Hard as Steele: UDFA’s journey to Cowboys roster daunting not impossible

The Dallas Cowboys offensive line room doesn’t carry quite the same weight it once had, but it’s still a formidable group. For a young lineman there may be no better place to hone their craft despite the uphill battle they face trying to make the roster. That proposition becomes more difficult when it comes to the tackle position, where the Cowboys boast one of the best duos in the league.

Undrafted rookie Terence Steele will find himself fighting for his football life. There will be two beneficiaries of the additional roster spots made available this season, but even with that it’s a tall hill to climb for the rookie tackle. Despite the new coaching regime in Dallas, the architects of the roster are still in place. The brain trust has kept between eight and 10 offensive linemen on the opening day roster for the past five years.

Offensive Line Room

There is no such thing as a sure thing in football: see 2018 Travis Frederick who missed the entire season due to a serious illness. Having said that, barring disaster, there are three absolute locks to make the team in guard Zack Martin and tackles Tyron Smith and La’el Collins.

Four players are penciled in: Connor Williams, Connor McGovern, Joe Looney and Tyler Biadasz. After that, it’s a hodgepodge of players who represent Steele’s roadblocks who will all be competing for a limited amount of roster spots including:

Cam Erving
Adam Redmond
Brandon Knight
Mitch Hyatt
Marcus Henry
Wyatt Miller
Cody Wichmann

The College Years

According to Rivals.com, Steele was a three-star recruit who drew limited interest from college programs. He wound up at in-state Texas Tech, one of three schools who made him an offer. After red-shirting his freshman year, he became entrenched as a lynchpin along the Red Raiders’ offensive line. He missed just two starts due to injury at the start of his senior season, interrupting an iron-man streak of 37 games.

The imitable Dane Brugler had Steele graded as a 7th-round prospect and ranked as the 21st best offensive tackle in the 2020 NFL draft, and summarized the player thusly:

A quick-footed athlete, Steele easily achieved his depth with the vertical pass sets in the Red Raiders’ offense, but he often forgets his feet, lunging at the waist to cut off rush angles. His technique remains a work in progress, including his wide, mistimed punches that leave him off-balanced. Overall, Steele is a nimble big-man with the arm length and workable frame that NFL teams covet at the position, but it rarely looks pretty on tape due to his lower body stiffness and undeveloped mechanics.

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Film (No. 78) vs Baylor, 2019

Outlook

Steele is going to find it difficult to make the roster, but not impossible. If Covid-19 should force the NFL to increase roster sizes from 53, then his chances shoot up. Otherwise, he may need a year on the practice squad to improve his lower body strength. He projects as a right tackle in the league, as while he has straight-line speed, doesn’t have the foot mobility often necessary to be a starter on the left side.

On one hand, the loss of an offseason program truly hurts his chances, but the thought teams may go much younger in an effort to carve out as much carryover cap space into 2021 as possible so mid-level guys don’t have to get the ax if the cap space shrinks.

Steele’s chances of making the roster are slim, but nothing’s forged until the pads come on.

This is part of our Countdown to the Regular Season player profile countdown. Up next is versatile OL Joe Looney.

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