In 2011 the Dallas Cowboys interior offensive line left much to be desired.  Call it youth, inexperience, injuries, whatever you must; either way most Cowboys fans agree upgrading the interior offensive line is of high priority in the 2012 off-season.  With much of the Cowboys nation screaming ‘guard, guard, guard’, Carl Nicks is the hot choice to fill this slot.  Before completely breaking the bank by signing a top 10 overall free agent in Nicks, and vastly depleting the team’s much needed free agency funds on one star player, Dallas needs to explore the center angle.

Tony Romo in need

The 2012 Cowboys most pressing, feasible interior line need is an accomplished, veteran anchor leading the big eaters up front.  The center is the commander of the front five, the line general responsible for assigning blocking responsibilities and also adjusting these calls on the fly.

Any quarterback will attest a capable center is akin to a security blanket for the big man on campus.  With a solid center consistently snapping the ball to the quarterback’s gratification, it allows the offense to hum along and the QB to immediately focus on his downfield progressions.  Hauling in a grounder off his shoes or snagging an alley-oop out of the sky delays the precise process of reading the coverage and creates far more stress and urgency on the quarterback than necessary.

The true importance of the quarterback-center cohesive relationship is best described by successful veterans who have experienced and mastered the unbelievably complicated nuances of the demanding center position. (more…)