Dallas Cowboys Draft: Meet Jarrett Patterson, G, Notre Dame
Unfortunately, folks, this is going to be an ongoing story for the Dallas Cowboys. Interior offensive line help is a need that has to be addressed in the NFL draft. O’Cyrus Torrence and Steve Avila are the consensus top two prospects at the guard position, but it doesn’t mean either has to be the selection at the 26th pick.
The position doesn’t necessarily stretch like the tight end and running back positions. But to say there aren’t some good options later in the draft would be a misrepresentation. Jarrett Patterson out of Notre Dame is one of those options. At the NFL combine, Patterson measured in at 6’5″ 306 pounds. He has some decent height, but he needs to walk around with a few rocks in his pocket to get his weight up.
Jarrett Patterson is one of the more experienced interior linemen that may be available in later rounds for the Dallas Cowboys.
Here’s the good news on this prospect. In his sophomore and junior seasons, he tallied 1481 total snaps at the center position. It wasn’t until his senior season where he played the left guard spot gaining 827 snaps. With that experience, his body frame and the fact that the team’s current center will be expecting a new contract soon, it may be wise to invest in a player who has the experience to flip to multiple positions across the offensive line.
Here’s the not so good. Dallas Cowboys fans have seen a version of this story before. Remember Texas alum Connor Williams. Connor checked in at 6’5″ 317 pounds and for the better part of four years we watched him get pushed back into the quarterback’s lap with decent strength. Not to mention, it never really seemed like Dallas coaches knew exactly what they were doing with Connor’s position flexibility. Jarrett would be a day-3 pick, but it would be nice to know there would be a plan in place.
With all of that said, if Jarrett Patterson was the pick, he would offer depth across the line. The hope is he could come in and push Chuma Edoga for the starting left guard spot but that would be a long shot. If he’s not a starter, the plan they used for the other “Connor” worked much more efficiently and would be ideal for Jarrett.
Connor McGovern provided depth at both the center and guard spots once he was healthy and played his way into a new contract. Let’s be clear, Jarrett Patterson is not the athlete that either Connor Williams or Connor McGovern was. He is decent in space and effective on those reach blocks. He has shorter arms which will limit him from keeping defenders out of his space, but it would much more detrimental if the team was asking him to play on the edges.
Drafttek’s 2023 mock draft has Jarrett Patterson going at pick 141 to the Las Vegas Raiders. If that were case, the Dallas Cowboys would need to secure his services at pick 129. I’m not in love with that thought but we also have to recognize that some of these guards will get pushed up because of the supply and demand.