Offensive Line - Getting to the Bottom of it

[BleedSilverandBlue]

The offensive line was the strength of this team through the first 7 weeks of the season but has unquestionably regressed to levels that are becoming unworkable. We have been badly beaten in the trenches nearly every game we have played recently. It makes it extremely difficult for an offense to function when their line is playing so poorly. Our running game has begun to negatively affect our passing game and we are throwing into loaded coverages because we are incapable of more than a 2 or 3 yard rush against a 6 man front. Play action has also lost much of its effectiveness since we are such a non threat in the running game. All of this adds up to an offense that makes everything seem difficult right now. I have been watching the offensive line very closely the last few weeks to try and identify our issues, and here is what I have found.

Observations:

The Hall of Famers
On paper, Zach Martin and Tyron have been very good this year. In fact, pro football focus has them ranked as the second and fourth best offensive linemen in all of football right now. Their system isn't perfect, but they cannot be playing poorly and achieve that grading. It is simply impossible. I will however not say they have been blameless. Tyron and Zach have both made more uncharacteristic mental errors in the last few weeks than we are used to. Letting rushers pass untouched, missing assignments in the run game, etc. Despite this they are not the main problem. So the process of elimination can cross them out as main culprits.

The Center
Now we will address where things may be going very wrong. I think one of the problems is that Biadasz is really struggling to move people at center. He gets little push in the run game and doesn't seem to have an amazing feel for orchestrating protections or dealing with run blitzes. I do not believe the issue with Biadasz lies in his actual blocking, but with how he handles his additional responsibilities as the QB of the line. Lots of people do not realize how much a center does at the point of attack. Often times you are communicating with guards and tackles to organize blitz pickups, identifying the mike, and calling double teams. Having a good field general at center is an extremely underrated part of an offensive line. A good center can elevate the play of a line through nothing more than his communication and leadership. When the rest of the line is confident in their assignments, they can play harder and make less mistakes. We are badly missing this right now.

The Tubby Tightends Playing Guard
At guard, McGovern/ Williams have been very up and down. They play solid through some stretches, but at times are totally overmatched and unable to move defensive linemen with good strength. One thing in particular they both seem to lack is an understanding of positioning your body to create seams. You are not going to blast a DT 5 yards downfield most of the time, but you can position yourself between the defender and the running lane to make a seam. This is an extremely underrated art in run blocking. Zach Martin is very good at this if you watch carefully. These two need to get better at this given the fact that they will never overwhelm defensive tackles with size. Longterm Williams is gone (I have a feeling someone is going to over pay him this offseason) and I think McGovern could turn into an ok starter/ good lineman to keep around. I also do not think that the consent offensive line shuffle of this season has helped them.

The Troubled Tackle
Finally, Collins has surprisingly just been bad considering the good level of play we had become used to from him. He is not getting push in the run game which is really shocking given his size/strength and is often getting blasted into Dak's lap in the passing game. His foot quickness is noticeably slower and he has significantly regressed in pass protection which is very disappointing.

Steele?
He has been much improved this season and he certainly deserves a shoutout for his improved play. He has actually been a startable right tackle in most of the games he has played and could even be considered a plus starter most of the time. He will get beat every now and then, but he rarely gets absolutely blown by. He also plays with good feel for the run game. Long term a potential solution could be to move Collins to left guard, and start Steele at right tackle. It leaves us thin at the backup tackle position, but I would not propose this change until next season so we have time to build depth in the draft/free agency.



I do not think there is an easy solution to this in season. I think we need to spend our first rounder on an interior lineman (ideally a high football IQ center) and hope we have a chance to pickup an above average free agent to play left guard despite our cap situation. Biadasz is a great depth interior lineman/ spot starter with positional flexibility and serviceable blocking, but I think he leaves so much on the table when it comes to his ability as a field general. We could also move him to left guard if we have the option to draft center high, but McGovern is a good option there if we can figure center out. At right tackle we are going to have to live with Collins, but I think he is capable of picking things back up if we can fix what I interpret as communication issues across the line. Hopefully he can better his conditioning and quickness this offseason as well. All of this adds up to a really puzzling situation on the offensive line but if we have any hope for greater achievement this season or the next few, we need to attempt to address it.

