Connor Williams earned the LG spot again

fivetwos

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I've been calling for McGovern to start for two years, and I think he is better than Williams....but now Biadasz seems to be having issues as well.

The answer may very well be just go back to what worked best...

Smith...Williams...Biadasz....Martin...Steele.

Our best five? Nope....but just maybe our best unit.
 

Whyjerry

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LT Smith
LG Collins
C Biadisz
RG Martin
RT Steele

That is our best 5 OL. I would try that lineup before putting Williams back at LG.
Exactly. I also think they need to work Williams as a T. It might save his career. The situation is bad if we are clamoring for Williams.
 

xwalker

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Interesting regarding Martin. I’m not smart enough to know how accurate PFF grades are and, therefore, don’t buy them hook, line and sinker. And that goes for any media “experts”.
PFF is garbage with regards to player grades.

PFF have certain stats that are good, but their player grades are just silly.
- They hire people with zero football experience to "grade film".

Status such as QB targets being right/middle/left and short/long (i.e. 6 areas).
- Those stats require watching game footage to determine.
 

droopdog7

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I've been calling for McGovern to start for two years, and I think he is better than Williams....but now Biadasz seems to be having issues as well.

The answer may very well be just go back to what worked best...

Smith...Williams...Biadasz....Martin...Steele.

Our best five? Nope....but just maybe our best unit.
How did you know he was better than Williams if he never played? This is nothing more than assuming the other guy can’t possibly be worse when indeed, the other guy can definitely be worse.
 

LittleD

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Put La’el at guard and Steele at Tackle.

Connor Williams is a average player who gets a ton of penalties. I believe he lead the league.

Time for another business decision. Put Steele back at tackle and La'el on the street. Players with chronic hip problems can't block that well any longer.
 

fivetwos

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How did you know he was better than Williams if he never played? This is nothing more than assuming the other guy can’t possibly be worse when indeed, the other guy can definitely be worse.
Liked him at PSU, and thought he played well in the absence of Martin last season.

Your comment is nothing more than assuming I assumed.
 

xwalker

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1st choice - Tyron - Collins - Badass - Martin - Steele

2nd choice - Tyron - Williams - Badass - Martin - Steele / Collins (whatever the team feels is best at RT)
I've been calling for McGovern to start for two years, and I think he is better than Williams....but now Biadasz seems to be having issues as well.

The answer may very well be just go back to what worked best...

Smith...Williams...Biadasz....Martin...Steele.

Our best five? Nope....but just maybe our best unit.
La'el is a dumb player that continues to make by far the most mental mistakes of anyone on the OL.
- Physically he is the prototype RT or OG; although, not when his conditioning is bad.

Connor Williams made less mental mistakes than anybody other than Zack Martin.
- Once players get a reputation with the refs, it's a struggle to overcome penalties.
- I think if CW were to become a starter again, that the refs would be less focused on him now.

On the subject, I saw CB Anthony Brown make the exact same contact with WRs in the Saints game as in the Raiders game but no penalties in the Saints game.
- I assume that the refs wanted to tread lightly after the entire NFL fanbase and media spotlighted the ridiculousness of the Raiders game.
- The refs in the Saints game probably errored on the side of favoring the Cowboys just to avoid controversy.
- If I had been the Cowboys HC for that game, I might have asked if I could decline the penalty they called on the Saints player for the 'blindside block'.
 

Adiba1977

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Yes put Williams back. Get McGovern back in those jumbo packages. Need stick to line that was best and DONT change again unless injury.
 

fivetwos

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La'el is a dumb player that continues to make by far the most mental mistakes of anyone on the OL.
- Physically he is the prototype RT or OG; although, not when his conditioning is bad.

Connor Williams made less mental mistakes than anybody other than Zack Martin.
- Once players get a reputation with the refs, it's a struggle to overcome penalties.
- I think if CW were to become a starter again, that the refs would be less focused on him now.

