Dallas Cowboys: 5 Players to watch vs. Giants in Week 2
By Randy Gurzi
5. La’el Collins, Right Tackle
What’s frustrating about watching the mistakes from La’el Collins at right tackle is knowing that he played better at left guard. And that their second-round pick Connor Williams is probably more comfortable at tackle.
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For whatever reason, the Cowboys don’t want to move Collins back to guard — maybe it would seem like they were admitting a mistake in moving him in the first place. Or maybe they truly believe he’s best suited at this position.
Whatever the reason, the fact is Collins is struggling mightily in this spot. He looked rough last season and there wasn’t any improvement in Week 1.
An example of his short-comings was seen when former NFL lineman Geoff Schwartz shared a video on Twitter where broke down a miscommunication on the first play of the game where Collins doesn’t end up blocking the right player, which leads to Ezekiel Elliott getting stuffed for a one-yard loss.
While one play doesn’t make or break a game, issues like this come up often for Collins — including later in the game when he wasn’t in position to make a block on a Tavon Austin run. Simply put, Collins needs to be better this week and is a player to keep an eye on. He has the talent to be great, it just needs to come together.