 

[DallasEast]

Excellent OP. Especially love the spotlight on center.

 

[Zekeats]

Tyler leading league in probowl voting for center position.

 

[Jake]

We had one well-executed running play, and Pollard made the most of it.

But we've got to get back to being able to run the ball consistently. We're too dependent on the passing game at the moment.

 

[Jake]

Tyler leading league in probowl voting for center position.

Means absolutely nothing. Cowboys fans voting for Cowboys players doesn't win games. If it did we'd have some SB wins this century.

 

[Rockport]

The offensive line was the strength of this team through the first 7 weeks of the season but has unquestionably regressed to levels that are becoming unworkable. We have been badly beaten in the trenches nearly every game we have played recently. It makes it extremely difficult for an offense to function when their line is playing so poorly. Our running game has begun to negatively affect our passing game and we are throwing into loaded coverages because we are incapable of more than a 2 or 3 yard rush against a 6 man front. Play action has also lost much of its effectiveness since we are such a non threat in the running game. All of this adds up to an offense that makes everything seem difficult right now. I have been watching the offensive line very closely the last few weeks to try and identify our issues, and here is what I have found.

Observations:

The Hall of Famers
On paper, Zach Martin and Tyron have been very good this year. In fact, pro football focus has them ranked as the second and fourth best offensive linemen in all of football right now. Their system isn't perfect, but they cannot be playing poorly and achieve that grading. It is simply impossible. I will however not say they have been blameless. Tyron and Zach have both made more uncharacteristic mental errors in the last few weeks than we are used to. Letting rushers pass untouched, missing assignments in the run game, etc. Despite this they are not the main problem. So the process of elimination can cross them out as main culprits.

The Center
Now we will address where things may be going very wrong. I think one of the main issues is that Biadasz is really struggling to move people at center. He gets little push in the run game and doesn't seem to have an amazing feel for orchestrating protections or dealing with run blitzes. I do not believe the issue with Biadasz lies in his actual blocking, but with how he handles his additional responsibilities as the QB of the line. Lots of people do not realize how much a center does at the point of attack. Often times you are communicating with guards and tackles to organize blitz pickups, identifying the mike, and calling double teams. Having a good field general at center is an extremely underrated part of an offensive line. A good center can elevate the play of a line through nothing more than his communication and leadership. When the rest of the line is confident in their assignments, they can play harder and make less mistakes. We are badly missing this right now.

The Tubby Tightends Playing Guard
At guard, McGovern/ Williams have been very up and down. They play solid through some stretches, but at times are totally overmatched and unable to move defensive linemen with good strength. One thing in particular they both seem to lack is an understanding of positioning your body to create seams. You are not going to blast a DT 5 yards downfield most of the time, but you can position yourself between the defender and the running lane to make a seam. This is an extremely underrated art in run blocking. Zach Martin is very good at this if you watch carefully. These two need to get better at this given the fact that they will never overwhelm defensive tackles with size. Longterm Williams is gone (I have a feeling someone is going to over pay him this offseason) and I think McGovern could turn into an ok starter/ good lineman to keep around. I also do not think that the consent offensive line shuffle of this season has helped them.

The Troubled Tackle
Finally, Collins has surprisingly just been bad considering the good level of play we had become used to from him. He is not getting push in the run game which is really shocking given his size/strength and is often getting blasted into Dak's lap in the passing game. His foot quickness is noticeably slower and he has significantly regressed in pass protection which is very disappointing.

I do not think there is an easy solution to this in season. I think we need to spend our first rounder on an interior lineman (ideally a high football IQ center) and hope we have a chance to pickup an above average free agent to play left guard despite our cap situation. Biadasz is a great depth interior lineman/ spot starter with positional flexibility and serviceable blocking, but I think he leaves so much on the table when it comes to his ability as a field general. We could also move him to left guard if we have the option to draft center high, but McGovern is a good option there if we can figure center out.

