Cowboys' offensive line is NFL's best bargain, key to offensive success

Cowboysrock55

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Cowboys' offensive line is NFL's best bargain, key to offensive success
play
Darren Woodson and Herm Edwards believe the Cowboys will continue their hot streak and defeat the winless Browns on Sunday. (0:38)
10:30 AM CT
Jean-Jacques Taylor
ESPN Staff Writer

FRISCO, Texas -- For the first time since current head coach Jason Garrett was named offensive coordinator in 2007, the Dallas Cowboys have gained more than 400 yards of total offense in five consecutive games.

In 2014, the Cowboys gained more than 400 yards in four consecutive games with quarterback Tony Romo, running back DeMarco Murray and receiver Dez Bryant leading the offense.

The coach and the playcaller, Scott Linehan, remain the same. The quarterback and running back have changed, and Bryant has missed four games this season with a hairline fracture in his knee.

The one constant? Football’s best offensive line.

It’s not even debatable these days. Ask any NFL scout or general manager if they’d be surprised if left tackle Tyron Smith, center Travis Frederick or right guard Zack Martin are named to the All-Pro team.

Right tackle Doug Free is solid and left guard Ronald Leary, a free agent at the end of the season, is playing the best football of his career.

Garrett's greatest accomplishment thus far as a head coach is persuading owner Jerry Jones to spend three first-round picks on offensive linemen in four years. Jones had never used a first-round pick on a lineman since buying the team in 1989.

These linemen are the reason rookie QB Dak Prescott has passed for 253.3 yards per game with nine touchdowns and two interceptions. They’re the reason rookie RB Ezekiel Elliott has rushed for a league-leading 799 yards, 114.1 per game, and is on pace to break Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson’s rookie rushing record of 1,805 yards set in 1983.

This O-line is also the NFL’s best bargain.


The Cowboys are getting top-quality beef on the offensive line for a lean price. Andrew Dieb/Icon Sportwire
Jones is paying his offensive line $21.4 million this season, which ranks 21st in the NFL. Oakland is paying its O-line a league-high $37.9 million.

Philadelphia ($33.1 million), Minnesota ($32.4 million) and Houston ($31.3 million) are the only other teams spending more than $30 million on the offensive line.

The Cowboys' number will increase considerably over the next couple of seasons, when Frederick’s contact extension kicks in (2017) and Martin gets an extension that will probably start in 2018.

Then again, when Free and Leary come off the books, they’ll likely be replaced by tackle Chaz Green and guard La'el Collins, each of whom is due to earn less than a million per year for another couple of seasons until they’re eligible for free agency.

For now, though, the Cowboys are paying Smith $6.8 million and Free $4.5 million. Leary ($2.5 million), Martin ($2.4 million) and Frederick ($2.1 million) total $7 million.

While we get caught up in the Cowboys’ star power on offense, the dudes up front make it all work.

Their versatility -- they’re equally good run-blocking or pass-blocking -- is why the Cowboys are the only team in the league running more often than they throw. Dallas runs the ball 50.3 percent of the time, which keeps the ball in the hands of Elliott, their best offensive player, and limits the number of mistakes Prescott can make.

Elliott’s combination of speed and power allows the Cowboys to make big plays with their running game. He leads the NFL with 22 runs of 10 yards or more and seven runs of 20 yards or more.

Prescott is getting more comfortable in the pocket, and he’s making more big plays in the passing game.

He had a season-high five completions of more than 20 yards in the Cowboys’ 29-23 victory over Philadelphia in Week 8. Only one of those required a significant run after the catch. The balance makes the offense difficult to stop.


“We take pride in being able to run and pass,” Smith said with a grin, “but we really like focusing on our technique and running the ball and making it hard to stop us.”

Understand, the Cowboys never had more than two consecutive 400-yard games from the offense from 2007-13. And in 2010 and 2013, they never had consecutive 400-yard performances.

“Our players try to get better every day and not get caught up in what people are saying,” Linehan said, “whether they had some questions about where we were going to be sitting at this point in the season or they’re giving credit for where we are. Neither one is significant to us.”

