Tag: Zack Martin

Cowboys battling numerous injuries ahead of Week 12 vs. Commanders

The Cowboys are dealing with several injuries ahead of Week 12, especially on the offensive line.

It’s been a difficult season for the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas has lost five consecutive games entering their Week 12 matchup against the Washington Commanders, and the injuries have started to pile up.

In addition to losing quarterback Dak Prescott for the season after eight games, the Cowboys have gone without top pass-rushers Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence for a combined 10 games this season.

During Monday’s loss to the Houston Texans, the Cowboys lost five more starters throughout the game, including future Hall of Fame guard Zack Martin.

Martin (ankle), tight end Jake Ferguson (concussion), left tackle Tyler Guyton (shoulder), guard Tyler Smith (ankle) and safety Markquese Bell (shoulder) all left Monday’s game and did not return. With a short week, it will be interesting to see how many Cowboys can play against the Commanders.

With a backup quarterback and three ailing starters on the offensive line, the Cowboys could be in trouble against a Washington defense that has played well lately.

Dallas will reveal its first injury report for Week 12 on Wednesday.

Cowboys 9x All-Pro predicted to cut ties with Dallas, join Bears

A look at a likely suitor for Zack Martin if he hits free agency in 2025.

The Dallas Cowboys’ season is spiraling to an inglorious finish. Losers of four consecutive games, Dallas has two top teams coming up on their pre-Thanksgiving schedule. The Houston Texans travel up the highway this Sunday and already are installed as over a touchdown favorites. Behind them is Dan Quinn’s new look Washington Commanders in a road contest.

3-8 could easily be staring the team in the face and that doesn’t bode well for Mike McCarthy and his lame-duck staff. What’s even worse is the lost season could end the 11-year career of nine-time All-Pro Zack Martin.

A surefire Hall of Famer, Martin has spent his entire career in Dallas, but he’s going to hit unrestricted free agency in March; and that’s if he doesn’t retire. Martin’s hinted at it, but that could be a level of frustration with having spent two years in Mike Solari’s failed blocking system. A fresh start could be intriguing and that’s where the latest bold prediction comes in.

Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report recently took a look at where the top free agents could land in 2025, and Knox identified two potential suitors for Martin; the Chicago Bears and the Los Angeles Chargers.

The Bears should have a ton of interest in Martin, as their inconsistent offensive line has been a massive challenge this season. Assuming Chicago can re-sign Teven Jenkins, adding Martin would give Chicago a top-tier guard tandem to block for Caleb Williams.

The Chargers may also want to consider Martin as an upgrade over Trey Pipkins III at right guard. Los Angeles has a terrific pair of tackles in Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt, but the interior line leaves something to be desired.

Knox ranked Martin as the 13th-highest rated free agent for 2025.

Cowboys’ All-Pro OL misses second straight day of practice with injury

From @ToddBrock24f7: Zack Martin was questionable in Week 9. His shoulder and “a couple things” sidelined him Wednesday and Thursday leading into Week 10.

Cowboys guard Zack Martin missed practice on Thursday, marking the second straight DNP day for the nine-time Pro Bowler and perhaps putting his status for this Sunday’s matchup with the Eagles in question.

According to ESPN’s Todd Archer, Martin was not working with the team during the portion of practice that was open to media members.

The 33-year-old has frequently been given Wednesdays off as a veteran’s rest day, but there looks to be more going on with the right guard this week. Earlier in the day, when asked about Martin’s overall performance this season, Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said that the seven-time first-team All-Pro “has had a couple things he’s been dealing with.”

A shoulder injury had Martin limited for portions of last week. He was listed as questionable for the Week 9 game in Atlanta, but went on to play every offensive snap in the 27-21 loss. So far this season, the Notre Dame product- in the final year of his contract- has played 519 out of 553 offensive snaps, fourth-most on the team.

It’s been a down year, at least by Martin’s usual measure. PFF currently has him ranked 41st among the NFL’s guards with an overall grade of 64.6. His 64.2 pass-block grade puts him in 38th place, while his run-block grade of 60.2 drops him all the way out of the top 50.

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Offensive line play across the board has been spotty this year in Dallas, sharing at least some of the blame for a woeful 82 rushing yards-per-game average that has the team ranked next to last and allowing nearly three sacks per game.

Friday will likely be an important day to determining Martin’s readiness for Week 10 versus Philadelphia. Second-year lineman T.J. Bass is listed on the Cowboys’ official depth chart as Martin’s backup.