Offensive line currently sucks. Not sure what the reason is but it sucks in run blocking and pass blocking.

 

[fivetwos]

The offensive line was the strength of this team through the first 7 weeks of the season but has unquestionably regressed to levels that are becoming unworkable. We have been badly beaten in the trenches nearly every game we have played recently. It makes it extremely difficult for an offense to function when their line is playing so poorly. Our running game has begun to negatively affect our passing game and we are throwing into loaded coverages because we are incapable of more than a 2 or 3 yard rush against a 6 man front. Play action has also lost much of its effectiveness since we are such a non threat in the running game. All of this adds up to an offense that makes everything seem difficult right now. I have been watching the offensive line very closely the last few weeks to try and identify our issues, and here is what I have found.

Observations:

The Hall of Famers
On paper, Zach Martin and Tyron have been very good this year. In fact, pro football focus has them ranked as the second and fourth best offensive linemen in all of football right now. Their system isn't perfect, but they cannot be playing poorly and achieve that grading. It is simply impossible. I will however not say they have been blameless. Tyron and Zach have both made more uncharacteristic mental errors in the last few weeks than we are used to. Letting rushers pass untouched, missing assignments in the run game, etc. Despite this they are not the main problem. So the process of elimination can cross them out as main culprits.

The Center
Now we will address where things may be going very wrong. I think one of the main issues is that Biadasz is really struggling to move people at center. He gets little push in the run game and doesn't seem to have an amazing feel for orchestrating protections or dealing with run blitzes. I do not believe the issue with Biadasz lies in his actual blocking, but with how he handles his additional responsibilities as the QB of the line. Lots of people do not realize how much a center does at the point of attack. Often times you are communicating with guards and tackles to organize blitz pickups, identifying the mike, and calling double teams. Having a good field general at center is an extremely underrated part of an offensive line. A good center can elevate the play of a line through nothing more than his communication and leadership. When the rest of the line is confident in their assignments, they can play harder and make less mistakes. We are badly missing this right now.

The Tubby Tightends Playing Guard
At guard, McGovern/ Williams have been very up and down. They play solid through some stretches, but at times are totally overmatched and unable to move defensive linemen with good strength. One thing in particular they both seem to lack is an understanding of positioning your body to create seams. You are not going to blast a DT 5 yards downfield most of the time, but you can position yourself between the defender and the running lane to make a seam. This is an extremely underrated art in run blocking. Zach Martin is very good at this if you watch carefully. These two need to get better at this given the fact that they will never overwhelm defensive tackles with size. Longterm Williams is gone (I have a feeling someone is going to over pay him this offseason) and I think McGovern could turn into an ok starter/ good lineman to keep around. I also do not think that the consent offensive line shuffle of this season has helped them.

The Troubled Tackle
Finally, Collins has surprisingly just been bad considering the good level of play we had become used to from him. He is not getting push in the run game which is really shocking given his size/strength and is often getting blasted into Dak's lap in the passing game. His foot quickness is noticeably slower and he has significantly regressed in pass protection which is very disappointing.

I do not think there is an easy solution to this in season. I think we need to spend our first rounder on an interior lineman (ideally a high football IQ center) and hope we have a chance to pickup an above average free agent to play left guard despite our cap situation. Biadasz is a great depth interior lineman/ spot starter with positional flexibility and serviceable blocking, but I think he leaves so much on the table when it comes to his ability as a field general. We could also move him to left guard if we have the option to draft center high, but McGovern is a good option there if we can figure center out. At right tackle we are going to have to live with Collins, but I think he is capable of picking things back up if we can fix what I interpret as communication issues across the line. Hopefully he can better his conditioning and quickness this offseason as well.

I appreciate the analysis but why did it used to work earlier this season and now doesn't?

 

[fivetwos]

Offensive line currently sucks. Not sure what the reason is but it sucks in run blocking and pass blocking.

Everything with our team starts there....and I have no idea what happened and why.

I would really love to know.

 

[Rockport]

Everything with our team starts there....and I have no idea what happened and why.

I would really love to know.

