Connor Williams is the weakest link on the OL

xwalker

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According to PFF, CW gave up only 1 sack. He improved greatly in his second year.

Fan narratives are fun.

CW was playing really well but fans are convinced he is too small and therefore must have sucked.

Fans love La'el now because he looks the part but he made more mistakes in 2019 than CW despite having more experience.

For some reason there is a big fan club for CB Jourdan Lewis. Some fans appear to love him because he has a cocky on-field demeanor. He might be good in the right situation but that is yet to be proven. He was not good last season.
 

TwentyOne

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This guy needs to move from OG to swing tackle. I believe Issac Garcia has the size, strength & athleticism to play LG at high level.




On a OL that has that kind of talent its not a bad certificate to be the worst of all 5.
 

xwalker

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Don’t sleep on Biadasz winning the C position and allowing Joe Looney into the mix. Before this season of injuries that guy had a first round grade. Wisconsin just churns out linemen. Very good player. He was the steal of the draft.

If it's close, they'll likely go with a veteran player over Biadasz to start the 2020 season.

McGovern and Biadasz could have intertwined fates. Coaches will want to avoid have 2 players side-by-side with zero NFL experience.

If McGovern wins the LG position that would decrease the chances for Biadasz to start the season at OC.

Vice-versa if Biadasz clearly wins the OC position then McGovern's chances of starting at LG for game 1 decrease.
 

xwalker

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Not exactly going out on a limb here considering he was benched for XSF.

I think he still probably has the inside track, but it will be interesting to see what McGovern can do there & maybe Looney if they go with Badaiz as center.
Benched? He went to IR in 2019. He was injured early in his last game but they disliked XSF enough to put CW back into the game and he ended up completely blowing out his knee.

In 2018 he got injured and was replaced by XSF. He was out for 2 games then returned but didn't start for 2 games. That's likely because he was not 100%.

It was CW not XSF lining up against Aaron Donald in the playoff game and Donald had one of the worst games statistically of his career...
 

BackInTown

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Benched? He went to IR in 2019. He was injured early in his last game but they disliked XSF enough to put CW back into the game and he ended up completely blowing out his knee.

In 2018 he got injured and was replaced by XSF. He was out for 2 games then returned but didn't start for 2 games. That's likely because he was not 100%.

It was CW not XSF lining up against Aaron Donald in the playoff game and Donald had one of the worst games statistically of his career...

It is possible that CW wasn’t yet 100%, but I think the prevailing opinion was that he simply lost the job... the OL play markedly improved when CW went down and XSF got his chance. It does seem like CW has improved since that time, but he’s also not been exactly dominant either... remember that this is a guy playing between Fredbeard and Tyron for much of this time, and this could have made him look more improved than he was.
 

texbumthelife

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Fan narratives are fun.

CW was playing really well but fans are convinced he is too small and therefore must have sucked.

Fans love La'el now because he looks the part but he made more mistakes in 2019 than CW despite having more experience.

For some reason there is a big fan club for CB Jourdan Lewis. Some fans appear to love him because he has a cocky on-field demeanor. He might be good in the right situation but that is yet to be proven. He was not good last season.

Holy smokes, I agree with everything you've said in this thread. I don't care what everyone else says, you know your stuff.

;)
 

blueblood70

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This guy needs to move from OG to swing tackle. I believe Issac Garcia has the size, strength & athleticism to play LG at high level.



let the coaches figure it out..you saying this not knowing the details or how he will be used this coming season is premature,,stop trying to be the coach, this is a forum no one that matters is reading it lol
 

G2

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What do you think about biadiaz ?
I wonder about his hip just because his play dropped off after surgery. Plus he had work on his shoulder. It was just a scope, but his style of play is more upper body. He skipped the combine because of it. That's 2 years in a row hindered by injuries. I could be wrong, but a lot of what makes a lineman successful transitioning into the NFL is the strength and conditioning in the off season. He also had knee injuries.
Now that's all the bad, but I try to be fair. The kid is a bulldog when healthy and we all know some damn fine Wisconsin linemen. They do a good job with positioning, corralling defenders and getting hand control. He was projected to go early and slid to the 4th, which was also commonly suggested to happen. So we could have a steal. As long as he is healthy and can make the transition quickly.
 

texbumthelife

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It is possible that CW wasn’t yet 100%, but I think the prevailing opinion was that he simply lost the job... the OL play markedly improved when CW went down and XSF got his chance. It does seem like CW has improved since that time, but he’s also not been exactly dominant either... remember that this is a guy playing between Fredbeard and Tyron for much of this time, and this could have made him look more improved than he was.

