It was poignantly clear during the Dallas Cowboys' preseason opener against the Seattle Seahawks that their offensive line is paper-thin. Outside of T.J. Bass, the depth leaves a lot to be desired. Some questions are even starting to be asked about one of the unit's starters: Right tackle Terence Steele.
Steele is an entrenched starter for this Cowboys team, so much so that he didn't even play against Seattle. And it's not like his backups played particularly well or anything, but Dallas' choice to play Drew Shelton at left tackle and Nate Thomas at right tackle with the 2s this week sparked debate.
To add fuel to this fire, both head coach Brian Schottenheimer and offensive coordinator Klayton Adams made comments this week about Steele needing to be more consistent. But if you really dive into what they said and look at the situation, this isn't an indictment of Steele, nor is his job on the line.
There is truth to what the coaches are saying, but his position isn't in jeopardy.
Cowboys' Terence Steele concerns aren't the indictment fans may think
Let's take a step back for a second.
Shelton struggled tremendously in his preseason debut on the right side, and outside of a penalty, Thomas actually fared alright at left tackle, all things considered. It is quite clear that Thomas is the third-best offensive tackle on this team, and Dallas needs a guy who can play on both sides.
What if someone gets hurt? What if Tyler Guyton struggles again and the team doesn't want to slide Tyler Smith back out to offensive tackle? That is at the core of the Cowboys' decision to flip-flop Shelton and Thomas.
Dallas wants to see how Thomas, a pigeonholed left tackle, plays on the right. They want to see how Shelton, who hasn't played on the right side since his 2023 college season, plays on the left. Schottenheimer even said so.
"These guys have to be able to swing," Schottenheimer said. "We want to give Nate a chance to work over there at right tackle. ... And we want to see Drew Shelton
It's the other part of what Schottenheimer said that sounded the alarms.
"T Steele's got to play a little bit more consistent. He has had a couple days where he's been -- a little bit -- dropping his pads and getting edged a little bit. He needs to be better."
Klayton Adams echoed that sentiment.
“I would say it's been up and down," Adams said of Steele's play. "He and I had a good conversation about that this morning of how we continue to try to find consistency. He’s a guy that’s going into year seven, and he’s never going to ask for a day off, is never going to ask for a break. We’re just searching for ways to help him, and help him play at his best and most consistent.”
Pardon me for saying this, but... DUH!
Terence Steele's inconsistencies are nothing new for Cowboys fans
Steele being inconsistent isn't really anything new for Cowboys fans to be digesting. While he's always been a very good run blocker, Steele has his issues in pass protection and gets a bit out over his skis at times with committing penalties. Schottenheimer and Adams didn't need to tell us this.
And the messaging is much different here than it was for Guyton earlier in the offseason, when they really made it sound like Guyton's job was on the line and that he was in a battle. But Schottenheimer could not have been clearer that that's not what this is.
Does Steele need to be more consistent? Absolutely. Do the Cowboys need to figure out which backup tackle fits in better at which spot? Again, absolutely. But these two missions exist on different planes, as far as I'm concerned. Calling Steele inconsistent isn't an indictment of his job security.
Dallas is actually taking the bull by the horns here and getting out ahead of a potential issue down the line. Nothing is imminent. For as elite as their interior offensive line is, fans and those in the building are begging the tackles to hold up their end of the deal.
If they don't, the Cowboys will be glad that they tried out Shelton and Thomas on both sides. If they do, then they'll be glad that they publicly challenged both Guyton and Steele to be better this offseason. Nothing to see here.
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