FanPost

What ails The Boys

After reading some good stuff here, I've come away with the notion that many in Grizz's community feel that the offensive line is the area of greatest concern for the Cowboys. A quick glance at NFL.com shows that the Cowboys only rushed for 3.6 yards a carry and surrendered 50 sacks in 2005.

Ouch!

By contrast, my Indianapolis Colts averaged 3.7 a carry (though Edgerrin James averaged 4.2, and took most of the carries) and only surrendered 20 sacks.

Why do I mention this? Well, I'm not posting stats just to rub in the fact that the Colts are better than the Cowboys. I mean, the Colts won as many playoff games last year as the Boys did, and one of the major reasons they folded in the playoff game to the Steelers was bad o-line play. The reason I post those stats is because the Colts (not counting the Steeler game) have had one of the best o-line's, consistently, in the league the last 6 years.

Since Manning was drafted, he hardly gets sacked more than 20 times a season. Part of it is his pocket presence and his ability to get rid of the ball quickly. Much of it is because he had Tark Glenn as his left tackle and Jeff Saturday as his center. Those two are, arguably, two of the best o-linemen in the league right now.

Where did the Colts get these guys? Free agency? Trade? Tooth fairy?

No. They are home grown boys, drafted and groomed within the Colts system their whole careers. The same is true of all the Colts' starting o-linemen. Ryan Diem, Jake Scott, and Ryan Lija were all drafted or signed as rookies by the Colts. Once signed, the Colts will usually give these guys a year or two to learn the system, either on the practice squad or as a back-up. They see extensive time in pre-season. Then, over time, as the old o-linemen want to test FA and make big money (like Steve McKinney and Rick Demulling did) the Colts let them go.

Why?

Because waiting in the wings is another young, smart o-linemen that works hard and knows the system. This system allows the Colts to pick and choose where to put money into the team. This is why they've been able to keep Manning, Harrison, Wayne, Freeney, Simon, and (hopefully) Edgerrin James.

This system is the product of the salary cap, created and cultivated by one of the best o-line coaches in football: Howard Mudd. Colts President Bill Polian and his scouts work hand-in-hand with Mudd every year at the draft. They ask him what does he need in a new o-lineman. Mudd gives his criteria as well as a list of names he'd like the scouts to look at.

On draft day, the Colts pick players like DeMulling, Scott, or Gandy. They sign these guys to low-round rookie deals, and they sign undrafted rookies like Jeff Saturday.

This makes the o-line cheap but sturdy. This is the type of system that would GREATLY benefit the Cowboys, a team stuck (imho) in the pre-salary cap days. You can no longer throw money at high priced free agents like they did in the day (i.e., Deion Sanders). In this day and age, you must be creative with your team and create systems that keep costs down while, at the same time, create valuable players that can produce on the field.

This, more than anything, is what ails the Cowboys.

BigBlueShoe, SBNation Colts blogger at Stampede Blue.

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