New Offensive Line

[Typhus]

My only issue with the Oline is that they have collapsed in all three final games over the last three years.

-Giants playoff loss- The oline gets dominated in the second half

-Season finale Eagles- Total disaster in every phase, but the line was brutalized

-Vikings playoff loss-Flo leaves game with injury and the rest of the line suddenly forgets how to block.

Not sure if it's coincidental, but it does say to me that the line does not perform well in adverse/pressure filled situations. I'd love to see Free replace Flo if possible, as I just can't imagine Adams playing at the level he has in the past. The Boys could sign Mankins, Sims or Amano if any of those come available to replace Kosier who just is not physical enough. You can draft a young tackle in the first/second to develop behind Columbo or Free.

As much as I would love to draft Iupati, I just dont think he will be there for the Cowboys in the first.

So if he is indeed off the board by 27, another way to go about infusing an upgrade Immediately is draft Maurkice Pouncey, OC, Florida.

Bare with me and at least finish reading this post before dismissing the notion.

What this does and allows the OL to do immediately and "not" developmentally, by inserting Pouncey in at center....

Move Gurode out to LG. I know Gurode is a Pro Bowl center, but he has performed at a high level at guard early on this team, and in college at CU.

Kosier becomes the top back up/ swingman in a pinch and we can cut Holland, Preston, possibly McQuisten as well.

Free can compete with Columbo in TC, and we could possibly hang Columbo out as trade bait.

Still need to draft another OG/OT prospect somewhere in this draft to infuse depth, but now the interior of this OL is much stronger with Gurode, Pouncey, Davis and Free possibly upgrading RT.

With this strategy, you are not over-hauling the entire unit, there is no need to do so. Though an older core, still an effective and solid unit, this is a way to address some OL woes but keep the chemistry there.

I just dont see a starting LT somehow on the board still at 27 that can come in and challenge Adams for the starting role.

 

[dfense]

Kosier is no part of the problem....i dont why i keep hearing people wanting him replaced

Because they haven't got a clue. All you heard about after the Vikings game was how bad Adams was. Well, he wasn't getting beat at all. Columbo was getting hosed as well as some of the interior line. But that was against two motivated All Pro tackles to.

Adams isn't the player he was 5 years ago, but he's pretty darn good considering finding quality LT's isn't all that easy.

I'd start looking for his replacement, but keep him around for the next year or two.

 

[DaBoyz73]

Move Gurode out to LG. I know Gurode is a Pro Bowl center, but he has performed at a high level at guard early on this team, and in college at CU.

We tried that before when Parcells was here. Gurode did not reach Pro Bowl status until he was moved to center. I would rather leave him at center.

 

[Pottsville Maroons]

We tried that before when Parcells was here. Gurode did not reach Pro Bowl status until he was moved to center. I would rather leave him at center.

I believe Gurode started playing well once Torrin Tucker(?) was cut and he could actually pay attention in practice. I'm all in favor of moving him to OG, but the replacement had better be good at making line calls.

The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that OC is a bigger need than OG because Gurode would be an upgrade over Kosier and we need an OC that's better at the line calls. We also have Brewster as an OG/OT prospect.

 

[Galian Beast]

Madden huh?

2005/2006....

Marc Colombo, Kyle Kosier, Marco Rivera

2008 we got rid of

anthony henry, adam jones, and roy williams 3/5th of our secondary including the nickel, although henry and jones were starters for much of the year.

 

[Hoofbite]

Dude. You'd let three starters go, replace a fourth in the starting rotation, and replace them with who, exactly?

Who knows, who cares? He doesn't. As long as it happens, he wouldn't care who was out there. You, me, Bob.......he wouldn't care.

 

[VACowboy]

I would rather add some players in the draft and have them earn the job instead of cutting loose players like Colombo, Davis and Adams. Dallas has no cap to contend with and some other players like Holland, Proctor and McQ could be release instead of proven players.

I agree completely with this strategy.

But I also think that anyone who thinks the OL is fine as it is because it includes a few guys who went to the Pro Bowl is either blind or in denial.

 

[Doomsday101]

I agree completely with this strategy.

But I also think that anyone who thinks the OL is fine as it is because it includes a few guys who went to the Pro Bowl is either blind or in denial.

I agree. I do not think these guys are horrible Olinemen but I think we need to start looking to upgrade as it has been pointed out before they are not getting any younger so Dallas needs to really address this to make a transition much easier. Remember the career of our QB is at stake. :laugh2:

 

[NeonDeion21]

I know this might not make sense to most and I'm not sure I agree with it but, I do remember when Davis came here, Ware said he was the toughest LT he ever had to play against. So getting rid of Davis is absolutely stupid. He is a good Guard and decent Tackle with versatility. I think we need to upgrade LT and the RT spot and possibly LG. I am still up in the air regarding Gurode because he has been a Pro-Bowler lately.

