If Free remains at guard, the Cowboys may be finished at OLine for a while

[Gaede]

I am not optimistic about this line at all. I think Smith and Frederick are gonna be great for us. I have no faith whatsoever in Free and Parnell. Leary is not exactly a sure thing either. This is a guy who hasn't played at all for us, was undrafted coming out of college, and has a chronic knee condition that could derail him at any time. Not exactly someone I feel confident in.

 

[TheRomoSexual]

Parnell's knee?

I don't think they'll spend another 1st rounder on an offensive lineman come next May.

I think the defensive line is going to get some attention... It needs it more than the offensive line at this point.

The dline, in my opinion, is a far more pressing concern.

 

[Risen Star]

I am not optimistic about this line at all. I think Smith and Frederick are gonna be great for us. I have no faith whatsoever in Free and Parnell. Leary is not exactly a sure thing either. This is a guy who hasn't played at all for us, was undrafted coming out of college, and has a chronic knee condition that could derail him at any time. Not exactly someone I feel confident in.

The way I look at it is this is a bad league. We were in contention last year with the worst line we'll probably ever see with the Cowboys. Adding Frederick and hopefully Leary makes it better and hopefully can get us over the hump into the postseason.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I think the key here, if this scenario were to work out, is to continue to look to develop O-Linemen. That would require some picks in the first 4 rounds. We need depth because the O-Line is very apt to get injured. And I really don't like our depth at tackle. I think what I've learned here is that you need draft picks that can fit the scheme, then you need to keep them at one position until they become adept at that position....then try and move them around and see if they can play other positions. I think we've struggled to draft players high enough in the draft. We have done it with a few players like Al Johnson, James Marten and Stephen Petermann, but that wasn't enough due to injuries and scheme changes along with some players just not working out. I think we need to avoid what we did with Arkin, moving him from LT in college to RG, then to Center, then to Left Guard.





YR

 

[jnday]

and you claim to be the expert now?

After reading his post about how these talentless jags are going to make a good line and how scrubs with even less talent could provide quality depth, I really don't see him trying to claim an expert status. He wasn't serious was he? I thought he was being sarcastic wasn't he? No way he could have typed that with a straight face.

 

[TwentyOne]

In my opinion, a line of Smith-Leary-Fred-Free-Parnell performed quite well against a very solid Bengals dline,

We couldn't handle their DL for the first 2 drives. After that the Bengals rotated second string players and finally we were able to move the ball.

I don't say everything is negativ but it needs more than 2 good drives against half the starters on DL to make me talk positive about our OL.

 

[sbark]

You bet.

I agree with my bud Risen Star that both offensive and defensive lines need a constant influx of new talent to either claim starting spots or push starters.

...yup, competition always makes everyone better....

 

[CF74]

Free is not the answer at guard, Free is a bandaid without stickum...

Tfred is going to have to help him double team a lot...

 

[Risen Star]

I think the key here, if this scenario were to work out, is to continue to look to develop O-Linemen. That would require some picks in the first 4 rounds. We need depth because the O-Line is very apt to get injured. And I really don't like our depth at tackle. I think what I've learned here is that you need draft picks that can fit the scheme, then you need to keep them at one position until they become adept at that position....then try and move them around and see if they can play other positions. I think we've struggled to draft players high enough in the draft. We have done it with a few players like Al Johnson, James Marten and Stephen Petermann, but that wasn't enough due to injuries and scheme changes along with some players just not working out. I think we need to avoid what we did with Arkin, moving him from LT in college to RG, then to Center, then to Left Guard.

YR

I think if a guy can play in this league, he'll find a spot. I don't think you ruin players by moving them around. You're probably moving him around so much because the guy can't play and you're searching for a solution.

 

[Section446]

Good, now there are no excuses for Romo winning a SB and throwing bad INT's.

 

[theebs]

We couldn't handle their DL for the first 2 drives. After that the Bengals rotated second string players and finally we were able to move the ball.

I don't say everything is negativ but it needs more than 2 good drives against half the starters on DL to make me talk positive about our OL.

Well I don't think it matters one way or the other because its preseason, but we had bad field position and it limits what you can do, especially when the rb completely misses a blitz pickup.

I don't know how anyone can think this line is good or bad when we have not seen it yet.

The giants will tell us a lot about the line. They will show us who the think the weaknesses are fairly quickly in the game I imagine. They will gameplan and attack the weak links.

And this is why I never get caught up in the preseason arguments, they are pointless. Teams are just running pays against each other. It's not part of an overall plan.

We will begin to find out next Sunday if this group can work well together. With tights ends camped out next to each tackle it seems we are going to give romo time to throw the football though. Running game is a compete mystery.

 

[Ren]

Um, he didn't "beat" out Free because he was hurt most of the offseason.

Last season when Free sucked, learn to read bro

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I think if a guy can play in this league, he'll find a spot. I don't think you ruin players by moving them around. You're probably moving him around so much because the guy can't play and you're searching for a solution.

I think moving them around too soon is often not a good way to develop players. And I think often times moving them around is either because the scheme changed, the staff doesn't know what they are doing with the player or there are injuries.