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Cowboys predicted to replace 9-time Pro Bowler with this AFC veteran

The Cowboys front office needs to begin thinking about the future at several positions, including RG where Zack Martin could retire or leave the org. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys season is not going the way they planned, but the way many predicted. Sitting at 3-5 through what used to be the midpoint of the season, things are looking bleak considering the schedule they will face. Dallas is now without quarterback Dak Prescott for the foreseeable future, and the foreseeable future has them taking on the 6-2 Philadelphia Eagles, 6-3 Houston Texans and 7-2 Washington Commanders over the next three weeks.

So fans who were already disgruntled are becoming apathetic towards the 2024 season and have already started looking ahead. That vision probably needs to include an offensive line without staple Zack Martin, who is a 2025 unrestricted free agent and has already hinted at retirement this past offseason. Recently Bleacher Report tried to predict who could take Martin’s place, and they landed on current Miami Dolphins starter Robert Jones.

While it will be almost impossible to fill a future Hall of Famer’s shoes, the organization should at least be looking into this year’s free-agent class at guard. Jones is a decent option as he’s been solid so far this season, posting a 64.9 grade from Pro Football Focus and allowing just seven pressures heading into this past weekend.

Jones was an undrafted free agent from the 2021 draft class out of Middle Tennessee. He’s 6-foot-4 and weighs 321 pounds. Dallas has a handful of internal candidates as well, most notably T.J. Bass, a 2023 undrafted free agent out of Oregon.

The Cowboys have nine games remaining in their season to see if any additional options emerge.

Could Sunday be this 9-time Pro Bowler’s last in Cowboys uniform as trade deadline approaches?

Trading Zack Martin won’t even save the club $1 million on the cap, but could still be the move by Tuesday.

The Dallas Cowboys may soon be in a position to throw in the towel. There are certainly reinforcements coming, but the injuries have hardly been the only issue with the way the 2024 season has unfolded. A lame-duck approach to the coaching staff that spent the offseason trying to convince their roster to go all out despite star-player contract controversies of various magnitude had a negative impact.

And now sitting at 3-4 and traveling to the NFC South leading Atlanta Falcons for an early kickoff, things could be very dire in very short order. The question would then become, would Dallas become sellers at the trade deadline? And if so, would they offload Zack Martin?

Martin is in the final year of his contract, making just under $100,000 a week in salary after he had his base converted to a bonus to spread cap hit off into the future. The nine-time Pro Bowler and seven-time First-Team All-Pro guard has been underwhelming this season and it’s hard to tell which factor is most prevalent in his decline.

Martin is playing next to right tackle Terence Steele who is offering zero in pass protection, and also next to rookie center Cooper Beebe. At 33, decline is inevitable for someone who many consider a first-ballot Hall of Fame candidate, and his offensive line coach of the last two seasons, Mike Solari, does not seem to have his finger on the pulse of how to deploy his troops in the best way.

Any and all of those factors are at play, but the underlying point is Martin is set to hit free agency, and other than nostalgia, there’s zero reason for the Cowboys to not explore getting draft compensation from a team in the hunt and in need.

Where are Cowboys leaders that will save the 2024 season? Do they exist?

The Dallas Cowboys are at a crossroads. Sitting with a record of 3-3, the idea the season is already a lost cause shouldn’t be realistic. Yet based on the club’s performances in their three home games to date, there’s a ton of ingredients missing …

The Dallas Cowboys are at a crossroads. Sitting with a record of 3-3, the idea the season is already a lost cause shouldn’t be realistic. Yet based on the club’s performances in their three home games to date, there’s a ton of ingredients missing from a team that has the requisite star power to be championship contenders.

Despite never dipping into free agency in a realistic way, the Cowboys have assembled some of the best talent in the NFL. The roster might be top heavy, but that top is certainly on par with what other teams can boast. Dallas has a myriad of All-Pro and Pro Bowl players, all deserving of their accolades, yet they’re being blown out on a regular basis. Why? The question might come down to leadership.

Teams with lame duck coaches, like the Cowboys have in Mike McCarthy, are not destined for doom. The Cowboys themselves thrived under a lame-duck Jason Garrett in 2014, tying for the NFL’s best record that season. They also floundered the next time they entered the fray with a coach at the crossroads, in 2019 again with Garrett. And now with McCarthy and his entire staff on the final year’s of their deals, the situation has arisen yet again.

And thus far, it does not look like the team has the necessary leadership in the locker room to overcome their current difficulties.

