My prediction: Barring injuries we will have a serviceable OL.

[jobberone]

But again, since 2011 is the key and one of those first rounders was spent just this offseason so he hasn't even seen the field yet.

The truth is Frederick went right where he was expected to go before the Combine. Some people downgraded him after the Combine and some teams didn't. If you look at his workout he did poorly on only one drill, the 40-yard dash. I would argue he compared favorably to Chance Warmack on most of the other measurements sans bench press which may have been low due to his training technique. Functionally his strength is obvious on the field and the same was true of Fluker who went #11 overall and will probably have to be moved to OG in the end. So why is Frederick so much worse when he is as good of an athlete and ten times smarter and has the flexibility of playing Center which neither Fluker nor Warmack have? Could it be largely media bias? Could it be FOs that over-value the 40-yard dash for OL? Could it be some form of groupthink where a few people over-react to his time and then the ball gets rolling downhill?

The other truth is that if you look at all the interior OL drafted over the past few years they don't grade out well in their rookie years when they start. It takes time to get used to the higher level of competition.

The last truth is that 1/3rd of the time bottom of the first round picks never end up starting at all.

So again, part of the issue here is unrealistic expectations.

As for Tyron, he had some penalty issues at the start of the year which may have been largely due to Cook's snapping more than anything else. Then you have Tyron adjusting to playing on the left for the first time in a long time. Then there is the age factor. Everyone has to remember that he is still only 22 years old and hasn't played as much football as most guys going into their 3rd year of Pro football. There are rookies drafted this year who are still older than him. His body hasn't reached full physical maturity yet and he's still getting bigger and stronger. Not only did he switch from RT to LT but he also switched OL coaches who had very different emphases. Houck is a classic man blocking teacher and Callahan teaches a variant of zone blocking. Finally there is off the field issues with his family demanding and trying to extort money from him and allegedly stealing money from him through the financial advisor that they hand-picked. They were threatening bodily harm to his partner if he didn't comply with their requests for money. While other guys were prepping for the draft they had him out there in a van cleaning houses in his spare time. How many other kids expected to be top 10 picks are doing that to help out in the family business?

Now after all that change and turmoil, Tyron played pretty well in the second half of the year. I think he only gave up 3 sacks all year. He wasn't getting regular help out there as Free needed more help on the other corner. I think he is going to impress people this year with his family issues behind him (restraining orders), he has bulked up a bit, he is in his 2nd year at LT and the footwork will be much more natural for him this year and he is in his 2nd year with Callahan so the blocking techniques will be much more familiar to him. Even though Callahan is now the OC the offensive system hasn't changed overall but the emphasis will now be on zone blocking and this should play more to his strength - his ability to make blocks on the move.

Now I think the whole OL is going to be better and it isn't all going to be at the feet of TFred. I think there is more competition at OG from some of the young guys we have been developing. I also expect it to be a tight race at RT between the physically dominant Parnell and a rejuvenated Doug Free who seemed to sort out his technique issues late last year after having to split snaps with Parnell.

As for the stopgap OGs I don't know what happens there. Livings is concerning me with his knee issues. We'll have to chalk it up to bad luck since he had no such issues in Cincy. Bern had shoulder surgery but I think it was a relatively minor procedure and he should be far healthier for the start of this year than he was last year. We all have to remember that he didn't have a lot of starting experience in the league and came from a Division III school, Bentley. He hadn't started many games in the NFL in Jacksonville, he missed all of minicamp, TC and the first few PS games recovering from two offseason leg surgeries. He didn't have his power base with him when he came back and he didn't have much practice time with his teammates. He also looked much better in the second half of the year.

I'm still not sure how it'll all shake out. I kind of still expect Costa, Kowalski and Leary to make bids for starting positions. Center is the second most important position on the OL and this year I think Costa is a better player than TFred. Next year TFred may very well be ready to beat him out but it takes some time to adjust to NFL quickness and strength.

I do think this OL will go probably from a mid-20s OL to somewhere in the 10-20 range but exactly where is hard to say.

I actually think next year is when everything really finally breaksthrough with Tyron in his 4th year, TFred in his second year, Costa in his 5th, Kowalski 4th year, Leary 3rd year and Parnell 5th year. That group will be ready then to carry us forward with ongoing additions from the draft and UDFA to be integrated with the current group. It was truly devastating to this franchise and organization to have all those vets crash at the same time while all the existing developmental OL failed except Free who then went on to fail later. As they were all failing we also had large scale failures elsewhere on the roster (LB, S) that had to be addressed but without cap space from the dead money that all those failing vets created.

