Could Free move to guard if starting OT is drafted?

[Cowboy06]

We just have to have placeholders until we can find and develop younger talent. I just don't see us getting enough new OL talent this year to dump Free. I'll be happy if we get just one high pick on the OL. We just have so many needs on D, as well as needing a RB and WR, I just don't think it happens this year. We just don't have the cap space for free agents to fill these needs, so most of them have to come from the draft.

The Cowboys are kind of in a bad place right now, but if a few things come together, I think we can get to the playoffs this year. We're going to have to be lucky AND good, though.

I'm inclined to agree with you. This team has been drafted well with the higher draft picks on the line (Smith and Frederick). I am 100% on board with another 1st round linemen or very high 2nd round pick.

 

[burmafrd]

I want DL in the first but things might break badly and we end up with no ability to trade down. and nothing on the D line worth the #16

 

[DBOY3141]

They could trade back to the end of the 1st and take Morgan Moses from Virginia. If a QB is there at #16, maybe that rumor of Cleveland giving up the 26th and 30 something pick is legit.

 

[Alexander]

Is Free, even under his renegotiated contract, making too much to just be our swing tackle? We'll need one, and he's better suited for that than for guard I would guess.

I strongly doubt we would pay him like a starter to be the swing tackle.

 

[Alexander]

They could trade back to the end of the 1st and take Morgan Moses from Virginia. If a QB is there at #16, maybe that rumor of Cleveland giving up the 26th and 30 something pick is legit.

If someone is trading up for a QB, I would hope we get what have in the past for similar trade ups and that is a first round pick in 2015 at minimum. If we trade a trade in line with the chart we used for the Reid trade last year, I'd rather just take the QB for ourselves.

 

[jobberone]

I dunno.

I'm not seeing a DT or DE available at 16 who's going to be worth taking if Donald is gone.

I think an OL could be the choice... If they don't trade down.

Or S or WR

 

[big dog cowboy]

If we trade a trade in line with the chart we used for the Reid trade last year

That is the new chart. Jimmy's chart for 20 years ago is outdated.

 

[Alexander]

That is the new chart. Jimmy's chart for 20 years ago is outdated.

Tell that to teams that still use it and do not get undercut in trades. New England still uses the same chart Johnson developed years ago.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Tell that to teams that still use it and do not get undercut in trades. New England still uses the same chart Johnson developed years ago.

Good for them, I guess if true.

 

[ConstantReboot]

The part about Free moving to guard if they were to draft a tackle in the first round is interesting, I haven't heard much about it. I've only read that the tackle would simply be a backup until Free is gone. Would Free be better than Bernie or Leary? Would this move make the line better with Free at G and another young stud(if one were to fall) at tackle rather than the current setup?

Only Dallas would be crazy to draft an OT in the first and then move Free over to guard. Then come to find out that Free can't play guard and Berny would actually outplay him. Thus causing more chaos to an oline that was coming to its own. Frankly, if it ain't broke don't fix it. Online was a bright spot last year and to mess it up by moving Free to guard would be silly.

What would be worst is that we can't get a replacement for Ware and our defense ends up being worst than last years. The players that we could have drafted instead of a tackle end up having a great year.

But who knows. Dallas has drafted pretty badly throughout the years. I wouldn't discount them drafting an OT and moving Free to guard. Just another Jerry move which ends up setting back the team for another 2-3 years.

 

[Nirvana]

Anybody who is drafted for the OL would be depth unless he wins the job at camp - not likely.

 

[NextGenBoys]

Hasn't this been discussed plenty? Free would spend the majority of the time flat on his back. Simply not strong enough to play guard

He has the footwork to play guard in our zone blocking scheme. It's more important to move laterally in our scheme than brute strength. I think he might actually be a better fit there. Robert Gallery was somewhat able to salvage his career after being a bust at tackle then moving to guard in a zone blocking scheme.

