Ball looked like garbage a year ago, in what was essentially his “rookie” outing after spending an entire year on IR, not playing or practicing football. Waletzko is in a similar position this year. Waletzko was also on IR for a year, and though this is his second training camp, he may as well be considered a rookie. Waletzko has looked bad this summer, just as Ball looked bad last summer. But we can reasonably expect Waletzko to improve over this season and start looking good a year from now.
Terence Steele developed into a starting level OT in his third season. People keep trashing the Cowboys back up linemen, but they are developing as you would expect. Ball and Farniok are going into their second full healthy seasons. Hoffman, Richards, and Waletzko are going into their first full healthy seasons, along with Bass and Bostick.
You would think that the fans would give the Cowboys some credit for recognizing and developing offensive line talent. They’ve been pretty good at it for a very long time going all the way back to Larry Allen, Flozell Adams, Andre Gurode, Leonard Davis, etc. There was a dip just prior to Garrett becoming head coach, but Garrett quickly compensated by spending 3 of his first 4 first round picks on Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick, and Zack Martin.
Going back through the Jones tenure with the team, the Cowboys have habitually had around 3-4 Pro Bowl caliber offensive lineman nearly every season for 35 years. If Jerry & Co. had spent as much time focused on the Defensive line, maybe the Cowboys would have won more consistently.
But doubting the Cowboys ability and focus on the Offensive line, given their history, just doesn’t make too much sense.
