Not familiar but why not at this point?
Saw they picked up the Goodley kid out of Baylor. He's an undersized WR at 5'10, but built like a RB at nearly 220. Interesting kid
Hopefully one of those WRs has the speed to be a decent kick returner and special teams stand out.
La'el Collins agrees to 3-year, fully guaranteed deal with Cowboys
By Jared Dubin | NFL Writer
La'el Collins is now a Dallas Cowboy. (Getty Images)
The Dallas Cowboys have signed undrafted free agent offensive lineman La'el Collins. Collins' contract with the Cowboys is a three-year deal and is fully guaranteed. According to our Jason La Canfora, "With performance pool play -- based on playing time -- Collins could earn $400,000 more per season as well and, including a likely high RFA tender in 2018, his compensation over four years as an undrafted player could still be higher than anyone picked in the second round."
On Thursday, Collins' former college coach, Les Miles, said of Collins' possible NFL future, “What I would like to see is a guy -- who's really performed well for our team and has given us great leadership who has continued to raise his market level heading toward draft day -- be given just and fair market value." With a three-year, fully-guaranteed deal, it appears that's exactly what happened.
Collins was expected to be a first0round pick in last week's 2015 NFL Draft, but the shooting death of his pregnant ex-girlfriend Brittney Mills -- and the fact that police in Louisiana wanted to question Collins in relation to it -- interfered and he wound up going unselected. Collins was never considered a suspect, and earlier this week, he passed a polygraph test in relation to the case. A paternity test also came back negative, definitively proving that Collins is not the father of Mills' child.
On the field, Collins is an excellent prospect. He is a 6-foot-4, 308-pound block of a man with huge hands, long arms and great power in his legs. He played tackle last season for LSU, but has roots as a guard, and unsurprisingly given that fact is currently better as a run blocker than pass blocker. This is mostly because he can get caught reaching with his blocks rather than letting rushers come to him before punching out at their body with his hands. Reaching can put you off-balance, which is never good when trying to protect the quarterback. The fact that he's able to play two positions on the offensive line with proficiency, though, is part of the draw of Collins.
With the Cowboys, Collins can be expected to push Ronald Leary for the starting left guard spot right away, and possibly move outside to tackle (likely on the right side) in the future. If he plays well, Collins could stick at guard, or he could move to tackle if Dallas' third-round pick, Chaz Green, does not perform up to expectations as the swing tackle. Dallas already has All-Pro talents in place at left tackle (Tyron Smith), center (Travis Frederick) and right guard (Zack Martin), while right tackle Doug Free is starting what will likely be the final contract of his Cowboys career. Together, that unit made up arguably the best position group in the league last season, and given their youth (with the exception of Free, who is 31, all four starters are 26 years old or younger, while Smith, Frederick and Martin are all 24), they should remain one of the league's best offensive lines for the foreseeable future, so long as they stay healthy. Adding Collins, another first-round talent, to the mix gives the Cowboys an embarrassment of riches along the line.
Earlier on Thursday, Chad Sabadie of WVUE-Fox 8 Sports in Louisiana reported that part of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones' pitch to Collins was that he wanted to build the greatest offensive line ever.
Jerry and Stephen Jones have been open about the fact that they badly want to win a Super Bowl while quarterback Tony Romo is still playing at an elite level. Romo led the NFL in passer rating and yards per attempt last season, and the Cowboys have given him elite level help up front, in addition to the plethora of passing game options he has at his disposal in Dez Bryant, Jason Witten, Terrance Williams, Cole Beasley and Gavin Escobar. Given his injury history (he's battled various ailments over the last few years including multiple back fractures last season), it makes sense to give Romo as much protection as possible up front. Collins should be able to help both right away and in the future.
By bringing in Collins, the Cowboys arguably wound up with three first-round talents from this year's draft. They selected UConn cornerback Byron Jones with the No. 27 pick and also took Nebraska edge rusher Randy Gregory at No. 60 after Gregory plummeted in the draft due to concerns about his marijuana use, maturity and judgment. When taken in connection with their signing of former Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy, suspended for 10 games in connection with a domestic violence incident, the Gregory and Collins acquisitions look like part of a larger trend of taking chances on high-risk players in order to bring a Super Bowl to Dallas. We'll see if it pays off.
