Unsettling questions about the Cowboys offensive line
Mel Kiper’s latest mock makes you wonder about what he’s heard.
The draft talk surrounding the Dallas Cowboys has been largely all about the defense. That side of the ball struggled all season. So did the offense, but there is an assumption that the return of so many players from injury will take care of things on that side of the ball. However, Mel Kiper’s mock draft at ESPN projects that the Cowboys will use their tenth overall pick to take Rashawn Slater, an offensive lineman seen as able to play both tackle spots or move inside to guard. That is just one man’s opinion in a mock draft, but it raises a disturbing question: Is there something we don’t know about the health of the offensive line players that were on IR by the end of last year?
Those players are LT Tyron Smith, RT La’el Collins, and RG Zack Martin. Smith and Martin are All-Pros, and Collins was seen as a rising talent. They were expected to be the anchors for the offensive line, but Collins never played a snap, Smith was hurt in the second game of the season, and Martin was lost in game 10. There is little reason to worry about the ability of all three, but there is definitely cause for concern about their health.
