2 (50) - 2018 NFL Draft - Cowboys select Connor Williams, OL, Texas

p1_

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It’s the latter that is encouraging to me.

Leary was a perfect compliment to Tyron and Fred, offering power to augment the others’ finesse. Losing Leary was huge. You can’t argue with success, and the OL with Leary in 2014 and 2016 was as dominant as any OL has ever played.
I think they did a half assed job of replacing Leary. Cooper wasnt nearly as good, and it really showed when Tyron was hurt.
 

Genghis Khan

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It’s close. The 90s OL was amazing but burned out quicker. Some of them were older when they hit their stride. And of course there was the partying under Johnson and then the lack of oversight under Switzer and it all fell apart.

This OL lacks an Allen or an Erik Williams in his prime, but the other players are better, and everyone seems a little more long lasting.
I'm not so sure they lack an Allen. I think you could argue very strongly that Tyron and Martin are in that neighborhood.

Eric Williams in his prime though... I don't think we have anyone with that degree of fight in him so I agree there.
 

Genghis Khan

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I think they did a half assed job of replacing Leary. Cooper wasnt nearly as good, and it really showed when Tyron was hurt.

It's a common refrain with this team. We half-assed replacing Demarco Murray too.
 

ravidubey

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This OL lacks an Allen or an Erik Williams in his prime, but the other players are better, and everyone seems a little more long lasting.
We never had real Big E and Allen at the same time. I can only imagine how unreal that would have been.

By the time Allen got going, we had nine amazing games in 1995 with an all-timer Ray Donaldson playing center. By the time he broke his leg later that year, Newton began wearing down as well.

When Donaldson returned in 1996 (and still made the pro bowl), Newton had slowed and Big E was becoming ordinary, tieing battles with guys like Will Fuller whom he used to dominate. By 1997 the OL was mostly a joke, with Jerry holding onto Tuinei, Big E, and Newton even though they were just shells of what they’d been.
 

Cowboysrock55

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I'm not so sure they lack an Allen. I think you could argue very strongly that Tyron and Martin are in that neighborhood.

Eric Williams in his prime though... I don't think we have anyone with that degree of fight in him so I agree there.
I hold Allen in a slightly different regard. He was just such a special player. In my opinion he was the best guard of all time. So I think Tyron and Martin fall short of that but I'd say they were better than anyone else on one of those 90's teams. And they have the probowls and skins on the wall to prove it.

Throw in Frederick who is an annual probowler and we are in the ball park at least.
 

Cowboysrock55

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It’s the latter that is encouraging to me.

Leary was a perfect compliment to Tyron and Fred, offering power to augment the others’ finesse.
I wouldn't call Fred finesse. Don't get me wrong he is surprisingly good in space but he is also a 320 pound mauler. So is La'el Collins even though he is good in space as well. So I'd say we still have a nice combination of power and athleticism on the O-line.
 

ravidubey

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I wouldn't call Fred finesse. Don't get me wrong he is surprisingly good in space but he is also a 320 pound mauler. So is La'el Collins even though he is good in space as well. So I'd say we still have a nice combination of power and athleticism on the O-line.
The rest of the line is finesse enough that I round Fred down. The big g three are terrific of course, though I feel Fred and Martin double-team defenders more than they need to.
 

Cotton

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NoDak

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Pffft. Easy. I can do that.








(get out of the way and drink water while watching)
 
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