Doug Free

Free was under rated by most fans.
He was a great run blocker. Pass protection he had his idssues, but wasn't as horrible as most believed.

Collins will be fine, he moved from OG to OT. And Leary played more OG that Collins did.
So could this have been considered a rookie year at OT for Collins. I think we will see a big improvement on a good year he already had.

Think most fans are referring to Free's play the last few years when he really struggled. He was bad in pass protection. Reason for so many holding penalties.
 
And a major upgrade at swing tackle. Bell should NOT be back and Green is incredibly unreliable in more ways than just health
I think Green is gone, or at least irreparably physically compromised. JJ said as much when he called him “compromised”.
 
Lots of people hated him... I think not having him around could have been one of biggest reasons with some of the struggles on the oline. Thoughts?

Maybe early but by mid-season, there probably wasn't much difference between Collins play and what Free was giving us his last year. And by year end, Collins was probably better.
 
Doug took a beating from the fans and media while he was there. At times earned, at times not. But it kinda reminds me of Romo, you dont know what you got til its gone.
 
Free was criminally under appreciated. And it took Collins a chunk of the season to give us quality snaps. But he got there and is only going to get better.

The struggles at LG hurt us more early in the season. And obviously not having a stable swing OT.
yeah just like your continual defense of Red Ball this falls very flat. Doug Free was a good to very good Tackle until his last couple of years. His last year he was putrid.
 
I think Green is gone, or at least irreparably physically compromised. JJ said as much when he called him “compromised”.

Bell too no doubt. One year contract only. One of our biggest mistakes was trying to make Green a guard early in the season. That experiment failed, maybe rattled his confidence a bit. Not making excuses for Green just think there was far too much tinkering with the O-line early. Hey, we are looking for a new O-line coach
 
Always liked Free, people in the Zone unfairly trashed him all of the time....the guy didn't have the talent of others at his position in the league and yet, he strung together a 10-year career at the position...the guy was a bull....people are spoiled expecting the entire OLine to be all-pro....he was not all-pro, but solid...
 
Always liked Free, people in the Zone unfairly trashed him all of the time....the guy didn't have the talent of others at his position in the league and yet, he strung together a 10-year career at the position...the guy was a bull....people are spoiled expecting the entire OLine to be all-pro....he was not all-pro, but solid...
Up and down like a yo yo is not solid. And his last year he stank up the whole league finishing third among ALL tackles as regards allowing pressures and sacks. This so called leadership factor was very minor at best
 
Free as been replaced as many of us had hoped and his position has been upgraded. the end.
 
Lots of people hated him... I think not having him around could have been one of biggest reasons with some of the struggles on the oline. Thoughts?

Certainly a factor, but the primary reason for the line struggles was the overall disruption. Losing Leary and Free hurt because it displaced 40% of a line that had played together for multiple years. It takes time for a line to get to a cohesive unit. But, without a doubt, the biggest issue this year was Smith's injury problems. Collins played as well as Free during the later half of the year.
 
yeah just like your continual defense of Red Ball this falls very flat. Doug Free was a good to very good Tackle until his last couple of years. His last year he was putrid.

Both what I said and what you said can actually be true. I never said Free was a great player, or suggested that it wasn’t time for him to retire. I said he was criminally under appreciated by a community that routinely considered him ‘garbage.’ And he was.

Don’t compound your bad post by trying to tie it to the Garrett debate again. This isn’t a Garrett thread.
 
He was the leader of the offensive line.
Romo was the leader of the offense.
Church was the captain on the defense.

That is a lot of leadership gone in one offseason.

Hard to measure how much it affected as fans but clearly with the offense Romo was missed in more ways than one.
 
He was the leader of the offensive line.
Romo was the leader of the offense.
Church was the captain on the defense.

That is a lot of leadership gone in one offseason.

Hard to measure how much it affected as fans but clearly with the offense Romo was missed in more ways than one.


had to be done tho.
 
Doug Free was a solid RT and, although I don’t have any stats on this, I doubt he committed more holding penalties, or allowed more sacks, than the league average at his position. But it always seemed like he got his holding calls and sacks-allowed at the most inopportune times.
 
Lots of people hated him... I think not having him around could have been one of biggest reasons with some of the struggles on the oline. Thoughts?
I think it was losing 2 on the OL. More than any unit the 5 work together one failure and the whole thing falls apart. I dont think losing free was as.much of a loss as losing leary. The LG became a mess and with smith being injured it even got worse
 

Forum statistics

Threads
474,199
Messages
14,520,526
Members
24,208
Latest member
CowboysQC
Back
Top