What's Next At Center For The Dallas Cowboys?

“The Dallas Cowboys have the best offensive line in football.”

This phrase used to roll off the tongue. An easy way to analyze complicated line play across the NFL. And, it was correct. At least for a while.

One of the main reasons the Cowboys offensive line was so dominant was their center Travis Frederick. The first round pick out of Wisconsin was in total control of the offensive line. Not only was he a leader and a smart player, but he was also incredibly gifted as both a run and pass blocker. I’ll never forget the reach blocks he would pull off on zone runs, or his ability to work off a combo block with Zack Martin to get to the second level.

Travis Frederick was special. And he held down the center position in Dallas perfectly. Tyler Biadasz Won't be "The Next Travis Frederick" Right Away, If Ever

Now, though, the Cowboys have far from the best offensive line in football. In fact – it was a major weakness during the 2020 season.

The center position in particular was a major question mark through the early parts of 2020. Heading into the season it was assumed that the veteran Joe Looney would take over the role, at least as a stop-gap before rookie Tyler Biadasz was ready to start.

But quickly the Cowboys learned that Looney was even more limited than he was when starting back in 2018. Due to injury, Looney was taken out of the lineup, and the rookie Biadasz was placed in. Biadasz started four games in the middle of the season, not looking out of place or lost whatsoever. He was far from perfect, but Biadasz showed enough reason to be optimistic about his future with the Cowboys.

So, what’s next at center for the Cowboys?

It simply cannot be Joe Looney as the Plan A. That’s for sure. Looney is a free agent and we haven’t heard much about the Cowboys’ interest in him, so it’s safe to assume that Dallas agrees with this evaluation.

Biadasz has three years left on his rookie deal, and was the assumed heir to Frederick’s throne when the Cowboys took him during the 2020 draft. But that doesn’t mean his spot is set in stone.

Now third year interior offensive lineman Connor McGovern is the sleeper candidate to take over the center job next season. McGovern started multiple games at guard in 2020, and given he is a former third round pick, Dallas may be looking to find him a spot this season.

If you were to handicap the position battle, Tyler Biadasz is certainly the favorite right now. But a lot can change from now and September when the regular season kicks off.

Was this helpful?

Kevin Brady

Die-hard Cowboys fan from the Northeast, so you know I am here to defend the 'boys whenever necessary. Began writing for a WordPress Cowboys Blog, and have been with ITS since 2016.

Topics

Cowboys News Feed - Free Dallas Cowboys News App for Android

5 Comments

Jeffrey D Williams 5 years ago

Who cares? You have an RB who fumbles and, a mediocre QB so having a great offensive line (which Dallas has neither the money nor the assets to put together) would mean little. Basically, if you think our 25 year play-off drought under Jones's tutelage is over, your grandchildren will be telling you "I told you so". The signing/tagging of Prescott will doom this franchise for the rest of this decade.
Travis 5 years ago

I’d like to get Creed Humphrey out of Oklahoma
DCologist 5 years ago

Very much agree that DC O line has been overrated in practicality, but not necessarily personnel-wise. In theory, healthy Smith, Collins, Martin, and Frederick were All Pros. Problem was getting them all on the field and healthy at the same time. That’s just dumb luck. Football people don’t talk about that stuff because they can’t control it, but it is a huge component of the game. DC have been incredibly unlucky with injuries over the years. For example, in 2016, had Romo been healthy, IMO, that team was Lombardi winner #6. Not knocking Dak. He had a great regular season. But, the game was really slowing down for Tony. Dak was not Tony’s equal in 2016 after Tony returned to health. But it was what it was: an extremely uncomfortable and unfortunate situation. Tony could’ve gotten hurt 5 minutes into the game. Who knows? I digress... Moving on, the O-line hasn’t been in sync since 2016. But, they had 4 amazing guys rostered ‘17-‘19. Now they have 3. If I’m not mistaken, I believe PFF gave Biadasz high marks in the rookie class. Williams has been a disappointment. Collins should be back. Martin should be fine. Smith is supposedly this superhuman specimen, but he’s sure hurt a lot. But maybe he can stay healthy for once. They need a LG. Free agency? So, a lucky DC O line would look like Smith, a great FA addition at LG, Biadasz having that second year surge, Martin and Collins at top form. That could be special. Zeke would have those creases at the LOS that he hasn’t had in a while. Dak could have plenty of time to make his reads to a solid receiving corp. I see it now: the 2021 Dallas Could-be’s.
The Message Man 5 years ago

I don’t know any team that would have had a winning record with the injuries the Dallas Cowboys offensive line had last season, injuries are a part of the game, but come on we would have won at least 9 games.
siempre 5 years ago

First..the Boy's offense line has been hype since 2017. So, only the lazy media continued the wrong statements overvaluation of the Dallas offense line. The media did not stop the hype till all the way into midseason of last year. Reality us the Dallas line was bad much if 2017 and has been average since then until it became outright bad by midseason 2020. The best that can be hoped for in 2021 is a return to average.