NFL seasons are funny things. History is littered with both underachievers and overachievers, and the common denominator is often whether or not the team is putting in the work necessary to maximize the talents of all 70 players on the roster and practice squad. Is the work being done in between games enough to elicit top performances on Sundays?

So far the answer has been a resounding no when it comes to the 3-3 Cowboys.

There’s plenty of blame to go around.

It starts at the top of the organization, where Jerry Jones’ all-in decree early in the offseason certainly soured his roster, who were looking for their organization to show confidence by investing in filling weaknesses with proven NFL talent.

It continues to the coaching staff, who Jones gambled would go above and beyond in order to convince him they deserved to stay in what he considers the coup de grace of NFL franchises. Instead, they returned with lackluster offensive and defensive schemes and a failure to inspire top performances from the roster.

And it ends with said roster. A team watched the organization spend the entire summer allowing contract disputes with their top three stars, not give a vote of confidence to the coaching staff, and then internalized that lack of belief and are giving out some of their worst on-field performances in some time.

Dak Prescott’s completion percentage is six points lower than 2023 and has thrown for the lowest amount of TDs through six games since his rookie season. The passing offense is in disarray and the team hasn’t scored over 20 points in three weeks.

Zack Martin is a shell of himself after admitting to contemplating retirement last season, for the first time ever he’s not among the best linemen in the league and he’s unable to lead a young offensive line to any semblance of continuity.

Ezekiel Elliott was brought back to be a locker room leader despite diminshing rushing performances each of the last four years, but that doesn’t seem to have had any tangible impact.

CeeDee Lamb couldn’t lead the young wideouts over the offseason because Jones refused to pay him market value until mid-August, and he’s certainly not played the role of a leader with his in-season pouting, bad body language and inconsistent route-running.

On defense, Micah Parsons chose to make his contract a thing, sitting out the spring despite having two years left, and is suffering the worst of his four-year career seasons thus far.

Linebacker Eric Kendricks was brought in to teach Mike Zimmer’s defense and seems to have had a positive impact on the youth in that group, but as has been said many times on these pages, linebackers don’t matter unless the defensive line is a strength. The Cowboys interior DL is abhorrent.

In the secondary, Zimmer’s difficult-to-learn scheme has led to down years from virtually everyone, with veterans Trevon Diggs and Malik Hooker unable to inspire confidence as they struggle in their own rights.

It’s all led to a lackluster season where it’s difficult to even identify a top 30 ranking at this point.

Where are the leaders of this Dallas Cowboys’ season and will they step up and get things in order over the bye week?

PFF: Cowboys have 2 of NFL’s top positional tandems

From @ToddBrock24f7: Tyler Smith and Zack Martin were named the top guard duo in the NFL; Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence beat out stiff competition at EDGE.

Batman and Robin. Peanut butter and jelly. Jack Black and… the other guy in Tenacious D.

A truly formidable duo is more than just the sum of two impressive parts. And that maxim is perhaps even more true on the football field than anywhere else. Sure, a superstar player- at any position- can cause the opponent to dramatically alter its gameplan to try to contain the threat, but when there’s an equally lethal weapon at the same position also on the field, it can leave even the best team in a mad scramble.

More than just a big roundhouse punch, a dangerous duo provides a two-fisted attack that offers no break, no respite, no easy way out.

PFF has named its top tandems at several key positions heading into the 2024 regular season, and the Cowboys have a premier pairing on both sides of the ball.

Tyler Smith and Zack Martin were selected as the league’s top offensive guard combo. Martin’s nine Pro Bowls and seven first-team All-Pro nods make him an obvious nominee, but Smith’s inclusion here is made even more impressive by the fact that he was drafted to be the Cowboys’ left tackle of the future and played there for his first pro season (earning PFWA All-Rookie honors) before finally switching to guard in 2023 (and making the second-team All-Pro in the process).

In fact, Smith has been so good at guard that Dallas abandoned their Tyler-Smith-for-Tyron-Smith succession plan and just drafted someone else to play outside instead.

As PFF’s Gordon McGuinness notes of the Cowboys’ twin guards:

“Martin over the past two seasons hasn’t been at his previous level of earning 90.0-plus PFF grades, but he has still been one of the top pass-blockers at the position. His 75.1 PFF pass-blocking grade in 2023 ranked 10th after he allowed just 24 quarterback pressures from 655 pass-blocking snaps.

“Left guard Tyler Smith is ascending, coming off a season in which he ranked eighth among guards in PFF run-blocking grade (80.7).”

