Dallas Cowboys Breakdown: Offensive Guard

By:  Bobby Shores

(This is the second part of a multi-part series breaking down the Dallas Cowboys by position, identifying areas of need and possible solutions for those needs, based on my film work and notes taken throughout the season, the first part was Offensive Tackle)

Veteran Cowboys Guard Kyle Kosier

After the 2010 season it was obvious that the Cowboys needed to upgrade the offensive line, especially the guard position, and the team tried to address it in the draft taking guards in the fourth round (David Arkin) and the seventh round (Bill Nagy), while also addressing it by retaining/signing a number of veterans to compete and provide depth in Montrae Holland, Kyle Kosier and Derrick Dockery.

The Cowboys gave their rookies every opportunity to play after they released veteran guard and constant underachiever Leonard Davis. Unfortunately, Arkin was not ready to contribute coming from a small school and Nagy won the job by default, helped by the fact that he came from Wisconsin which produces NFL offensive linemen, Penn State produces NFL linebackers, Southern Cal produces NFL quarterbacks, and Texas produces NFL "busts". Holland was eventually released due to a bad back and poor conditioning (those two conditions were directly related).

Fast forward to October 16 and Nagy is placed on injured reserve, Derrick Dockery is still nursing a sprained MCL, Kyle Kosier is already banged up and now what appeared to be a strength in the preseason became a major liability. Enter Holland, who came back after getting in shape and the entire offense immediately improved.....

One advantage the Cowboys have at the guard position is a lot of bodies, from veteran stop-gaps and young players that the fans and organization have high expectations for, to a wide range of options in the draft and free agency. In fact, the guard position may be one of the most talked about positions on the Cowboys team from now until the season starts. So what do they have right now and what options do they have heading into the 2012 season.

Montrae Holland (Free Agent) - After being cut in training camp due to conditioning and back issues, Holland was brought back to start at Guard for the Cowboys after injuries and ineffectiveness; excelling in the 10 games he started. I believe that Holland (and Tony Fiammetta) was the primary reason for the emergence of DeMarco Murray along with the overall improvement in the line play as the season went on, as he is quick off the line for a man his size and is both strong and tough. While Holland is not a long term solution at guard, he should be brought back on a short term contract to compete come training camp, dependent on his recovery from biceps surgery and his level of conditioning. If the team is unable to draft a long term option at guard, sign a big money free agent or develop one of the younger guys; than Holland should come back as a starter.

Kyle Kosier (signed through 2013) - Kosier has been the most underrated offensive lineman for the Cowboys over the past few seasons while struggling with injuries throughout his time with the team. After being hampered by a foot injury for most of the year, his season ended just before the rest of the team when he tore his MCL in the final game of the season.

Kosier's strengths are his intelligence and technique, consistently getting underneath larger/stronger defenders and using leverage to control them. While Kosier will be with the 'Boys in training camp, he is not guaranteed a roster spot. One way to improve his odds of making the team is a position change to Center, which will be addressed in the next installment of this series (yes, I am plugging my next article, hopefully it works and you will be back).

Bill Nagy (signed through 2014) - As a rookie 7th round draft pick, not many expected Nagy to see much playing time this year, while others (myself included) prayed that he would not see many snaps. On film (from my perspective) Nagy was completely unable to move anybody, ending up 2-3 steps in the backfield in pass protection and was blown up by linebackers when he tried to clear running lanes as the pulling guard (and he had a full head of steam). He also drops his hands when not engaged with a defender wasting movement and time to get them in position.

While never seeming to make mental mistakes (seems intelligent), the NFL game was to fast and strong for him this past year, after a full off season hopefully he can get stronger and learn to use his hands to leverage defenders (should learn from Kosier). Also the Center may prove to be a better fit for Nagy going forward (again this will be addressed in the next installment).

David Arkin (signed through 2014) - As a rookie 4th round pick, Arkin was inactive for all 16 games after starting off camp playing with the first team. Only notes (from the preseason obviously) I have on him are that while he was routinely overpowered he showed more hustle than all other linemen, he seems to play with a mean streak (both hustle and mean streak contributed to a late hit penalty in preseason game against Vikings) and is excellent at getting to the second level and getting his head across the defender and into position to control where his man goes.

Coming from a small school (Missouri State) where he played left tackle his senior year (3 years at right guard), transitioning to the NFL game appeared to be much harder for him, especially without an off season. I have heard recently that the team is very high on Arkin and has the same belief in him i do, that he will become an NFL starter. If Arkin can develop in the weight room, look for him to compete with the veterans for a starting spot, and to be no worse than a backup (no more practice squad).