 

[cowboyschmps3]

The part about Free moving to guard if they were to draft a tackle in the first round is interesting, I haven't heard much about it. I've only read that the tackle would simply be a backup until Free is gone. Would Free be better than Bernie or Leary? Would this move make the line better with Free at G and another young stud(if one were to fall) at tackle rather than the current setup?

Why draft someone in first round too be a back up? We need help on the DL, I rather trade back get an extra pick and go DL or BPA of course that's my opinion. If we draft a tackle depends who it is they might b the better option inside.

 

[ConstantReboot]

If Free can't get stronger, cut him and move on. Stop trying to make players fit. If you are a tackle and don't have the strength to move inside, then see ya. Draft a few linemen for the next few drafts and hope your coaches and scouting department along with the strength coaches can build a team. If this team admits it's rebuilding I say this is the second year of a three year process to be relevant again. I do wonder how Free went from promising starter to the verge of being cut.

Because of the higher ups at Dallas think that switching people around in a position they can't play would solve problems. Unfortunately someone up there in the FO doesn't have a clue and that they think if they can easily switch people around that easily.

Free can't play guard. I think he played well last year as a tackle. If it ain't broke don't fix it. But that rule doesn't apply to the Cowboys. They're a team that doesn't fix whats broken and loves to ticker with things which starts to work and mess things up. Dysfunctional at its finest!

 

[Rhubarb]

If we get a new tackle we should just move Free to Left Out

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Read a post that rumor has it that Dallas views Zach as strictly an OG. And, they rate him as the 3rd best guard, so he's not a 1st rd option.

I am sure that specifics as to how we rank players from anonymous sources are to be trusted.

I am more curious as to what OL we bring in for interviews. We have recently drafted Frederick and valued him highly. I see Martin in much of the same mold from how his technique is polished and in how he finishes blocks. He has a good shuttle score which the Cowboys are known to value in their OL as well.

 

[SilverStarCowboy]

I strongly doubt we would pay him like a starter to be the swing tackle.

It would be a luxury worth the cap space to have a swing tackle like Doug Free whom we all could start at RT effectively. Despite what many posters have said he has some value as a Guard as well.

Still rather take OL late in a very rich OL Draft.

 

[dogunwo]

Free played pretty darn good last year and was a team player. He really turned it around, in fact he didn't even look like the same player from the previous season. This dude gets no love.

I understand BPA, but at least get one where there is a void. I heard somebody mention corner earlier, are you kidding me??? This scouting department is horrible at finding corners with the exception of Oscan.

Part of why he seemed like a "better player" was the fact that people weren't fixated on his contract. He was probably going to be a better player in a lot of peoples eyes no matter what just because he accepted a pay-cut. I thought his play was improved, but not by these leaps and bounds it has turned in to.

The same thing would have happened to Ware had he stayed and took a pay-cut. He would have had equal production and it would have turned into "Ware is back!!"

 

[dogunwo]

Why draft someone in first round too be a back up? We need help on the DL, I rather trade back get an extra pick and go DL or BPA of course that's my opinion. If we draft a tackle depends who it is they might b the better option inside.

If that's the case, then we should not draft any position in the first round other than D-line or Safety, no other pick would start on this team.

 

[honyock]

Tell that to teams that still use it and do not get undercut in trades. New England still uses the same chart Johnson developed years ago.

I don't believe anyone knows if the Patriots still use the Johnson value chart. I've read some speculation among Patriots watchers that they've gotten much more sophisticated in their draft values. Having read a little about Ernie Adams, the Patriots mystery man "football researcher", I'd be really surprised if they still stick to the Johnson chart.

The Johnson chart just quantified an average of how teams had been valuing draft picks for the years previous to Jimmy's chart. It did nothing more than reflect and put numbers to the popular thinking of the day. It got widely accepted so was taken as the gospel, and so for many years most teams tried to match those values in their trades. There has been a lot of speculation that teams have developed their own proprietary value charts over the past several years, using some pretty fancy mathematics and analysis. But the media and fans still grade all trades by the Johnson chart.