One week before the draft, the Cowboys’ past returned.
Five-time Pro Bowl center Travis Frederick attended a fundraising event in The Colony for the Blocking Hunger Foundation, a local non-profit organization he founded in 2017 to assist food-insecure children in the region. Sporting his familiar beard and broad frame, Frederick mingled with the likes of running back Ezekiel Elliott, right guard Zack Martin and quarterback Dak Prescott.
Just like old times.
Except, he knows, those times are gone.
“I’m really at peace with where I am,” Frederick, 31, said of his 2020 retirement. “I’m really excited to be at home with family. We have been able to move back up north [in Wisconsin] closer to where my family is and my wife’s family is. Also, I’ve been able to move on and try some different things. It’s been a lot of fun and very exciting for me.”
Frederick is moving forward. So are the Cowboys. During the draft, they took the latest steps to invest in their offensive line, beginning with the first-round selection of left guard/tackle Tyler Smith. The position group’s preset and future now hinge on the development of these young players in place.
A couple greats can guide the way.
Left tackle Tyron Smith and Martin, both 31, are the franchise’s only active offensive linemen who are at least 25 years old and have started multiple NFL games.
Undrafted rookie center and BYU alumnus James Empey begins his NFL career at age 25 after two years spent in Lisbon, Portugal, on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Offensive tackle Aviante Collins, 29, has one career start. Neither is considered a favorite to make the 53-man roster.
Aside from that pair, Tyron Smith and Martin are the only non-coaches in the room born before 1997.
Coach Mike McCarthy called it an “awesome” dynamic of youth learning from experience. Smith and Martin have combined for 15 Pro Bowls and were on the 2010s NFL All-Decade team.
“That’s what you want as a coach, and we’re very fortunate to have those veteran players,” McCarthy said. “I think just as a whole with our locker room — I spent some time with the leadership council [last] week on a couple things that deal with the offseason program. This is a very strong locker room, especially the offensive linemen.”
The Cowboys have introduced a steady influx of talent at the position.
It would be unrealistic to expect every young player to develop into a long-standing team contributor. The Cowboys just need enough of them to do so.
Guards Connor Williams and Connor McGovern were second- and third-round picks in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Williams made 51 starts but didn’t do enough to earn a second contract here, signing with the Miami Dolphins in March instead. Pectoral issues and the COVID-19 pandemic limited McGovern’s offseason reps in his first two years. Last season, while offering punch at fullback, he failed to seize upon a trial in the starting lineup. McGovern is entering the final season of his rookie contract.
In 2020, center Tyler Biadasz was drafted in the fourth round, and right tackle Terence Steele signed as an undrafted rookie from Texas Tech. Both are slated to start this season; Steele made enough of a jump between his first and second year for the Cowboys to release La’el Collins in March.
Dallas drafted tackle Josh Ball and center/guard Matt Farniok in 2021. Ball suffered a high-ankle sprain in training camp and has yet to see preseason or regular-season action. Farniok played 23 offensive snaps in the regular season, 12 at right guard and 11 at center. Ball will enter organized team activities (OTAs) as the backup right tackle behind Steele. Farniok will push at reserve center and guard.
Last month, the Cowboys drafted not only Tyler Smith in the first round but tackle Matt Waletzko in the fifth. Tyler Smith’s developmental upside is respected across the NFL. The rookie will have every opportunity to earn the starting job at left guard while also practicing some at left tackle. He is hoped to be the long-term successor there to Tyron.
Depending on what Tyler Smith can handle, he could slide to tackle for games this season should Tyron Smith be unavailable. Tyron has missed at least three games, mostly because of injuries, in each of the past six years.
“Whether it be hands or feet, I want to improve upon everything, even the things that I perceive to do well,” Tyler Smith said. “If you stop in the relentless pursuit of getting better, you’re going to stall out. You’re going to stagnate. I’m competing with dudes who are probably in high school right now. I’m competing with dudes who are in the league right now who are All-Pros.
“I know what it’s going to take to do that. I know the groundwork it’s going to take. I have wonderful vets in this building: Tyron Smith, Zack Martin, Terence Steele. Those guys, that’s a wellspring of knowledge for me to learn from, so I’m definitely going to do that and continue to improve my game, for sure.”
Biadasz and Frederick were never teammates at Wisconsin or on the Cowboys.
But by sharing an alma mater and position, plus Dallas drafting Biadasz just weeks after Frederick retired, the two are naturally linked.
Biadasz was a freshman and first-time center when he met Frederick, as the latter spoke to Badgers offensive linemen leading up to the Cotton Bowl. Their college coach, Joe Rudolph, often showed players Frederick’s old film from Wisconsin and his work in the NFL. The linemen share an agent, Joe Panos.
That said, Biadasz is finding his own way.
On the field, he made strides and gained confidence over the course of last season. Off of it, after feeding the hungry as a college volunteer, Biadasz accepted Frederick’s offer to become a Blocking Hunger board member. A food pantry in Biadasz’s name is expected be launched this year.
Biadasz said he remembers Frederick being “super excited” when the Cowboys drafted him in 2020.
“Very happy for me and all of that,” Biadasz said. “But at the same time, I can only control what I can control. I know I’m going to put my best foot forward. Will it look like him? Everything is going to be a little bit different, but I know I’m going to do the absolute best that I can.
“At the end of the day, you can’t control what fans say. You can’t control what the media says. You can’t control all of that. You can control the narrative in your head.”
Frederick is not coming back. Those old times are gone.
The Cowboys hope the future is here.
