At the time of this writing, we are just two days away from Dallas Cowboys training camp.
The Cowboys’ locker room staff is furiously at work preparing for the big move to Oxnard, California.
There are some big questions regarding the Cowboys’ offensive tackle situation.
Mainly who will start at left guard if Tyron Smith goes down, and who will start at right tackle if Terence Steele isn’t quite ready?
With Tyron, it’s become a matter of when, not if he goes down.
He has missed 44 games with injury since 2015, and has not started a full season since that same year.
Terence Steele is coming off of a torn ACL.
He has looked great in workouts circulating social media, but will likely start training camp on the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list.
That makes the battle of the backups a focal point of training camp.
To review previous articles of training camp battles, utilize the following links.
For the purpose of this exercise, the starters listed are based on the assumption that both Tyron and Steele are healthy to start the season.
Offensive Tackle
Established Starter(s): Tyron Smith, Terence Steele
Battle for Backup: Matt Waletzko, Josh Ball, Alex Taylor, Earl Bostick
Matt Waletzko
Second year player Matt Waletzko is coming off a rookie season spent on injured reserve.
Waletzko brought an injury from college to the NFL that the Cowboys felt was significant enough to red shirt his rookie season in favor of surgery.
Now fully recovered from the surgery to repair his shoulder subluxation, Waletzko is ready to make an impact for the Cowboys.
He is already in the lead for the swing tackle role behind Tyron and Steele, and has even been getting some work at left guard.
Reports say Waletzko has looked serviceable at guard, but I don’t expect that to happen unless it’s an emergency.
Josh Ball
This season is likely the last chance Josh Ball will be given to ascend to the level Dallas expected when they drafted him in the 4th round of 2021.
It has been reported that Ball has worked in at guard this offseason.
When the Cowboys change positions of a player after a couple of seasons, it’s usually not a good sign for the player.
Ball was in for only 41 snaps on offense in 2022.
Most of them came in a game versus the Houston Texans after Steele went down with what we later found out to be a torn ACL.
He couldn’t make a good impression with his small sample, and Dallas chose to use Tyron Smith at right tackle for the rest of the season.
Alex Taylor
Alex Taylor bounced around Cleveland and Chicago in 2020 and 2021 before landing with Dallas in 2022.
He played a grand total of one snap for the Cowboys last season.
It was a special teams snap in the regular season finale at Washington.
Taylor has the prototypical size Dallas covets in an offensive tackle, but has yet to receive opportunity to play.
Personally, I hope we don’t see him on the field because it would mean Dallas is in trouble at tackle.
Earl Bostick Jr.
Earl Bostick Jr. is an undrafted free agent signed by Dallas back in May.
Bostick was a six year player at the University of Kansas, and played primarily left tackle starting in 2021.
He has some athletic ability, as evidenced by starting his Jayhawk career as an inline tight end.
Bostick needs to work on strength and blocking, but shows some promise as a future prospect.
Prediction
It is my estimation that from this list, only Matt Waletzko will make the team.
The likeliest scenario is Waletzko is the top swing tackle, and will be the starter at right tackle if Steele isn’t ready for Week 1.
Should the Cowboys have a hole at guard, his work in the offseason lines him up as a possibility for that position, as well.