A random Cowboys offensive line discussion

[NewsBot]

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[WoodysGirl]

I think the OL will be alright.

 

[CheapietheCheapskate]

I wish we would have only lost one starter this offseason.

 

[diefree666]

Sad that the Cap prevents great teams from even being built let alone stay together. BUT I think as usual the writer is looking for negative things to say. Sadly that is common anymore. We have quality players looking at filling both holes; and the way Free played at the end of last year frankly that alone is addition by subtraction.

Yes it does take time for players to learn each others habits and moves and work with them; however when you have 60% returning and quality players competing then you are still in very good shape.

 

[Sydla]

I wish we would have only lost one starter this offseason.

We did lose one starter.

People seem to forget that Leary was a backup until Collins got hurt.

I guess I don't see the angst here that some show with out OL. If Collins had not hurt his foot, he'd have started all year at OG and all we would have to replace is Free at RT. And let's note that Free was our worst OL last year. He was a solid but unspectacular player but also our worst OL. Green showed he can play as well as Free (granted Green has to stay healthy).

I don't forsee the big drop off that people are projecting.

 

[Stash]

I think the OL will be alright.

Same here. They've still got a better 3/5ths of the equation answered than anyone else, with a known commodity in Collins to play in at least one of the positions, that's 4. And they've been proactive in acquiring other options to add to the mix.

I think there's a long list of teams that need to worry about their offensive line before you get to Dallas.

 

[xwalker]

I think the OL will be alright.

Having Martin, Fred and Tyron makes it easier to integrate other players on the OL. It's not just because of their physical ability, but also because they are students of the game.

A player like Jonathan Cooper has better chance to maximize his ability here than he would on many other teams.

The Jags signed a LT (Kevin Beachum) for 1-year in 2016. The player had been decent before and was perceived good enough this season to get 8M per year; however, in Jacksonville he really struggled.

 

[Sydla]

Same here. They've still got a better 3/5ths of the equation answered than anyone else, with a known commodity in Collins to play in at least one of the positions, that's 4. And they've been proactive in acquiring other options to add to the mix.

I think there's a long list of teams that need to worry about their offensive line before you get to Dallas.

I think it's the nature of sports media. They want to pick apart what's actually quality and surmise when the decline would or has started. It's really no different than say all the stories about how Rodgers was losing his effectiveness. I mean there were some starting to shovel dirt on Rodgers grave earlier in the 2016 season.

 

[Elusive6thRing]

I'm going to guess whoever wrote this article is a Cowboy hater.

"There's no guarantee that the Cowboys running game will remain the ruthless machine it's been in recent years."

Yeah Zeke will be in his second season, running backs usually only last one season.

We're free from Free and we lost a good player that was a backup until injury, basically meaning we're back to the same line from a few years ago that was dominate. We have 3 of the best linemen in the NFL. Woe is us.

It's like these writers get bored and make up stuff about the Cowboys that make no sense.

 

[xwalker]

I wish we would have only lost one starter this offseason.

There is a high probability that RT is better this season. Free was always a marginal starter but in 2016 due to age and a problem with his foot, he was well below average.

The have 4 options at RT now:
La'el moving from LG to RT.
Green was really good in 2 starts at LT last season. He was better than Free's career best game.
Cleary was decent at LT in the final game of the season.
Bell has been an OK starter for many games in the league and has even played LT.

La'el at RT probably depends on how Cooper looks at LG; although, some think Bell would be a good option at Guard.

In regards to LG, La'el was their preferred starter over Leary anyway. Leary was really good but every year he had an injury issue and he was terrible when playing injured. In 2016 his injury happened late in the preseason; therefore, he was recovering while La'el was starting the first 3 games of the season. In 2015 Leary was replaced by La'el because Leary was trying to play through an injury. In 2014 Leary was good early and late but struggled for some games in the middle of the season due to injury.

 

[Sydla]

When you have the best LT, C and RG in football............ I suspect it won't nor should it be hard, to put out a high quality OL.

We don't need to have the very best OL in football. It's a meaningless distinction. All we need is another power, strong, OL and we will have that as long as you have Smith, TFred and Martin healthy and under contract.

