Regarding penalties, players and coaching, who fixes that? The coaches went as far as benching the better LG to get his attention and even that didn't work. Some act like they just ignored what was happening. Do we think there is anything more frustrating to coaches than repetitive penalties?
That drove Landry to cussing with Pozderac and helped Parcells decide to retire. You could see it in his face on the sideline.
There is one element to this that we must not overlook. Williams is gone because of penalties and his replacement has that rep. Where do we think the emphasis is going to be with the player and his coaches? What's everyone going to be focusing on?
I do not see any comparison with Williams and Smith. Williams was a project from the beginning, get bigger and stronger. Smith is already bigger stronger and comes with a nasty attitude and the point of impact is already improved.
Be honest, if Williams hadn't been a Horn, most of you wouldn't have celebrated that pick. A Horn and wanted to be a Cowboy, two boxes checked for some. I don't care where a player is from, and I got only the 2nd Hog picked in this draft, I want a guy that wants to be a NFL player and make lots of money.
I believe the Cowboys got that with their 1st. In fact, I will predict that he will do so well at LG, they will want to keep him there and do something else at LT when Big Smitty retires. Unless they have to kick him out when Big Smitty is sidelined. And that could be premature and impede his progress.