Derrick Dockery (Free Agent) - Another aging guard who has struggled with injuries, Dockery is an experienced player who played well in his two starts and should garner a training camp spot as an insurance policy against injuries and ineffective play.

Free Agent/Draft Options

Saints Guard & UFA Carl Nicks

Carl Nicks (unrestricted free agent - Saints) - Nicks is the guard that has all the Cowboys fans talking, and for good reason. He is by far the best free agent guard (and possibly the best free agent lineman overall) and with the Saints already committing big money to their other guard Jahri Evans and having Drew Brees and Marques Colston as unrestricted free agents, it looks like Nicks will be playing in a new uniform next year.

As a 27 year old All-Pro just entering his prime, Nicks will demand/land a contract that rivals (and in all likelihood will exceed), current teammate Evans and Patriots guard Logan Mankins recent bank busting of between $8-9 million per year on a 6-7 year deal.

With no major weaknesses in his game that I can see, he will be worth it. The Cowboys have the cap room and Jerry Jones has never shied away from spending money on guards in free agency (see:  Marco Rivera, Leonard Davis, & Kyle Kosier). The wildcard in the "Carl Nicks Sweepstakes" that may help Dallas could be his connection to new offensive line coach Bill Callahan who recruited and coached him at Nebraska.

Other notable free agents:  Ben Grubbs(Ravens), Chilo Rachal(Niners), Jake Scott(Titans), Deuce Lutui(Cardinals)

Stanford Guard David DeCastro

There are a lot of mock drafts that currently have the Cowboys using their first round pick on the consensus No. 1 Guard in the draft, Stanford's David DeCastro, which is hard to argue with as DeCastro appears to be one of the safer players in the draft. Coming from Stanford's pro-style offense, DeCastro will be one of the top guards in the NFL the day he is drafted, as he displays excellent awareness/instincts and is very good whether he is blocking in traffic or space. He displays lots of hustle, always blocking to the whistle.

The other viable draft option is to take a "second tier" guard with their second or third pick where Georgia's Cordy Glenn, Wisconsin's Kevin Zeitler, or Wake Forest's Joe Looney should be available.

2012 Outlook

So what should the Cowboys do at the guard position for 2012? While many fans, radio people, bloggers, analysts, etc. are saying they should either draft DeCastro with their first round pick or pay big money to Nicks in free agency, I believe they should stand pat with what they have.

The Cowboys have MUCH bigger problems than guard, in fact it is not even their biggest need on the offensive line (Center is), and the guard play this past season was above average once Holland returned to the team healthy and in shape. And from everything I have heard, the team believes they have a starting caliber guard in Arkin, and see potential in Nagy. So develop those two and bring back one (or a mix of) the veterans that are still playing well (Kosier, Holland, & Dockery).

I think we can all agree that the money and draft picks need to be used to fix the secondary, defensive line, center and/or for another pass rusher to take the pressure off of DeMarcus Ware. This team has a lot of holes/weak spots and they cannot all be addressed in one off season, so take care of the areas with the biggest deficiencies first.  With all that said, I cannot disagree with upgrading if Nicks or Grubbs is available for a good price, OR taking DeCastro at fourteen if he is the highest rated player their board.

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Dallas Cowboys Breakdown: Offensive Tackle

By:  Bobby Shores

(This is the first part of a multi-part series breaking down the Dallas Cowboys by position, identifying areas of need and possible solutions for those needs, based on my film work and notes taken throughout the season)

The first day of team activity after the lockout ended the Cowboys made a statement that they were getting younger and shedding contracts that no longer made sense (yes the argument can be made that many of the deals never made sense), and it started up front with the right tackle position as they cut Marc Columbo, who was a former first round pick by the Bears whose career had been derailed by injuries before he revived it with the Cowboys.

Currently the Cowboys are only carrying three offensive tackles on the roster, with one of them being a purely project guy. This means that they must look to add an experienced veteran backup during free agency in case one of the starters goes down and their project tackle is not ready to step in.

With new offensive line coach Bill Callahan in the fold, look for the 'Boys to make a run at someone that he is familiar with, purely for depth

Here is a look at the offensive tackles currently on the Cowboys roster, and some changes/additions that may need to be made before training camp:

Tyron Smith (signed through 2014) - The biggest surprise of the 2011 season for not only the offensive line, but the Cowboys as a whole, was the emergence of rookie tackle Tyron Smith (who also happened to be the youngest player in the NFL). Smith was drafted No. 9 overall to play right tackle immediately and then move over to left tackle in a few years, but with the way he played this year, that move needs to happen yesterday.

