Nowadays, could a team realistically have an offensive line like the 1990s Cowboys?

[BigD5]

The Cowboys thought the same thing in 1993 and started 0 and 2 because of it. It was a line of cast-offs and for some reason, they just worked well together. I think some of it was a mentality and coaching philosophy where we stayed committed to the run throughout the game and the goal was to wear out the D. And Emmitt's longevity and success over a long haul with a variety of different linemen blows that theory out of the water. From 1998 to 2000, Emmitt had 1332, 1397 and 1203 yards, respectively, and was selected to the Pro-Bowl in 98 and 99. Those great offensive lines were long gone at that point.

And the last point is that people act like the lines were so great that Aikman was never touched. He retired and had a shortened career because of his concussions. I loved the lines back then, but more so because of their mentality and offensive coaching philosophy that stayed committed to the run, as opposed to some great collection of talent across the lines when, in reality, most were cast-offs.

I agree 100%. Only thing I'll add is that I see a lot of posts saying for some reason it just all clicked. That "some reason" is no mystery. The reason it all clicked was Emmitt Smith

 

[Risen Star]

Sorry. There's no way anybody will convince me Emmitt Smith made that line. He ran through holes you could fit a truck through.

I'm not sure why both can't be acknowledged as great and an asset to each other.

 

[mahoneybill]

We lucked into much of that line

Agree Stepnoski ( Houston oilers ) Newton ( USFL , cut by Commanders ) Gesek ( Raiders ) for example

 

[BigD5]

Here's the drive in the SB in case you don't remember or maybe you've never actually watched it. Tell me who's responsible for making that drive work.

Basically what you are saying is anybody could have set the all time rushing yds record? Emmitt was just lucky Dallas picked him. Could have been Curvin Richards or Derrick Lassick All-Time NFL rushing champion?

 

[BigD5]

Sorry. There's no way anybody will convince me Emmitt Smith made that line

Which line? I think the same 5 guys started 2 whole seasons

 

[BigMac6]

Agree Stepnoski ( Houston oilers ) Newton ( USFL , cut by Commanders ) Gesek ( Raiders ) for example

Stepnosky had been a Dallas 3rd round pick in 1989 and signed as FA with the Oilers in 1995.

 

[theSHOW]

Here's the drive in the SB in case you don't remember or maybe you've never actually watched it. Tell me who's responsible for making that drive work.

Basically what you are saying is anybody could have set the all time rushing yds record? Emmitt was just lucky Dallas picked him. Could have been Curvin Richards or Derrick Lassick All-Time NFL rushing champion?

Nice contribution. I really enjoyed the remembrance of the Dallas Supremacy era. I thought both Emmitt and the oline deserve credit but you got say that the MVP was clearly E. Smith 22

 

[Fredd]

Sorry. There's no way anybody will convince me Emmitt Smith made that line. He ran through holes you could fit a truck through.

I'm not sure why both can't be acknowledged as great and an asset to each other.

couldn't agree more...it was the combination of assets that made everything work including having HUGE threats in the passing game

 

[zrinkill]

That O-Line was very good at run blocking ........ But Troy Aikman only played 10 years for a reason

 

[jazzcat22]

Sorry. There's no way anybody will convince me Emmitt Smith made that line. He ran through holes you could fit a truck through.

I'm not sure why both can't be acknowledged as great and an asset to each other.

Exactly. Emmitt, the OL, Troy, Michael, Norv's system, they all were like the perfect storm for an offense.
I always hate the argument of Barry Sanders, "well, if he had that line". People seem to forget, Detroit had what 2 or 3 multi year pro bowl lineman.

 

[joseephuss]

That O-Line was very good at run blocking ........ But Troy Aikman only played 10 years for a reason

Aikman played 12 seasons appearing in 85.9% of the games during his career.

 

[xwalker]

So, all the talk of late about the 1990s Cowboys offensive line has got me thinking:


COULD an NFL team realistically assemble a superb offensive line, these days, as outstanding as that 1990s Cowboys' offensive line?