But look at us now with a bunch of young guys who are coming into their own and it is easy to project that we will get a serviceable OL this year and probably above average play from our OL going forward.

Another good post. You are on the nosey about Smith still likely being physically immature. Some mature early but most in that 21-25 range peaking towards the end sometimes into the late 20s. He got manhandled some last year but that was early. I think we will be in the top half of the league probably closer to the median but that's an improvement.

The OL was porous last year but you never knew when and where the leak would occur. If we can get more consistency out of all the starters it will result in many more plays for Romo to have time to look the field over without having to scramble. Our sacks weren't that bad but I'd still like to see it improve. But more I'd like to see Romo have a little more time. Add in what I think will be a better receiving corps and you will likely see him have less TOs and increase the ypc average. If you can get a better run game as well particularly short yardage and goal line play this offense could increase its scoring average into the 30ish range.

 

[big dog cowboy]

But look at us now with a bunch of young guys who are coming into their own and it is easy to project that we will get a serviceable OL this year and probably above average play from our OL going forward.

Many will disagree with me, but the arrow is pointing up. Just getting the guys healthy makes us better.

 

[xwalker]

But again, since 2011 is the key and one of those first rounders was spent just this offseason so he hasn't even seen the field yet.

The truth is Frederick went right where he was expected to go before the Combine. Some people downgraded him after the Combine and some teams didn't. If you look at his workout he did poorly on only one drill, the 40-yard dash. I would argue he compared favorably to Chance Warmack on most of the other measurements sans bench press which may have been low due to his training technique. Functionally his strength is obvious on the field and the same was true of Fluker who went #11 overall and will probably have to be moved to OG in the end. So why is Frederick so much worse when he is as good of an athlete and ten times smarter and has the flexibility of playing Center which neither Fluker nor Warmack have? Could it be largely media bias? Could it be FOs that over-value the 40-yard dash for OL? Could it be some form of groupthink where a few people over-react to his time and then the ball gets rolling downhill?

The other truth is that if you look at all the interior OL drafted over the past few years they don't grade out well in their rookie years when they start. It takes time to get used to the higher level of competition.

The last truth is that 1/3rd of the time bottom of the first round picks never end up starting at all.

So again, part of the issue here is unrealistic expectations.

As for Tyron, he had some penalty issues at the start of the year which may have been largely due to Cook's snapping more than anything else. Then you have Tyron adjusting to playing on the left for the first time in a long time. Then there is the age factor. Everyone has to remember that he is still only 22 years old and hasn't played as much football as most guys going into their 3rd year of Pro football. There are rookies drafted this year who are still older than him. His body hasn't reached full physical maturity yet and he's still getting bigger and stronger. Not only did he switch from RT to LT but he also switched OL coaches who had very different emphases. Houck is a classic man blocking teacher and Callahan teaches a variant of zone blocking. Finally there is off the field issues with his family demanding and trying to extort money from him and allegedly stealing money from him through the financial advisor that they hand-picked. They were threatening bodily harm to his partner if he didn't comply with their requests for money. While other guys were prepping for the draft they had him out there in a van cleaning houses in his spare time. How many other kids expected to be top 10 picks are doing that to help out in the family business?

Now after all that change and turmoil, Tyron played pretty well in the second half of the year. I think he only gave up 3 sacks all year. He wasn't getting regular help out there as Free needed more help on the other corner. I think he is going to impress people this year with his family issues behind him (restraining orders), he has bulked up a bit, he is in his 2nd year at LT and the footwork will be much more natural for him this year and he is in his 2nd year with Callahan so the blocking techniques will be much more familiar to him. Even though Callahan is now the OC the offensive system hasn't changed overall but the emphasis will now be on zone blocking and this should play more to his strength - his ability to make blocks on the move.

Now I think the whole OL is going to be better and it isn't all going to be at the feet of TFred. I think there is more competition at OG from some of the young guys we have been developing. I also expect it to be a tight race at RT between the physically dominant Parnell and a rejuvenated Doug Free who seemed to sort out his technique issues late last year after having to split snaps with Parnell.

As for the stopgap OGs I don't know what happens there. Livings is concerning me with his knee issues. We'll have to chalk it up to bad luck since he had no such issues in Cincy. Bern had shoulder surgery but I think it was a relatively minor procedure and he should be far healthier for the start of this year than he was last year. We all have to remember that he didn't have a lot of starting experience in the league and came from a Division III school, Bentley. He hadn't started many games in the NFL in Jacksonville, he missed all of minicamp, TC and the first few PS games recovering from two offseason leg surgeries. He didn't have his power base with him when he came back and he didn't have much practice time with his teammates. He also looked much better in the second half of the year.

