Training camp practice number four concluded on Monday in Oxnard, California.
The Dallas Cowboys and other teams are brimming with their fair share of storylines.
Injuries to Donovan Wilson, Israel Mukuamu, and Sam Williams, although they vary by severity, deserve attention.
Dak Prescott and the Texas Coast offense require no introduction.
Not to mention, All-Pro Guard Zack Martin taking a stand for an upgraded contract impacts a position group that was a concern before his holdout.
Let’s park here and talk through this offensive line group.
If Mike McCarthy wants to stand out, he carries the secret sauce from the NFC North.
He built an offensive line group, vastly different than Dallas’ approach, whether you want to give him credit or not.
It’s beginning to take shape right before our eyes, but he may need more time to see it through.
Matt Waletzko may never be David Bakhtiari but he follows McCarthy’s draft history
During Mike McCarthy’s stint with Green Bay, drafting offensive linemen was an annual phenomenon for this team.
In his first season in 2006, the Packers drafted three interior linemen, none of whom required a first-round draft pick.
Daryn Colledge, Jason Spitz, and Tony Moll were all picked in the second, third, and fifth rounds.
For Colledge, he played five seasons for Green Bay and started a whopping 76 out of 80 games. All of his starts came from the interior, even though he suited up as a tackle at Boise State.
Spitz was his interior running mate starting 45 of the possible 65 available games McCarthy.
Moll, the 165th pick in that draft, provided 18 starts on the right side at tackle and guard.
His value was clearly in the depth area, not to mention position flexibility which is what McCarthy consistently preaches now.
Development was the key that made this work with the cheese heads.
Mike is trying to make good on the same type of investment.
Matt Waletzko and Josh Ball are the players Dallas desperately needs McCarthy’s magic touch to work on.
Both were later-round picks in the 2021 and 2022 drafts.
Let’s face it, our current combination of tackles, Tyron Smith and Terence Steele, does not leave us feeling warm and fuzzy.
One of the players is a long-time injury concern, and the other is returning from a substantial ailment.
Matt will likely have to step in as the swing tackle at some point this year.
If he provides this team any depth or starting value, it’s a huge notch in the belt for one Mike McCarthy.
So far, all Josh Ball has in common with Josh Sitton, Allen Barbe and T.J. Lang is the draft round
Today, Josh Ball is reaping the benefits of Zack Martin not being in camp, if you want to call it that.
He got the first crack at the right guard spot and did an average job at best in pass protection.
Even still, we will need to trust the process for the former fourth-round pick from Marshall.
Only a few people outside of Green Bay and Detroit remember T.J. Lang’s path in the NFL.
He started three games out of the possible 28 in his first two seasons. The start to his career wasn’t bright red roses either.
However, a position change to the interior was just what the doctor ordered.
That’s where he made his impact and also earned some money along the way.
Over the next six seasons with McCarthy, Lang started 91 games and made one Pro Bowl.
Let’s be honest – no one expects Josh Ball to be even close to the level of T.J. Lang. It’s more about the approach than the actual player.
In McCarthy’s 13-year tenure with Green Bay, they only selected offensive linemen with first-round picks.
Another fun fact, there were a total of 18 others drafted in rounds 2 through 7. That’s impressive in itself.
Throw in Asim Richard and Matt Farniok, and now Dallas has four players drafted with lower-round picks battling for roster spots and playing time.
McCarthy now has another familiar face with him in Mike Solari. Solari was an assistant offensive line coach in 2015 in Green Bay.
They will work on drafting players in various rounds of the draft versus tying first-round capital into this unit.
It has worked for Mike in Green Bay and will work for him here in Dallas.
