Dallas Cowboys banking on Dak Prescott’s mobility and quick throws
By Reid Hanson
Much has been written about the Dallas Cowboys offensive line this offseason. From their poor performance in 2021, to the players they lost over the winter, to the paper thin depth chart, to the injury to Tyron Smith. It’s been critical story after critical story.
And for good reason. For years the Dallas Cowboys derived their identity from the big guy up front. To think that strength has suddenly turned into a weakness is unsettling, to say the least. Pass protection specifically is a concern heading into the 2022 season.
Terence Steele, Tyler Smith, and Connor McGovern are all far better run blockers than they are pass protectors. The thought of them dropping back on obvious passing downs is enough to send chills up anyone’s spine.
The pressure will be on Dak Prescott to survive behind the Dallas Cowboys suspect offensive line in 2022.
Last season we saw frst hand what happens when Dak isn’t able to evade at peak levels. Nursing a calve injury suffered in New England, Dak was limited physically most of the season. As a result the passing game cratered (comparatively speaking), dropping from a top-3 attack to a bottom 10 attack.
No longer given time to let plays develop downfield, Dak was forced to pre-emptively hurl the ball and hope for the best. His 2.75 seconds before passing average was 12th in the NFL. A necessary adjustment made to a suboptimal situation up front.
Swapping out Tyron Smith and Connor Williams for Tyler Smith and Connor McGovern doesn’t help matters. In fact, they most assuredly make things worse since neither are regarded as anything close to the pass protectors they replace.
Luckily for the Dallas Cowboys Dak is healthy and able to bide time behind his porous offensive line. Can he do it all season?
Probably not. Prescott’s going to need play calling and fast developing routes so he can get the ball out quickly. Both tackle spots look like concerns this season so it’s safe to say he can’t scramble from pressure every down – he’ll have to dump it off.
Teams cannot survive by running game alone. The Cowboys should be better on the ground in 2022 (can’t get too much worse) but they will need their passing game to still handle the bulk of the workload if they hope to find success.
Don’t underestimate the problems this offensive line has this season. The Dallas Cowboys are asking Dak Prescott to bail them out of more than one self-inflected weakness in the 2022.