What’s significant is the Cowboys have the NFL’s best offensive line, and that allows them to take what they want, not just what the defense gives them.
 

p1_

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do we dare not replace Free immediately? He gets beat like a drum many times.
I can't help but think he's not the 5th best lineman we have.
 

Genghis Khan

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do we dare not replace Free immediately? He gets beat like a drum many times.
I can't help but think he's not the 5th best lineman we have.
Free has been fine in my opinion. Besides, his backup isn't healthy right now.

Which brings up an interesting caveat. Green had injury problems in college if I remember correctly. And in less than 2 years a lot of injury problems in the pros.

Some people have suggested we move on from Free to Green since Green has played well. But I'm not convinced we'll ever be able to count on the guy's health.
 

Plan9Misfit

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Free has been fine in my opinion. Besides, his backup isn't healthy right now.

Which brings up an interesting caveat. Green had injury problems in college if I remember correctly. And in less than 2 years a lot of injury problems in the pros.

Some people have suggested we move on from Free to Green since Green has played well. But I'm not convinced we'll ever be able to count on the guy's health.
You are correct about Green at UF. He was always hurt. That's why he fell in the draft. Teams feared that he'd continue missing time on the field.
 

Cowboysrock55

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You are correct about Green at UF. He was always hurt. That's why he fell in the draft. Teams feared that he'd continue missing time on the field.
Which oddly enough an injury prone swing tackle isn't as big of a deal because you should only need a guy for a game or two at a time anyway. But if you want to move him into that starting role that would be my biggest remaining concern. Regardless the Cowboys probably need to keep drafting middle round O-lineman just to keep this unit as dominant as they are.
 

Donpingon

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Which oddly enough an injury prone swing tackle isn't as big of a deal because you should only need a guy for a game or two at a time anyway. But if you want to move him into that starting role that would be my biggest remaining concern. Regardless the Cowboys probably need to keep drafting middle round O-lineman just to keep this unit as dominant as they are.
I agree, keep your Martin, Smith, Frederick core together and interchange as needed
 

Plan9Misfit

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Which oddly enough an injury prone swing tackle isn't as big of a deal because you should only need a guy for a game or two at a time anyway. But if you want to move him into that starting role that would be my biggest remaining concern. Regardless the Cowboys probably need to keep drafting middle round O-lineman just to keep this unit as dominant as they are.
I wholeheartedly agree.
 

data

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Per the article, Garrett's responsible for persuading Jerruh to draft three 1st round OL?
 

Genghis Khan

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Per the article, Garrett's responsible for persuading Jerruh to draft three 1st round OL?
That is what it says.

Personally, I think it was more McClay and Stephen Jones.
 

Smitty

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That is what it says.

Personally, I think it was more McClay and Stephen Jones.
Whatever group came up with it you can be sure Garrett was a big part of.

Unless you are just looking to deprive him of any credit for anything positive. If nothing else that has CLEARLY been one of his biggest positives to being here, he has stressed OL acquisition.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Whatever group came up with it you can be sure Garrett was a big part of.

Unless you are just looking to deprive him of any credit for anything positive. If nothing else that has CLEARLY been one of his biggest positives to being here, he has stressed OL acquisition.
To me the philosophy was brilliant but even more so then that it was the scouting. NFL teams try and miss on Olineman all the time. To just nail player after player in the first round with a probowl Olineman is what matters.
 

boozeman

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Whatever group came up with it you can be sure Garrett was a big part of.
Of course he was.

He signed off on the Phil Costa experiment. And he wanted Tyler Eifert instead of Frederick.

Yep, he totally was a big part of it.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Of course he was.

He signed off on the Phil Costa experiment. And he wanted Tyler Eifert instead of Frederick.

Yep, he totally was a big part of it.
Escobar got a TD, were you not entertained!!!!
 

junk

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I'm glad it worked out but it makes me laugh that people think building a great OL (and running game) was some master plan of Garrett's.

I'll give him Smith and all the credit due there

Frederick- he was perplexed and pissed at that turn of events. It was obvious on the war room cam he didn't know what was going on

Martin has been documented as being something like choice #4 or 5 for the team. So they weren't even targeting him. They even tried to trade back

If it was a plan, why didn't he draft any OL in 2012?
 

