Lions sign former Cowboys starter ahead of NFC Championship
When the Dallas Cowboys released veteran center and guard Matt Farniok on the 53-man cutdown day in August, they may have been better suited holding onto him given the problems they’ve had maintaining their offensive line during the previous season.
The fact that Farniok has a shot to play in Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas in two weeks gives him the opportunity to exact some retribution.
The Detroit Lions re-signed him this week, but only to reserve a position on the practice squad.
When the Cowboys selected Farniok out of Nebraska in the seventh round of the 2021 draft, he had some promise.
He saw action on special teams and on the offensive line on a spot basis.
He played 12 games as a rookie, garnering 72 special-teams snaps, and played seven games in his second season, even earning two starts at guard and playing all three interior spots on the line during the season.
His involvement began with OTAs in May and continued with a complete committee approach to determining how the second-string lineman would develop.
At the time, Farniok stated that his objective was to “simply carry on with my work, doing it better than I did yesterday.”
To continue becoming a better football player than I was, I only need to learn from my mistakes and not make the same ones again.
Matt Farniok was defeated by TJ Bass.
Regretfully, Farniok had trouble protecting passes throughout the preseason, so the Cowboys surprised several by selecting rookie Oregonian T.J. Bass instead.
Due to injuries sustained along the line, Bass ultimately saw plenty of action, recording 204 snaps at right guard and 137 at left guard.
Bass made two starts: one in the Week 18 victory over the Commanders and the other in the Week 3 defeat to Arizona.
Though not very good (54.1 overall, 54.9 in pass blocking, and 54.2 in run blocking), his season grades at Pro Football Focus were better than those of Farniok during his stint in the rotation the previous season.
Farniok scored a 41.7 in run blocking and a 31.4 in pass blocking, for an overall grade of 39.1.
After allowing seven rushes and thirteen pressures in three weeks, he saw a decline in playing time.
Following his release in September, Farniok was signed by the Bears at first.
He spent two months with the team’s practice squad before being signed by the Lions in December and released just before the postseason began.
But he’s back on the practice squad as an emergency option in Detroit.
Unsettled: Cowboys’ Offensive Line
Naturally, the Cowboys will not view the offensive line as a glamorous position, and any developments there won’t garner the same media attention as the team’s decisions about Dak Prescott, Tony Pollard, CeeDee Lamb, and Micah Parsons’ contracts.
However, it is a unit that ended the season and needs further explanation in the future.
Tyron Smith, an offensive lineman, was the most with four missed games throughout the season.
Due to his injuries, Smith, a 33-year-old free agency, is expected to be replaced on the line;
Yet, when healthy, he is still one of the finest in the game.
Center Tyler Biadasz, who has spent four seasons with the Cowboys and is coming off of his best year, is also a free agent.
The Cowboys committed more than $80 million to Terrence Steele, who struggled after undergoing ACL surgery.
Josh Ball, who missed the season due to a hip injury, and Chuma Udoga, who is a backup, are also set to hit free agency.
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