When the Cowboys made him the first offensive lineman taken in the draft, I will admit I was less than pleased with the pick (Man I hate admitting I was wrong). My reasoning was that drafting the second best tackle on his team (Matt Kalil was the best) in the Top 10 is what you call "settling" and/or "reaching", that coupled with my perception that he lacked the work ethic that I looked for in a high first round pick (Gained 20 "bad" pounds before the draft), fueled my belief that he would be another career underachiever (much like Dez Bryant who I am right on so far). My other problem with him was that he had very little playing experience, starting only 24 games, and personally I like more experienced offensive linemen.

Good thing I can admit when I am wrong, and quickly. Early on in the preseason I started to realize that Smith could be the real deal; the team left him on an island in pass protection where he held his own and was excellent in run blocking where he regularly got to the second level. His dominance continued into the regular season where he often went up against the best pass rushers that teams had to offer and handled them with ease using his quickness, agility, and long arms to route them where he wanted them to go. Smith's only struggles (according to my eye) was dealing with stunts and when a defender used the same move on him over and over he would expect that and wait for it and then get beat when a new pass rush move was used.


Doug Free (signed through 2014) - After a breakout end to the 2009 season subbing in for an injured Columbo at right tackle. Free followed that up with a stellar 2010 season at left tackle holding some of the NFL's elite pass rushers to only 5 sacks all year (he faced Mario Williams, Julius Peppers, Dwight Freeney, Jared Allen, Packers and Giants(2) that year). He then signed a "team friendly" deal for a guy that appeared to be an up and coming left tackle, in hindsight it appears the team knew more than us and gave him a very good contract for a right tackle, which is where Free should be.

Free regressed badly this year, looking like he did not have the power (specifically in his lower body) or a quick enough first step to handle the big time pass rushers that litter the NFC East (he was credited for giving up 10 sacks). Not only did he struggle with sacks, he also had the most penalties on the team with 10 (5 holding and 5 false starts). Free needs to move back to the right side in 2012 where I believe he will be a Top 5 right tackle, and become a strength for this offensive line.

So why did Free appear to take such a large step back, and why did he seem to not have the power? While this is a tough question to answer from the outside looking in, I honestly think that without being in the team's regular off season strength and conditioning program he came into the season weaker and slower than before and was unable to keep up. Why do I think this? From what I could tell from watching film is that his technique still looks sound, he was just routinely overpowered and/or beat to either the inside or outside....due to not being as strong or quick.

Jeremy Parnell (exclusive rights free agent) - Parnell is relatively new at not only football, but the offensive line. He spent the first three years at Ole Miss playing basketball before playing defensive end his senior year, he signed with the Saints as a free agent in 2009 before the Cowboys signed him off their practice squad in 2010.

Parnell reminds me of a young Jason Peters (not saying he will be that good) in terms of raw talent and athletic ability but needs to improve his strength and add some bulk, and remember it was 3-4 years before Peters became a starting tackle after spending most of his career as a very large and athletic tight end. The Cowboys have already invested two years in Parnell and I expect them to remain patient with him, he should be a solid swing tackle if he can add some weight/strength in the off season.

Off Season Needs/Options

With the Cowboys only needing to add a tackle for depth purposes, I expect them to bring in a mixture of rookie free agents, some young cheap players and maybe a guy or two that new offensive line coach Bill Callahan is familiar with from his Nebraska and/or Jet days.

One possibility is the Dolphins Lydon Murtha who was the #1 offensive tackle prospect coming out of high school, and who Callahan recruited and coached at Nebraska. The 6'7 Murtha was the primary backup to Jake Long before being placed on injured reserve with a toe injury, and from the one preseason game I saw him in performed well


2012 Outlook - I look for Tackle to be a strength of the Cowboys offensive line in 2012 with Free moving to Right Tackle and Smith making the transition to Left Tackle. If Parnell develops as I think he will, he should provide the team with a "swing tackle" that can easily play both spots, allowing the team to carry only 3 tackles. In the event that Parnell does not develop as quickly as I expect, then look for the team to pick up a veteran tackle that is familiar with Callahan and his style.

Be sure to check back in the next couple of days for the release of the Breakdown on the Guards & check the ReclinerQB Twitter account to get it the moment it goes live.

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