 

[Doomsday101]

I know this might not make sense to most and I'm not sure I agree with it but, I do remember when Davis came here, Ware said he was the toughest LT he ever had to play against. So getting rid of Davis is absolutely stupid. He is a good Guard and decent Tackle with versatility. I think we need to upgrade LT and the RT spot and possibly LG. I am still up in the air regarding Gurode because he has been a Pro-Bowler lately.

I agree. I think we need to look to upgrade the OT spots and add to our line. What I do not want to see is these vets released and have Tony standing behind some rookie line and tell him good luck. We need to add quality young lineman to this unit and have them compete for the job. If a guy can show enough to start as a rookie great if not at least we have guys who have been through the battles and can do the job at a pretty good level.

 

[CF74]

The guys we have starting now aren't going anywhere immediately but we do need to draft their eventual replacements now because some of them won't give you a full season anymore. L-OT, C, & G is what we need to target in the draft. I would either trade up or down to to get the best available.

Another thing I would consider doing is being the 1st team to rotate some of the O-line during a game when I see the production of some of them going down during the game. This is considered a bad idea but if you have a couple of key players you could spell during a game it would really help. Who knew that Gurode (Our Center) was playing with a bad knee? Quality depth is what we need that we can groom for another year or two to be the next starters on this line...

 

[adbutcher]

1.) Sign Dexter Coakley
2.) trade him to Denver for Ryan Clady, Brandon Marshall, and a 1st
3.) Draft 2 O Linemen that we know will be HoFers because its that easy
4.) Buy Pants
5.) ?????????
6.) CHAMPIONSHIP

:laugh2:

 

[wileedog]

Colombo, Davis, and Adams accounted for 12 sacks combined. And I guarantee you this number goes up if Colombo plays the entire year.

Do you realize Peyton Manning was only sacked 10 times all regular seasn?

Drew Brees only 20?

Romo took 34 sacks... thats WAY too many.

And Romo is way more mobile than both of those guys, with just as quick a release.

Our line is over-rated badly, especially in pass protection.

There is a reason we are blitzed more than any other team by far, and its not all because of Romo.

 

[sonnyboy]

The guys we have starting now aren't going anywhere immediately but we do need to draft their eventual replacements now because some of them won't give you a full season anymore. L-OT, C, & G is what we need to target in the draft. I would either trade up or down to to get the best available.

Another thing I would consider doing is being the 1st team to rotate some of the O-line during a game when I see the production of some of them going down during the game. This is considered a bad idea but if you have a couple of key players you could spell during a game it would really help. Who knew that Gurode (Our Center) was playing with a bad knee? Quality depth is what we need that we can groom for another year or two to be the next starters on this line...

Great post. And rotating the OL must be a good idea because I like it.

My plan for the O-Line calls for overkill. A little redundancy of effort to give us the best chance of success. I really think the rest of the roster is good enough and young enough to handle an off-season primarily dedicated to improving the OL group.

The focus shouldn't be on the starting five at this point. It needs to be on the 12 or more offensive lineman we're going to have on the 80 man roster.

I want the team to have a hard time cutting the OL group down for the final 53. And that group should be 9 instead of the usual 8.

You can't expect to see much in FA this season. In an ideal world, one quality big$ OL in his late 20's hits the market and we nab him. But I don't see it happening. And if it doesn't we should draft 4 of them.

Two in rounds 1-3 and two in rounds 4-7. I'm not suggesting we reach for anyone. Just that we stay active and move our picks up or down in each round to fit the value.

Rank every legit OL prospect no differently than we would any other year and tag the 10-20 players we'd really like that fit our system.
We'll probably end up with 2-4 guys we like in each round. Just move the pick up or down to match the value every chance you get.

Now sometimes the draft just works against you and you can't get a break. You just miss on this guy and can't pull off the trade for that guy and so on.
So be it. But if we go into it focused on drafting 4 OL, I'm sure we'll get at least two and I could live with that.

With a little luck we'd go to camp with a strong group of 14 OL that looked like this...

OC Gurode
OC/G 6th rd pk
OC RFA
OG Davis
OG Koiser
OG Holland
OG 1st rd pk
OG RFA
OT Adams
OT Columbo
OT Free
OT Big FA signing
OT 2nd rd pk
OT 4th rd pk

Why so much invested in this group when you can only keep 9 at most?

Because injuries happen. From the 1st OTA to the last preseason game, you probably going to lose someone to a season ending injury, maybe two.

And since we have the leagues oldest starting 5, we should have the leagues best depth.

I see us as a SB contender for the next few years. We can't let that get derailed because our OL was too old and too injured.

 

[The Realist]

Great post. And rotating the OL must be a good idea because I like it.

My plan for the O-Line calls for overkill. A little redundancy of effort to give us the best chance of success. I really think the rest of the roster is good enough and young enough to handle an off-season primarily dedicated to improving the OL group.

The focus shouldn't be on the starting five at this point. It needs to be on the 12 or more offensive lineman we're going to have on the 80 man roster.