Me too. It doesn’t smell good at the moment.

 

[JBond]

The offensive line was the strength of this team through the first 7 weeks of the season but has unquestionably regressed to levels that are becoming unworkable. We have been badly beaten in the trenches nearly every game we have played recently. It makes it extremely difficult for an offense to function when their line is playing so poorly. Our running game has begun to negatively affect our passing game and we are throwing into loaded coverages because we are incapable of more than a 2 or 3 yard rush against a 6 man front. Play action has also lost much of its effectiveness since we are such a non threat in the running game. All of this adds up to an offense that makes everything seem difficult right now. I have been watching the offensive line very closely the last few weeks to try and identify our issues, and here is what I have found.

Observations:

The Hall of Famers
On paper, Zach Martin and Tyron have been very good this year. In fact, pro football focus has them ranked as the second and fourth best offensive linemen in all of football right now. Their system isn't perfect, but they cannot be playing poorly and achieve that grading. It is simply impossible. I will however not say they have been blameless. Tyron and Zach have both made more uncharacteristic mental errors in the last few weeks than we are used to. Letting rushers pass untouched, missing assignments in the run game, etc. Despite this they are not the main problem. So the process of elimination can cross them out as main culprits.

The Center
Now we will address where things may be going very wrong. I think one of the problems is that Biadasz is really struggling to move people at center. He gets little push in the run game and doesn't seem to have an amazing feel for orchestrating protections or dealing with run blitzes. I do not believe the issue with Biadasz lies in his actual blocking, but with how he handles his additional responsibilities as the QB of the line. Lots of people do not realize how much a center does at the point of attack. Often times you are communicating with guards and tackles to organize blitz pickups, identifying the mike, and calling double teams. Having a good field general at center is an extremely underrated part of an offensive line. A good center can elevate the play of a line through nothing more than his communication and leadership. When the rest of the line is confident in their assignments, they can play harder and make less mistakes. We are badly missing this right now.

The Tubby Tightends Playing Guard
At guard, McGovern/ Williams have been very up and down. They play solid through some stretches, but at times are totally overmatched and unable to move defensive linemen with good strength. One thing in particular they both seem to lack is an understanding of positioning your body to create seams. You are not going to blast a DT 5 yards downfield most of the time, but you can position yourself between the defender and the running lane to make a seam. This is an extremely underrated art in run blocking. Zach Martin is very good at this if you watch carefully. These two need to get better at this given the fact that they will never overwhelm defensive tackles with size. Longterm Williams is gone (I have a feeling someone is going to over pay him this offseason) and I think McGovern could turn into an ok starter/ good lineman to keep around. I also do not think that the consent offensive line shuffle of this season has helped them.

The Troubled Tackle
Finally, Collins has surprisingly just been bad considering the good level of play we had become used to from him. He is not getting push in the run game which is really shocking given his size/strength and is often getting blasted into Dak's lap in the passing game. His foot quickness is noticeably slower and he has significantly regressed in pass protection which is very disappointing.

Steele?
He has been much improved this season and he certainly deserves a shoutout for his improved play. He has actually been a startable right tackle in most of the games he has played and could even be considered a plus starter most of the time. He will get beat every now and then, but he rarely gets absolutely blown by. He also plays with good feel for the run game. Long term a potential solution could be to move Collins to left guard, and start Steele at right tackle. It leaves us thin at the backup tackle position, but I would not propose this change until next season so we have time to build depth in the draft/free agency.



I do not think there is an easy solution to this in season. I think we need to spend our first rounder on an interior lineman (ideally a high football IQ center) and hope we have a chance to pickup an above average free agent to play left guard despite our cap situation. Biadasz is a great depth interior lineman/ spot starter with positional flexibility and serviceable blocking, but I think he leaves so much on the table when it comes to his ability as a field general. We could also move him to left guard if we have the option to draft center high, but McGovern is a good option there if we can figure center out. At right tackle we are going to have to live with Collins, but I think he is capable of picking things back up if we can fix what I interpret as communication issues across the line. Hopefully he can better his conditioning and quickness this offseason as well. All of this adds up to a really puzzling situation on the offensive line but if we have any hope for greater achievement this season or the next few, we need to attempt to address it.

