O-line play?

[RoyTheHammer]

Its pretty clear to me, barring injuries, that our OL will play much better than last year.

 

[kevm3]

"Wow these runningbacks look great!"

"Romo had all day back there that one play!"

I don't recall saying that last year.

 

[acer941]

The Rono sack was hilarious because it was classic gunslinger. At least he ate the sack instead of sending up a prayer but there was zero need to lose those yards unless he was just like screw it, it's preseason.

I thought the line looked pretty good early as well.

Dez and Austin were both open for a TD on that sack, it was just romo didn't pull the trigger...

 

[Chocolate Lab]

True, he should have at least a little experience playing some guard. This conversation was in the context of whether you keep him at C or go with "Your best five" and possibly start Costa at C this year.

 

[dmq]

Frederick is a beast. I can't imagine what he will be like with a few years in an NFL weight program. Bernie looked good. We had running lanes. Romo had an outlet receiver and held the ball on the sack.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

We should tap the breaks on Fred being a terrible RG. A lot of the time when Fred has looked really good he had the 1st team OL around him. Much different than playing RG with the 2nd and 3rd teamers beside you.

Having said that I like Fred at C and that is where he will play.

 

[Zman5]

Romo had all day on some plays. He didn't know what to do with all that time. He is not used to having more than 3 seconds to do something.

 

[Everlastingxxx]

I stopped watching at some point in the 3rd quarter. I just can't watch guys play who won't even be considered for the practice squad. It's almost as bad as watching high school football.

Terrible perspective. Forget that Romo once played against Oakland in a preseason game and won it with a qb sneak? Or did you turn it off early that night too?

 

[big dog cowboy]

Romo had all day on some plays. He didn't know what to do with all that time.

Now that is a OL evaluation I really like.

 

[21Savage]

I don't know what these people saw in Fred at RG. I thought he played well. There were 2 or 3 plays where he showed good quickness and was getting to the 2nd level when he got blatantly held by the DT? It was ridiculous defensive holding didn't get called once.

As to the general sentiment: Mack is currently a better RG than Fred, and Fred's a better C than Costa, so it isn't much of a consideration any more for me.

 

[FiveRings]

Side note, but how many ex-Cowboys were on that team!? Andre Holmes, Andre Gurode, Mike Jenkins, Olawale, Alex Barron, Kevin Burnett, and I might be forgetting some.

Anyway, I bring that up because yes, the OL did look very good, and it was nice to see a comparison, with Alex Barron, what we used to have, get carved up by Wilber, with Smith and Free having pretty solid games.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I watched Bern while he was out there and he did well. Maybe the Waters talk will die-down.

 

[theogt]

Terrible perspective. Forget that Romo once played against Oakland in a preseason game and won it with a qb sneak? Or did you turn it off early that night too?

I "watched" the entire game. It's just that I didn't really watch it. As in, I didn't sit and focus and care what players were doing what -- rewind plays to catch things, etc. Basically I stopped analyzing it at some point because it was obvious the players -- particularly the QB -- was terrible.

 

[theogt]

True, he should have at least a little experience playing some guard. This conversation was in the context of whether you keep him at C or go with "Your best five" and possibly start Costa at C this year.

Oh yeah, totally agree.

 

[fanfromvirginia]

Marc Colombo was on the pregame show and he said playing Fred at G was a big mistake in his opinion. Said he looks good at C, that's what he was drafted to play, and he should stay there regardless of who they put next to him.

That seems pretty clear so far. I seriously doubt they'll go much further with that experiment. RG is going to have to be 'best of the rest'.

 

[Ren]

The Bengals and Texans in the last 2 preseason games should be a proper test for our OL, but i like what i am seeing so far specially Fredricks he looks really good at C, good good not just good for a rookie

 

[Crown Royal]

Leary has looked great. He has the most power we've had from a guard and a mean streak to match in a long time. Frederick looks night and day better than Costa has to the point where I don't understand how anyone ever thought Costa was a quality starter. That said, I haven't seen Fred bull rushed one on one with a power nose tackle yet, so I remain cautious with my optimism. Benny looked good, but he is usually fine one on one; stunts and blitzes are what worry me.

My absolute favorite thing to see is how seldom our starters are ending up on the ground. I am seeing them keep their feet more and more and embrace that zone blocking isnt about beating your man, but moving the gap and using the opponent's leverage.


Much as I'm happy with the above paragraph, I WOULD like to see a little more power running plays as well. I think with Leary and Fred we have some personnel to run some wham plays.

Finally Arkin. Yeah, not nearly as good as against the dolphins. I think I've learned that the expression "he has to be perfect in his technique" is a backhand. The guy whiffed a few times in the second level and just doesn't look like a starter to me.

Oh and Costa got bull rushed back. Again. By a second or third teaser. I'll try to find the play. Dude is a backup at best.

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

I definitely expected to see more running the ball, especially in short yardage situations.

I agree that we saw our best possible starting OL last night and they looked pretty good. Oakland was whining about the OL being in the whole first half, yet they dominated the Oakland starting DL when they were in also. Romo had plenty of time, even on the sack. Definitely appears promising.

I still think Arkin and Costa make for good depth...if we have to have two or three backups start a lot then we will be in trouble, but if one guy has to come in I have a fair amount of confidence that the OL won't completely bog down. Still very down on the backup tackles. Thought Free looked pretty good again.

 

[boysfanindc]

I definitely expected to see more running the ball, especially in short yardage situations.

I agree that we saw our best possible starting OL last night and they looked pretty good. Oakland was whining about the OL being in the whole first half, yet they dominated the Oakland starting DL when they were in also. Romo had plenty of time, even on the sack. Definitely appears promising.

I still think Arkin and Costa make for good depth...if we have to have two or three backups start a lot then we will be in trouble, but if one guy has to come in I have a fair amount of confidence that the OL won't completely bog down. Still very down on the backup tackles. Thought Free looked pretty good again.

Agree, we saw last week a commitment to the run. It seems when Romo is in they forget the run (I know Witten penalty negated a nice run), then as soon as Orton or another QB comes in they go back to the run consistently.

We now have Callahan calling the plays and he is a run guy, but it is like these coaches no matter who they are get so enamored with Romo's passing ability the run becomes a after thought. I just hope they realize the best way to help Romo and slow him down is a consistent running game.

I know I am making a snap judgement off of a couple of series, because we could not run the ball last year. But it appears we can this year and I think we need to do it consistently to be good.

 

[Zimmy Lives]

The guard and center played looked good but the backup tackle position will be a weakness if Smith or Free go down.