Cowboys Sign Zack Martin - Still Need O-Line Trade?
Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy, in his review of the preseason loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, wouldn't phrase his view of the present offensive line situation as a "concern.''
Rather, McCarthy conceded, "It's a focus.''
And we will make the argument here that while McCarthy and staff are understandably "focused'' on getting some of the backups their needed nurturing ... and while team owner Jerry Jones just "focused'' on settling the Zack Martin contract holdout argument (and did so by sealing a new deal, details here) ...
Somebody around here might want to "focus'' on the fact that the performance of the second group - part of a line that gave up four sacks in the first preseason game - suggests Dallas should get busy on acquiring a veteran offensive lineman.
Dallas sat most of its starters against the Jaguars, so the first-team offensive line was, left to right, Asim Richards, Matt Farniok, Brock Hoffman, Josh Ball and Matt Waletzko.
Richards, a rookie fifth-rounder, is being credit for having survived. Young vet Farniok is a try-hard guy. But Dallas should be concerned about who in the world among these prospects and suspects can win at right guard and elsewhere if Martin (or any other first-teamer) is ever out for injury reasons. (A knee injury to vet Chuma Edoga further clouds just what Dallas will do at the swing guard spot.)
Andrew Norwell and Dalton Risner are among the free agent guards with credentials. Wouldn't they upgrade this second unit?
“We have some veterans and we have some moving parts, so on the flip side of that it does create a lot of opportunity for our young players,'' McCarthy noted accurately.
But he added, "This is good for us. I think this will pay dividends in the long run.'' ... and of that there are no guarantees - because it's quite possible that Dallas will only discover who cannot play at a high level. And we'll argue that before that possibility reveals itself in a disastrous way, the Cowboys should follow up the Zack Martin "get'' by "getting'' another O-lineman who can play.
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