I'm still not sure how it'll all shake out. I kind of still expect Costa, Kowalski and Leary to make bids for starting positions. Center is the second most important position on the OL and this year I think Costa is a better player than TFred. Next year TFred may very well be ready to beat him out but it takes some time to adjust to NFL quickness and strength.

I do think this OL will go probably from a mid-20s OL to somewhere in the 10-20 range but exactly where is hard to say.

I actually think next year is when everything really finally breaksthrough with Tyron in his 4th year, TFred in his second year, Costa in his 5th, Kowalski 4th year, Leary 3rd year and Parnell 5th year. That group will be ready then to carry us forward with ongoing additions from the draft and UDFA to be integrated with the current group. It was truly devastating to this franchise and organization to have all those vets crash at the same time while all the existing developmental OL failed except Free who then went on to fail later. As they were all failing we also had large scale failures elsewhere on the roster (LB, S) that had to be addressed but without cap space from the dead money that all those failing vets created.

But look at us now with a bunch of young guys who are coming into their own and it is easy to project that we will get a serviceable OL this year and probably above average play from our OL going forward.

Excellent post.

It's odd that people downgraded Frederick for his forty time but the same people didn't downgrade Warmack.

Despite all of the issues that you covered, Tyron Smith was still by far the best OL on the team in 2012.

The OL injuries were extreme in 2012. Having to start Cook for the majority of the games killed any chance of the OL being good. Cook cannot run block and his snaps caused most of the false starts by other players early in the season. The one complete game that Costa played was evidence that the entire OL was much better with him in the lineup.

If everyone is healthy, the team has many more options on the OLine than they did in 2012. Frederick was added, Parnell now has some experience, Costa and Kowalski are now healthy, Leary is said to look drastically better now than he was last year. Livings and Bernadeau might be healthier and now have a year of starting experience in Callahan's system, Tyron now has a year of experience at LT.

 

[KJJ]

The truth is Frederick went right where he was expected to go before the Combine. Some people downgraded him after the Combine and some teams didn't.

I don't know where Fredrick was projected to go before the combine but on draft day he was projected by most to be a 2nd to 3rd rounder. Not one draft expert or analyst had him rated where the Cowboys did. They all called him a reach at #31. We'll just have to see if he develops into a solid player.

As for Tyron, he had some penalty issues at the start of the year which may have been largely due to Cook's snapping more than anything else. Then you have Tyron adjusting to playing on the left for the first time in a long time. Then there is the age factor.

Regardless Tyron is going to have to play better if he's going to live up to his draft status. The Cowboys could have traded down and got JJ Watt who was one of the players on their radar. I'm expecting Tyron to step up this year and if he doesn't I would move him back to RT and draft a LT.

 

[Rockport]

At this point I think one could reasonably assume that we will get acceptable line play from Smith and Frederick. I also think either Parnell or Free will play good enough to get by at right tackle. My guess is Parnell will eventually win that job, and Free will be OK as the swing tackle.

It remains to be seen who will fill the guard spots, but if all of the guys were to stay healthy, I would think that we will find three guys to play from the guard pool....

Between Livings, Berny, Killa, Leary, Costa and company .... it will be ok. But the injury bug could derail it just like it did last year. I think the Cowboys value the guys they have a lot more than we think they do, or they would have drafted another guard early.

With only 1 new face, I don't see how you can reasonably assume we will get acceptable play from the offensive line. In fact, I think you can reasonbly assume that the offensive line play will be similar to last years. Last year, the offesnive line sucked when they were healthy. People tend to forget this over time and now I'm hearing that we were bad last year because of all the injuries. On both sides of the ball. But we were bad, on both sides, when we started the year out.

 

[Rockport]

The Center is the key to good OL play. Costa and his backup, Kowalski missed most of the year. Against Baltimore, Costa played and the running game flourished. Suddenly, the whole line was better. Then Costa was hurt again and it went downhill from there. I think Frederick was drafted because Jerry Jones remembered that his early Cowboys OL consisted of JAGs until they drafted Mark Stepnoski and Eric Williams. (Larry Allen was later). Tuine, Newton, and Gogan were Tom Landry players. Suddenly with a great center and a great tackle, the rest of them became pro-bowlers. (Of course, it didn't hurt to have Emmitt Smith running behind them.) But, I think Jerry Jones is searching for some deja vu.

Costa was horrible the year before when he was healthy. Kowalski may not even make this team.