On the subject, I saw CB Anthony Brown make the exact same contact with WRs in the Saints game as in the Raiders game but no penalties in the Saints game.
- I assume that the refs wanted to tread lightly after the entire NFL fanbase and media spotlighted the ridiculousness of the Raiders game.
- The refs in the Saints game probably errored on the side of favoring the Cowboys just to avoid controversy.
- If I had been the Cowboys HC for that game, I might have asked if I could decline the penalty they called on the Saints player for the 'blindside block'.
Some of the calls against him are questionable...but most are.

For lack of a better logical explanation for being able to run block well, then suddenly can't, I'd say we forget about individuals and go back to the unit we had success with.

They seemed to be rotating during the Raider game. Is that a good idea if continuity on the OL is a real thing....and I'm sure it is?

Also, that jumbo formation has gone away since the changes. Not saying it was pure genius, but we do need help getting the run game going....and they apparently won't use Williams the way they did McGovern and Collins.
 

JustChip

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PFF is garbage with regards to player grades.

PFF have certain stats that are good, but their player grades are just silly.
- They hire people with zero football experience to "grade film".

Status such as QB targets being right/middle/left and short/long (i.e. 6 areas).
- Those stats require watching game footage to determine.
Having Martin graded that low certainly raises the eyebrow. However, even HoF players can have an very occasional off day at the office. But I view PFF grades as entertainment and not necessarily top entertainment. Based on what I see on here, PFF is accurate when it supports one’s position and trash when it doesn’t.
 

Creeper

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First off, kudos to La'el Collins. It seems he is improving by playing more. It's not like he was facing some scrub Thursday. He had Cam Jordan in front of him. He had a pretty good night and hopefully will get better.

But after watching the game a second time, I think McGovern did a good job in pass blocking. He and Biadasz were often double teaming one tackle with Martin taking on the other. This is how they need to block. The problems Dallas had were about the blitzing and stunts/twists the Saints were running. They were struggling with those. I think they were better at that when Connor Williams was playing but remember LG is new to McGovern.

Run blocking is a different story. McGovern was not getting any movement. But in his defense the Cowboys were running up the gut and the Saints were run blitzing and giving Dallas more guys to block than they had blockers. To me McGovern equals Connor Williams without the holding penalties. Maybe that is good enough reason to leave him at LG. Connor is a better blocker on the move though I think. He is better getting to the second level. It is a tradeoff.

But it is no coincidence that when Dallas started running outside they were having more success. Even gimpy Zeke got a could of good runs to the outside. I don't understand why it took Dallas so long to recognize the defense and make that adjustment.

In any case, the Cowboys need to solve the LG/C problem in the offseason. Both McGovern and Biadasz are inexperienced and maybe they develop but right now they are a problem.

I am fully in favor of moving Collins back to LG -plays the best 5, but I would hold off on that depending on Collins' comfort level. That may be something to try in the offseason and allow Collins to reshape his body again.
 

CowboysFaninHouston

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Connor McGovern did not win the job and the run game was mediocre along with pressure given up from the middle.

Need Connor Williams back in the line-up.


we cowboys fans live to see the grass on the other side of the fence, because its greener...everyone here clamoured for McGovern, because they were mad at Williams, they wanted to punt williams to the curb, come wanted him cut immedtiately (go figure). now we are on the other side of the fence and grass ain't that green....

did collins need to clean up his penalties? yes....we also miss the surprise McGovern FB/TE/WR plays that Moore liked to use....
 

xwalker

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Liked him at PSU, and thought he played well in the absence of Martin last season.

Your comment is nothing more than assuming I assumed.

It's a difficult comparison between the Connors because they're different types of players.
- Some OL coaches would prefer one while other OL coaches would prefer the other.

- Connor Williams would have been the prototype for infamous Zone Blocking Guru Alex Gibbs.
- Gibbs would sacrifice size/power for quickness/agility.
- CW has as good of foot quickness and agility as just about any OL in the league.
- Only early years Tryon had better quickness/ability with regards to Cowboys players.

