La'el Collins update

[diefree666]

Seriously. The guys reporting on the team can't even learn the basics. I guess ESPN realize that when they purged people. Local reporters are even worse

its hard for me these days; I am old enough to remember when the majority of sports reporters were competent.

 

[Stash]

Remember Jerry put in a lot of effort to not only sign him but publicize it; remember his press conference and bringing in Collin's mother? Guaranteeing his salary for all three years?
He all but said barring major injury Collins was going to be a Cowboy for a very long time.
So I really doubt that the Boys are going to just let him go as long as he shows he can do it on the field.
Leary was a special case; you never know when that knee will start to go. And he was limited as regards his pass blocking ability. Collins has much more natural physical ability. Same with Cooper. Leary worked his tail off to get where he got to. But he was pretty much at his maximum. A very good and borderline Pro Bowl guard mostly due to his run blocking ability. Cooper and Collins both have the physical gifts to be ALL PRO. So letting Leary go was logical especially as we at that time did not know how the whole Romo situation was going to end up. We had to make some decisions regarding the cap and Leary was going to command a fair amount of coin.

I'm sure that Jerry and the team will do everything they can within reason to keep Collins around for as long as they can. Unless his demands get crazy, I think they get a long term deal worked out.

 

[RoboQB]

They let Leary walk and they are going to put Collins at tackle? Brilliant.

Yep. We are going to rue the day we let Leary go.

 

[Nirvana]

It is amazing to think we could have 5 first rounders, or would-be first rounder in Collins case, for the OL. Cooper is gonna do great at LG. Green is an excellent back-up for OT. Bell is a solid back-up for OG. We're set. They rightly want the five best guys on the field. We really got a steal in Cooper. This is how championships are won.

 

[Risen Star]

I actually think Collins will do fine at RT, maybe even dominate. The move makes me worry about LG though. Cooper might change the change the running game dynamic.

He'll dominate. He'd be the best RT we've had here since Erik Williams pre-car accident.

 

[NeonNinja]

Yep. We are going to rue the day we let Leary go.

I'm in the minority for sure but I don't think so. I just don't see his knee holding up much longer.

 

[Galian Beast]

I think we have to big questions marks on what needs to be the core foundation of our team.

If Collins and Cooper can be what they were expected to be coming out of school, this is going to be quite the offensive line going forward.

People think we can't pay everyone, but we're moving away from the days of spending big money on free agents on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.

Even when you have to pay Dak and Elliott those contracts will be backloaded, so you end up easing into those contracts.

Tyron Smith - Age 26 (Birthday was in December)
Jonathan Cooper - Age 27 (Birthday was in January)
Travis Frederick - Age 26 (Birthday was in March)
Zack Martin - Age 26 (Birthday was in November)
La'El Collins - Age 23 (24 in July)

You keep this line together gelling, you can maybe play the same 5 guys barring injury for almost 10 years...

 

[Galian Beast]

they probably did not trust the knee.

The Broncos signed him for essentially two years with an option to extend two years.

He got 9+ million a year and he has never been to a pro bowl. He was aided significantly by playing between Smith and Frederick.

You combine that with his knee and his position and he becomes only slightly more valuable than Jeremy Parnell...

The Cowboys are at least confident to go Collins at guard and Green at Tackle if it comes down to it, but if Collins and Cooper can work out, that's clearly a move in the right direction.

 

[theebs]

makes perfect sense. People forget the Giants were poised to take him and play him at Left Tackle from Day 1 before the murder reports were reported.

So to me its not an issue. I am sure he will be very good at Right Tackle, he has every single trait.

What has me worried is left guard. Ron Leary was the enforcer on this line. Go watch any game he played in he is the guy pushing and shoving after the whistle.

back in 2013 and 2014 Leary, Murray and witten were constantly barking at the other huddle and getting into it with defenders. I can't tell you how many times I watched murray and leary from my seat during commercial breaks just keep it going with the other huddle.

I think Leary was excellent and highly motivated. I keep seeing everyone get excited about Cooper and I don't get it. He is always hurt and never plays. I don't think they liked looney at guard last year either and his skill is in playing center and being the swing guy.

I really hope left guard doesn't become a problem here. The best unit on this team is the line and if it falters the team will also. People love to call this the best line in the league which I have no doubt it's among the best but when this season starts if we have a new right tackle who is learning the position and a glaring weakness at left guard we will not even have the best line in the division. That Washington line is excellent also.

