Guarded Optimism: Will Cowboys Find Offensive Line Help in NFL Draft?

Dallas has holes on the offensive line, but is the draft deep enough to address them all?

FRISCO - In an offseason when the  Dallas Cowboys have more holes to fill than draft picks, they have been suspiciously quiet when it comes to free agency.

Dallas has lost more players than it has gained along the offensive line, and that creates a problem. Especially when you consider the underwhelming Connor McGovern is the team's only real option at left guard. 

Former Cowboys guard Connor Williams

Former Cowboys guard La'el Collins

USA Today

Connor McGovern

Gone is La'el Collins, signing with the Cincinnati Bengals after being cut by the Cowboys in a salary cap move. Gone is Connor Williams, who signed with the Miami Dolphins as a free agent.

That leaves the left guard position as maybe the biggest need for Dallas to fill in the NFL Draft. Dallas picks No. 24 in the first round, but the team hasn't indicated which direction it might go. Some think the Cowboys brass might go wide receiver with its first pick, but at this point in the offseason, trying to figure out what the Cowboys will do is an impossible guessing game.

With the top two guards in the draft, Texas A&M's Kenyon Green and Boston College's Zion Johnson, likely being gone by No. 24, Dallas will have to find help deeper in the draft.

And help might be there.

If you're looking for raw talent, look no further than LSU's Ed Ingram. It's tough to judge his draft stock based on his 2018 suspension stemming from aggravated sexual assault charges that were later dismissed. He returned the next season to help LSU win a national championship.

Some of the things scouts like about Ingram are the way he uses his 6-3, 307-pound frame to his advantage and his ability to both pass protected and run block. He still needs to work to improve his hand work and he has a tendency to over-pursue, causing him to miss blocks on occasion.

Oklahoma's Marquis Hayes is another consideration for Dallas in the later rounds. The 6-4, 318-pounder is being called a "sleeper" by some draft experts and should go on Day 2. He started for the Sooners for three seasons at guard. Scouts call his hands "strong and active" and consider him a strong finisher.

The same scouts think he needs to improve his footwork and reduce his penalties.

LSU's Ed Ingram

Oklahoma's Marquis Hayes

UCLA's Sean Rhyan

Sean Rhyan, the 6-4, 321-pound guard from UCLA is a probable third-rounder who made the transition from rugby to football in high school. Rhyan showed improvement each season at UCLA and his experience in college should make him a quality guard on Sundays.

Draft experts are saying he needs to improve his footwork and hand placement, and is a little too quick off the ball sometimes, causing false start penalties.

Dallas has a huge hole to fill at left guard, and unless it can pull off some miracle pre-draft or draft-day trade, it will enter 2022 young at that position. But there are options.