- Connor McGovern would have been the choice of OL Tony Wise with the early nineties Cowboys (i.e. Power-man blocking).
- CM plays with a better base (i.e. He is harder to get off-balance).
- CW is actually very strong with regards to weight room strength, but his lower body lacks bulk.
- CM and CW might weight about the same, but CM's center of gravity is probably 6" lower.
- McGovern is not as good as CW with regards to awareness on stunts/blitzes.
- CW is also much better than CM with regards to 2nd level blocking in the run game.
- 2nd level blocking is more about awareness and agility than power. OLinemen blocking LBs and DBs.
- We've seen where TE Schultz is OK blocking inline but struggles to block in space.
- Connor Williams literally has better agility and short area quickness than TE Schultz.

Future:
- Both CW and La'el are likely gone next year. They won't pay La'el 10M unless Tyron retires and Steele moves to LT.
- Matt Farniok might push for playing time next year. He has been active for the majority of games this season.
- For a rookie late round pick, Farniok was impressive in the preseason at both OG and OC. Very good technically.
- Josh Ball would have been a 2nd or possibly 1st round pick if he had stayed at Florida State (without the DV issue).
- He was a better player at Florida State in 2017 as a redshirt freshman than Terence Steele was in 2020 as a Senior.
- Ball has all the tools to play LT. He's not the freak athlete like Tyron (nobody else is either), but is physically very similar to 8x All-Pro Joe Thomas.
- The problem is that the draft comes before they get to see Josh Ball in the preseason. It would be hard to bypass an OT if a legit LT prospect is available.
 

xwalker

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Having Martin graded that low certainly raises the eyebrow. However, even HoF players can have an very occasional off day at the office. But I view PFF grades as entertainment and not necessarily top entertainment. Based on what I see on here, PFF is accurate when it supports one’s position and trash when it doesn’t.
I've consistently been against PFF player grades even when it supports my opinion.

In the past I posted a job listed from PFF and I posted a resume from a guy that had worked at PFF "grading film".

The guys resume showed that he was a paint salesman prior to working for PFF.

The job listing did not require any football experience.
 

MichiganCowboyFan

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If Steele comes back it would be a good test vs WFT’s defensive front. If Collins struggles after 1st qtr then make the switch to Williams and don’t ever look back.
If Collins struggles at LG (his original position for 2 years) and he can't beat out Steele at RT, then Collins should be traded in the offseason. No way can you afford to keep a backup OL at $10+ million per year when you've also got to pay Gallup ($12-14M AAV/4-5 years), Gregory (similar to Gallup), Kearse (probably $6-8M AAV/4-5 years), Schultz (probably around Kearse money or gets let walk if asks for too much), and Hooker (probably 2-3 years at $4-5M AAV to start at free safety).
 

JustChip

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I've consistently been against PFF player grades even when it supports my opinion.

In the past I posted a job listed from PFF and I posted a resume from a guy that had worked at PFF "grading film".

The guys resume showed that he was a paint salesman prior to working for PFF.

The job listing did not require any football experience.
So, I need to turn in my application! :)
 

FVSTONE

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Connor McGovern did not win the job and the run game was mediocre along with pressure given up from the middle.

Need Connor Williams back in the line-up.


Wait a minute, EVERYONE has been screaming for the backup guy McGovern and now the tide is circling back to Williams?????? I totally agree, the current O-Line has looked terrible lately. It looks like a jail break every time the ball in snapped, with NO WHERE to run the ball. Hell, Pollard was almost tackled five yards in the back field but was able to make a smooth move that allowed him to break free and TAKE IT TO THE HOUSE! There's a reason Dak looks like he slammed a case of 5 HR ENERGY DRINK every time he drops back to pass because before he can setup to thread a pass someone has been in his face or in the general area of knocking him on his ***. There is something seriously wrong with the O-Line and needs to be addressed in the next 12 days if the Boys want to show the SKINS who the BIG DOG is in their division.
 

lqmac1

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How isn't it obvious to put Collins at LG and Steele at RT for the guys making millions to see that?
 
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