 

[xwalker]

With only 1 new face, I don't see how you can reasonably assume we will get acceptable play from the offensive line. In fact, I think you can reasonbly assume that the offensive line play will be similar to last years. Last year, the offesnive line sucked when they were healthy. People tend to forget this over time and now I'm hearing that we were bad last year because of all the injuries. On both sides of the ball. But we were bad, on both sides, when we started the year out.

The intended starting lineup was never healthy. The closest to being healthy was the Baltimore game where Costa started and finished the game; however, Bernadeau was not completely healthy at any point in the season.

Adding 1 new player is a 20% change. That is significant.

 

[Rockport]

The intended starting lineup was never healthy. The closest to being healthy was the Baltimore game where Costa started and finished the game; however, Bernadeau was not completely healthy at any point in the season.

Adding 1 new player is a 20% change. That is significant.

But they were not good when they WERE healthy is my point. In 2011 for some of them. And possibly having a rookie starting center as your 20% change is not necessairly 20% change for the good. Rookies struggle, especially offensive linemen.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

If you think Costa was that horrible, and Frederick won't be immediately better than him, you must think that was an awful draft pick.

And we really weren't bad on defense the first third or half of the year.

Some people are already making excuses for the team underperforming.

 

[Rockport]

If you think Costa was that horrible, and Frederick won't be immediately better than him, you must think that was an awful draft pick.

And we really weren't bad on defense the first third or half of the year.

Some people are already making excuses for the team underperforming.

No, why would I think that? I was very happy we picked an interior offensive lineman in the 1st round. It's by far, the weakest area of the team. But by a large rookie centers don't come in from day 1 and dominate. He will struggle and it will affect how the whole OL plays. And it's not excuses for the team underperforming but a prediction that we will in 2013. After following this team since 1963, I don't have the time or patience to look at this team through rose colored glasses.

 

[Idgit]

Our OL was banged up starting in training camp last season. It stunk, because we lost Nagy, Costa, Kowalski at C, and then had an unexpected surgery on Bernardeau, and then whatever the camp issue was with Livings heading into the year. We signed Cook, and he had three whole practices with the team and his new FA OGs together before we went out and played a game that counted. We had a ridiculous number of false starts, we had a RG who really struggled as a first time full-time starter coming back from a surgery in a new system and just problems across the board. That's not to make particular excuses for the poor play of the offense early, because the WR mistakes were inexcusable and just as significant a problem, but, for a team with a lot of interior OL turnover, camp and the early season could not have been worse. The good news is, they stabilized later in the year, and they did play really well both in BAL and CAR while a true starting-caliber C was in the lineup.

Defensively, we actually started out looking really, really good, I thought. That defense kept us in games the first 6-7 games of the season. In almost inverse proportion to how the offense played, we got steadily worse as we lost good coverage players. Church. Lee, Carter. And on the line, Rat and Ware. It took it's toll just as the offense rounded into better shape. The result was 8-8 because the team lacked key depth and because we were giving the ball away early, and unable to take it away late.

It's unfortunate, because I thought the team last year was capable of competing at a very high level. We had some mistakes, but for the most part, I think we were snakebit by flukes. I think this year's team is deeper yet, and, though the defensive changeover raises a huge question mark, I think we're posed to have a very competitive season.

That's not excusing what happened last year in any way. We underdelivered last season. I'm only saying that expectations should be high for the whole team for a good season in 2013.

 

[Rockport]

Our OL was banged up starting in training camp last season. It stunk, because we lost Nagy, Costa, Kowalski at C, and then had an unexpected surgery on Bernardeau, and then whatever the camp issue was with Livings heading into the year. We signed Cook, and he had three whole practices with the team and his new FA OGs together before we went out and played a game that counted. We had a ridiculous number of false starts, we had a RG who really struggled as a first time full-time starter coming back from a surgery in a new system and just problems across the board. That's not to make particular excuses for the poor play of the offense early, because the WR mistakes were inexcusable and just as significant a problem, but, for a team with a lot of interior OL turnover, camp and the early season could not have been worse. The good news is, they stabilized later in the year, and they did play really well both in BAL and CAR while a true starting-caliber C was in the lineup.

Defensively, we actually started out looking really, really good, I thought. That defense kept us in games the first 6-7 games of the season. In almost inverse proportion to how the offense played, we got steadily worse as we lost good coverage players. Church. Lee, Carter. And on the line, Rat and Ware. It took it's toll just as the offense rounded into better shape. The result was 8-8 because the team lacked key depth and because we were giving the ball away early, and unable to take it away late.

