The Cowboys offensive line looks very different these days.
The Dallas Cowboys have notably done more in free agency and through trades than they did in 2024. In the first part of this series, we covered the changes at the skill positions on offense. Now, we head into the trenches and look at what is happening along the offensive line.
Interior Offensive Line
2024 Additions: Cooper Beebe, Nathan Thomas
2024 Losses: Tyler Biadasz
2025 Additions: Robert Jones
2025 Losses: Zack Martin
At long last, a position group where it might make the most sense for the Cowboys to trust their own player development. This is also the group where the Cowboys have the best player to replace from the last two seasons combined, the recently retired Zack Martin. Football is a strange game.
The Cowboys have brought in former Kansas State offensive line coach Conor Riley to move this position group forward, reuniting him with second-year center Cooper Beebe. The third-round pick had a good season in 2024, and finished trending in a positive direction and will be looking to fully reward the team’s faith in him with a big year two jump. Given the expected influence of Klayton Adams prioritizing the Cowboys offensive line blocking out in space more, Beebe will have his hands full as the communicator of the group, but also excels in these blocking situations. The same can be said about the teammate to his left, one of the best left guards in football Tyler Smith. Smith has become everything the Cowboys expect from a lineman drafted in the first round, a plug-and-play starter you simply don’t have to worry about on a snap-to-snap basis.
The right guard hole left behind by a future Ring of Honor and Canton inductee Martin would currently be filled by one of Brock Hoffman, T.J. Bass, or the more unlikely choices of Asim Richards, Robert Jones, or Nathan Thomas. Hoffman and Bass have proved themselves as more than capable players with flexibility at multiple positions, something Dallas has historically put a high value on. Something they should be continuing to put a high value on under Schottenheimer is not allocating all of their resources into the offensive line as the only way to build on this side of the ball. Of all the things on paper that would hold this team back if they had to play a game tomorrow, not having one of the best right guards in the history of the sport doesn’t have to be one of them. Whoever starts here will benefit from elevated play by the rest of the line, where Tyler Guyton will be expected to make a year two jump, and Terence Steele will be looking to find better consistency.
Depending on just how serious the Cowboys are about being a physical ground team again, offensive line could still be a surprise position they address early in the draft, but for now this is a young group with real potential to feel good about.
Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images
Offensive Tackle
2024 Additions: Tyler Guyton
2024 Losses: Tyron Smith
2025 Additions: None
2025 Losses: Chuma Edoga
If there is a blueprint for the Cowboys replacing a Hall of Fame-caliber starting lineman, it came last offseason with the departure of Tyron Smith. The Cowboys were immediately earmarked to take a tackle in a very deep offensive line class, and did so in the first round with Tyler Guyton. The fact Guyton was not dominant from the jump speaks more to the Cowboys’ pedigree at finding plug-and-play linemen, and less about him being anything close to a bust. This is still a player with all of the tools and raw ability to be a well above average starting tackle. Penalties and consistent technique were Guyton’s biggest issues as a rookie, both things new coaches can be eager to fix right away.
Where the Cowboys have undoubtedly stepped back at tackle is with their depth, losing Chuma Edoga to the Jaguars. Bass, Richards, Thomas, and Matt Waletzko are all somewhat capable players here, but with some having the position flex to play elsewhere, it is very unclear who will even establish tackle depth for Dallas right now, and who can be trusted. The idea of being one missed block away from seeing Prescott sidelined again, and no Cooper Rush to run in off the bench, is a scary one for sure.
Luckily, the Cowboys still have ten picks in the upcoming draft. While the talk between now and then about how many starters they need to find will not die down, at some point in every draft, the focus shifts to depth. The Cowboys can find this while looking to their starting duo of Guyton and Steele to thrive in a new scheme, be helped by a passing game that gets the ball out quickly, and lean on defenses more physically in the run game compared to a year ago.
In doing this full exercise for the Cowboys offense, one thing is apparent. The Cowboys have taken the longest possible path forward, backwards, and in circles to end up at a very familiar destination on offense right now. Even with a new play-caller, new coaches at nearly every position group, and two new running backs, a lot of familiar issues for this unit appear ready to sit over this team’s head until proven otherwise. We’ve mentioned the Cowboys possible advantage in game-planning with a new scheme resetting the way opposing defenses will prepare for them, but every fan has also seen how this can fade away as a long season wears on. Who will be the bread and butter players the Cowboys can rely on to overcome this? So far in free agency and the trade market, they haven’t exactly added anyone that would go on this list. The criticism that the Cowboys activity so far in the offseason is still not nearly enough to offset inactivity last season appears more than fair, at least on offense.
The change for the team with a brand-new staff means that this is something of a rebuild. The hope is they have done a good job forming better cohesion throughout the building, identifying plus scheme fits to speed up the rebuild by having better plans on how personnel will be used.
Defensively, the Cowboys have a much more familiar face in Matt Eberflus back in the building to also change the culture, whose instantly gotten to work turning the depth chart into one that can pick up his scheme. We’ll look at the last two offseasons on defense coming up.