OL question for the board

[Hawkeye0202]

Is it possible our OL issues are overblown? I mean our OL isn't elite ( top 5-10 ) by any means but it's not trash either. Think about it.....how can our OL be an issue if through the first 3 games

** we have to #1 offense in the league
** QB has the most passing yards in the league
** Zeke is top 5 rushing TDs

No question we've held this unit together by plugging in a few pieces here and there but that doesn't mean they've played bad.

 

[BotchedLobotomy]

Is it possible our OL issues are overblown? I mean our OL isn't elite ( top 5-10 ) by any means but it's not trash either. Think about it.....how can our OL be an issue if through the first 3 games

** we have to #1 offense in the league
** QB has the most passing yards in the league
** Zeke is top 5 rushing TDs

No question we've held this unit together by plugging in a few pieces here and there but that doesn't mean they've played bad.

They’re bad, no mistake about it. Through three games, we’ve been able to overcome it, but no way over sixteen games will it continue.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

They’re bad, no mistake about it. Through three games, we’ve been able to overcome it, but no way over sixteen games will it continue.

How????? So if they're that bad AND we still have the #1 offense and passing leader, does that mean Dak is hiding their issues?

 

[starfan1]

How????? So if they're that bad AND we still have the #1 offense and passing leader, does that mean Dak is hiding their issues?

Shhhhh! You’ll wake up the nay sayers

I don’t think Dak is per say by himself even though he’s balling. The line is doing just enough to get by. We have very good skill players outside of TE

 

[Stash]

Is it possible our OL issues are overblown? I mean our OL isn't elite ( top 5-10 ) by any means but it's not trash either. Think about it.....how can our OL be an issue if through the first 3 games

** we have to #1 offense in the league
** QB has the most passing yards in the league
** Zeke is top 5 rushing TDs

No question we've held this unit together by plugging in a few pieces here and there but that doesn't mean they've played bad.

“They” haven’t. Williams has. Steele has (at times). Maybe a few plays from Looney as well. But the rest are playing quite well.

But Williams is an issue and needs to either play better or be replaced. The fact they brought Leary in for a workout supports it too, no matter their talk.

 

[baltcowboy]

Is it possible our OL issues are overblown? I mean our OL isn't elite ( top 5-10 ) by any means but it's not trash either. Think about it.....how can our OL be an issue if through the first 3 games

** we have to #1 offense in the league
** QB has the most passing yards in the league
** Zeke is top 5 rushing TDs

No question we've held this unit together by plugging in a few pieces here and there but that doesn't mean they've played bad.

The offensive line is fine. The issue is they don’t have their tackles. Every team would struggle with that. If you think about it, the Seahawks came could have been a disaster and we scored 31 points. The offense as whole is great and far from the team’s problem.

 

[thunderpimp91]

Very fair question by the OP.

I dont think the o line has been as bad as people make it out to be, but they have been extremely inconsistent. They may pick up a blitz perfectly one play and allow a 3 man rush to get the rhe qb the next. That should be expected to some extent given out T situation right now.

Martin even not being his 2014 version is still a stud at RG. Looney can be average, but is limited in skillet. Similar with williams. I like williams more than most but he can be a matchup some teams will take advantage of. Honestly if we had either Collins or Smith back this o line is probably a none issue.

I was told years ago that the goal to achieve a good o line is you want at least two players that you feel good enough about that you can leave on an island any time during a game. If you have that you can make up for most other weaknesses through scheme. At the time it seemed ridiculous to me, thats only 40% of your oline after all, but ive grown to buy in to that philosophy over time. Right now I think the cowboys only have one player like that.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

Very fair question by the OP.

I dont think the o line has been as bad as people make it out to be, but they have been extremely inconsistent. They may pick up a blitz perfectly one play and allow a 3 man rush to get the rhe qb the next. That should be expected to some extent given out T situation right now.

Martin even not being his 2014 version is still a stud at RG. Looney can be average, but is limited in skillet. Similar with williams. I like williams more than most but he can be a matchup some teams will take advantage of. Honestly if we had either Collins or Smith back this o line is probably a none issue.