Smitty

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Well after that idiotic trade up for Claiborne that Jerry engineered we were left without a second round pick, and there were no OLs of note selected after that point.

If it wasn't part of a concerted effort on his part why were three of his first four First round draft picks OL after 20 years without one? Oh right it was Stephen who had already been there too.

I'm not saying it was some "master plan" like he had foresight that if we could just get three first round linemen, it would turn into this unstoppable offense we are seeing now.... but gimme a fucking break... he clearly was part of whatever shift in thinking occurred to steer them towards targeting these players whereas previously they were ignored. Has nothing to do with how much he talked about how they needed a good line again, I guess. :lol
 

junk

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I've already shown that, of those three, he really only planned 1.

If he gets credit for the line, why is Claiborne on Jerry?

2013 was an OL rich draft and he ignored it after 1. Only after all their plans fell through did he address it in 2014
 

Smitty

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I'm not getting what you think you've shown. He ignored it "after one" in 2013? So what?

I think you are maybe missing the point. Not saying he was like "Priority #1 is getting a dominant OL so we can be a throwback 90s running team reminiscent of Emmitt Smith." If that was the case yes you'd probably expect more than one first round pick a year, you'd probably expect immediate free agent signings, etc (though setting aside that he's not actually the GM).

I'm saying he clearly put focus back on the position. When would we have ever focused on a tackle in the top 10? A center in the first after a trade down? A guard over a QB?

Those things are part of the conversation again in part due to him, whereas they never were on the table before. You say Stephen Jones... why wasn't Stephen exerting that influence before? It just magically coincided with Garrett becoming head coach? Maybe it was Linehan... oh wait, Garrett picked him and brought him in.

Just saying it's impossible to look at the divide and ignore that it was part of his focus. To say otherwise is foolish. It can be part of his philosophy to put the linemen higher on the draft board while still wanting Eifert over Frederick. If that's even the case which I'm not sure how much that is fan speculation and has never been really verified by a party to the incident.
 

junk

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I guess that is what I am trying to say. I don't think it was a priority or a master plan of Garrett's to rebuild this dominant running attack via a superior offensive line through high round draft picks. Like I said earlier, they wouldn't even have drafted 2 of those players had things fallen the way the team and/or Garrett wanted.

I get the feel, from reading some of these articles and posts around that web, that people want to give him credit for that, but if it was a priority, he wouldn't have done it over a period of four years. I think he would have focused on more draft picks and free agent signings earlier. The pieces were in place in 2013 to be effective in the running game, but it wasn't until Callahan took over playcalling in 2014 (coupled with a fragile Romo back) that they focused on the run game.

Could he have influenced the ranking of OL higher on the draft board than years past? Sure and that would be good if he did. However, I think we've seen that this team is stronger offensively, the further Garrett is distanced from it. I don't sense he ever had a strong desire for a focus on the run game or building a strong offensive line.
 

hstour

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I guess that is what I am trying to say. I don't think it was a priority or a master plan of Garrett's to rebuild this dominant running attack via a superior offensive line through high round draft picks. Like I said earlier, they wouldn't even have drafted 2 of those players had things fallen the way the team and/or Garrett wanted.

I get the feel, from reading some of these articles and posts around that web, that people want to give him credit for that, but if it was a priority, he wouldn't have done it over a period of four years. I think he would have focused on more draft picks and free agent signings earlier. The pieces were in place in 2013 to be effective in the running game, but it wasn't until Callahan took over playcalling in 2014 (coupled with a fragile Romo back) that they focused on the run game.

Could he have influenced the ranking of OL higher on the draft board than years past? Sure and that would be good if he did. However, I think we've seen that this team is stronger offensively, the further Garrett is distanced from it. I don't sense he ever had a strong desire for a focus on the run game or building a strong offensive line.
You can't really go into an offseason with blinders on and focus on only one area of your team. Besides by spreading it out over years, it becomes more sustainable because they all don't come up for contract renewals in the same year.
 
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