The Dallas Cowboys in my lifetime have twice boasted what can be considered one of the greatest offensive lines of all time.
Back in the Super Bowl years of the early to mid 90’s, the behemoth offensive line earned the nickname “Great Wall of Dallas”.
It wasn’t just five players, but also a few others who rotated in to maintain that reputation until eventually fading away into retirement or free agency.
The first edition of the Great Wall of Dallas featured names like Mark Tuinei, Nate Newton, Mark Stepnoski, Kevin Gogan, Larry Allen, and Erik Williams.
This group paved the way for Emmitt Smith to set the NFL rushing record, and kept Troy Aikman upright long enough to complete a Hall of Fame career of his own.
Cowboys’ brass seemed to put much less emphasis on taking offensive linemen early in the draft for nearly the next two decades.
Then, in an effort to take pressure off of the aging Tony Romo, the emphasis was put back on offensive line starting in 2011.
In the span of four years, Dallas used a first round pick on an offensive lineman three times.
They started with OT Tyron Smith in 2011, followed by C Travis Frederick in 2013, and then OG Zack Martin in 2014.
Dallas essentially added another first round talent in the 2015 NFL Draft when they signed La’el Collins as an undrafted free agent.
His draft stock plummeted after news was released that he was possibly implicated in a crime involving the death of a former girlfriend.
Along with those four, other contributors to the Great Wall of Dallas II were Ron Leary, Doug Free, Mackenzy Bernadeau, Joe Looney, and Connor Williams.
The Cowboys’ offensive line is now in a state of flux, and are one unfortunate event away from trouble.
Let’s run through what these events could possibly be.
Zack Martin Holds Out Into the Regular Season
Dallas’ 6x All-Pro right guard is arguably as dominant as Larry Allen was back in his hey day.
Zack Martin feels like his value to the team isn’t being reflected accurately through the annual average salary of his contract.
Martin signed a six year deal back in 2018 that at the time made him the highest paid interior offensive lineman in the NFL.
The value of that deal has since depreciated in Martin’s eyes, but his skills have not.
There are seven players ahead of his $14 million per year annual salary, and Martin wants to be closer to the top.
If you don’t think he is serious about it, he is being fined $50,000 for each practice that he fails to attend, and is up to $600,000 in fines at the time of this writing.
Martin may feel like he’s playing with house money, as he could recoup all monies lost with a contract extension.
However, his presence in training camp is sorely missed.
Even top backup Matt Farniok is struggling with what is suddenly an elite defensive front constructed by Dan Quinn and Aden Durde.
We have seen what life may be like without Martin in the lineup, and we better pray this stalemate between he and the Dallas front office doesn’t bleed into the regular season.
Tyron Smith Gets Injured
The most concerning part of this scenario is that it’s most likely to happen.
Tyron has famously not played a full season since 2015, and has missed 44 games from 2016 until 2022.
His ailments have varied from ankle issues and back spasms, to a torn hamstring suffered just last season.
Tyron has become very unreliable, sometimes healthy all week long only to be ruled out on game day, usually with back tightness.
The Cowboys weathered this storm last season by kicking then rookie Tyler Smith out to left tackle from his projected starting left guard position.
They still have that luxury this season, but the issue lies with who will then step into the Tyler Smith sized hole that would remain at left guard.
Gone is veteran Connor McGovern, who started 15 games at left guard last season while Tyler manned Prescott’s blindside.
Swing interior lineman Matt Farniok is in line to start at left guard if needed, but he hasn’t exactly impressed thus far in training camp.
Free agent signing Chuma Edoga, by all reports, has been pushed around in practice.
Rookie 4th round pick Asim Richards has struggled with penalties, and is also getting pushed around.
Farniok can’t start at both guard spots at the same time if Martin’s holdout extends into the regular season.
The state of the offensive line could be in even worse shape if the next scenario happens.
Terence Steele Takes a Step Backwards
Terence Steele has been a front office’s dream since being signed as an undrafted free agent prior to the 2020 season.
Injuries forced Steele to start 14 games in his rookie year, and he has not relinquished that starting job since.
He has shown improvement in each season, and was having a Pro Bowl type season before tearing his ACL in December.
The injury obviously ended his season, and forced veteran Tyron Smith to fill in at right tackle in his absence.
There was a noticeable drop off in rushing efficiency on that right side of the line each game after that.
Martin and Steele make an above average tandem on the right side of the line.
Steele has been rehabbing like a mad man to be ready for Week 1, and it looks like the hard work is going to pay off.
However, if he is anything less than a 100% version of himself, there is no experience behind him.
The main players taking Steele’s reps in practice while he works back from injury are Matt Waletzko, Josh Ball, and Chuma Edoga.
None have stood out in a positive way except for some flash plays from Waletzko that aren’t consistent enough to have confidence in.
In a perfect world, none of these scenarios come into play, but we don’t live in a perfect world.
We need to prepare our hearts and minds for a worst case scenario across the offensive line because it may be closer to possible than we think.