I was told years ago that the goal to achieve a good o line is you want at least two players that you feel good enough about that you can leave on an island any time during a game. If you have that you can make up for most other weaknesses through scheme. At the time it seemed ridiculous to me, thats only 40% of your oline after all, but ive grown to buy in to that philosophy over time. Right now I think the cowboys only have one player like that.

+1

 

[JBond]

Is it possible our OL issues are overblown? I mean our OL isn't elite ( top 5-10 ) by any means but it's not trash either. Think about it.....how can our OL be an issue if through the first 3 games

** we have to #1 offense in the league
** QB has the most passing yards in the league
** Zeke is top 5 rushing TDs

No question we've held this unit together by plugging in a few pieces here and there but that doesn't mean they've played bad.

We were spoiled. I really wonder how many other games Cowboys fans watch. If the OLine is not perfect, they freak out. We still have a top 10‐14 OLine and Dak is mobile enough to compensate. Dak does not play LB and cover the flats. We need some damn LB's and more speed/playmaking ability at Safety.

 

[cristglo]

Is it possible our OL issues are overblown? I mean our OL isn't elite ( top 5-10 ) by any means but it's not trash either. Think about it.....how can our OL be an issue if through the first 3 games

** we have to #1 offense in the league
** QB has the most passing yards in the league
** Zeke is top 5 rushing TDs

No question we've held this unit together by plugging in a few pieces here and there but that doesn't mean they've played bad.

Good question Hawk. I say yes and sorta no
With the injuries that we have had and shifting people around I have to say they have played pretty good. When Steele was sucking Our coaching staff pulled him which I havent really seen since BP.
The injuries and Not seeing others like McGovern up to par makes it a sorta no
That in reality isnt OL fault especially with the pandemic.
If we had just an average Defense we would be 3-0
I do question Williams now he hasnt played terrible but he sure hasnt played great. Tired of seeing him on the freaking ground rolling around.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

Good question Hawk. I say yes and sorta no
With the injuries that we have had and shifting people around I have to say they have played pretty good. When Steele was sucking Our coaching staff pulled him which I havent really seen since BP.
The injuries and Not seeing others like McGovern up to par makes it a sorta no
That in reality isnt OL fault especially with the pandemic.
If we had just an average Defense we would be 3-0
I do question Williams now he hasnt played terrible but he sure hasnt played great. Tired of seeing him on the freaking ground rolling around.

No question we've had issues but for the most part, we've held our own. Dak's only been sacked 6 times

https://www.espn.com/nfl/stats/player

 

[Jarntt]

When you spend as much in cap $'s (including Frederick's dead money) as we do on your OL you go without assets elsewhere. The OL can't just be not bad, they need to be really good. We have 3 OL that are paid really well and Frederick's dead money offsets Looney's low salary. Then we used somewhat high picks on Williams and McGovern (and 3 firsts on Smith, Martin and Fred) which also could have been used on the secondary. As far as how they are playing, some of those numbers are in spite of them, not because of them and oftentimes on message boards just quoting a stat like that is misleading and honestly comes off as some sort of an agenda to divert praise from Dak and the WRs. Have they been one of the worst OLs in the league? No, but the push is not there in the running game and Dak has had a lot of pressure in the passing game regardless of how many sacks we have had against (another misleading way to look at it with such a small sample size). He got the snot beat out of him in the Rams game and it wasn't great in the other two games but we have made adjustments and seem to be getting the ball out quicker

 

[Tangle_Foot]

This offensive line was once proclaimed to be the best/ elite, but missing three starters from last year due to retirement and injury, their production has fallen off. I think when you fall from the top spot your descent is magnified a bit. The offensive line is definitely a work in progress which could be helped by the good fortune of health, but that holds true to any unit on any team in the NFL.

Offensively we've been able to attain the number one spot due to the quality of our skill-position players and having the unfortunate position of being behind in a passing league. Having the receivers we have, a quarterback who can extend plays and a running back who is not quite ready to be put out to pasture regardless of what some may think.

One thing that might be overlooked is the fight this team has put forth despite the injuries, they have yet to mail it in.