I remember Parcells once saying that people don't realize that a transition from RG to LG (and vice versa) is much more difficult that people think. I tend to believe him. And a switch between tackles has to be even harder.

I think what we see with somebody like Arkin is that they moved him around way too much. Now, he's stuck in there and has progressed. But I can't help but think that had we kept him at RG all along, he may be good enough to start this year.

Free is a lesser example. We had him at LT for 3 years and then he got to play at RT due to injury. Then he moved to LT and played well in 2010 before struggling in 2011. Then we moved him to RT in 2012 where he struggled. I think that was more of a case of a player that we had to move around and we waited a little longer to move him around, but the actual switching of positions showed the difficulty that comes with transitioning an O-Lineman. The same with Tyron Smith whose play dropped off once he made the switch from RT to LT.

Obviously, there are going to be players that can handle it. But, I think it slows down the progress of almost all players to some degree. And if you have a decent NFL talent, it may be the difference between a player that becomes a quality starter or gets released.



YR

 

[tm1119]

Really? This is what we've come down to? A failed RT with no strength and an undrafted rookie is what is passed off as suitable guards? Sad.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I think moving them around too soon is often not a good way to develop players. And I think often times moving them around is either because the scheme changed, the staff doesn't know what they are doing with the player or there are injuries.

I remember Parcells once saying that people don't realize that a transition from RG to LG (and vice versa) is much more difficult that people think. I tend to believe him. And a switch between tackles has to be even harder.

I think what we see with somebody like Arkin is that they moved him around way too much. Now, he's stuck in there and has progressed. But I can't help but think that had we kept him at RG all along, he may be good enough to start this year.

Free is a lesser example. We had him at LT for 3 years and then he got to play at RT due to injury. Then he moved to LT and played well in 2010 before struggling in 2011. Then we moved him to RT in 2012 where he struggled. I think that was more of a case of a player that we had to move around and we waited a little longer to move him around, but the actual switching of positions showed the difficulty that comes with transitioning an O-Lineman. The same with Tyron Smith whose play dropped off once he made the switch from RT to LT.

Obviously, there are going to be players that can handle it. But, I think it slows down the progress of almost all players to some degree. And if you have a decent NFL talent, it may be the difference between a player that becomes a quality starter or gets released.



YR

Arkin wasn't ready physically for any position... And moving him around probably didn't help matters.

RS' point is well taken in that if you have a guy who is physically capable at this level, a-la Larry Allen or Flozell then moving them around isn't problematic. But those guys were also 2nd rounders and not 4th rounders so they were better prospects coming out.

 

[JonJon]

I don't think the line is set either.

Even if Free plays at a very high level, his contract is for only 1 more season.

Parnell is going to need to show more and depth is going to be needed.

Exactly. You never know how a player will perform from one season to the next. We all thought our CB's were set for years to come back when we had Newman, Jenkins, Pacman, and Scandrick. "We won't have to get another CB for about 10 years," is what was said. Fast forward just a few seasons and 3 of them are on different teams.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Exactly. You never know how a player will perform from one season to the next. We all thought our CB's were set for years to come back when we had Newman, Jenkins, Pacman, and Scandrick. "We won't have to get another CB for about 10 years," is what was said. Fast forward just a few seasons and 3 of them are on different teams.

You bet.

That's why I support the premise of best player available when it comes to drafting because you never know when a position of strength does become a weakness. If you're following BPA you at least are plugging in a guy that is more highly rated than others at the same position.

 

[CooterBrown]

I think Parnell is better than most people give him credit for. I watched "Hard Knocks" just to see the Bengal side of the Cowboys. They focused on one DE and it showed Parnell punch him to a standstill twice. Of course, then it showed the DE getting a sack on a stunt that wasn't picked up properly, but that was a mistake of communication, not one of physical ability. Communication is easier to fix and as this group plays together more, the communication will continue to be better. I expect a lot of stunts and blitzes from the Giants to try to take advantage of the lack of cohesive reps in the OL.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I think Parnell is better than most people give him credit for. I watched "Hard Knocks" just to see the Bengal side of the Cowboys. They focused on one DE and it showed Parnell punch him to a standstill twice. Of course, then it showed the DE getting a sack on a stunt that wasn't picked up properly, but that was a mistake of communication, not one of physical ability. Communication is easier to fix and as this group plays together more, the communication will continue to be better. I expect a lot of stunts and blitzes from the Giants to try to take advantage of the lack of cohesive reps in the OL.

Yep, Parnell isn't experienced but the guy has physical talent. He appears strong and he can move. If the guy was able to turn the corner and provide some stability at the position for the next half-dozen years? That would immeasurable.

 

[Idgit]

We've got a chance to have an above average OL this season, but we're thin at backup OT. The OL could be pretty volatile, and there's always the issues of RBs and TEs missing their assignments that gets lumped in wrongly as interior OLs missing blocks. It'll at least be fun to watch.

Sorry, OP, that your happy thread was ravaged by the reactionary fun bunch, but you knew this was coming when you posted, I think.