The future of Conner Williams

[Chuck 54]

Williams will be the starting LG....get used to it. Fans like to pick on Williams for his rookie year. He did the work, changed his body, and was playing very well. McGovern won’t beat him out.

I anticipate Smith - Williams - Biadasz - Martin - Collins
McGovern will be the backup guard.
Looney will backup Center.
Swing tackle to be determined...could be Williams, but hopefully one of the youngsters or a late vet signing.

 

[RS12]

With the issues this team has had with 2nd round picks for the better part of a decade, I am willing to give him all the time he needs to become productive somewhere, anywhere it doesn't matter. Just give us something useful while you are here.

 

[DuncanIso]

Are you aware he blew out his knee last season?

There is some #Conwill hate in this thread.

 

[DuncanIso]

I’m just glad to get a new set of eyes on all of it. Was so tired of JG and his crappy coaches evaluations.

Joe Philbin is the OL coach.

Not exactly the A team. MM and Joe are big buddies. Thats why he talked Jerry into firing Colombo, even though he did an excellent job fixing the 2018 mess at OL.

pray he doesn’t screw things up.

 

[DuncanIso]

KMoore is the boss of the OL coach.

look for backstabbing from Philbin. He was OC at GB and big buddies with MM.

there’s gonna be tension. You know Philbin wants the OC job.

he’s coached the OL full time like 3 years out Of the last 15.

 

[DuncanIso]

Is KMoore really going to let Philbin install some jacked up blocking scheme??

or stay will MColombos old scheme?


We had the number one offense last season.

how far is that slide if Philbin installs some wacked scheme from GB, that never had a back like Zeke?

this is going to interesting to watch in camp this summer.

 

[Eastex]

Assuming new draftee centerTyler Bad Azzz will be a very near future starting center for us, and McGovern returning from IR, to battle for starting LG role vs the other Conner,..Williams, i tend to wonder how that LG battle will actually turn out, and what will be the future of how Williams will make his
impact here - as a continuing starting LG or . a key back swing OT.

- Note how the Cowboys have not invested in a developmental OT in the NFL draft, nor sign up a
seasoned vet in the FA period.
That gives me the notion that the backup OT will come down to Williams or Brandon Knight.
(and please..no Mitch Hyatt... ugh ! )

- i've seen some here already giving McGovern the starting nod, but i'm not so fast with that. i believe that's something McGovern has to 'earn' . Prove he is ready to be inserted into the starting lineup, and deserving of it. Don't just hand it to him by default.

- Just what if Williams proves to be the better player in camp to remain the LG ?

-Having his past ability to play LT well as Williams did in college at UT, as well as having Mac as a reserve could allow us to swing Williams out as a sub-back up to Tyron Smith "when" he gets injured
and out again.
and while Williams subs for the backup LT role, we could insert the Mac in as a sub LG.
Given his skill set, and draft status, Mac should be able to handle the interior backup OG role.

- i know a lot of people are down on Williams, but we need to keep him on as long as possible as
we never know if/when Tyrone may surprisingly pull a Travis Fredrick and suddenly retire.
Should that ever happen, it would immediately open up the possibilities of Williams as the heir apparent.

I agree with your comments quickcc. Williams had some issues his rookie year but showed a lot of growth last year and played with injuries. I think LG is his to lose. Nothing against McGovern but we haven't even seen him play in the NFL due to training camp injury.

 

[charron]

I think you could then let Williams focus exclusively at tackle.

Don't want to Chaz green him though. They need to figure it out before they ruin him.

 

[Stash]

Don't want to Chaz green him though. They need to figure it out before they ruin him.

One thing that Conner Williams will NEVER be is Chaz Green.

 

[cern]

Let the players complete. Start the best among them.

 

[buybuydandavis]

(and please..no Mitch Hyatt... ugh ! )

- Just what if Williams proves to be the better player in camp to remain the LG ?

-Having his past ability to play LT well as Williams did in college at UT, as well as having Mac as a reserve could allow us to swing Williams out as a sub-back up to Tyron Smith "when" he gets injured
and out again.
and while Williams subs for the backup LT role, we could insert the Mac in as a sub LG.
Given his skill set, and draft status, Mac should be able to handle the interior backup OG role.

It's a viable option to start Williams at LG, but have him train as the backup LT as well. He probably is a better pass blocker than McGovern. He might even like the opportunity, hoping to get some time at LT for his impending free agency.

Williams at LG
McGovern as G2, C3, Williams as LT2, Knight as RT2, Looney as C2

It's always tricky, though, to be counting on moving a starter to another position, as playing they're more likely to get injured than backups. Williams getting injured would wipeout our LG and LT2.

Another possibility is Williams and McGovern splitting time. I don't know why this is such a taboo. Worked well for us with Free and Parnell. Still, not ideal.

I wouldn't write off Hyatt. He's a guy who could play but wasn't NFL strength ready. I'm sure he's gotten stronger in the last year.

We're light at T with Williams at LG. But he really may be our best option at LG, particularly with us going 3WR in our base and passing more. Having Knight and Hyatt step up would let the LG competition be pure.