I want the team to have a hard time cutting the OL group down for the final 53. And that group should be 9 instead of the usual 8.

You can't expect to see much in FA this season. In an ideal world, one quality big$ OL in his late 20's hits the market and we nab him. But I don't see it happening. And if it doesn't we should draft 4 of them.

Two in rounds 1-3 and two in rounds 4-7. I'm not suggesting we reach for anyone. Just that we stay active and move our picks up or down in each round to fit the value.

Rank every legit OL prospect no differently than we would any other year and tag the 10-20 players we'd really like that fit our system.
We'll probably end up with 2-4 guys we like in each round. Just move the pick up or down to match the value every chance you get.

Now sometimes the draft just works against you and you can't get a break. You just miss on this guy and can't pull off the trade for that guy and so on.
So be it. But if we go into it focused on drafting 4 OL, I'm sure we'll get at least two and I could live with that.

With a little luck we'd go to camp with a strong group of 14 OL that looked like this...

OC Gurode
OC/G 6th rd pk
OC RFA
OG Davis
OG Koiser
OG Holland
OG 1st rd pk
OG RFA
OT Adams
OT Columbo
OT Free
OT Big FA signing
OT 2nd rd pk
OT 4th rd pk

Why so much invested in this group when you can only keep 9 at most?

Because injuries happen. From the 1st OTA to the last preseason game, you probably going to lose someone to a season ending injury, maybe two.

And since we have the leagues oldest starting 5, we should have the leagues best depth.

I see us as a SB contender for the next few years. We can't let that get derailed because our OL was too old and too injured.

First you lost me when you said we usually on keep 8 OL.

Wrong.

Then you lost me when you said we can only keep 9 at most.

Wrong.

How many did we keep last year?

 

[CF74]

Great post. And rotating the OL must be a good idea because I like it.

You can't expect to see much in FA this season. In an ideal world, one quality big$ OL in his late 20's hits the market and we nab him. But I don't see it happening. And if it doesn't we should draft 4 of them.

OC Gurode
OC/G 6th rd pk
OC RFA
OG Davis
OG Koiser
OG Holland
OG 1st rd pk
OG RFA
OT Adams
OT Columbo
OT Free
OT Big FA signing
OT 2nd rd pk
OT 4th rd pk

Thanks.

As it stands we have a bunch of FA's starting on this O-line now.

Kosier-FA
Bigg-FA
Colombo-FA

That means only two were homegrown drafts picks.
Gurode-Drafted
Flozell-Drafted

I hope and pray this is the year we target at least three O-linemen (OT, C, G) in the top 4 rounds. We have relied to much on FA's and as you already mentioned, it's highly doubtful we go that route the way things are going down this year with FA's. If we address these positions now it will determine how long our window of opportunity extends to remain competitive for a long time.

 

[sonnyboy]

First you lost me when you said we usually on keep 8 OL.

Wrong.

Then you lost me when you said we can only keep 9 at most.

Wrong.

How many did we keep last year?

I'm LOL as I type this......You tell me since you seem to be so certain.

I thought most teams kept 8 on the 53 and dress 7 for game day.

I'm suggesting we keep 9 since our starters are so old and we so desperately need to transition to perhaps 2 new starters within a couple years and perhaps five new starters within 4 years.

 

[CF74]

http://www.dallascowboys.com/team/team_depthChart.cfm

I count 10.

 

[sonnyboy]

Thanks.

As it stands we have a bunch of FA's starting on this O-line now.

Kosier-FA
Bigg-FA
Colombo-FA

That means only two were homegrown drafts picks.
Gurode-Drafted
Flozell-Drafted

I hope and pray this is the year we target at least three O-linemen (OT, C, G) in the top 4 rounds. We have relied to much on FA's and as you already mentioned, it's highly doubtful we go that route the way things are going down this year with FA's. If we address these positions now it will determine how long our window of opportunity extends to remain competitive for a long time.

We almost have to go this route for a few reasons....

QB is the most critical position on any team and keeping him healthy is priority one. Because of his simple fact, I feel a teams OL should be the next best unit on the team after QB.
Well our OL is perhaps the teams weakest unit. It's certainly the oldest. Now although it may be our weakest, it's not weak. I still like our starting 5 for 2010, but depth is critical.
We need to go into 2010 with the assumption that we'll be replacing two starters at some point in the season. Injury or simply someone wearing down who needs to be replaces.

I like the idea of our starters seeing less reps and preseason action that they would normally see. We need to keep them fresh and get our young reserves all the playing time and reps as we can.
Besides, since our OL is such a veteran group, it should require less work to become season ready.

 

[The Realist]

I'm LOL as I type this......You tell me since you seem to be so certain.

I thought most teams kept 8 on the 53 and dress 7 for game day.

I'm suggesting we keep 9 since our starters are so old and we so desperately need to transition to perhaps 2 new starters within a couple years and perhaps five new starters within 4 years.

Adams, Kosier, Gurode, Davis, Colombo, Free, Holland, Proctor, Preston, McQ