This is the starting oline I like to see this up coming season. Tyrone Smith at LT. With Fredrick coming back healthy I would like Looney at LG. After this season he deserve a starting spot. Martin at RG and the biggest surprise I would like the team to move on from Collins and save some cap space since we have so many to sign in the next 2-3 years. Conner Williams at RT he has the athleticism to play there and not have to worry about getting overpowered by other teams Guards......Thoughts?
C-Will played better when he returned to the starting line-up than he did earlier in the season.
C-Will primarily blocked Aaron Donald in the Rams game and Donald had zero sacks.
Obviously the Cowboys couldn't run against the Rams and some of that is on C-Will.
Williams will be bigger next season. Under-weight rookies are almost always bigger in their 2nd year, especially OLinemen.
Tyron ate everything he could leading up to the draft and came in at 307 pounds but his playing weight as a rookie was reported to dip below 300 at one point. He was well over 310 his 2nd season.
Jermey Parnell was about 270 when he came to the Cowboys after playing basketball in college. Within a few years he had the most powerful punch every measured by Strength and Conditioning coach Woicik and Parnell is now listed at 326.
If there is one thing the Cowboys have shown to do well, it probably making players bigger and stronger.
IMO, they might go too far with regards to strength training. I think Tyron might be lifting too heavy and maybe too often resulting in making him more prone to back and other types of injuries.
In theory swapping C-Will and La'el makes sense as well as giving Looney a legit chance to compete at OG.
The last thing they need is less depth on the OLine. They should not move on from Collins unless they have added some legit depth by the end of training camp. Collins is in the last year of his contract and they'll likely let him move on at that point.
C-Will has as good of foot quickness as about any OLineman in the NFL but is a bit under-powered at OG.
La'el's best asset is power but he lacks the foot quickness of elite OTs.
Swapping Collins and Williams would allow Collins to be the backup or 2nd backup OT. If C-Will does not move to OT, he wouldn't be able to move to OT during the season if injuries happened UNLESS he had spent significant pracrice snaps at OT in training camp.
I would make OT a fairly high priority in the draft. Currently the 2019 season would collapse if Tyron was out long term.
Most OTs can play OG if given enough practice reps there. Drafting a quality OT likely makes that player an option to play 4 positions. If that player progresses quickly then it would be easier to move on from Collins.
Final Note: La'el is not terrible. He is better than Doug Free on his best day; however, La'el is not close to being elite at OT. He has the physical ability to be elite at OG; although he does not seem to be very smart.