Machota: Cowboys positional review - Expectations and concerns for Dallas’ offensive line

Cotton

One-armed Knife Sharpener
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By Jon Machota Mar 13, 2020

With NFL free agency still expected to begin next week and the draft quickly approaching, we’re taking a look at the Cowboys roster to see where it has depth and where it will need help in the near future.

Part 5 of this 9-part series focuses on the offensive line.

How the offensive line performed in 2019:

The best news for the group was that Pro Bowl center Travis Frederick returned from his battle with Guillain-Barre syndrome to start every game and play 1,211 snaps, sixth-most by all NFL offensive linemen, according to Football Outsiders. Frederick’s 1,124 offensive snaps were the most for a Cowboys lineman last year, representing 99.6 percent of the team’s total.

Six-time Pro Bowl right guard Zack Martin was next on the team in total snaps with 1,191, which was 11th-most in the league. Right tackle La’el Collins was 53rd at 1,083 snaps, followed by left tackle Tyron Smith, who was 92nd at 955.

Smith was named to his seventh consecutive Pro Bowl, but 2019 marked the fourth consecutive season he missed three games because of injury.

Smith led all Cowboys offensive linemen with seven penalties (five holdings, one false start, one tripping), according to NFLPenalties.com. Left guard Connor Williams was second with five, followed by Collins (three), Martin (two) and Frederick (one).

Although seven in 13 games might seem like a lot for Smith, it was actually his lowest total since 2016 and tied for third-lowest in his career. Smith had 10 last season and eight in 2017.

The bar has been set high for this group because of the quality play and significant investments — three first-round picks, one second-round pick and two third-round picks — since 2011, as well as a great deal of money. The group continued to be one of the better units in the league last year with the return of Frederick and Collins’ best season as a pro. Dak Prescott went from being sacked an NFC-leading 56 times in 2018 to only 23 last season, second-lowest in the NFL behind the Rams (22).

Pro Bowl running back Ezekiel Elliott didn’t have the same explosiveness in the running game that we’ve seen in previous seasons, but the group totaled 134.6 yards per game on the ground, fifth-best in the NFL. To compare, Dallas averaged 122.7 rushing yards per game in 2018, 135.6 in 2017, 149.8 in 2016, 118.1 in 2015 and 147.1 in 2014.

The future:

Major changes aren’t expected with veteran coach Joe Philbin taking over as the team’s new offensive line coach. He is Dallas’ sixth O-line coach in the last decade.

“I think you can’t just do one thing in this league,” new Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said in January when asked about Dallas’ blocking scheme going forward. “I think that’s been proven over and over again. Obviously we have an exceptional offensive line, but the run and the normal down and distance runs and the action game need to fit together. That will be a focus, but the starting point will be the zone run. Everybody runs it, and we’ll run it as well as anybody. But pattern schemes, gap schemes, how it’s been communicated here in the past, that will definitely be part of what we do.”

Age is becoming a concern for this group. Smith and Martin are 29. Frederick turns 29 next week. Collins will be 27 this season. It’s clear that the time is now to capitalize on this group of offensive linemen.

Just because a team invests valuable picks in a position doesn’t guarantee that will lead to NFL success. The Cowboys have found four. The fifth spot, left guard, should come down to a training camp and preseason battle between Williams and Connor McGovern, former second- and third-round picks.

Health will likely determine if this remains one of the league’s better units for the next few years.

Smith is under contract through 2023, but there is a potential out after this upcoming season. He’s scheduled to count as a $13.5 million cap hit in 2020, $12.2 million in 2021, $13.5 million in 2022 and $13.6 million in 2023. He remains the biggest injury concern of the group, having dealt with back issues throughout the last four seasons. He remains one of the league’s better left tackles when healthy.

Frederick is also under contract through 2023. He remains one of the NFL’s top centers, though he looked understandably less dominant than usual after returning from his bout with Guillain-Barre. Martin and Collins are both under contract through 2024. They were both among the best at their respective positions last season.

Williams is under contract for two more seasons through his rookie deal, and McGovern is under contract for three more. There’s a decent chance one of these players emerges as a reliable starter while the other should provide quality depth.

How things could change this offseason:

Speaking of depth, the Cowboys have a team option for the upcoming season on backup tackle Cameron Fleming’s contract. He’s expected to return. Fleming, 27, has been a valuable piece, starting six games over the last two seasons when Smith has been out.

Backup center Joe Looney is an unrestricted free agent. It would make sense to re-sign him. He shouldn’t cost much, and he provides great depth, being able to play all three interior line positions. Looney did a solid job filling in for Frederick throughout the 2018 season.

The Cowboys have too many holes on defense to be making major investments in the offensive line via free agency or the draft. This unit should be almost the same as last year, and that should be good enough for Dallas to again field one of the NFL’s top offenses.
 

p1_

DCC 4Life
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the Saints and Vikes destroyed them
and yet the 23 sacks allowed was second only to the Rams, and the best protection of Dak's career. Oh, and it was good enough for 3rd highest rushing average. Including 2 bad games.
 

boozeman

28 Years And Counting...
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The only concern I have on the OL is getting LG settled.

But they better exercise some restraint in this draft. This is not a particularly strong OL draft.
 

Cowboysrock55

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The only concern I have on the OL is getting LG settled.

But they better exercise some restraint in this draft. This is not a particularly strong OL draft.
You drafted a guy you had a second round grade on last year.
 
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