The Cowboys’ decision to take center Travis Frederick in the first round of the 2013 draft drew a fair number of pans, but Frederick proved to be a good fit in the middle of the line as a rookie.
With a year of experience under his belt and confidence that he can handle his blocking responsibilities, the Cowboys are looking for more from Frederick this season. The plan is for Frederick to do more work setting the protections at the line of scrimmage so quarterback Tony Romo could focus on reading coverages before the snap.
“I’m going to try and do as much as I can to take as much as I can off Tony that he was doing before for the offensive line,” Frederick said, via ESPNDallas.com. “Not necessarily because I was a rookie or this or that, but because, if I can see it better, that’s going to take one thing off his plate and that’s going to help the team as a whole.”
Frederick said he thinks taking on those responsibilities will allow his teammates to play faster with less to think about. If first-round pick Zack Martin proves to be as quick a study as the young center, the offensive line should be a strength for the Cowboys this year.