News: Cowboys Position Battles (Training Camp 2015): Swing Tackle

[Teague31]

I stil say we carry 8 on game day. Mack has to be there as he is the back up center. Leary has never played there a day in his life and moving Martin makes no sense

Weems has to be there as he is the swing tackle backup

Collins will there as well to backup both guards and tackle in a pinch. Also think the silk get some work at TE in short yardage situations.

 

[CCBoy]

The best thing that happened to Parnells career was Weems getting hurt. IIRC, He was expected to beat out Parnell last training camp; now Parnell has a fat new contract.

Now we must find out where Weems fits in the Cowboys' projection. He is a great unknown but talented by general indicators.

 

[Stash]

I think that there is still an assumption that Collins is still a factor at RT and I see that as anything but the case.

After a few snaps at the position early in OTA's, everything I've seen and heard since says that Collins has been working at left guard. And that is in spite of the fact that Free has missed the entire offseason, and both Green and Gibson have been injured. That tells me two things - that Weems is doing a fine job and that they quickly saw enough of Collins at right tackle to determine he's not ready for that role.

 

[dmq]

Very happy that we didn't show Parnell the money. Weems development couldn't have come at a better time.

 

[xwalker]

So we'd be 100% against what we've done in the past?

Dude, this is where you lose the plot so often. If you want to look at what coaching staffs will do, look to what they have done.

In 2012 Derrick Dockery was the interior backup and Jermey Parnell was the backup OT. Dockery was not a Center.

 

[xwalker]

I stil say we carry 8 on game day. Mack has to be there as he is the back up center. Leary has never played there a day in his life and moving Martin makes no sense

Weems has to be there as he is the swing tackle backup

Collins will there as well to backup both guards and tackle in a pinch. Also think the silk get some work at TE in short yardage situations.

They have rarely carried 8 OL on game day.

 

[erod]

This will all work out.

Somebody is going to get hurt most likely. That's football. If needed, Weems fills in outside, Collins at guard, and Bernadeau at center.

 

[dallasdave]

I think Collins will a starter.

 

[xwalker]

I want the best 2 men out of Leary, Collins and Free. I really like Leary and I think he earned his job, but we had to take advantage of the opportunity to get a guy like Collins. Free is the veteran and has a somewhat expensive salary so I don't see him being challenged for his job. To be honest, I don't think Free should be any safer than Leary is. If Leary can lose his job to a rookie, so can Free. Where will play Collins will give a clear view of our future direction with the OL. Do we move on from Leary at LG and hope Green can supplant Free in a year or two? Or do we keep Leary until his knee goes and have Collins challenge for RT immediately?

Leary will be a restricted Free Agent after the season. He is most likely here through the end of the 2016 season unless another team wants to give a 2nd round pick for him as he'll most likely get the 2nd round tender.

 

[xwalker]

If Collins beats out Free or Leary he earned the job. Free could end up the swing tackle.

It's a little more complicated.

A rookie rarely just straight up beats out a good veteran in these situations in the preseason. When a rookie gets the job, it's normally because the coaches expect him to be better than the veteran after some number of starts. The rookie is likely physically better, but has less scheme knowledge and is more likely to make mistakes. The coaches normally have to take a leap of faith when deciding to start a rookie or inexperienced player and bench a decent veteran. Garrett seems to lean towards veterans like Free, but Jerry will likely be anxious to see his prize acquisition Collins playing.

Yes, Tyron, Fred and Martin did it, but the players they replaced were not really entrenched veterans. Tyron and Fred didn't really have anybody to beat out. Martin had a little competition in Bernadeau, but Martin was an All-Pro as a rookie. That is unlikely to happen with another rookie OL.

 

[AbeBeta]

In 2012 Derrick Dockery was the interior backup and Jermey Parnell was the backup OT. Dockery was not a Center.

And we started Mac at G - a player who was already established as a backup at center from his time in Jax. That is very different than giving Martin some emergency snaps at C.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

Leary will be a restricted Free Agent after the season. He is most likely here through the end of the 2016 season unless another team wants to give a 2nd round pick for him as he'll most likely get the 2nd round tender.

I was saying he's the odd man out, most likely, with Collins in the mix. Which upsets me a little because I'd rather keep him long-term than continue to rely on Free. But, honestly, if Collins didn't fall into our laps, would you have envisioned Leary being here for a long time? Despite the knee issue, I think we would have kept him. He's earned it and continues to get better. Even with drafting Green, I think that was more a replacement for Free since I think Green is strictly a RT in the NFL.

 

[xwalker]

I was saying he's the odd man out, most likely, with Collins in the mix. Which upsets me a little because I'd rather keep him long-term than continue to rely on Free. But, honestly, if Collins didn't fall into our laps, would you have envisioned Leary being here for a long time? Despite the knee issue, I think we would have kept him. He's earned it and continues to get better. Even with drafting Green, I think that was more a replacement for Free since I think Green is strictly a RT in the NFL.

I still believe that Collins could play RT. People have already concluded based on a few OTA reports that he can't play play OT which is silly, IMO. Obviously, he is going to be behind playing RT because he has always played on the left. Also, OTAs are not even padded practices. Maybe Weems is ahead of him right now, but I think in the long run Collins has the talent to play RT. Finding the best 3rd OT is more important than having Collins try to beat out Leary, IMO.