Can Collins be better than Leary in 2014?

[BrAinPaiNt]

Can he? Well, yes, obviously, he can. He's much more talented.

Will he? I'd hope so. I'd think so.

^This^

 

[The Quest for Six]

Collins was better than Leary the minute Dallas signed him

 

[Nightman]

Collins was better than Leary the minute Dallas signed him

Thats what I was thinking......he was already better last year.......he had some 'Wow' plays

 

[big dog cowboy]

Collins better than Leary, yes. Potentially better than Martin? I'll have to wait a couple of years on that one.

 

[Nova]

Pretty high pick, sounds like he looks good out there in OTAs. If a first rounder is expected to start as a rookie, I think we can expect a 3rd rounder to be a solid backup in his second year, injury or no injury.

To add to this, I'm confident because of our track record of drafting good young lineman recently. Tyron, Frederick, Martin, and grabbing Collins, sure. But we also would have taken Trai Turner in the third who broke out as a pro bowl caliber guard.

Just seems like we know what we're looking for there.

 

[Nova]

Leary is really good as a run blocker, but he has some trouble with quick-moving DLs in pass blocking. I'm not sure Collins is quite as powerful as Leary (at least he wasn't as a rookie), but he has more than enough power to be potent and the movement skills to handle those quick DLs.

Leary is a bad man, but I don't think he brings any more power than Collins. Did you see what he did to Gerald McCoy? Brandon Mebane?

Speed also plays a factor into that. Dude has elite speed to go along with brute strength.

 

[BAT]

Free was better in 2015 than he was in 2014, so no reason to believe he is incapable of surpassing his 2014 performance in 2016.

In fact, it was Free and not Leary who was the weak link in the historic rushing season in 2014. Leary is a top 5 OL on current Cowboys roster.

 

[Cowboy06]

Considering that he got the OL to adjust to more man blocking because of McFadden's inability to run consistently behind the zone blocking, I feel better about the OL coaching than I did when Callahan left.

Do you feel the pass protection was better as well? Just a question with no hidden intent.

 

[Irvin88_4life]

Can Collins be better then 2014 Leary? Haha he already is

 

[Section446]

Of course he "can be", we're talking about a guy who had the potential to be a top ten pick. Granted, if not for the injuries, Leary would have gone higher than he did.

I think the question should be whether or not Collins can improve upon last year, and to what extent.

 

[CF74]

He was better his rookie season...

 

[Irvin88_4life]

Free was better in 2015 than he was in 2014, so no reason to believe he is incapable of surpassing his 2014 performance in 2016.

In fact, it was Free and not Leary who was the weak link in the historic rushing season in 2014. Leary is a top 5 OL on current Cowboys roster.

Leary Is 5th......behind Smith, Frederick, Martin and Collins.

Leary struggles in pass protection but is a monster in the run game

 

[dogunwo]

Confident? more like hopeful, Green has never played a freaking down in the league. How could you be confident? and if Tyron goes down?

I hope Green can get some reps with the first team OL in these preseason games (of course AFTER Romo's two or three drives).

 

[gimmesix]

Do you feel the pass protection was better as well? Just a question with no hidden intent.

I didn't say I felt that the OL was better, just that I feel better about Pollack because the line was able to adjust to blocking for McFadden in a way to make him more effective.

I thought Smith, Martin and Leary all had worse years than the previous year. I thought Frederick was out best lineman last year and Free played better. However, I also think both the pass and run blocking improved as the year progressed, so the fact that various injuries kept the line from playing together much in camp might have been a factor. Martin actually played while he was still recovering from injury so he's a tough man, and I can't remember but I don't think Leary was 100 percent healthy either. Not sure why Tyron wasn't quite as on his game.

I think we'll probably be able to tell more about Pollack's coaching this year as we move further from Callahan's influence.

 

[gimmesix]

Leary is a bad man, but I don't think he brings any more power than Collins. Did you see what he did to Gerald McCoy? Brandon Mebane?

Speed also plays a factor into that. Dude has elite speed to go along with brute strength.

Didn't mean that Leary is always going to be a more powerful player than Collins, just that Collins' power in 2015 was less refined that Leary's was in 2014. That's understandable since Collins was a rookie and Leary had been on the team a year before he started. Collins will be a mauler and a mover while Leary is just primarily a mauler.

 

[Cowboy06]

I didn't say I felt that the OL was better, just that I feel better about Pollack because the line was able to adjust to blocking for McFadden in a way to make him more effective.

I thought Smith, Martin and Leary all had worse years than the previous year. I thought Frederick was out best lineman last year and Free played better. However, I also think both the pass and run blocking improved as the year progressed, so the fact that various injuries kept the line from playing together much in camp might have been a factor. Martin actually played while he was still recovering from injury so he's a tough man, and I can't remember but I don't think Leary was 100 percent healthy either. Not sure why Tyron wasn't quite as on his game.

I think we'll probably be able to tell more about Pollack's coaching this year as we move further from Callahan's influence.

I can't disagree with you at all. However, I am not a Free fan. Just feel they can do better, but you can't have rock stars at all positions.

 

[gimmesix]

I can't disagree with you at all. However, I am not a Free fan. Just feel they can do better, but you can't have rock stars at all positions.

Free isn't a great player. He is the weakest link, but he's not as weak as many feel he is. I think we get the grass-is-greener syndrome with our players. Free is a starter-quality right tackle, just not a Pro Bowl-quality one. I'm for upgrading the spot, but because he's a decent player, it's not a priority. Hopefully, someone like Green can develop to be a better option, so we don't have to add a fifth first-rounder to this line. (I don't think we can get lucky again and have a player like Collins drop into our laps as a UDFA.)

 

[Cowboy06]

Free isn't a great player. He is the weakest link, but he's not as weak as many feel he is. I think we get the grass-is-greener syndrome with our players. Free is a starter-quality right tackle, just not a Pro Bowl-quality one. I'm for upgrading the spot, but because he's a decent player, it's not a priority. Hopefully, someone like Green can develop to be a better option, so we don't have to add a fifth first-rounder to this line. (I don't think we can get lucky again and have a player like Collins drop into our laps as a UDFA.)

I hope Green is it...but Romo could get hurt big time if we don't try to improve that RT position.

 

[erod]

Wow, the BS is flying.

Collins made a TON of mistakes last year. He didn't earn the position. It was handed to him.

Leary was the better player, in fact.

Long term, Collins has more upside and better knees.

People see a couple pancake blocks and forget about the constant issues in pass protection.

 

[gimmesix]

Wow, the BS is flying.

Collins made a TON of mistakes last year. He didn't earn the position. It was handed to him.

Leary was the better player, in fact.

Long term, Collins has more upside and better knees.

People see a couple pancake blocks and forget about the constant issues in pass protection.

Leary did not start off playing well last year because he suffered a groin injury in camp and tried to play through it. Collins definitely wasn't perfect, but Leary's injury struggles allowed Collins to take his spot. Collins did make plenty of mistakes, but he was better overall than Leary last year.