Breer: Will the Cowboys’ offensive line still be overwhelming?

[Sydla]

It's possible that they could be a bit worse but given the fact Collins was thought of a sure fire first round OT back when he was eligible for the draft a couple of years ago.

That would give us 4 first round picks along the OL. The potential is there that this line could be even much better than last year's or 2014s.

 

[Cowboys_22]

Just a wild guess but I figure most teams would gladly trade their OL for ours.

 

[adbutcher]

It is funny. Most of them are the same people criticizing those same players as liabilities when they were here. But as soon as they're gone? How will they ever replace them?

"How will we replace X?" articles will keep those bums fed up to the bi week.

 

[dallasdave]

It is funny. Most of them are the same people criticizing those same players as liabilities when they were here. But as soon as they're gone? How will they ever replace them?

Well said indeed Sir How to you replace Free== very easy with Cleary, Collins, or a couple other people. Glad Free is gone, and people should stop asking how can we replace Free

 

[diefree666]

Are you serious? We had Leary last year that was head and shoulders above any of these backups we have now. We also had Free. Much better collection last year. You take out Free and Leary and who are you putting in? Green and Cooper? Not even close.

Sorry dude but Leary was not as great as you try and portray him. And you are another one that refuses to see how bad Free was last year.

 

[CATCH17]

It could potentially be better but also potentially be worse.


Leary was a huge loss. He was the best run blocker on this team imo. Maybe not the best at getting to the 2nd level but as far as taking a DT and moving him he is one of the better guys in football at that.



Lael is going to be a huge upgrade and this move should've been made the second he signed.

It's an absolute joke that they decided Free > Leary when we signed Lael.

 

[diefree666]

It's possible that they could be a bit worse but given the fact Collins was thought of a sure fire first round OT back when he was eligible for the draft a couple of years ago.

That would give us 4 first round picks along the OL. The potential is there that this line could be even much better than last year's or 2014s.

and if cooper wins the LG slot then we have 4 former 1st rd picks and its pretty much a consensus that Collins would have been a first round pick without that controversy.

 

[gimmesix]

I'd rather look at the real potential for improvement over the proven poor play the team got from Free last year. Sometimes, unknown is better than known bad.

Sometimes. I think there's reason to believe it is.

Collins was a first-round talent who played tackle well at an SEC school. The only real question about him is his ability to make the switch to the right side because of the change needed in his footwork. We don't know how long it will take him to make that adjustment, but his value as a player is higher than Free's ever was. It's a relief to know that Dallas is having him spend all of his time adjusting to the position to get to the point where he's not thinking about technique. There may be some bumps in the adjustment, but it's realistic to expect him to eventually play at a higher level than Free, if he doesn't do it right off the bat.

Green also was drafted earlier than Free because of the ability he showed at another SEC school when he could stay on the field. If he had not had the injury troubles, then he would have been drafted higher. The obvious question with him is can he ever stay healthy.

Free was drafted in the fourth round because of the athleticism he displayed at tackle at a non-power school, which had earned him the nickname "Doug Freak." However, he was clearly a project as he didn't play with power in college and had some technique issues. He improved both of those things, but at times they would show back up like they did last year. He's always been an upgradeable player, but Dallas hasn't had an upgrade ... although Parnell was at least on par with Free.

As bad as Free was, the question is whether we have that upgrade now. I believe we have two players who could be, but I need to see it before I erase those question marks.

 

[gimmesix]

It could potentially be better but also potentially be worse.


Leary was a huge loss. He was the best run blocker on this team imo. Maybe not the best at getting to the 2nd level but as far as taking a DT and moving him he is one of the better guys in football at that.



Lael will is going to be a huge upgrade and this move should've been made the second he signed.

It's an absolute joke that they decided Free > Leary when we signed Lael.

I agree with this. We should have at least been preparing to replace Free with Collins. Maybe we would have if Leary had not been hampered by injury, leading to Collins replacing him, but the team seemed to be shortsighted when it came to Free.

It just doesn't seem that Leary was ever in the team's long-term plans while Free remained in them until he took himself out of the picture.

 

[CATCH17]

I agree with this. We should have at least been preparing to replace Free with Collins. Maybe we would have if Leary had not been hampered by injury, leading to Collins replacing him, but the team seemed to be shortsighted when it came to Free.

It just doesn't seem that Leary was ever in the team's long-term plans while Free remained in them until he took himself out of the picture.

It probably had more to do with off the field stuff like Free being some kind of leader but how much of that really matters on Sunday and he has JPP lined up against him.

All of that other stuff becomes nonsense and it becomes about your actual level of play and you can't even compare Leary and Free or even Lael to Free.

 

[SportsGuru80]

Love how all of these articles conveniently leave out the fact that Free was a complete dumpster fire last year

And that's putting it CONSERVATIVELY!!!!!

 

[dallasdave]

And that's putting it CONSERVATIVELY!!!!!

Well said indeed

 

[LittleD]

Sorry dude but Leary was not as great as you try and portray him. And you are another one that refuses to see how bad Free was last year.

Hate to jump in but, you must not have watched Leary over the last 3 years. He played LG much better than anyone else and that includes Collins. Yes, leg and foot injuries robbed Free of much of his movement skills but, he was never a first round player.

 

[LittleD]

If Cooper or Green comes on in TC, I would take bets that the OL will be improved over last year. If they can get their
run blocking down to get 5 yards on first down, no team will get to Dak on 2nd or 3rd. Dak, Zeke and OL will reign supreme
for another year.

 

[viman96]

What is this supposed to mean?

Zeke Elliott (he’s had to work himself back into playing shape)

 

[dallasdave]

If Cooper or Green comes on in TC, I would take bets that the OL will be improved over last year. If they can get their
run blocking down to get 5 yards on first down, no team will get to Dak on 2nd or 3rd. Dak, Zeke and OL will reign supreme
for another year.

The OL will be better also because our 3 All Pro Players are just coming into their prime, they will get better this year !!! Also Free really sucked last year

 

[LittleD]

Baring serious injury, this OL has an opportunity to be a dominating unit for the next 7 to 9 years.
Our window to the SB is just now opening wide again. All we have to do is step through it.

 

[dallasdave]

Baring serious injury, this OL has an opportunity to be a dominating unit for the next 7 to 9 years.
Our window to the SB is just now opening wide again. All we have to do is step through it.

And find a way to keep Collins under contract for a number of years.(I think we can)

 

[Stash]

Collins, Frederick, Smith, Martin? Big four? Do you not agree with that?

Not that i disagree, more that I wasn't sure what you were referring to.

But I actually like this year's linemen overall better than I did last year's.

 

[Stash]

"How will we replace X?" articles will keep those bums fed up to the bi week.

That and the Jaylon Smith updates!