Show of hands: Who is scared to death of this offensive line?

[TruBlueCowboy]

STARTERS

Flozell Adams... Yep. Great player when he's healthy. Only problem is he had a pretty bad injury last year. Tore a lot of ligaments. He's over the 30 hump now. Some consistency question marks. Even some of our resident oline experts such as Pittdawg commented that it looked like he was relying more on raw power than technique before the injury.

Kyle Kosier... Kyle who? One of Mooch's WCO leftovers. Okay in pass protection, nothing close to Larry Allen when it comes to ramming the ball down a defense's throat. Rarely landed a starting job in training camp before arriving here. Ryan Young didn't know who he was. JJT is still trying to find some positive comments about him.

Al Johnson.... The problem at center is we have one guy who has the mental skills but not the best physical skills (Johnson) and another who has the physical skills but not the best mental skills (Gurode). Maybe the injury has damaged AJ's career more than he'll ever let on. Maybe he just doesn't have the mauling potential we want on our interior line. Just hasn't been that impressive.

Marco Rivera.... Great player when he was with Favre. Close to 35 and recovering from a back injury. Darren Woodson, Troy Aikman, Charles Haley, Darryl Johnston, the list goes on of recent Cowboys greats who had to say buh-bye to their careers once the back injuries started kicking in over 30. Not worth a $10 million signing bonus last year.

Jason Fabini.... Solid starter for years. Only problem is he's coming off some muscle tears and also had back problems last year. Another "over 30 addition" and hopefully not to suffer the same fate as the last right tackle from the Jets. Gotta say, though, I'm optimistic he'll return to full form.

BACKUPS

Rob Petitti.... God bless his old man for putting up with us fickle fans, but last year Rob looked like, well, a guy drafted in the 6th round.

Andre Gurode.... See Al Johnson above.

Stephen Peterman... Looking like he might go the way of his draft partner, Jacob Rogers.

Marc Colombo... It's a little depressing when your best young prospect is trying to pull off a miracle injury recovery story.

Torrin Tucker... Yeah, the Torrin experiment is over. Hoping Rob Petitti will be another Mark Tuinei. TT is a backup at best.

PANIC TIME?

The way I see it, we have three starters who very recently were all solid linemen, but all three are now over 30 and coming off some troubling injuries last year. We have two starters who are "very average." And we really don't have any young depth that look like impact players this season.

If everything works the way Bill & Jerry hope, yeah, we could have a decent o-line. But there are so many IFS on this roster, I wonder if we're heading to disaster this season. Yeah, we could find a gem in the draft, but Parcells' track record on drafting linemen ain't the greatest in Dallas, and it's tough to find a fella that kicks right in like an accomplished vet.

Is it still last year's story? One injury away from a big collapse?

 

[riggo]

good god. dallas has 3 O lineman over 30? :shock:

 

[TruBlueCowboy]

good god. dallas has 3 O lineman over 30? :shock:

The key there is over 30 and recovering from significant injuries.

 

[superpunk]

Yeah, the age is no worry, but the injuries to Flo and Rivera are....hopefully they're recovered.

 

[lgarcia792002]

i dont know nothing?? this is interisting is all i can say please get some linmen in hear gosh its gonna be scarry with no linmen men all are weapons will be broke and out of order

 

[ravidubey]

I worry, but I firmly believe we will end up better than last season simply should Adams and Fabini stay healthy all year. Pettiti and Johnson will be better players, and I can't help thinking Rivera will also be better.

But we lose serious power in dumping Larry Allen. I think we became a finesse team overnight this past Tuesday. Kosier will be solid enough, and is there any hope at all for Stephen Peterman? LG and center really bother me.

 

[TruBlueCowboy]

Hoping to hear from some of you folks who are voting no. You think this line will stay healthy all year? You think some of the younger players will get better? You think we're in a good position for some draft steals? What's with the optimism after watching a line fall apart last year?

 

[Chuck 54]

I don't really like either of your choices....the OL is going to be far superior to last season's line....not a ProBowl, top of the league line, but so much better than last year's line it's not funny.

I have no idea what the hell you guys want or expect....it's not like dropping a QB and signing one. A crappy OL cannot replace 5 crappy guys with 5 probowlers in one offseason.

I'm very very happy with what we've done, though I expect at least 1 draft selection on the OL and more next year.

 

[cbfan55]

You gotta have faith!!

 

[TruBlueCowboy]

I don't really like either of your choices....the OL is going to be far superior to last season's line....not a ProBowl, top of the league line, but so much better than last year's line it's not funny.

I have no idea what the hell you guys want or expect....it's not like dropping a QB and signing one. A crappy OL cannot replace 5 crappy guys with 5 probowlers in one offseason.

I'm very very happy with what we've done, though I expect at least 1 draft selection on the OL and more next year.

Ya know, you may have a point. Maybe I've set expectations too high after watching that great 90's offensive line. IMO, it was the best offensive line in the history of the NFL. I gotz Troy Aikman to back me up on that. We all know how fair and balanced #8 is when it comes to the Cowboys. But even Aikman admitted that he might have had the best line in the history of the game protecting him. I miss watching Larry Allen and Erik Williams destroy defensive lineman.