As Dak works back from multiple injuries, we need to get the ball out quicker, but he is still healing. End of the year headed into the playoffs? I see this thing clicking like a machine. Haven't felt that way in 25 years.

 

[CATCH17]

I really want to see Collins at Guard and Steele at Tackle.

That’s the lineup with the most upside.

 

[TheHerd]

We had one well-executed running play, and Pollard made the most of it.

But we've got to get back to being able to run the ball consistently. We're too dependent on the passing game at the moment.

Wasn't really well executed. Defensive end came through unblocked. Pollard just made a helluva move and his speed avoided the big loss, then he did what he does. He's very dynamic obviously

 

[TheHerd]

I really want to see Collins at Guard and Steele at Tackle.

That’s the lineup with the most upside.

Why won't they try this? It seems obvious.

 

[nalam]

Read my post in the post game thread. our OL as a whole weakened by poor play from Center and LG.

https://cowboyszone.com/threads/cowboys-vs-saints-post-game-thread.488965/page-3

 

[BleedSilverandBlue]

Tyler leading league in probowl voting for center position.

This means nothing. At one point Jaylon Smith went to the prowl.

I appreciate the analysis but why did it used to work earlier this season and now doesn't?

Excellent question that I have also asked myself. I would actually argue that it was not working better, but it was not being exposed by our competition.

On opening night, I remember thinking that we did not look good up front. To the public, much of this was masked by a masterful performance by Dak, but we could not run the ball at all and pressure was in Dak's face all night. This was understandable at the time due to the reputation of Tampa's front seven, but I believe it was actually a harbinger of things to come.

The Chargers are dead last in the NFL in rush defense and are a mess on the interior line. The Eagles, Panthers, and Giants are also bottom-half rush defenses. We started looking visibly bad in the run game against the Patriots which was the 6th game of the year. That could have been chalked up to a well coached Patriots defense taking away the run, but we have declined in each week since

From the Patriots game on we started dealing with the offensive line shuffle due to Tyron's injuries and attempts to solve the issue at left guard. This has not helped the unit in the slightest.

I would argue the line was never really "good" at any point this year. Early in the season we were playing very bad rush defenses and Dak was unconscious dishing out one epic passing performance after another which helped to mask meh performances by the line.

As Dak works back from multiple injuries, we need to get the ball out quicker, but he is still healing. End of the year headed into the playoffs? I see this thing clicking like a machine. Haven't felt that way in 25 years.

I sure hope you are right. I want so badly for this team to shed the curse of the last 25 years and I'm still holding out hope, but the problems are starting to show. Despite this I'm still keeping the faith.

 

[ChronicCowboy]

The run blocking is hideous on the inside and the blitz pickup is pathetic. No one out there is doing their job properly and they’re running out of time this season to fix it.

I predict an OL in round 1 and possibly a high priced FA on the line in the off-season.

 

[BAT]

I really want to see Collins at Guard and Steele at Tackle.

That’s the lineup with the most upside.

Or just reset to when OL was dominating.

With CW at LG and McGovern at FB.

All the OL movement for the sake of movement has been a disaster.

 

[Tussinman]

This means nothing. At one point Jaylon Smith went to the prowl.

And even then he didn't really make the pro bowl (he got 2nd alternate when both of the day 1 roster starters got injured and 4 other MLB in the conference where also injured). It was basically going down the line and asking "so whose healthy in late January" ?

 

[BleedSilverandBlue]

Or just reset to when OL was dominating.

With CW at LG and McGovern at FB.

All the OL movement for the sake of movement has been a disaster.

I absolutely agree that Williams should be back at left guard. It also gives us back the hulk package which is a useful gadget formation for certain situations. I think it is a step in the right direction, but we would most likely still struggle. William's penalties were also beginning to make him unplayable.

