Dallas Cowboys: 5 Early targets in 2021 free agency
By Randy Gurzi
4. Daryl Williams, Offensive Tackle
At one point, the Dallas Cowboys had the premier offensive line in the NFL. In 2020, they might have had the absolute worst.
In the offseason, they lost former first-round pick Travis Frederick to retirement but he wasn’t the only starter they ended up having to replace in 2020. Tyron Smith spent all but two games on the IR and La’el Collins was out for the entire season. Without their top two tackles, Dallas had to turn to Brandon Knight and Terence Steele — as Cameron Erving was also injured early in the season.
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If that wasn’t enough, they also lost Zack Martin for six games this season as the star right guard also succumbed to injury. Needless to say, this line was a mess but just wishing for health isn’t going to be enough.
While Martin should be good to go — as should Collins who missed 13 games in 2016 but then was active for all but one since then — Smith has had his share of durability concerns. He missed three games in each season from 2016 through 2019 before missing 14 in 2020.
Unfortunately, it might be time for the Cowboys to move on and there’s no guarantee they will land a starting-caliber tackle in the draft, unless they use their No. 10 overall pick. With all their holes on defense, that might not be the best strategy, so adding a veteran such as Daryl Williams could be a good alternative.
Williams has mainly played right tackle in his career but either or he or even Collins could possibly switch to the other side. Whatever they end up doing, it would be an upgrade over what they had in 2020 to add Williams and would give them draft flexibility.