It seems doable but very difficult for the following reasons:

• You'd need excellent drafting and talent scouting. And even then, these days, perhaps one or two of your offensive linemen starters would have to be top-notch free agents signed or traded from another team, possibly costing you a lot of money and draft picks.
• In this salary cap era, you'd have to keep all of your linemen under a reasonably modest salary apiece, or else they could ruin your salary cap situation (you still want a good QB, and good WRs, and good pass rushers, and good cornerbacks, and good safeties, don't you?) And your offensive linemen would probably KNOW they could make more money elsewhere.
  
• Other teams might be able to offer much more money for your excellent offensive linemen than you could. Perhaps only the argument that "By staying together as a group as an offensive line, we could win more Super Bowls together than we could individually elsewhere" would have to be the winning argument.
• You might have to divert more of your drafting attention in the first and second rounds of the Draft towards assembling this offensive line - valuable draft picks that could have been spent on other positions.

So, what do you think? Doable or not doable in today's salary cap era?

It can be done. You can probably have 3 high paid veterans and 2 players on their initial low cost 4 year rookie contracts. You need to add a new low cost starter about every other year in order to only have to only have 2 or 3 expensive veterans on the OL in any given year.

I would go all out on the OLine at the expensive of other positions. Failures on the DLine just result in losses; however, failures on the OLine get the Franchise QB beat up or knocked out of the game. Also, the DLine can be put together quickly. It just takes talent on the DLine, they don't have to have experience playing together as a unit like the OLine. It's much easier to get young players and draft picks into the DLine rotation than it is to put them into the OLine.

The Cowboys have been trying to win with 2 first time starters on the OLine. Both Leary and Frederick had zero snaps in NFL games prior to the beginning of this season. It's rare to have 2 inexperienced players on the OLine and even more rare that they are playing side-by-side.

I would like to see 1 more really talented OL added this off-season. It would probably be at RG; although, Bernadeau is probably playing better than Free now. They at least have some depth at OT unlike OG where they have zero depth.

 

[mahoneybill]

That O-Line was very good at run blocking ........ But Troy Aikman only played 10 years for a reason

True. He was a sitting duck for the first few years behind some of those lines e.g. Eagles 11 sack game

 

[DFWJC]

You can still build a dominant oline through the draft. But the salary cap, it is of course, much hard to keep them all long term.

It's no coincidence that once the salary cap rules kicked in, Dallas fell back to the middle of the pack, and has mostly stayed there for 17 years.

 

[BigD5]

Nice contribution. I really enjoyed the remembrance of the Dallas Supremacy era. I thought both Emmitt and the oline deserve credit but you got say that the MVP was clearly E. Smith 22

Watch how many blocks the line misses on that drive and emmitt just runs right through the defenders tackle like he wasn't even touched

 

[mahoneybill]

Stepnosky had been a Dallas 3rd round pick in 1989 and signed as FA with the Oilers in 1995.

Thanks knew that also, Dallas made a very wise choice bringing him back.

 

[theSHOW]

Sorry. There's no way anybody will convince me Emmitt Smith made that line. He ran through holes you could fit a truck through.

I'm not sure why both can't be acknowledged as great and an asset to each other.

You're Grand Ma could have ran through that line.

 

[TTexasTT]

Could she? How good was that line before emmitt came along? How did Gogan, Gesek and Step do when they left Dallas?

Look the line was good but I hate when people say oh anybody could've ran behind that line like emmitt is chopped liver. Fact is without Emmitt there isn't a "Football Life" being made about that offensive line. And let's give novacek and Daryl Johnston a little credit as well while we are at it

yeah. Novacek and Johnston deserve tons of respect for those teams success. Aikman, Irving and that line

How good was Emmitt without that line? It was a team effort more than anything.

 

[joseephuss]

You're Grand Ma could have ran through that line.

No, mine would have been part of the line and a pro-bowler.

 

[Cowboys606]