It's unfortunate, because I thought the team last year was capable of competing at a very high level. We had some mistakes, but for the most part, I think we were snakebit by flukes. I think this year's team is deeper yet, and, though the defensive changeover raises a huge question mark, I think we're posed to have a very competitive season.

That's not excusing what happened last year in any way. We underdelivered last season. I'm only saying that expectations should be high for the whole team for a good season in 2013.

I don't think Nagy, Costa, Kowalski, Bernadeau and Livings are any good. Don't think any of them would start on any other team.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

No, why would I think that? I was very happy we picked an interior offensive lineman in the 1st round. It's by far, the weakest area of the team. But by a large rookie centers don't come in from day 1 and dominate. He will struggle and it will affect how the whole OL plays. And it's not excuses for the team underperforming but a prediction that we will in 2013. After following this team since 1963, I don't have the time or patience to look at this team through rose colored glasses.

Big difference "dominating" right away and not necessarily being better than Costa this year.

 

[Rockport]

Big difference "dominating" right away and not necessarily being better than Costa this year.

Again, being better than Costa is not saying much. Costa's not big enough to handle the big interior lineman of the NFL. Get's pushed around too much.

 

[Idgit]

I don't think Nagy, Costa, Kowalski, Bernadeau and Livings are any good. Don't think any of them would start on any other team.

I'd disagree. Costa definitely could start elsewhere. Livings already has started for a playoff team. Nagy and Kowalski were on the list because they were our second and third team Centers, meaning we had to trade for a fourth one on Giants week. Bernadeau's a borderline starter at best, from what I've seen.

But, whatever you think of the players, consistency matters along the OL. I think we can all agree that that's the case. At least I hope we can. We had way too much inconsistency in camp and early last year, with two new starters at guard, 4 different starters and C, and a new OL coach coming in. It hurt us early.

 

[CyberB0b]

Again, being better than Costa is not saying much. Costa's not big enough to handle the big interior lineman of the NFL. Get's pushed around too much.

He is like 2 lbs smaller than Freddy.

 

[Idgit]

Again, being better than Costa is not saying much. Costa's not big enough to handle the big interior lineman of the NFL. Get's pushed around too much.

And Costa's 313. His issue isn't his size. He was slow getting into his pass sets early in 2011, and would reach to make his blocks on occasion. It was a technique problem that he cleaned up later that season and his play improved. I didn't see any of it in his limited snaps in 2012, either.

People don't like Costa because of his draft status and the errant snaps and the fact that he can't button his own jeans because his arms are too short, but the guy's actually a competent player. Good teams have won with worse play at C.

 

[Rockport]

And Costa's 313. His issue isn't his size. He was slow getting into his pass sets early in 2011, and would reach to make his blocks on occasion. It was a technique problem that he cleaned up later that season and his play improved. I didn't see any of it in his limited snaps in 2012, either.

People don't like Costa because of his draft status and the errant snaps and the fact that he can't button his own jeans because his arms are too short, but the guy's actually a competent player. Good teams have won with worse play at C.

I have no idea where he was drafted or if he was drafted. I just go by how he's constantly being pushed into the backfield on pass plays. Apparently, even the Cowboys feel he's not a good center since they drafted one in the 1st round.

 

[burmafrd]

And Costa's 313. His issue isn't his size. He was slow getting into his pass sets early in 2011, and would reach to make his blocks on occasion. It was a technique problem that he cleaned up later that season and his play improved. I didn't see any of it in his limited snaps in 2012, either.

People don't like Costa because of his draft status and the errant snaps and the fact that he can't button his own jeans because his arms are too short, but the guy's actually a competent player. Good teams have won with worse play at C.

people do not like Costa because he is not very good. Really pretty simple.

 

[Idgit]

I just go by how he's constantly being pushed into the backfield on pass plays. Apparently, even the Cowboys feel he's not a good center since they drafted one in the 1st round.

Did you think you saw this in his limited play in 2012, as well? I'd assume so, since you used the word 'constantly.' Because I didn't see it.

And your assumption isn't a good one, since they extended Costa before they drafted Frederick.

We had an obvious need for interior OL coverage, and it happened that Frederick was the remaining guy we had highly rated for us there at 31. Jerry himself referred to him as the last of the Mohicans. The other 4 Mohicans were apparently OGs. At the very least, they weren't Centers.

people do not like Costa because he is not very good. Really pretty simple.

And yet the team likes him. Go figure. A lot of people don't like players for a lot of not-very-good-reasons. Some people think Anthony Spencer is just-a-guy, for example. And others thought Jason Witten was shot going into his 110 catch season. I don't put a lot of stock in what the average fan does or does not like.