Dallas Cowboys: Is Chaz Green a ‘Swing Lineman’?

The Dallas Cowboys, masters of versatility, may be taking steps to groom their first ever, ‘swing lineman’, this summer.

The Dallas Cowboys seem to value versatility more than your average team. Finding players capable of filling multiple roles at multiple positions can prove invaluable when constructing a 53-man roster. If one player can serve as depth in multiple spots, it could allow a team to groom a raw player they’d otherwise have to cut and potentially lose.

A common practice around the NFL is to fill backup roles on the offensive line with a player or two with some position flexibility. From the time he was drafted two springs ago, Chaz Green was thought of a player capable of being the “swing tackle”, meaning he could provide the primary depth to both left and right tackle. That role may soon be expanding…

With the sudden retirement of Doug Free (right tackle) and free agent departure of Ron Leary (left guard), the Dallas Cowboys are in a rare state of flux regarding the team’s strongest unit. With that comes positional movement and endless experiments. One of those experiments is getting Chaz Green snaps at the guard position.

Chaz Green’s Role

Chaz Green was drafted to be a short-term fix at swing tackle but long-term solution at right tackle. But with La’el Collins now playing right tackle (and paying it well), Green is once again looking for a role. All indications are the Dallas Cowboys have a wide open competition for the starting left guard position. Since getting the best five linemen on the field at the same time is the objective, it only makes sense the team is giving Chaz Green significant snaps at guard.

On Dallascowboys.com Chaz Green had this to say about the move:

"“It’s definitely different. Pass-pro, I’m just learning to set the hole. You’ve got help on both sides so you don’t have to drift as much. Run-blocking, it’s different assignments. Just getting those calls down so I can get my footwork down so I can play fast and not think.”"

If Chaz Green proves himself to be the best guard during training camp, the Cowboys won’t hesitate to permanently move their former third round pick. But if he gets beat out by someone, Green could be revolutionizing the “swing” position and become the Dallas Cowboys “swing linemen”

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Swing Lineman

Even with free agent signee, Byron Bell, Chaz Green should prove to be the Cowboys top backup tackle. But if he can also be top alternate at guard, he could be the backup at four of the line’s five positions on game day. Such a move would let the Cowboys keep Joe Looney on the roster, since Looney seems to be their favorite backup center but may get squeezed since he’s not as good elsewhere.

In other words, Chaz Green would be the swing lineman. And by having extra versatility there, the Cowboys could justify keeping someone without as much versatility like Looney. I realize Looney has played guard and even tight end but that was out of need and clearly is something everyone wants to avoid in the future.

More Position Flex

Chaz Green isn’t the only offensive lineman the Cowboys are cross-training this offseason. Jonathan Cooper, everyone’s favorite solution at guard, is also getting tried at center. It’s a position switch the Arizona Cardinals tried before trading him to New England.

With so many closed practices it’s difficult to report whether Cooper is doing well in either spot. I even scoured the papers from his time in Arizona to see how well he picked up the center position there – but no luck.

Linemen on both sides of the ball are expected to have position flex and Chaz Green may ultimately be the best example of that flex by becoming the swing lineman of 2017.

Next: How the Cowboys Have an Advantage for the Next 5-6 Years

More from Dallas Cowboys

With versatility at a premium these days the Dallas Cowboys are busy cross-training their offensive linemen. They do it to get the five best players on the field at the same time and they do it to optimize their game day actives.

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