What the stats say about the Cowboys young offensive line

From 1982 to 2010, the Cowboys did not select an offensive lineman in the first round, a pattern many believed was an iron rule. That changed with the drafting of Tyron Smith, followed by two additional first-round offensive linemen over the next three years. The Cowboys repeated the approach from 2022 to 2025 by drafting three offensive linemen in the first round, resulting in one of the youngest offensive lines in the league. For the 2026 season opener, a projected starting lineup averages 25.5 years old. Younger offensive linemen face lower injury risk and less sudden performance decline, with age trends showing fewer projected starters beyond 30.

"From 1982 to 2010, the Dallas Cowboys never took an offensive lineman in the first round of the draft, and many draftniks at the time believed this was an iron rule. But then the Cowboys went out and drafted Tyron Smith, and added two more first-round offensive linemen over the next three years."

"When the Cowboys kick off the 2026 season on September 14th, this will likely be the Cowboys' starting line-up: Tyler Guyton (25) - Tyler Smith (25) - Cooper Beebe (25) - Tyler Booker (22) - Terence Steele (29) This lineup will have an average age of 25.5 years (or 127.7 combined years) on opening day, which makes that lineup the fourth-youngest offensive line in the NFL this season."

"As a general rule, you want your offensive line (like any other position) to be younger rather than older, because as players become older, the risk of injury increases exponentially and performance often declines suddenly. There's a widely held belief ("wrong side of 30") that for NFL players, decline inevitably sets in at age 30, and the data seems to support that."

"As you can see, the air gets progressively thinner beyond 30 years of age. There's an obvious peak between 25 and 29 years of age, but after 30, the curve starts to flatten out. 30 may not be a hard cut-off point, but the trend is not your friend if you're over 30 in the NFL. Three linemen are currently projected as starters in 2026 who'll be 35 years or older on opening weekend 2026"

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