can play the slot.)

It's not really that many holes - IF you have a successful draft and can acquire about 2 decent FAs.

[perrykemp]

Originally Posted by xwalker

What if the Cowboys could have the OL of your choice, but no new players at any other positions (you can keep any Free Agents except Spencer and promote any Practice Squad players).

Assume that everyone including Ratliff, Austin, Church, Lee, Carter, etc.. are healthy for game 1.

Possible OLine:
LT Joe Thomas
LG Carl Nicks
OC Nick Mangold/Pouncey
Jari Evans
Tyron Smith

Would they Win the division?

Tyron wasn't even in the top half of NFL left tackles this season. I'd take Matt Kalil over Tyron.... Kalil beat Tyron out at USC too.

[pancakeman]

Originally Posted by xwalker

What if the Cowboys could have the OL of your choice, but no new players at any other positions (you can keep any Free Agents except Spencer and promote any Practice Squad players).

Assume that everyone including Ratliff, Austin, Church, Lee, Carter, etc.. are healthy for game 1.

Possible OLine:
LT Joe Thomas
LG Carl Nicks
OC Nick Mangold/Pouncey
Jari Evans
Tyron Smith

Would they Win the division?

I would think so.

I would also think you could choose any 5 (non-special-teams) positions, put the best in the league at them, and make no other changes and win the division. Any half decent team with 5 All-Pros added would be great.

[ABQCOWBOY]

Originally Posted by perrykemp

Tyron wasn't even in the top half of NFL left tackles this season. I'd take Matt Kalil over Tyron.... Kalil beat Tyron out at USC too.

I would not take Kalil over Tyron because Kalil is a LT and Thomas, IMO, is about as good as it gets at LT right now. I might take Clabo though.

[Iago33]

Originally Posted by pancakeman

I would think so.

I would also think you could choose any 5 (non-special-teams) positions, put the best in the league at them, and make no other changes and win the division. Any half decent team with 5 All-Pros added would be great.

Give me Tyron, the two best CBs in the league, the best FB, and the best RB and we still don't win the division.

[ABQcowboyJR]

I'll take the cowboys line from the 90's. Championship

[ABQCOWBOY]

To me, the real question here is, how important is the OL? Would you take whatever five knowing that you could not have Romo and would have to play with Orton? I.E., would the performance of the OL be so good that you could win with a QB like Orton as opposed to a QB like Romo? That, to me, is what this discussion would really be about. Where do you spend your money? Do you spend it on the OL or at an offensive skilled position?

[EJ Blue]

Originally Posted by Iago33

Give me Tyron, the two best CBs in the league, the best FB, and the best RB and we still don't win the division.

I don't think the Giants or Redskins would have been able to stop Adrian Peterson.

[Iago33]

Originally Posted by EJ Blue

I don't think the Giants or Redskins would have been able to stop Adrian Peterson.

It's easy to stop him if he doesn't get out of the backfield.

[FiveRings]

Why is every post on this board like "If Jerry cut off his finger and it sprouted into a position player of your choice, would you take it?"

The reasoning would make most sense as just "off season talk" but I feel like we always get this stuff during the season too. Can't we just talk about football, and realistically?

[burmafrd]

Originally Posted by perrykemp

Tyron wasn't even in the top half of NFL left tackles this season. I'd take Matt Kalil over Tyron.... Kalil beat Tyron out at USC too.

wonder where that story came from? Because it is not true. There never was a competition between them. You do realize they were in different classes right? Tyron stayed at RT because the OL coach did not want to mess with what was working so well. But have it your way if you want.

[perrykemp]

Originally Posted by burmafrd

wonder where that story came from? Because it is not true. There never was a competition between them. You do realize they were in different classes right? Tyron stayed at RT because the OL coach did not want to mess with what was working so well. But have it your way if you want.

I thought I read that somewhere here on CZ. I see a reference to it on Wikipedia (clearly the authoritative guide to NFL info ):

"In his initial year at USC, Smith served as the back-up left offensive tackle behind Charles Brown, and appeared on special teams. He appeared in 10 games of the 2008 season. In his sophomore year, he became a starter at right tackle, appearing in every game of the season except for the 2009 Emerald Bowl due to academic ineligibility. He made 2009 All-Pac-10 honorable mention and CollegeFootballNews.com Sophomore All-American honorable mention.

In 2010, Smith competed with sophomore Matt Kalil for Brown's succession at left tackle, eventually losing out. He remained starting right tackle, and was first team All Pac-10. He also won the Morris Trophy award as the conference's top offensive lineman."

[jterrell]

Not sure if that team wins a division or not.

If you had 5 All-Pro OL last year (minus Spencer) they probably still dont win even this crappy division. Too many injuries on offense and defense at the other positions.

We need a RB that can take advantage of a good OL. Murray can... when healthy.

We need a defense that can allow us to run the ball. This defense wouldn't.
Too soft on the DL and at Safety. Depth at LB is a major concern given the recent health of our stud linebackers.