Best 5 offensive linemen

[Galian Beast]

I think if we're looking long term (or at least medium term) you'd want to keep Leary in there over Free. I've thought for a while that Leary has more upside than Free does at this point. Leary is still improving as a player, and certainly is no slouch. One of the strongest players on that line.

I couldn't fathom why everyone thought he was going to be the easy player to supplant. I'm not saying Collins won't ever move inside and replace him, but with Free not ready to start OTAs and maybe not even ready for the start of camp, I fully expected Collins to be given time to play with the 1s in OTAs. He has never played on the right side from what I've heard, so this will be a bit of a transition for him, but if he can show up at tackle, I think that will ultimately be the best result for us.

Smith - Leary - Frederick - Martin - Collins

The question is does Leary get a new contract. Jerry said early that he wasn't interested in trading any offensive linemen, and he might have really meant that. I think another interesting takeaway from OTAs so far is Bernadeau becoming a full time center. This takes us to the the best 7, which are the offensive linemen who dress for the games.

Smith
Martin
Frederick
Collins
Leary
Free
Bernadeau

I think this is pretty clear cut. Bernadeau gives you position flex as the only player capable of playing center, but can also act as your backup guard. You can also move Collins inside to play guard, and bring up Free at either tackle position. But with Bernadeau and Collins playing tackle, you have two backup Tackles.

Green obviously makes the roster, and probably over Weems. I don't see us having 5 tackles on the 53 man roster. Gibson ends up as a PS player, and Weems gets cut, probably ends up in Washington.

Free becomes a career backup, and gives us great depth. And if they don't resign Leary, we look at moving Green inside or maybe even Collins depending on whether we make any more early investments on the line.

You have to like how our offensive line is shaping up, but the main point here I wouldn't could out Leary. If/when healthy I think he is a very good offensive guard and a huge asset for us. He beat out Bernadeau, and I think we'll see him have the best camp of his life with the competition around him.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

I'd like Leary to stay in the starting lineup too because I think he's very underrated and he has age on his side. I don't agree with people who say he's the weak link on the OL. There were many times last year when he looked like the best OL on the team.

That being said, I have the feeling Leary will be the odd man out. For one, Collins is projected to have the potential to be an elite OG and good OT (like Martin was). I'm all for playing players at their strength. Also, the other rookie we brought in projects to be nothing but a RT in the NFL. Lastly, Leary does have the degenerative knee issue and the Cowboys have seemed hesitant to give him a long term deal.

 

[Bay10]

Leary was really good last year. People sleep on him. His knee condition is a concern though. I bet the rookie Collins will not beat out Leary out in TC.

 

[Shneek814]

This position is the last thing we should even talk about.

 

[perrykemp]

Leary was really good last year. People sleep on him. His knee condition is a concern though. I bet the rookie Collins will not beat out Leary out in TC.

Leary had a good regular season, however, his pass blocking was a problem in the playoffs.

Go back and look at both the Detroit and GB game and you will see both of those teams spent a lot of time isolating their best pass rusher on Leary and in general being disruptive.

 

[Garrettop]

I was of the understanding that Leary excels in run blocking, but that lateral movement in pass blocking was a problem. Collins, with experience at tackle and greater athleticism, would provide an immediate upgrade in protecting Romo.

 

[The Quest for Six]

This will be the offensive line in two years,

Smith - Collins - Frederick - Martin - Green

Collins is a left guard in the NFL with his skill set, not the best lateral movement for an NFL tackle..Leary is the weak point and is gone after this year, Dallas isn't going to offer starter money when he'd be the backup. Free is signed for three years at starter money, so he's starting at right tackle in Dallas and he's the vocal Vet/leader of this offensive line

 

[canters]

This will be the offensive line in two years,

Smith - Collins - Frederick - Martin - Green

Collins is a left guard in the NFL with his skill set, not the best lateral movement for an NFL tackle..Leary is the weak point and is gone after this year, Dallas isn't going to offer starter money when he'd be the backup. Free is signed for three years at starter money, so he's starting at right tackle in Dallas and he's the vocal Vet/leader of this offensive line

I agree with this. This season could get hairy if Free is not 100%. Will Green end up at RT sooner rather than later? Will they force Collins to go there when he might not be an NFL RT? Interesting.