I have to think much like 2013 when Doug Free played right guard in the spring then in the summer sporadically and against the bengals in the third preseason game that we will see a lot of left guard shuffling and collins possibly playing inside again a little if green is healthy just to see how that goes. Just like in 13 however I can't imagine collins actually plays guard during the season.

I wonder how long they will sit idle at guard if cooper and green are hurt since neither is ever healthy. The upside is finding a guard to help should not be as difficult as tackle, obviously.

 

[waldoputty]

The Broncos signed him for essentially two years with an option to extend two years.

He got 9+ million a year and he has never been to a pro bowl. He was aided significantly by playing between Smith and Frederick.

You combine that with his knee and his position and he becomes only slightly more valuable than Jeremy Parnell...

The Cowboys are at least confident to go Collins at guard and Green at Tackle if it comes down to it, but if Collins and Cooper can work out, that's clearly a move in the right direction.

collins and cooper would be nice if it can work out.
we can hope because it would remove the big question mark at RT.
long term it makes the most sense since it should be easier to get a LG in the draft.

 

[waldoputty]

makes perfect sense. People forget the Giants were poised to take him and play him at Left Tackle from Day 1 before the murder reports were reported.

So to me its not an issue. I am sure he will be very good at Right Tackle, he has every single trait.

What has me worried is left guard. Ron Leary was the enforcer on this line. Go watch any game he played in he is the guy pushing and shoving after the whistle.

back in 2013 and 2014 Leary, Murray and witten were constantly barking at the other huddle and getting into it with defenders. I can't tell you how many times I watched murray and leary from my seat during commercial breaks just keep it going with the other huddle.

I think Leary was excellent and highly motivated. I keep seeing everyone get excited about Cooper and I don't get it. He is always hurt and never plays. I don't think they liked looney at guard last year either and his skill is in playing center and being the swing guy.

I really hope left guard doesn't become a problem here. The best unit on this team is the line and if it falters the team will also. People love to call this the best line in the league which I have no doubt it's among the best but when this season starts if we have a new right tackle who is learning the position and a glaring weakness at left guard we will not even have the best line in the division. That Washington line is excellent also.

I have to think much like 2013 when Doug Free played right guard in the spring then in the summer sporadically and against the bengals in the third preseason game that we will see a lot of left guard shuffling and collins possibly playing inside again a little if green is healthy just to see how that goes. Just like in 13 however I can't imagine collins actually plays guard during the season.

I wonder how long they will sit idle at guard if cooper and green are hurt since neither is ever healthy. The upside is finding a guard to help should not be as difficult as tackle, obviously.

my question is whether collins is a better RT than LG.
it uses high mobility for stopping the DE.
it may be simpler in terms of stunts etc.

 

[Idgit]

makes perfect sense. People forget the Giants were poised to take him and play him at Left Tackle from Day 1 before the murder reports were reported.

So to me its not an issue. I am sure he will be very good at Right Tackle, he has every single trait.

What has me worried is left guard. Ron Leary was the enforcer on this line. Go watch any game he played in he is the guy pushing and shoving after the whistle.

back in 2013 and 2014 Leary, Murray and witten were constantly barking at the other huddle and getting into it with defenders. I can't tell you how many times I watched murray and leary from my seat during commercial breaks just keep it going with the other huddle.

I think Leary was excellent and highly motivated. I keep seeing everyone get excited about Cooper and I don't get it. He is always hurt and never plays. I don't think they liked looney at guard last year either and his skill is in playing center and being the swing guy.

I really hope left guard doesn't become a problem here. The best unit on this team is the line and if it falters the team will also. People love to call this the best line in the league which I have no doubt it's among the best but when this season starts if we have a new right tackle who is learning the position and a glaring weakness at left guard we will not even have the best line in the division. That Washington line is excellent also.

I have to think much like 2013 when Doug Free played right guard in the spring then in the summer sporadically and against the bengals in the third preseason game that we will see a lot of left guard shuffling and collins possibly playing inside again a little if green is healthy just to see how that goes. Just like in 13 however I can't imagine collins actually plays guard during the season.

I wonder how long they will sit idle at guard if cooper and green are hurt since neither is ever healthy. The upside is finding a guard to help should not be as difficult as tackle, obviously.

They also signed Byron Bell, who many think is best playing inside.

 

[perrykemp]

they probably did not trust the knee.

They are replacing Leary with Cooper who has had one injury after another in his short career. It's the primary reason why he is on his 4th team in 4 years -- he hasn't been able to remain healthy.