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Defensively, the Cowboys’ twosome of Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence was named the best edge rushing partnership in the league, beating out the Browns’ Myles Garrett and Za’Darius Smith and the Steelers’ T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith.

Per McGuinness:

“Parsons earned a 93.7 PFF pass-rushing grade in 2023, racking up 106 quarterback pressures from 532 pass-blocking snaps. Opposite him, Lawrence posted a 79.3 PFF pass-rushing grade and was a phenomenal run defender, trailing only Maxx Crosby in PFF run-defense grade (92.2).”

Parsons has been an absolute wrecking ball since entering the league in 2021, winning Defensive Rookie of the Year accolades that season and being a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year in every season so far. But since he was moved full-time (more or less) from linebacker to edge rusher, he’s breathed new life into DeMarcus Lawrence’s career, too.

Lawrence was already an eight-year veteran when Parsons took his first snap as a Cowboy. Though he ended up missing most of Parsons’s rookie year with a foot injury, he found when he returned that opposing offenses were having to double-team Parsons, giving him new opportunities to hunt. In his first full campaign as No. 11’s bookend, Lawrence notched a career high in solo tackles and enjoyed his first career scoop-and-score, thanks in large part to the extra attention that Parsons demands on every play. And it’s perhaps no coincidence that Lawrence has made just as many Pro Bowls since Parsons’s arrival as he had prior.

Whether it’s Smith and Martin on offense or Parsons and Lawrence on defense, the Cowboys are blessed to have a pair of dynamic duos that do what any terrific tandem should.

Two great players that play great together.

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Succession: Cowboys don’t have to fear Zack Martin’s looming retirement

This may be the last season for Zack Martin in Dallas, but the Cowboys are prepared to survive the loss. | From @ReidDHanson

When Zack Martin suggested retirement would be a distinct possibility after the upcoming season, it caught some Cowboys fans off guard. For 10 years the Notre Dame product has been the gold standard at the guard position for Dallas and throughout the league. The thought of 2024 being his last season in the NFL is enough to make any football fan melancholy.

Martin is a seven-time First-Team All-Pro; he’s considered a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame and Ring of Honor and destined to go down as one of the greatest ever to play the game; regardless of team, regardless of position. When he eventually retires, his loss on the Cowboys will be felt. It’s unavoidable but doesn’t have to be as detrimental as retirements of yesteryear.

The Cowboys have felt the pain from sudden retirements before. When injuries pushed Troy Aikman out of the game, Dallas had no one lined up to replace him. When a neck-spine issue forced Michael Irvin to hang up the spikes, the Cowboys were not in position to replace him. Even recently when Travis Frederick suddenly retired, the Cowboys found themselves ill-prepared to replace the perennial All-Pro at center. But when Martin decides to call it quits, be it this year or later down the road, the Cowboys should find themselves in decent position to move forward.

The Cowboys have made their offensive line a priority as of late. They recently used two of their top three picks in the draft to address the position group and still have a handful of promising young prospects developing on the roster.

One prospect in particular, T.J. Bass, projects as a starting quality interior lineman ready to make the leap into the starting ranks. Bass impressed in limited action in 2023 and appears to have all the tools to be a plus-level OG in the NFL. As an undrafted free agent, he comes with a far more modest ceiling than Martin, but he’s shown enough to instill confidence Dallas could survive a sudden retirement from Martin.

The timing of Martin’s looming departure is also somewhat fortuitous for the Cowboys. His exit wouldn’t disrupt a fine-tuned cohesive unit because the offensive line is in a state of flux these days. Someone like Martin would be welcomed on any offensive line but if he has to walk away, now is a good time since the Cowboys are undergoing a regime change up front.

The unit as a whole is going through a pretty clear personnel churn. There are a number of possible outcomes that could unfold, and it could prove beneficial for Dallas if they don’t have to commit to a blueprint right here and right now. It also suggests Bass won’t be wasting away on the bench while Martin finishes up his career.

Tyron Smith and Tyler Biadasz have both left and Dallas hopes to install Tyler Guyton and Cooper Beebe in their place. If things go according to plan, Tyler Smith will then stay at left guard and Bass would be a reserve free to slide into Martin’s spot at RG whenever the day should arise.

If Beebe should struggle, Bass or Brock Hoffman could be the possible fix at center for the 2024 season. At that point the Cowboys will be happy they have Bass waiting in the wings and free to float. If Guyton struggles early, Tyler Smith can slide over to left tackle, paving the way for Bass at left guard. Again, the Cowboys will consider themselves lucky to have someone like Bass standing by.

