Cowboys offensive line depth chart takes another hit with Matt Farniok injury
These days, injuries seem inevitable in any given NFL game. However, for the Dallas Cowboys, the injury bug seems to be biting more often than not, especially on offense.
Even before this team temporarily lost Dak Prescott and Connor McGovern in Week 1, there were several concerns throughout the offseason about the offensive line depth and wide receiver corps because of injuries. James Washington got hurt in training camp. Michael Gallup missed games while still recovering from his ACL injury. Matt Waletzko reaggravated a shoulder injury. And just a few days before the start of the season, veteran offensive tackle Tyron Smith went down with a bad injury.
The line has surprisingly held its own since Week 1, especially when they got McGovern back. However, Week 7 brought even more injury news for the Cowboys. Not only did Jourdan Lewis suffer a season-ending injury on a very crucial interception against the Lions, but backup guard and center Matt Farniok also tore his hamstring during an extra-point kick on Sunday.
According to Dallas Morning News’ Michael Gehlken, Farniok was unable to walk off the field of his own volition and now may miss six weeks of time, likely landing him on the IR.
Cowboys backup C/G Matt Farniok suffered a torn hamstring on an extra point Sunday vs. Lions, and he could miss about six weeks, two people familiar with situation said. Farniok is expected to be placed on injured reserve with opportunity to return later in season.
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) October 24, 2022
Cowboys offensive line depth takes another blow after Matt Farniok tore his hamstring in Week 7
What started as an offensive line unit with depth concerns from the beginning is dwindling fast.
In the first three weeks of the season, the 25-year-old played a large number of offensive snaps but was reduced to just three (one offensive and two special teams) in Week 7.
This is far from the only blow to the offensive line. Rookie Matt Waletzko was placed on IR on Saturday. The fifth-round pick missed a ton of training camp due to his shoulder injury but was able to be part of practices and avoid IR until last week. Apparently, more issues occurred in last Thursday’s practice resulting in the team finally biting the bullet and having the rookie get the surgery they’d been putting off.
Now, the depth on the 53-man roster only includes Tyler Biadasz, Josh Ball, and Jason Peters. Biadasz and Ball have been subpar at best in any snaps they’ve been given (preseason or not) and Peters was supposed to be used as a part-time throw-in rather than a full-time guard.
All of this adds up to trouble for the Cowboys.
Farniok may be able to return at some point in 2022, but for now, the team will likely have to buy into the next-man-up mentality and call up one of the linemen on the practice squad. The available offensive lineman on the practice squad are tackle Isaac Alarcon, tackle Aviante Collins, center Alec Lindstrom, and tackle Dakota Shepley.
Mike McCarthy seemed to lean toward Boston College’s Lindstrom when discussing the injuries to the line:
"“We got to two young guys who have to work through that. [Center Alec Lindstrom] has done a nice job. It’s just an opportunity for the young guys.”"
While Farniok was far from a star on the offensive line, the loss doesn’t help matters at all. Hopefully, Kellen Moore can make things work with backup-level players.
