The Offensive Line

[Blue&Silver]

They played an outstanding game against the Eagles.

 

[xwalker]

Leary had the least number of negative plays in the Commanders game. He only had two "bad" plays. On one he was tripped by the man that Frederick was blocking. On the other, he started losing his block after Romo held the ball for 4 seconds.

He has exceeded expectation of a 2nd year UDFA that had zero snaps in real NFL games prior to this season.

 

[Risen Star]

Leary had the least number of negative plays in the Commanders game. He only had two "bad" plays. On one he was tripped by the man that Frederick was blocking. On the other, he started losing his block after Romo held the ball for 4 seconds.

He has exceeded expectation of a 2nd year UDFA that had zero snaps in real NFL games prior to this season.

He has. The problem is he's a snap to snap player. You just have no idea when his knee will shut him down.

 

[casmith07]

Callahan has shown me more of an improvement with the O-Line than Garrett has shown with me in his entire time here with the offense. I'm not happy with the play calling out there, but Garrett needs to reign that in as well. In essence, I think we would be firing the wrong guy.





YR

Frank Pollack probably had more to do with the line play this year than Callahan did, particularly with Callahan in the booth.

 

[Risen Star]

I don't think coaching had anything to do with the improved OL play this year. This is just what happens when you have better players and especially not have a giant void at C.

 

[xwalker]

He has. The problem is he's a snap to snap player. You just have no idea when his knee will shut him down.

Yes, they have zero depth at Guard. They were 1 injury away from Phil Costa starting.

Jonathan Vilma was diagnosed with the same condition that Leary has in his knee (OCD) in high school. He went on to play in college and 9 or 10 years in the NFL without a problem.

 

[Crown Royal]

I don't think coaching had anything to do with the improved OL play this year. This is just what happens when you have better players and especially not have a giant void at C.

Eh, I give it some credit. We were FAR better at picking up the interior blitz than we have been in many seasons. That is usually a matter of understanding assignments as much as it is physical ability.

No doubt Frederick did a ton to shore up the OL, Free is playing far better and the guard position improved throroughly. But I have to give some credit to the improvements on the mental aspects to the coaches. How much that is would be fan speculation.

 

[xwalker]

I don't think coaching had anything to do with the improved OL play this year. This is just what happens when you have better players and especially not have a giant void at C.

They made scheme changes to make Free a better player. They also got him to make technique changes.

 

[Risen Star]

They made scheme changes to make Free a better player. They also got him to make technique changes.

Now there I agree. But I also think having Frederick in the middle allowed them to do that. They couldn't do that with Phil Costa on the field.

I think people are underestimating the impact of a quality C. When you go from a guy who shouldn't play in the league to someone who will be a factor in the pro bowl voting, that's a pretty significant upgrade.

 

[xwalker]

Now there I agree. But I also think having Frederick in the middle allowed them to do that. They couldn't do that with Phil Costa on the field.

I think people are underestimating the impact of a quality C. When you go from a guy who shouldn't play in the league to someone who will be a factor in the pro bowl voting, that's a pretty significant upgrade.

Agree.

It increased the degree of difficulty for all of the interior players. They basically had Bernadeau cheat to the right to compensate for Free and allow Free to over-set to the outside. They had Fred favor the right side to compensate for Bernadeau compensating for Free. This caused Leary to be on a island on many plays almost like an OT. If you saw Leary get beat, there is a good chance that it wouldn't have happened if they were not compensating for Free.

They also schemed the running game around Free's weaknesses. Free can only function as a wall-off blocker and can't power block. They were able to utilize the zone stretch to allow him to only have to be a wall-off blocker in the running game.

 

[Crown Royal]

Now there I agree. But I also think having Frederick in the middle allowed them to do that. They couldn't do that with Phil Costa on the field.

I think people are underestimating the impact of a quality C. When you go from a guy who shouldn't play in the league to someone who will be a factor in the pro bowl voting, that's a pretty significant upgrade.

I don't remember your opinion at the time. Would you have preferred they had gone with Sharif Floyd this year (retrospectively)? Let's say Floyd improves to a quality starter for argument's sake.

I have trouble with that. Center has really, really improved the OL, but our offense is the same lol wat when it comes to execution and effectiveness. Less turnovers I guess.

A player on defense might have actually forced a punt against Denver, Detroit, NOLA, Chicago.

I'm glad to have a Center and a WR of the future so I won't rue the choice, but there is SO MUCH work to do on defense now.

 

[Risen Star]

Agree.

