Cowboys Hint at Taking Offensive Lineman High in NFL Draft
PALM BEACH, Fla. - Jerry and Stephen Jones may have poker skills. But they don't have poker faces, at least in terms of how it relates to what they view as their 2022 NFL Draft needs.
First, to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, speaking here in Palm Beach at the NFL annual meetings: “Famous last words: We’ll get (an offensive lineman in the draft) unless a Lamb or a Parsons is there.''
Translation: Barring the surprising presence of a highly ranked talent when Dallas picks at No. 24 in the first round - a highly ranked talent like CeeDee Lamb was in Dallas' 2020 draft and like Micah Parsons was in 2021 - the Cowboys are eyeballing the idea of an offensive lineman in the first round.
Now to COO Stephen Jones, who is only slightly more coy, as he mentions two positions - wide receiver and O-line - as top-of-the-draft priorities.
It can be argued that the Joneses could stand to be a bit more elusive as to their plans. But it can't be argued that O-lineman is a need.
What is up for debate: Why has Dallas allowed that to become the case?
Two Cowboys starting offensive linemen from recent years are now on other teams. But don't count Connor Williams' leaving for the Dolphins as a "loss,'' exactly; Dallas wasn't going to pay him as an unrestricted free agent. But La’el Collins being allowed to move to the Bengals?
Still a puzzler, though Stephen balked - two or three times - when CowboysSI.com suggested the team had "soured'' on Collins.
In any event: There is a hole at left guard, and not enough faith in Connor McGovern to step up. They wish center Tyler Biadasz was stronger. Hall-of-Famers Zack Martin and Tyron Smith are both going to turn 32 this year. The Cowboys have Terence Steele penciled in to replace Collins at right tackle.
The Cowboys are unlikely to spend on a veteran O-lineman, though Stephen mentioned the idea of adding via that path.
So ... it's the draft.
The top three tackles, Evan Neal, Ikem Ekwonu and Charles Cross, are expected to be gone early. Northern Iowa tackle Trevor Penning could be in play. Texas A&M guard Kenyon Green is on Dallas' 30 Visits list. Tyler Linderbaum of Iowa is the best center in the class. Boston College's Zion Johnson is a consideration.
Help is coming. Probably early in the draft. Barring a surprise, at which point, as Jerry said, "I’ll accept criticism when the time comes for not knowing what we’re doing.”
Probably not an issue there ... because it seems like everybody kinda knows what the Cowboys are doing.
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