 

[waldoputty]

They are replacing Leary with Cooper who has had one injury after another in his short career. It's the primary reason why he is on his 4th team in 4 years -- he hasn't been able to remain healthy.

right, but they are not giving cooper a multiyear contract with signing bonus.
he works cheap.

 

[Galian Beast]

collins and cooper would be nice if it can work out.
we can hope because it would remove the big question mark at RT.
long term it makes the most sense since it should be easier to get a LG in the draft.

I think they're going to put out their best 5 and we should let it play out. Clearly nothing is in stone right now, but clearly they think cooper at LG and Collins at RT has the highest ceiling for this line.

We (fans and the FO) were very high on Cooper coming out. Why has he failed? That question needs to be answered. Is it injuries? Scheme fit? Environment? Coaching? I can certainly say the Browns and Patriots did not give him a chance. And honestly neither did the Cardinals who traded him in year 3 (he missed all of season 1). Clearly, he has been written off too soon. That isn't to say he is going to be the guy we thought he would be or even good, but kicking the tires here could pay off in a major way.

 

[Galian Beast]

They are replacing Leary with Cooper who has had one injury after another in his short career. It's the primary reason why he is on his 4th team in 4 years -- he hasn't been able to remain healthy.

He played more games in 4 years than Marc Columbo did with the Bears.

 

[theebs]

They also signed Byron Bell, who many think is best playing inside.

Yea I wonder if he is just a tackle in an emergency case and someone they don't want at guard. I imagine we see a number of different lineups.

The real upside to this to me is that we have enough guys to play both tackle spots and center in the summer allowing the second units to function in the preseason. Under Garrett the backup lines have been awful and have hijacked the offenses ability to function in the summer, which is why we rarely win in the preseason. I am not saying winning matters but the games are always pretty ugly once the starting line leaves.

On gameday they only take 7 and since looney is coming for sure and I imagine Green is absolutely the swing tackle I am not sure both bell and copper make the roster. It might just be whichever one wins the job in august. Considering Cooper's injury history he is a tough sell to me.

Of course they could always keep bell/cooper and just make them inactive.

 

[plymkr]

we have plenty of cap space, particularly after romo's june release.

Wait! What's going on with Romo?

 

[waldoputty]

I think they're going to put out their best 5 and we should let it play out. Clearly nothing is in stone right now, but clearly they think cooper at LG and Collins at RT has the highest ceiling for this line.

We (fans and the FO) were very high on Cooper coming out. Why has he failed? That question needs to be answered. Is it injuries? Scheme fit? Environment? Coaching? I can certainly say the Browns and Patriots did not give him a chance. And honestly neither did the Cardinals who traded him in year 3 (he missed all of season 1). Clearly, he has been written off too soon. That isn't to say he is going to be the guy we thought he would be or even good, but kicking the tires here could pay off in a major way.

He broke his leg in his rookie year in 2013. Struggled to overcome major injury in 2014 even though healthy.
In 2015, suffered knee, wrist and turf toe issue.
Good grief, he sounds like Green.

http://www.espn.com/blog/new-englan...onathan-cooper-goes-down-at-patriots-practice

There is reason for some hope - it was looking up while he was with the patriots until an injury

"The No. 7 overall pick of the 2013 draft with the Arizona Cardinals, Cooper broke his leg in the third preseason game of his rookie season and has never truly been the same since. Overcoming that injury (and others) had been a challenge for him."

"It's just one of those things; you've worked hard and things just haven't seemed to fall your way," he told Sirius XM NFL Radio in June. "Honestly, it's more of a mental thing than anything else. I feel like the biggest thing is the actual fresh start with a new organization and being able, from this day forward, to rewrite my history and be a better player than I was before."

"Things seemed to be going well for Cooper, who had consistently been the team's top right guard in practice, until he was carted off Saturday after members of the athletic training staff were looking at his right foot."

"Cooper (6-foot-2, 310 pounds), who the Patriots acquired in the March trade involving pass rusher Chandler Jones, is dealing with a plantar fascia issue, according to NFL Network."

Furthermore, the Browns release was puzzling:
"The Cleveland Browns released guard Jonathan Cooper on Tuesday while reinstating guard Alvin Bailey from the suspended list. The move is curious because it breaks up an offensive line that has worked together the past two weeks and was showing signs of cohesion."

 

[xwalker]

my question is whether collins is a better RT than LG.
it uses high mobility for stopping the DE.
it may be simpler in terms of stunts etc.

It not an isolated issue.

Is Collins/Cooper better than Green/Collins (Bell/Collins if Green injured)?