Did the Dallas Cowboys find their “Best Five” (an O-line fallacy)

With the activation of Jason Peters for the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night, there has been a lot of conversation about the “best five” on the offensive line. Some of the thoughts have been to kick Tyler Smith back inside to guard, leaving Smith at tackle and moving Peters to Guard, when Tyron Smith returns to move either he or Peters to right tackle and even some of moving Martin to right tackle. ‘

While in theory, a better player would seem to be better at any other position than the current player there. However, the answer is not always as simple as the better overall player will play better “out of position”. This isn’t Madden.

Speaking of Madden, if you have ever moved a player to a different position, oftentimes you will see their stats take a dip from their normal position. This is EA’s way of adjusting to what we will discuss here.

We have seen firsthand Terence Steele’s play from the left tackle to the right tackle position. The idea of a “swing tackle” just isn’t as simple as a guy who can play both sides equally. But the question is why this happens.

With Jason Peters in the fold, the Dallas Cowboys have some decisions to make along the offensive line.

I am not going to get overly technical here, but I will try to break down why there is such a difference and why just throwing guys wherever isn’t the best idea. Let’s start at the center, which for this purpose, may be the easiest to explain.

First, the job of the center isn’t just the exchange of the ball to the quarterback, but also adjusting blocking assignments, calling the Mike linebacker, and then, of course, exchanging the ball. Not every lineman practices or is great at the exchange, but understanding how to adjust the assignments and what they are seeing is a talent, and not every lineman can do all of it.

For the guard positions, you may hear the term “working in a phone booth” when looking at this position. First, the footwork is different on both sides as is the hand usage. The left guard tends to be a better pass blocker and pulls more than the right guard. The right guard tends to be more of a mauler. What makes Zack Martin so unique and so good, he is both qualities at right guard.

But you want your inside foot a little more forward, so if you are used to putting a left foot forward, essentially mirroring yourself is harder than it sounds. Remember most quarterbacks (of course not all) are right-handed, so you want better pass blockers on the left side, due to it being the “blind side” of the quarterback. Josh Sitton said it perfectly, “it’s like trying to wipe your ass with your other hand.”

For the tackle positions your left tackle needs to be more agile and a better pass blocker than the right tackle for the same reasons as the guard and “blind side” of the quarterback. But the footwork and hand usage are so different that the idea of a true “swing tackle” is way harder to find than many want to believe.

Nick Saban prefers that the right tackle have longer arms, and many believe the left tackle tends to be one of the smarter players on the field. The reasons for this are the amount of kick sliding, covering ground, power to hold the edge, and thinking quick enough to adjust to the different moves by what are usually the best pass rushers. So again mirroring your moves and the style of play and assignments are again different from each side of the line.

This brings us to the Dallas Cowboys and the question of the “best five” along the line. While it seems that Tyler Biadasz is entrenched at center for now, and Zack Martin has stated he does not want to move from left guard, that leaves left tackle, left guard, and right tackle the big questions.

For now, it seems like the Cowboys will keep Tyler Smith at left tackle with Jason Peters at left guard, but that could change. The questions will really start up if Steele struggles and when/if Tyron Smith returns. Moving guys around doesn’t always work out just because, it is the fallacy of “best five”, but it is better to have guys trying to get on the field than not having enough to be the starting five.

• Published on 09/27/2022 at 16:01 PM
• Last updated at 09/27/2022 at 13:23 PM