Youth Movement In The Works For Cowboys O-Line?

so we may see Bigg gone if at all possible

Yesssssssss..another site to add to the bookmark bar. Even though it’s pro-Eagles.

Or his 4.5 second reaction time to the pass rush.

I hope Davis just needs to change his training focus from strength to speed. Whether his mind or body can handle it is another story.

But to think a veteran and recent all pro G has slipped so badly that a 4th round rookie can take his place is a fantasy.

You have to give Arkin 2 years to grow, just like Doug Free. Or do people think Free was ready to start as a rookie?

That means 2 more years of Davis and his hefty salary, unless Costa or Brewer is ready, which I doubt.

Blaylock would be a great pickup, but the OL already gets a too-high ratio of the team budget. With the addition of Smith, I think the Cowboys’ starting OL will be NFL’s highest paid (smith, kosier, gurode, davis, free). Plus our TE’ expense is a lot more than average. Plus our newest TBD FA purchases will need to help the defense.

I don’t think we have good options. Although I think Smith will be good, I think trading down for Castonzo and picking up a G/C with the extra pick was the best option for the offense.

On the bright side, I feel good about Romo this year .. .for no particuar reason other than he’s had a year of reflection and rededication. I want to think he’s hungrier now and will have a more Kitna-like command of the huddle.

JimmyK does this exercise every year, and up until this year, he has taken a malicious delight in pointing out the average age of the Cowboys O-line, which has led the league for the past two years running. But as Jimmy explains on his new blog – much to his chagrin and my delight – that is no longer the case this year.

It’s bitter-sweet. I’ve enjoyed arguing with a bunch of you here on this topic for the past 2 years. It’s drastically different now though. They still need to continue getting younger there, but I don’t see it as anywhere near as glaring a problem as it was this time last year. Don’t worry – I’ll find something else to make my go-to “thing” to bug you guys with.

Thankfully, this “Old OL” thing is the gift that keeps on giving with the Giants. And what’s better is that their OL is older than the Cowboys’ line ever was. To me it’s like at the end of the movie “An Officer and a Gentleman,” when Richard Gere, having finished his Navy training, smirks as he watches his former gunnery sargent (Louis Gossett Jr.) begin to break in a new class of recruits. You guys are like the Richard Gere character, I’m Gossett Jr, and the Giants fans are the new recruits. It’s kind of fun listening to the Giants fans give me the same arguments you guys gave me this time last year. And apologies for the move reference that maybe 10% of you have actually seen.

Even though one of the starters is a rookie and three of them are aging veterans.

I don’t hear many complaints from ATL and NE fans about their O-lines…

It’s no secret that Davis has been under performing and that drastic improvement at age 33 is wishful thinking at best. Is it possible he pulls out a solid season? Sure. Is it very possible he continues regressing? Hell yes.

Our Forth rounder from Missouri David Arkin has good developmental potential but I think it’s very doubtful he’ll become an NFL quality starter his rookie year. Frankly, if our RG options are Davis or Arkin I’d say that it’ll be a trouble spot throughout the year.

If Davis does stink it up real bad what will be most interesting to see is how quick Garrett is with the hook. The last several years, especially the Philips era, I’ve felt this team has played veterans until the bitter end, even if there has been really good looking young talent bumping up against them (Bledsoe over Romo, Williams/Crayton over Austin, Colombo over Free, Barber over Choice). In the Davis situation though Garrett may have no choice but to keep him on the field because there’s no one ready to take the spot.

First, I would not be surprised to see us go after a FA guard, in addition to trying to resign Kosier. But assuming we don’t do that, I think Costa would be ahead of Arkin. Costa has at least had a year under his belt. And the thought of 2 rookies on the right side cannot make Romo happy in the least. Of course, it was Holland who subbed for Davis last year, so that may be the choice again.

Instead of talking about a couple of old greybeards on the Cowboys’ O-line all the time, we’d be talking about a young and talented O-line with some veteran presence as a stabilizing factor.

I like the sound of that.

I just want to say, don’t sleep on Arkin. It’s one thing to think about the growing pains of a rookie OT, and as good as Tyron SMith is, he will have some growing pains. But the transition seems to be a bit less for the interior lineman. I would not be shocked to see Arkin win the top backup spot at OG and then get his chance due to inury (odds are Kosier or Bigg will miss a game or two) or poor performance (better fight to keep your job Bigg).

I am still not sure that we actually sign a FA OG and as strange as it sounds, we may not need one. Garrett made it clear as interim that no one’s job is safe and competition will decide who starts. Combine that, his motivation, practice pace, and adding pads, and suddenly an OLine that looked past tready to retire suddenly seemed adequate. Now that Bigg has Arkin, Nagy, and Holland breathing down his neck and a salary he knows is much higher than warranted…we may actually see Bigg try harder than he has in the past few years and actually knock some people on their a$$. If not, well, I think Arkin will pleasantly surprise a lot of people when he gets his chance.

If a player is good, he’s good, regardless of age. See Ray Lewis.

Our OL sucked because the majority of players weren’t that good to begin with, not because they are aging.