 

[Walker]

I still see him as a good quality player. It will be interesting to see his growth in the next few seasons and see where he lands.

 

[fansince68]

Assuming new draftee centerTyler Bad Azzz will be a very near future starting center for us, and McGovern returning from IR, to battle for starting LG role vs the other Conner,..Williams, i tend to wonder how that LG battle will actually turn out, and what will be the future of how Williams will make his
impact here - as a continuing starting LG or . a key back swing OT.

- Note how the Cowboys have not invested in a developmental OT in the NFL draft, nor sign up a
seasoned vet in the FA period.
That gives me the notion that the backup OT will come down to Williams or Brandon Knight.
(and please..no Mitch Hyatt... ugh ! )

- i've seen some here already giving McGovern the starting nod, but i'm not so fast with that. i believe that's something McGovern has to 'earn' . Prove he is ready to be inserted into the starting lineup, and deserving of it. Don't just hand it to him by default.

- Just what if Williams proves to be the better player in camp to remain the LG ?

-Having his past ability to play LT well as Williams did in college at UT, as well as having Mac as a reserve could allow us to swing Williams out as a sub-back up to Tyron Smith "when" he gets injured
and out again.
and while Williams subs for the backup LT role, we could insert the Mac in as a sub LG.
Given his skill set, and draft status, Mac should be able to handle the interior backup OG role.

- i know a lot of people are down on Williams, but we need to keep him on as long as possible as
we never know if/when Tyrone may surprisingly pull a Travis Fredrick and suddenly retire.
Should that ever happen, it would immediately open up the possibilities of Williams as the heir apparent.

We should be grooming Connor William's to take over for Tyron in the future. When games are out of hand, let Williams play LT to give him exposure .

 

[speedkilz88]

CW has been much better than most fans believe.

He is returning from major knee injury which might complicate things a bit.

The situation at backup OT is a huge concern. Brandon Knight started 1 game a RT and was OK considering that he was a rookie UDFA; however, I don't see him playing LT.

Having him practice at LT and server as the backup LT could be a way to limit his practice snaps and limit his game snaps during the season as he returns from the injury.

Team can carry an extra active OL this season with the 48 man game day roster change.

The Cowboys could have both Knight active as the backup RT and CW active as the backup LT with McGovern at LG and Biadasz/Looney as the OC and interior backup.

What determines "extra", do they have a set number of OL they must have active? I guess 7 was typical in previous seasons, so does that mean 8?

 

[jterrell]

He was repping at LT last year.
They want him to eventually end up there.
My guess is this year he is your LG with McGovern at OC.
But he could kick out to LT in a pinch and let McGovern roll into LG w/ the rookie OC.

They can shuffle these guys to get by for a week here or there like many teams have to do.

 

[xwalker]

What determines "extra", do they have a set number of OL they must have active? I guess 7 was typical in previous seasons, so does that mean 8?

Most reports indicate that 1 of the 2 extra spots in going from 46 to 48 is required to be an 8th OLineman.

Teams generally have 7 OL active but sometimes have 8 active if one or more starters are playing though a significant injury issue.

 

[xwalker]

He was repping at LT last year.
They want him to eventually end up there.
My guess is this year he is your LG with McGovern at OC.
But he could kick out to LT in a pinch and let McGovern roll into LG w/ the rookie OC.

They can shuffle these guys to get by for a week here or there like many teams have to do.

Connor Williams was only at LT for non-padded practices in OTAs. He didn't practice there in training camp.

 

[big dog cowboy]

CW has been much better than most fans believe.

That is true. Swing OT this year. Long term starting LOT.

 

[xwalker]

I see Connor Williams as more of OT than a guard and have since the day Dallas drafted him. That is where he excelled at Texas and why he was drafted to the NFL. I think putting him a Guard was a mistake.

Williams will be the starting LG....get used to it. Fans like to pick on Williams for his rookie year. He did the work, changed his body, and was playing very well. McGovern won’t beat him out.

I anticipate Smith - Williams - Biadasz - Martin - Collins
McGovern will be the backup guard.
Looney will backup Center.
Swing tackle to be determined...could be Williams, but hopefully one of the youngsters or a late vet signing.

Connor Williams was playing really well in 2019. By about game 4 he was playing really well and continued to play well up until the injury.

He was also good in the playoff game with Aaron Donald most often lining up against CW. It was one of the very few career games where Donald had zero sacks and zero QB Hits.

With DVRs and the low cost of access to the coaches film it is really unfortunate that so few fans actually study the games.

Fans form extreme opinions about players often without ever reviewing the player other than watching the games in real time.

Connor Williams was better at LG in 2019 and La'el ever was when he played LG. La'el might have had some highlight blocks but he made a huge amount of mistakes.

CW was terrific in picking up and passing off pass rushers on stunts and blitzes. He was very good at making 2nd level blocks on LBs. Most run blocking in the modern era is more about precision than brute power. Being in the right position a the right time is critical and CW was very good at doing that.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

He did play Guard at Texas.

Are you sure??? I remember reading his college profile about a year ago, noticing he never played guard. All ears if I missed something.

https://texassports.com/sports/football/roster/connor-williams/7255