 

[aria]

Well considering a lot of people compare every O line to 2016 and think the ones since then have been trash (even though they have been ranked top 5 every year but one which was 10th) then this line is a dumpster fire inside of a dumpster fire to them.

In reality I think we’re middle of the pack to slightly worse right now but that will look much better over time due to our strength of schedule.

 

[scottsp]

Just another opinion here. This unit is performing at a roughly average clip. That's not to say the OL hasn't had some bad moments, but you can win with it. Even in its current form, there are some clubs who would take it and run. It's a departure from what we saw not too long ago when one missing tackle equated to the entire offense goes into a coma.

That's with a replacement-level center and guard and being without both starting tackles most of the way.

Turning over the football. Shoddy special teams performance. A horrific pass defense. Untimely penalties. There are enough items to pick from and not all involve the bigs up front. Considering the pace this offense plays at and the number of snaps taken, I am actually encouraged with the protection. I may not be a fan of that particular strategy, but we are able to do some things.

We just have to play cleaner across a number of units. A lot cleaner.

 

[Eanwen]

The OL IMO had a rough game vs. the Rams. I don't think they gave up a lot of sacks but they did give up a lot of pressure. I remember at least twice there were people wide open but Dak had to eat a sack.
Against Atlanta Zeke had to stay in a lot on passing downs to keep Dak upright.
Outside the run game and a few passing downs I don't remember what the OL did against Seattle.

 

[Cowboyny]

Is it possible our OL issues are overblown? I mean our OL isn't elite ( top 5-10 ) by any means but it's not trash either. Think about it.....how can our OL be an issue if through the first 3 games

** we have to #1 offense in the league
** QB has the most passing yards in the league
** Zeke is top 5 rushing TDs

No question we've held this unit together by plugging in a few pieces here and there but that doesn't mean they've played bad.

-The entire line struggled against Donald, including Zach Martin. Steele was exposed late in that game in pass protection
-Against Atlanta, Moore changed the tempo to help get the ball out quickly, but we helped when their LE left the game due to injury.
-Seattle has little to no pressure players, they decided Zeke wasn't going to beat them.

The team lost their top 3 Tackles and their 4th last week and still have remained competitive in all three games. That's quite an accomplishment, years prior they would have zero chance for success. In my opinion, they haven't yet seen a legitimate edge rusher, this changes this week with Garrett. Let's hope Tyron returns and is productive.

I still believe the OL is solid, no not elite, which they haven't been in several years, but very solid. They have a chance to improve as they have several young players developing at this juncture.

 

[BotchedLobotomy]

How????? So if they're that bad AND we still have the #1 offense and passing leader, does that mean Dak is hiding their issues?

My point is that I don’t believe it can be sustained over the entire season. Dak probably won’t survive the season.

 

[quickccc]

How????? So if they're that bad AND we still have the #1 offense and passing leader, does that mean Dak is hiding their issues?

Dak quickly getting the ball out of his hand damns sure helps a lot... but quick passes or not, if you dont have an OL that stops that initial charge or blitz
then your QB does not stand a chance in hell at ANY quick passes. ..that's a huge credit to the OL personnel and coaches, imo

PS ,.. i really want to keep Tyler Biadasz in the starting lineup and continue to get a good look at his play,..he needs to get a bit more stronger but i love how he uses hand vs rushers and manages to keep his body between him and the QB.

 

[xwalker]

Is it possible our OL issues are overblown? I mean our OL isn't elite ( top 5-10 ) by any means but it's not trash either. Think about it.....how can our OL be an issue if through the first 3 games

** we have to #1 offense in the league
** QB has the most passing yards in the league
** Zeke is top 5 rushing TDs

No question we've held this unit together by plugging in a few pieces here and there but that doesn't mean they've played bad.

It is amazing that the OL has held up as well as it has to allow for the most passing yards and the most total yards in the league with 2 udfa OTs that had a combined 1 start in the NFL prior to this season.

If anybody said before the season that both Tyron and La'el would be out and that the starting OTs would be Steele and Knight, we would ALL have marked down those games as Losses.