 

[CowboyRoy]

The offensive line was the strength of this team through the first 7 weeks of the season but has unquestionably regressed to levels that are becoming unworkable. We have been badly beaten in the trenches nearly every game we have played recently. It makes it extremely difficult for an offense to function when their line is playing so poorly. Our running game has begun to negatively affect our passing game and we are throwing into loaded coverages because we are incapable of more than a 2 or 3 yard rush against a 6 man front. Play action has also lost much of its effectiveness since we are such a non threat in the running game. All of this adds up to an offense that makes everything seem difficult right now. I have been watching the offensive line very closely the last few weeks to try and identify our issues, and here is what I have found.

Observations:

The Hall of Famers
On paper, Zach Martin and Tyron have been very good this year. In fact, pro football focus has them ranked as the second and fourth best offensive linemen in all of football right now. Their system isn't perfect, but they cannot be playing poorly and achieve that grading. It is simply impossible. I will however not say they have been blameless. Tyron and Zach have both made more uncharacteristic mental errors in the last few weeks than we are used to. Letting rushers pass untouched, missing assignments in the run game, etc. Despite this they are not the main problem. So the process of elimination can cross them out as main culprits.

The Center
Now we will address where things may be going very wrong. I think one of the problems is that Biadasz is really struggling to move people at center. He gets little push in the run game and doesn't seem to have an amazing feel for orchestrating protections or dealing with run blitzes. I do not believe the issue with Biadasz lies in his actual blocking, but with how he handles his additional responsibilities as the QB of the line. Lots of people do not realize how much a center does at the point of attack. Often times you are communicating with guards and tackles to organize blitz pickups, identifying the mike, and calling double teams. Having a good field general at center is an extremely underrated part of an offensive line. A good center can elevate the play of a line through nothing more than his communication and leadership. When the rest of the line is confident in their assignments, they can play harder and make less mistakes. We are badly missing this right now.

The Tubby Tightends Playing Guard
At guard, McGovern/ Williams have been very up and down. They play solid through some stretches, but at times are totally overmatched and unable to move defensive linemen with good strength. One thing in particular they both seem to lack is an understanding of positioning your body to create seams. You are not going to blast a DT 5 yards downfield most of the time, but you can position yourself between the defender and the running lane to make a seam. This is an extremely underrated art in run blocking. Zach Martin is very good at this if you watch carefully. These two need to get better at this given the fact that they will never overwhelm defensive tackles with size. Longterm Williams is gone (I have a feeling someone is going to over pay him this offseason) and I think McGovern could turn into an ok starter/ good lineman to keep around. I also do not think that the consent offensive line shuffle of this season has helped them.

The Troubled Tackle
Finally, Collins has surprisingly just been bad considering the good level of play we had become used to from him. He is not getting push in the run game which is really shocking given his size/strength and is often getting blasted into Dak's lap in the passing game. His foot quickness is noticeably slower and he has significantly regressed in pass protection which is very disappointing.

Steele?
He has been much improved this season and he certainly deserves a shoutout for his improved play. He has actually been a startable right tackle in most of the games he has played and could even be considered a plus starter most of the time. He will get beat every now and then, but he rarely gets absolutely blown by. He also plays with good feel for the run game. Long term a potential solution could be to move Collins to left guard, and start Steele at right tackle. It leaves us thin at the backup tackle position, but I would not propose this change until next season so we have time to build depth in the draft/free agency.



I do not think there is an easy solution to this in season. I think we need to spend our first rounder on an interior lineman (ideally a high football IQ center) and hope we have a chance to pickup an above average free agent to play left guard despite our cap situation. Biadasz is a great depth interior lineman/ spot starter with positional flexibility and serviceable blocking, but I think he leaves so much on the table when it comes to his ability as a field general. We could also move him to left guard if we have the option to draft center high, but McGovern is a good option there if we can figure center out. At right tackle we are going to have to live with Collins, but I think he is capable of picking things back up if we can fix what I interpret as communication issues across the line. Hopefully he can better his conditioning and quickness this offseason as well. All of this adds up to a really puzzling situation on the offensive line but if we have any hope for greater achievement this season or the next few, we need to attempt to address it.

Horrible analysis. Start over and try again.