 

[lspain1]

Regardless of what we do in the draft, this line will be worrisome. If TruBlu's negative assessments about our talent are correct it will be another bad year. We are undergoing a serious makeover with personnel changes at 3 positions likely. Ooffensive lines get better when they play together and this group will need time to gel. Put me on the worried list.

 

[Skip]

Why should I worry? BP has the job to take care of personnel and I think he is more involved and knowledgeable that anyone on this board. Even the ones here that think they know it all, LOL!

Was I happy with the OL last year? NO, but there are more things to consider than just what we saw last year to be able to determine how good the OL will be this year.

Do I have confidence in BP's ability? Yes I do!

 

[Concord]

It's ok...but I would have felt better with Allen over Kosier and Fabini is obviously a upgrade over Petitti.

 

[InDakWeTrust]

Regardless of what we do in the draft, this line will be worrisome. If TruBlu's negative assessments about our talent are correct it will be another bad year. We are undergoing a serious makeover with personnel changes at 3 positions likely. Ooffensive lines get better when they play together and this group will need time to gel. Put me on the worried list.

I still this this offensive line will be better than what we expect after the draft. In FA we have sown up our biggest needs (WR, LB and hopefully K today) with FS, Oline and depth more than likely to be drafted come April.

I wouldnt be suprised if we draft 2 or more Olineman with at least 1 on the first day. FS will come the first day even if we sign a guy like MC. This team would be competitive if the season would start today and would contend for the SB after the draft.

 

[JJB500]

I miss Erik Williams, Nate Newton, Mark Tuineu, Mark Stepnoski and now Larry Allen too!!!! I used to love watching Big E kick Reggie White's and Michael Strahan's *****. It's kind of scary now, but they can't be worse than last year can they?

 

[wileedog]

Hoping to hear from some of you folks who are voting no. You think this line will stay healthy all year? You think some of the younger players will get better? You think we're in a good position for some draft steals? What's with the optimism after watching a line fall apart last year?

I think the line will be better simply because its more attuned to one game plan .

Last year we tried the mauling one-on-one scheme. The left side could do it, the right side couldn't. So we tried the pulling/trapping plan. The right side was ok, the left side was horrible at it.

With the release of Allen and the insertion of a much more athletic Kosier we can have one style and stick to it. We can more capably run screens and draws, where JJ excells. Quick DT's like Sapp won't be blowing past Larry anymore.

If Adams and Fabini are healthy, that combo might not be the starting combo in the Pro Bowl or even close to it, but they are light years ahead of Rookie Pettiti and Tucker, who probably closed out the season as the worst pair of tackles in the league.

Lastly, there is TO, who will cut down the blitzing on us immensely, even the run blitzing which was killing us.

My biggest concerns are health, obviously, and Center. Al Johnson has the talent to be a good center - even Ron Wolf immediately pointed him out in his first TC as someone who was going to be 'special'. Gurode has never come close to the guy he was in college. One of those is going to have to step up, however if Rivera returns to form and Kosier holds up then the center play should improve as well.

As wayne said, I'm not doing cartwheels about our O-line, but I'm not panicking either. Plus there is still the draft to go, where I expect an OLman on the first day.

And personally I see cutting Larry out of the equation as a positive.

 

[lspain1]

I still this this offensive line will be better than what we expect after the draft. In FA we have sown up our biggest needs (WR, LB and hopefully K today) with FS, Oline and depth more than likely to be drafted come April.

I wouldnt be suprised if we draft 2 or more Olineman with at least 1 on the first day. FS will come the first day even if we sign a guy like MC. This team would be competitive if the season would start today and would contend for the SB after the draft.

Greetings to a fellow resident of Florida! I agree we are going to draft OL on the first day. But that still leaves a whole lot of new faces on this line. The number of older faces also brings up questions of athleticism and quickness that dogged LA recently. Our running game seems more structured to attack the edges more than up the middle (reduced FB role) and quickness is necessary to succeed at that.

I'm not trying to be a pessimist, so I hope it all comes together well. I want to see leadership emerge in this group as well. I didn't see any last year. I will stay on the worried list until we see some running game improvement next season.

 

[Kittymama]

Let me again point out that the teams with good OLs (Seattle, KC, Denver) have taken many years to build them--I believe 5 or more for each team to build those O-lines, & they got those lines thru the draft plus filling in with FAs. It's gonna take time here too, like it or not. We've got a lot of young guys who are learning, & we're filling in with FAs or keeping aging vets.

 

[Champsheart]

I am extremely worried about the Center position. I know a lot here are putting their faith in Johnson and Gurode, but I really have my doubts.

 

[K-DOGG]

I am concerned about the OL but sacred to death is a bit much in my opinion. I would have been scared to death if the BOYS came back with the same crappy OL in 2006! Change is goood for this OL. With Allen gone, Pettite as a back up and the return of F. Adams and the addition of Kosier, Fabini and whoever the Boys draft, we will have some options at least. That all I could ask for for now!