Losing someone of Martin’s caliber is never a good thing, but the timing and the preparation all make this an ideal time for the unavoidable to happen. The fact it’s not happening immediately is also important because it allows the Cowboys to adjust to the changing circumstances up front and keep their top reserve, Bass, available to fill in where needs dictate.

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Commanders coach Dan Quinn has a special nickname for C Tyler Biadasz

Quinn has the ultimate nickname for center Tyler Biadasz.

Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn knows center Tyler Biadasz well. Quinn was the Cowboys defensive coordinator for the past three seasons while Biadasz started at center.

If anyone knew Biadasz’s strengths and weaknesses, it was Quinn. He saw him every day in practice. Quinn and general manager Adam Peters knew Washington needed a center this offseason. There were multiple options in free agency and the draft, but Quinn didn’t want to wait, striking a deal with Biadasz in the early moments of free agency.

With young quarterback Jayden Daniels, Biadasz has suddenly become one of Washington’s more important players. That’s one of the reasons Quinn trusted Biadasz to bring him to Washington.

Before Wednesday’s OTA practice, Quinn was asked about Biadasz so far. You’ll love his response.

“Yeah, I think having badass here working with him for three years, I knew, not only the ballplayer but the person under the helmet, I knew what was behind the ribcage for him,” Quinn said.

Did you notice the nickname?

“The toughness. I saw him with a bad ankle playing. I knew how tough this guy was, and what an important teammate he was. And for him to be around guys like Zack Martin and Tyron Smith who had incredible standards, guys like Nick Allegretti and Tyler to join into here, it’s fun to see new leaders emerge into different spots. And I think we’re seeing that with Tyler.”

Now we know why Quinn badly wanted Biadasz to be his center. You don’t get a nickname like that without having the respect of your coach.

Cowboys finally have OL depth, just as starting lineup becomes shaky

The Cowboys offensive line is strong in depth but unproven and suspect in the starting ranks, says @ReidDHanson.

For the first time in a long time the Cowboys have depth throughout the offensive line ranks. T.J. Bass at guard, Brock Hoffman at center and offensive tackles Matt Waletzko and Asim Richards give Dallas solid depth options at every position across the line.

It’s a luxury the Cowboys haven’t enjoyed in recent seasons. Over the past few years, the Cowboys have been struggling to put a starting unit together. In 2024 they have the starters and backups seemingly in place.

Obviously positions still need to be earned before names on the depth chart are written in ink, but the intensions are clear: Tyler Guyton was drafted in the first round and fully expected to open the season at the starting left tackle. Cooper Beebe was drafted in the third round and considered by many to be the front-runner at OC. Tyler Smith, Zack Martin and Terence Steele are virtual locks at their respective starting spots as well. The stage is set.

But for as good as the depth appears and for as clear as the Cowboys’ intensions are, the starting ranks are fairly suspect this season. That’s because the expected starters are largely unproven and or coming off down seasons.

The rookie Guyton is moving from the right to the left. He has plenty of time to make the transition, but the move can’t be completely disregarded. There’s also the fact he enters the NFL as a bit of a raw prospect. Guyton is more potential than plug-and-play so growing pains are expected. He’s not as polished as his draft status indicates so he comes with a considerable amount of risk.

Similarly, the rookie Beebe is switching positions as well. Moving from OG to OC is no small transition and while Beebe’s work ethic and intelligence indicate he’s up to the task, he’s still unproven.

Steele is coming off an extremely down season. He never regained form after his 2022 knee injury and is essentially playing for his job in 2024. He rated as one of the league’s worst pass protectors in 2023 and his run blocking was doing little to compensate for it. He’s a safe bet to start but there’s no telling how well he’ll play.

Even Zack Martin is coming off his own down season. He still ranked as a top-10 OG in 2023, but it was a noticeable drop from his previous standard. Maybe it was all due to nagging injuries. Maybe it was a sign of things to come for a player turning 34 this season who held out for financial guarantees last offseason.

The depth on the roster indicates the Cowboys are well positioned to cover any injury to the starting ranks. An injury wouldn’t be ideal but it’s not the kiss of death it has been in the past. Unfortunately, the starters aren’t quite the same standard of stability either. 2024 is a transition year for the Cowboys offensive line and a case can be made Dallas is taking a step back to develop in 2024 so they can take a step forward in the long run.

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