Another Guard Down, and the Cowboys Are Running Out of Options Up Front

Nick Leverett is the only guard on this depth chart who has logged meaningful snaps, and right now that's the entire plan for Dallas's interior offensive line heading into the opener. Matt Hennessy has been on injured reserve since mid-July. Tyler Smith went on IR last week. The line has reshuffled three times in roughly a week, and the bodies available to fill the gaps — Wanya Morris, T.J. Bass — carry no production from last season to lean on.

The timing is about as bad as it gets. Dak Prescott threw for over 4,500 yards last season behind a line that was at least intact. Javonte Williams ran for over 1,200 yards with room to work. Neither of those outcomes is guaranteed when the interior is being assembled from whoever's still standing. Protection breakdowns don't just affect the passing game — they compress the run lanes that made Williams effective and force Prescott into quicker decisions than he'd prefer.

I've written twice now about this line deteriorating, and the honest answer is that nothing has changed except the situation getting worse. The Cowboys don't have a depth solution sitting in the building that the grounding suggests is ready. What they have is a starting week opener, a quarterback they need healthy, and a guard room that has been thinned by injury to the point where the margin for error is essentially gone before a game has been played.