 

[erod]

We did lose one starter.

People seem to forget that Leary was a backup until Collins got hurt.

I guess I don't see the angst here that some show with out OL. If Collins had not hurt his foot, he'd have started all year at OG and all we would have to replace is Free at RT. And let's note that Free was our worst OL last year. He was a solid but unspectacular player but also our worst OL. Green showed he can play as well as Free (granted Green has to stay healthy).

I don't forsee the big drop off that people are projecting.

Technically, but not in reality. Leary was a significant upgrade when he went into the lineup. They were force-feeding Collins because they really WANT him to be the starter, but he struggled in pass protection and even in run blocking.

If Collins can shore up the RT spot, I feel great about this line. If he can't, then I have concerns. One injury to Frederick, Smith, or Martin, and it could get ugly.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Free's play took a nose dive last year. He was a limited player before that. He had issues with power and speed to power moves and would get knocked off balance.

The bar to replace his production is not that high and Frederick is more than ready to take over the lead if he was not already doing so before.

 

[DFWJC]

Not worried at all about the line.

 

[robjay04]

Our 3 all pro players will be here.

Our line may not be as few but I could see envision a realistic scenario where our line is better.

 

[Idgit]

Gotta prove it every year. We took a hit when Leary left, for sure. Collins is an adequate replacement for him, but it stole our most prominent depth player. Losing Free adds more uncertainty. We do have a third rounder going into his third season on the bench. That's how you like to replace a 4th rounder who was a 10 year starter for you if you can, but Green has injury question marks of his own.

Cooper is a high-potential college player who's become a veteran retread. I have low expectations that he could come in and be a legit contributor the way Leary was. He's a stop-gap player who's got a chance at actually being a good long-term solution for you, but he's a longshot.

In short, we did get probably a bit weaker and we did expend what quality depth we had this offseason. The good news is we'll be in position to spend resources on the OL again as early as next season if the right player is there, and we'll probably be drafting in a place where a decent OG selection in the first or second round makes a lot of sense again.

 

[jwooten15]

I think the plethora of weapons we have on offense can make up for any potential deficiency our line might now have. Add in the fact that Dak&Zeke have a year of experience now -- I'm not too worried about what our offense will do.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

Sad that the Cap prevents great teams from even being built let alone stay together. BUT I think as usual the writer is looking for negative things to say. Sadly that is common anymore. We have quality players looking at filling both holes; and the way Free played at the end of last year frankly that alone is addition by subtraction.

Yes it does take time for players to learn each others habits and moves and work with them; however when you have 60% returning and quality players competing then you are still in very good shape.

I agree. IMO the cap has hurt the league. I don't think the league is as good as it was in the 70s and earlier. I understand the reasons behind the cap, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. It bugged me when the team built a juggernaut in the 90s and then the cap came along to dismantle it. I understand that there were reasons behind that, the dealings with the player's union, legalities, etc. The league probably could not have avoided the cap, but I still don't like it.

 

[Elusive6thRing]

I agree. IMO the cap has hurt the league. I don't think the league is as good as it was in the 70s and earlier. I understand the reasons behind the cap, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. It bugged me when the team built a juggernaut in the 90s and then the cap came along to dismantle it. I understand that there were reasons behind that, the dealings with the player's union, legalities, etc. The league probably could not have avoided the cap, but I still don't like it.

Yeah if they're going to have a cap it needs to be more like the NBA where teams are able to retain their own players easier and it's more difficult to sign free agents. You should be rewarded with drafting great players which we did not punished because they're so good they end up costing too much.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Technically, but not in reality. Leary was a significant upgrade when he went into the lineup. They were force-feeding Collins because they really WANT him to be the starter, but he struggled in pass protection and even in run blocking.

If Collins can shore up the RT spot, I feel great about this line. If he can't, then I have concerns. One injury to Frederick, Smith, or Martin, and it could get ugly.

Leary did no better against the Giants than Collins did and outside of 1 quarter that was all that Collins played.

Leary looked a lot better against the Bears and 49ers depleted fronts and people never took into consideration the difference in level of competition.