Injuries are a reality that every single NFL team has to deal with. Any team that wants to sustain their winning knows they will have to do it with depth, because no team stays fully healthy for a full season.
That being said, you can clearly see how certain injuries will be more impactful than others. Depth always helps, but there are always going to be players with an irreplaceable impact, and there are not many teams in the league who can afford those kind of loses.
For the Dallas Cowboys, they are not in a position where they can handle a significant injury, and with Travis Frederick being diagnosed with a rare auto immune disease, it might be too difficult for them to have the bounce back season fans are expecting right now.
For the Cowboys, everything they want to do is centered around that offensive line. It is, by far, the best unit on this team and is the one edge they can have on every single team. When you put Ezekiel Elliot behind that kind of line, you can have an opportunity to win any game.
One thing that makes this Cowboys offensive line so great is how deep they are. There are no weaknesses, and if there is any team equipped to make up for a missing starter on the line, it is the Cowboys.
The problem, however, is that the Cowboys need more than a great offensive line. They need to have the most dominant and trusted unit, and no matter how much other talent they have, they will not be able to dominate the same way without Frederick.
By any kind of standard, Frederick is truly elite. He has been arguably the best player at his position since he entered the league, and the Cowboys have paid him that way. You cannot hope to have any player replace what he is going to do, and the Cowboys cannot afford to take a step back in the one area they have to be the strongest.
The consistency and reliability Frederick brings anchors everything this offense tries to do, and his athleticism makes sure he is always up field making sure Elliot gets as much space as possible while extending plays.
With Frederick, the Cowboys never have to worry, and even if they still can have the best offensive line in football without him, it will never be the same, and the Cowboys will not be able to make that up in any other area.
The offensive line and running game is supposed to be the aspect of this team that makes up for everything else. When the defense is struggling and the passing game is not functioning properly, the Cowboys need Elliot and that offensive line to grind things out.
Unfortunately, there is nothing in place to make up for what might be lost on the offensive line, and everything the Cowboys want to do is going to get a lot harder.
This is not the absolute end of everything for the Cowboys, but you cannot understate the significance. Frederick is arguably the most important player on the most important unit on the team, and the top play makers on the team will not be able to have the same kind of impact without him. It may only be one player, but everyone on the team will feel the loss of a player like Frederick.
The Cowboys know they still have the talent to make things work, but if this prevents them from establishing their identity as the most dominant team in the trenches in the NFL, then things will break down again just like they did last season. If that happens, the Cowboys will be forced to evaluate a lot of things and make difficult decisions that may have been avoided with their most steady force still in the lineup.
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