How Jason Peters will help give a massive boost to the Cowboys
Dak Prescott is used to having time, experience, and trust in his left side during his tenure as the Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback. Starting 38 games across his career with Tyron Smith protecting his blind side—that phenomenon is twofold.
The first thing is that Prescott has to be able to trust in whoever is over there in order to be his best self. Not believing in the person at left tackle could put him in even more dangerous situations or force him to make bad plays.
Being jittery can put a person closer to harm’s way than what can be considered normal circumstances. Secondly, Prescott became who he is in this league because he was able to have strong security from Smith for a long time.
Smith has been a stalwart fixture for the Cowboys at that position and among the best in the league all the while. Unfortunately, his older age also brings durability issues, with the most recent being his kee avulsion fracture. With the veteran LT out until at least December, the Cowboys needed to bring in reinforcements to a sector of their team where they could have stood to add more prior to Smith’s injury in the first place.
The Dallas Cowboys desperately needed OL help, and Jason Peters is a great addition
With Smith out, doing nothing and relying on in-house players was no longer an option. Going out and getting veteran LT Jason Peters was a great call. To be frank, they couldn’t have found a better guy to help fill that particular void than Peters. The 40-year-old has an elite track record and should be able to help maintain that trust that Prescott or Cooper Rush needs to have on that side to be able to properly do the job.
Even at his age and stage in the league, Peters was ranked among the highest in the league just last season in Chicago with a 77.5 rating from Pro Football Focus.
For clarity, let’s take a look at PFF’s highest-rated offensive tackles so far in 2022. Andrew Thomas of the New York Giants has an 89.1 and Laremy Tunsil of the Houston Texans only comes in a few points higher than Peters did last year at 81.8. It’s also worth noting that Peters was among the best offensive tackles rostered by the Bears in years.
Jason Peters' 77.5 PFF Grade in 2021 was the highest by a Bears Tackle since 2017 💪 pic.twitter.com/uI0vfCZsyz
— PFF CHI Bears (@PFF_Bears) April 7, 2022
With the Cowboys getting something out of the guys they already have there, especially rookie lineman in Tyler Smith, and with the other similarly named Cowboys anchor, Tyron Smith, still capable of potentially making a return this season, adding Peters was a colossal grab.
We don’t know if the veteran Smith will be able to return this season, but until (or if) he does, Peters should immediately slot in as the starting left tackle. Being among the most decorated at the position in the entire league, Peters certainly qualifies.
If the Cowboys use him at LT, rookie Tyler Smith should then kick over to right tackle.
From there, Dallas could potentially use Terrence Steele as a guard until Connor McGovern is back from injury. The rest of the line would have Zack Martin and Tyler Biadasz slotting in as normal.
When and if Tyron Smith returns, Peters should shift to being the swing or “in case of emergency” tackle, unless you want to really try and beef things up by trying Tyler Smith at right guard if McGovern isn’t healthy.
Opening up a plethora of what can only be positive possibilities for the offensive front, it was actually a brilliant move by the Cowboys to add the veteran. Even though it was facilitated by desperate need, it’s rare to be able to say the front office made a brilliant move these days. His track record, still near elite ability, experience, and comfort he should bring to guys like Prescott and Rush is why Peters should help out a ton.
Rush didn’t have him against the Bengals and they were still able to get the job done. Adding Peters to that bunch should do wonders in all aspects of the game only to be magnified even further with Prescott’s return.