The run blocking improved somewhat, but the pass blocking suffered significantly, if I remember correctly. Williams really looked solid before being injured last season. It's been shown via tape and all-22 that a lot of the issues in the middle of the line that were attributed to Williams, were really a result of Beards decreased athleticism. This is not to say it was all Beards fault, or that Williams was perfect, but many here blew his deficiencies out of proportion. He's the second best OL on the team at getting to the next level. He needs to work on his timing a little, and his punch, but he's definitely got the athleticism and work ethic to continue to improve.
 

Kaiser

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I wonder about his hip just because his play dropped off after surgery. Plus he had work on his shoulder. It was just a scope, but his style of play is more upper body. He skipped the combine because of it. That's 2 years in a row hindered by injuries. I could be wrong, but a lot of what makes a lineman successful transitioning into the NFL is the strength and conditioning in the off season. He also had knee injuries.

Agree but I think some people are thinking it will be a similar transition for him as Travis Frederick because of the college and physical similarities.

Not a knock on Biadasz at all but Frederick was an incredibly bright guy who was elite in recognizing formations, shifts, line calls, etc. He had a 3.97 GPA in Computer Science at Wisconsin (a good school) and that doesn't always translate on the field, but there was a report when he visited Dallas prior to the draft that the coaches kept throwing formations at him and he made the right call every single time. That was before he was even drafted, he was elite in his "on the field intelligence".
 

Kaiser

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The run blocking improved somewhat, but the pass blocking suffered significantly, if I remember correctly. Williams really looked solid before being injured last season. It's been shown via tape and all-22 that a lot of the issues in the middle of the line that were attributed to Williams, were really a result of Beards decreased athleticism. This is not to say it was all Beards fault, or that Williams was perfect, but many here blew his deficiencies out of proportion. He's the second best OL on the team at getting to the next level. He needs to work on his timing a little, and his punch, but he's definitely got the athleticism and work ethic to continue to improve.

He also wasn't really between Fred and Tyron most of that time. Frederick was out for Williams' rookie year and a much lesser player last year. Tyron missed three games in each of those season and played through serious injuries for most of the games Williams has been on the field. Tyron invented wearing a leg brace on your arm as a way to stay on the field, most players wouldn't have even tried to play.

And in 2018 Martin played most of the year with an injury that would keep most players off the field, that entire season was a trainwreck for the OL except for La'el Collins.
 

Williamsboys

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Connor Williams?? Fansided Cowboys article about nine months ago actually has an article titled.."Connor Williams. Future cornerstone of the Dallas Cowboys". Sad thread there bud.
 

G2

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Agree but I think some people are thinking it will be a similar transition for him as Travis Frederick because of the college and physical similarities.

Not a knock on Biadasz at all but Frederick was an incredibly bright guy who was elite in recognizing formations, shifts, line calls, etc. He had a 3.97 GPA in Computer Science at Wisconsin (a good school) and that doesn't always translate on the field, but there was a report when he visited Dallas prior to the draft that the coaches kept throwing formations at him and he made the right call every single time. That was before he was even drafted, he was elite in his "on the field intelligence".
I was deeply saddened when Frederick retired. While I respected his choice, man it sucked.
 

Dak_Attack_09

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Williams had a lot of trouble playing against power DL for most of his rookie year. This is understandable to an extent because as a LT, you don't generally face 300-plus pound men. When he re-entered the starting lineup later that year first because of a brief injury to Martin and then because of one to Su'a-Filo, he was much better at anchoring his base in front of the DL and using good technique to counter power.

Last year, he put on some extra size and continued to play like he did when he re-entered the lineup his rookie years. Pro Bowl-caliber, power DL are always going to give him some trouble, but he wasn't a problem at LG last year.

His competition for the starting LG spot might be Connor McGovern. McGovern is more of a power player but doesn't move as well as Williams. I won't be surprised if Williams ends up being the starting LG with McGovern and Biadasz competing for starting C.

Garcia isn't even in the conversation yet. Would love to see him develop on the practice squad into a find, though. I'm not sure he can even play guard. He doesn't have a real thick lower body and likes to play with a wide stance. Now, that could just be because he's playing left tackle, but lower-body strength/technique is very important at guard.



Talk to me in training camp, let’s see how injury prone C. Williams fair out.
 

Denim Chicken

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He was out for 2 games then returned but didn't start for 2 games. That's likely because he was not 100%.

That's what I was referring to. I was under the impression they held him out healthy. Anyhow, even if they didn't he's had an injury history since college and he hasn't been reliable. I don't believe he's the future at LG.
 
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