 

[daveferr33]

It would be great if Collins could supplant Free this season. But as Gallian points out, it would be his first time playing on the right side. Given his skill set and experience, I believe he can have a great rookie season at LG, similar to what Martin did last season. At RT, his rookie season will be more like Tyron's--good not great.

 

[jobberone]

Free is the RT unless injured. Collins will get snaps are RT to compete for the swing tackle. Collins and Leary will compete for G.

I think McDermott will be your backup C.

The 4th T will have a lot of competition.

I have:

Smith, Free, Weems, Green at T
Leary, Martin, Collins, Bernie-competition at G
McDermott, Fred at C

Gameday:

Smith, Free, Weems, (Collins, Martin)
Leary, Martin, Collins
Fred, (McDermott or Bernie)

 

[Manwiththeplan]

From a financial aspect, Learly likely will out price himself out of our range, which means if we plan to keep Collins at RT, then we need to draft a guard next year. If the plan is for him to play LG, then we have time.

 

[Doomsday101]

I'm excited that Dallas got Collins but he still has to go out and prove himself, no one is just going to hand him their jobs. Leary and Free have been through the NFL wars it falls to Collins to go out and earn a spot.

 

[jazzcat22]

Cowboys OL rank #1 on NFL.com scariest position groups.

http://www.nfl.com/photoessays/0ap3000000494302/nfls-scariest-position-groups-ranking-the-top-10

I was going to start a thread on this, but this one seems a good place to put the link.

 

[Stash]

I know that Dallas is playing Collins at RT, but I think they're quickly going to realize that it's not the position where his strengths will be maximized.

I fully expect Collins to start lining up more and more at left guard and less at right tackle.

 

[jazzcat22]

I know that Dallas is playing Collins at RT, but I think they're quickly going to realize that it's not the position where his strengths will be maximized.

I fully expect Collins to start lining up more and more at left guard and less at right tackle.

I agree. I think they are taking advantage of Free being out, to see how Collins can be ready if needed, or when needed to play RT.

 

[RS12]

Martin gives you position flex at every position on the OL. Can plug him in anywhere.

 

[silver]

Don't forget that our best OL Martin can slide outside to play RT. That would allow us to keep the young ones inside if and when Free retires.

 

[Stash]

I agree. I think they are taking advantage of Free being out, to see how Collins can be ready if needed, or when needed to play RT.

Yeah, I think they're taking a look to see if he can do it, but I think they're quickly going to find out that the left side - and guard - makes better sense for him at this point. The transition from college to the pros is tough enough, but compounding that with a position switch entailing completely different technique may be too much too soon.

 

[xwalker]

I think if we're looking long term (or at least medium term) you'd want to keep Leary in there over Free. I've thought for a while that Leary has more upside than Free does at this point. Leary is still improving as a player, and certainly is no slouch. One of the strongest players on that line.

I couldn't fathom why everyone thought he was going to be the easy player to supplant. I'm not saying Collins won't ever move inside and replace him, but with Free not ready to start OTAs and maybe not even ready for the start of camp, I fully expected Collins to be given time to play with the 1s in OTAs. He has never played on the right side from what I've heard, so this will be a bit of a transition for him, but if he can show up at tackle, I think that will ultimately be the best result for us.

Smith - Leary - Frederick - Martin - Collins

The question is does Leary get a new contract. Jerry said early that he wasn't interested in trading any offensive linemen, and he might have really meant that. I think another interesting takeaway from OTAs so far is Bernadeau becoming a full time center. This takes us to the the best 7, which are the offensive linemen who dress for the games.

Smith
Martin
Frederick
Collins
Leary
Free
Bernadeau

I think this is pretty clear cut. Bernadeau gives you position flex as the only player capable of playing center, but can also act as your backup guard. You can also move Collins inside to play guard, and bring up Free at either tackle position. But with Bernadeau and Collins playing tackle, you have two backup Tackles.

Green obviously makes the roster, and probably over Weems. I don't see us having 5 tackles on the 53 man roster. Gibson ends up as a PS player, and Weems gets cut, probably ends up in Washington.

