Martin’s return immediately changes Cowboys OL from weakness to strength

It’s not often one single player can have such an enormous effect across an entire unit but that’s what Zack Martins does for the Cowboys. | From @ReidDHanson

If there was one dominating concern on the Cowboys roster over the first three weeks of training camp, it’s been the depth of the offensive line, with all due respect to the kicker situation, of course. The starting ranks were solid. Tyron Smith, Tyler Smith, Tyler Biadasz, Zack Martin and Terence Steele looked great across the top of the depth chart.

But behind them things appeared to get ugly, fast. That’s why Martin’s three-week holdout hurt so much. It forced the Cowboys to pull from their depth, and the depth in Dallas has largely been a troubling sight.

While the future could still be bright for talented young players like Asim Richards and Matt Waletzko, neither player seem ready to plug into a starting role in the present. Josh Ball doesn’t appear to be starting quality and the top free agent signing for the line, Chuma Edoga, looks less than ideal at either guard or tackle.

With the exception of possibly Matt Farniok and Brock Hoffman, every non-starter on the roster looks like they’d be a significant liability if forced to play regular season snaps in 2023. Obviously, there’s still time to change that this preseason, but most will agree the early returns have been disappointing.

With news Martin has agreed to a new deal that pays him nearly $9 million more and keeps him in Dallas for the foreseeable future, those fears and concerns fly out the window.

Not to be disrespectful to the backups, but the delta between Martin and his potential replacement at RG is enormous.

The reinsertion of Martin also makes a positive impact across the line. At center, Biadasz is a good player, but he’s not a dominating force. Having two strong players next to him in Tyler Smith and Martin makes his job so much easier than if he had to babysit an overmatched replacement at RG.

Steele and Martin recently combined to form one of the most dominating run-blocking tandems in the NFL last season. Yet, the Cowboys witnessed firsthand what happens when half of that tandem goes missing (the running game fell off a cliff after Steele was injured in 2022).

Speaking of Steele, the fourth-year RT is a great run-blocker, but average to below-average as a pass protector. Having an elite pass protector like Martin next to him helps immensely. If either Farniok or Ball had to start at RG, Steele wouldn’t just be asked to handle his own business, but he’d have to help whoever was starting next to him.

The Cowboys still have the depth concerns they had before but that’s a future Cowboys problem, not a right-now Cowboys problem. The hope remains between today and kickoff in Week 1, one or two young players will have stepped up enough to where the Cowboys feel better about surviving a loss in the starting lineup.

With Martin out of the lineup, the Cowboys offensive line was a legitimate weakness and an injury away from being a disaster. With Martin back in the fold, the Cowboys are built to dominate. There’s less pressure on the backups to be something they aren’t yet and more optimism about what the offense can accomplish as a whole.

Can one player really make that much of a difference?

If that player is Martin, he sure can.

[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]