The Dallas Cowboys have perhaps the best offensive line in the entire NFL, but have a question mark at left guard.
La'El Collins held down the position last year, but he is switching to right tackle after Doug Free's retirement. Jonathan Cooper and Chaz Green are fighting for that left guard spot, and Cooper has emerged as the favorite to win the job, according to Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.
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The Cowboys drafted left tackle Tyron Smith with the ninth overall choice in 2011, center Travis Frederick 31st in 2013 and right guard Zack Martin 16th in 2014. Right tackle La’El Collins was projected as a first-round choice in 2015 but went undrafted for reasons out of his control. Jonathan Cooper, who could win the starting left guard job, was the seventh overall pick of the Cardinals in 2013.
“It’s always [good] to start over fresh,” Cooper said, via Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News. “Fortunately, there was the brief time I had last season here. No matter how long you’re in the league, I don’t think it ever gets old to go to a new team. It’s always like the first day of school. You have to learn your new people, get in your little cliques if you will and just get a routine, learn your area. So it never gets old. I guess you just adapt quicker the more years you have [in the league].”
The Cowboys moved Collins from left guard to right tackle, where Free retired after last season. Cooper has worked with the first team at left guard, making him the favorite to win the job, though he will have to beat out Green. Green, the oft-injured former third-round pick, moved from right tackle.
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Cooper signed with the Cowboys as a free agent in January and was with the team in the playoffs before re-signing in March. He had been waived by the Patriots and picked up by the Browns, where he played in five games last season - including three starts.
Prior to the 2016 season, Cooper started 11 of the 24 games he played for the Cardinals.
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