Keeping tabs on former Dallas Cowboys: Miami Dolphins plan to use Connor Williams at center

Much has been said about a few players who moved on from the Dallas Cowboys this offseason. Randy Gregory, Amari Cooper, and La’el Collins have commanded the headlines over the last few months and incidentally they all left the team in their own separate way: Gregory as a true free agent departure, Cooper by being traded away, and Collins by way of release.

It feels humorous to some to lump Connor Williams into that group given the enormous amount of penalties that he was called for last season and the bitter taste that left in fans’ mouths, but the reality is that Williams was a notable starter for the Cowboys. His absence was so notable that the team spent their first-round pick on Tyler Smith to fill the void at left guard, granted that was more about long-term stability on the left side as a whole.

Only time will tell whether the Cowboys were correct to not make a bigger effort to retain Connor Williams. The Miami Dolphins clearly believed in him, and interestingly they believed in him in a way that Dallas very notably did not.

The Miami Dolphins are planning to use Connor Williams at center

With OTAs in full swing we are starting to hear about more players across the NFL as a whole. New Dolphins offensive lineman Williams spoke recently, for one of the first times since leaving the Cowboys, and noted something very interesting.

According to him the plan for him in Miami at the moment is not to play at left guard, but at center.

This is a bit of a left turn obviously considering the general assumption was that the Dolphins would play Williams at left guard in the same way that the Cowboys did. Clearly they have other plans in mind. The Cowboys experimented with Williams at center ahead of last year and tried him out during the preseason. To say it did not go well is about the most kind way that we can put it.

Center is without question the least stable position along the Dallas offensive line (obviously after the drafting of Tyler Smith cemented the left guard position). Tyler Biadasz is entering his third season in the NFL but has not exactly taken the leap many have wanted to see, so much so that the Williams experiment was initiated last year as mentioned. Additionally, the Cowboys mentioned that last year’s seventh-round pick Matt Farniok (drafted as a guard) will be playing center moving forward.

One would assume that the Cowboys considered Williams as a center option and still decided to pass in free agency. They seem to believe that they are better off and now Williams gets a chance to show yet again that he can be a starting NFL center.