Free becomes a career backup, and gives us great depth. And if they don't resign Leary, we look at moving Green inside or maybe even Collins depending on whether we make any more early investments on the line.

You have to like how our offensive line is shaping up, but the main point here I wouldn't could out Leary. If/when healthy I think he is a very good offensive guard and a huge asset for us. He beat out Bernadeau, and I think we'll see him have the best camp of his life with the competition around him.

They need to find the very best backup OT. In theory that should be Collins. If the top backup OT can beat out Free that would be good, but the primary focus should be finding that top backup. Is it Collins, Green or Weems?

The biggest issue with Collins focusing on Guard and having Green or Weems as the backup OT is that they only have 7 active on game day. With Bernadeau as the backup Center, that would put either Leary or Collins on the inactive list.

If Collins struggles playing on the Right and Green or Weems is clearly better, then move Collins to OG, but IMO, he should be given all possible chances to win the backup OT spot. If he excels there then he could also push Free for the starter's job.

It would be good if someone else could be the game day backup Center because that would give them the option to have Bernadeau on the inactive list. I think Martin could probably do it. They had him practice there a little last year in TC.

Leary will be a restricted Free Agent next season so they don't need to give him a contract. It will cost about 3.3M to use the 1st round tender or 2.2M to use the 2nd round tender on him. That give them plenty of time to decide if they eventually want to give him a contract in 2017.

Any of the young OTs could probably move to Guard. They all have that type of build. Gibson is probably the least likely, but the other 3 have the build to play either.
Collins 6'4-1/2", 306
Green 6'4-1/2", 314
Weems 6-5, 320

The current starters plus Bernadeau are 6 spots. If they keep 10, all of the previously mentioned young guys could make the roster. A broken finger is probably not enough to put Gibson on IR, but that would make things easier. I don't see him being ready to contribute in 2015 because he is far less developed than Green/Collins.

I could envision the 2017 OL as follows:
LT Tyron
LG Collins or Green (Leary was tended for 2016 and moves on in 2017)
OC Fred
RG Martin (also serves as the game-day backup Center)
RT Collins or Green (Free lost starters job in 2016 and moves on in 2017)
Top backup Guard Weems (This is obviously the least likely as Weems has yet to even practice at Guard)
Top backup OT Gibson

 

[Toruk_Makto]

I think if we're looking long term (or at least medium term) you'd want to keep Leary in there over Free. I've thought for a while that Leary has more upside than Free does at this point. Leary is still improving as a player, and certainly is no slouch. One of the strongest players on that line.

I couldn't fathom why everyone thought he was going to be the easy player to supplant. I'm not saying Collins won't ever move inside and replace him, but with Free not ready to start OTAs and maybe not even ready for the start of camp, I fully expected Collins to be given time to play with the 1s in OTAs. He has never played on the right side from what I've heard, so this will be a bit of a transition for him, but if he can show up at tackle, I think that will ultimately be the best result for us.

Smith - Leary - Frederick - Martin - Collins

The question is does Leary get a new contract. Jerry said early that he wasn't interested in trading any offensive linemen, and he might have really meant that. I think another interesting takeaway from OTAs so far is Bernadeau becoming a full time center. This takes us to the the best 7, which are the offensive linemen who dress for the games.

Smith
Martin
Frederick
Collins
Leary
Free
Bernadeau

I think this is pretty clear cut. Bernadeau gives you position flex as the only player capable of playing center, but can also act as your backup guard. You can also move Collins inside to play guard, and bring up Free at either tackle position. But with Bernadeau and Collins playing tackle, you have two backup Tackles.

Green obviously makes the roster, and probably over Weems. I don't see us having 5 tackles on the 53 man roster. Gibson ends up as a PS player, and Weems gets cut, probably ends up in Washington.

Free becomes a career backup, and gives us great depth. And if they don't resign Leary, we look at moving Green inside or maybe even Collins depending on whether we make any more early investments on the line.

You have to like how our offensive line is shaping up, but the main point here I wouldn't could out Leary. If/when healthy I think he is a very good offensive guard and a huge asset for us. He beat out Bernadeau, and I think we'll see him have the best camp of his life with the competition around him.

Leary is the easier player to supplant because he's cheaper and because it's to beat out a veteran that is well respected in the locker room and just got paid.