It increased the degree of difficulty for all of the interior players. They basically had Bernadeau cheat to the right to compensate for Free and allow Free to over-set to the outside. They had Fred favor the right side to compensate for Bernadeau compensating for Free. This caused Leary to be on a island on many plays almost like an OT. If you saw Leary get beat, there is a good chance that it wouldn't have happened if they were not compensating for Free.

They also schemed the running game around Free's weaknesses. Free can only function as a wall-off blocker and can't power block. They were able to utilize the zone stretch to allow him to only have to be a wall-off blocker in the running game.

Good work. I think you got a great grasp on our OL, why it's improved, and why the Cowboys should seriously consider an upgrade at RT if it's there for them in the spring.

 

[Crown Royal]

I thought a saw a ton of combo blocking with frederick and leary at the beginning of the year. That was probably the Brian Waters factor though.

 

[Risen Star]

I don't remember your opinion at the time. Would you have preferred they had gone with Sharif Floyd this year (retrospectively)? Let's say Floyd improves to a quality starter for argument's sake.

I have trouble with that. Center has really, really improved the OL, but our offense is the same lol wat when it comes to execution and effectiveness. Less turnovers I guess.

A player on defense might have actually forced a punt against Denver, Detroit, NOLA, Chicago.

I'm glad to have a Center and a WR of the future so I won't rue the choice, but there is SO MUCH work to do on defense now.

Yeah, I would have taken Floyd when he dropped so far but I also loved Frederick. I didn't have him as the huge reach others did. I thought he was worthy of being a high 2nd round pick, so late in the 1st wasn't all that unreasonable to me.

I'm not complaining about the trade down. We actually made a good one there.

 

[Crown Royal]

Yeah, I would have taken Floyd when he dropped so far but I also loved Frederick. I didn't have him as the huge reach others did. I thought he was worthy of being a high 2nd round pick, so late in the 1st wasn't all that unreasonable to me.

I'm not complaining about the trade down. We actually made a good one there.

People over rate "value" picks a little. Getting a ton of "steals" in the draft is great and contributes to winning. You look like a genius which is what people want. But if you can take a player in the first, get a 10 year starter who is very good, there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with that pick. I don't care if the player was rated for the 5th round.

 

[xwalker]

Good work. I think you got a great grasp on our OL, why it's improved, and why the Cowboys should seriously consider an upgrade at RT if it's there for them in the spring.

They need to give Parnell a chance to beat out Free. Parnell is physically superior to Free. I'm convinced that after a few starts Parnell would be much better than Free; however, you might have to live with a few mistakes for a few games. Unfortunately, he missed almost all of the preseason and training camp. I think he only played in the preseason game against the Bengals and he was visibly limping then. There were reports that the OL coaches preferred Parnell but that "management" wanted to stay with the veteran Free. I'm not sure if management is Garrett or Jerry.

 

[BigStar]

Continuity, my rear end. We had better players this year. Tyron became elite. Leary was better than Livings. Waters was better than Bernadeau and when Bernadeau had to play down the stretch he was better than last year.

But the most important change was at C. The Cowboys no longer lined up a make a wish kid in front of Romo. That Phil Costa guy that a lot of this fan base tried to defend. He can't play in this league. He's a bum. Travis Frederick arrived and made everybody instantly better.

Same thing happened when Gurode was finally able to find his groove @ Center under Parcells and the good line that resulted in 2007. Though Parcells was also guilty of shuffling; Al Johnson stubborness. Good point on the importance of Center stabilizing the line.

 

[xwalker]

Same thing happened when Gurode was finally able to find his groove @ Center under Parcells and the good line that resulted in 2007. Though Parcells was also guilty of shuffling; Al Johnson stubborness. Good point on the importance of Center stabilizing the line.

Center is a really difficult position to fill. A quality Center is rarely if ever available in free agency. There are usually quality free agents at any position each year with the exception of QB and Center.

 

[Zimmy Lives]

From an ability standpoint, Leary has it. Once he has his hands on you, usually that's it. I haven't read that about practice but it makes sense - usually his hang up is on either technique or assignment. That comes from practicing.

Completely agree. Smith has become a very good LT with quality coaching; he is athletically talented and now has sound technique. Leary has talent as well and hopefully can be coached up from the technique standpoint.

 

[burmafrd]

the pollyanna's here bleated about continuity; what worked was having better players. You can have all the continuity in the world but when you have Costa and Livings and Bernie as the center of your line it does not matter squat.

Bernie got better but he is not trustworthy to continue; same with Free frankly. BUT I could see keeping bernie around even if we get Waters back. Parnell- I am torn about him. Physically he is superior to Free but does he have it upstairs?

Leary is a problem in that due to his knees he cannot practice as much as he needs to. Sadly I like the fight in him but we need a Guard with healthy legs.