Dallas Cowboys Will Miss Guard Montrae Holland in Week 17

Believe it or not, the Dallas Cowboys are going to see a dramatic downgrade at guard with the loss of Montrae Holland to a torn biceps. I have been critical of Holland in the past, providing him with a C+ grade in my 2010 Offensive Line Grades. Holland is not an incredible athlete and can appear slow-footed at times, often struggling with quick defensive tackles. Nonetheless, he outplayed every Cowboys offensive linemen not named Tyron Smith in 2011. Here is why.

Holland participated in 641 snaps this season, 361 of which were in pass protection. He yielded eight pressures, one hit and two sacks in those snaps, good for a pressure rate of 2.21 percent. While not at an elite level, that rate is still quite good. As a comparison, right guard Kyle Kosier has a pressure rate of 2.85 percent this season. That falls right in line with his pressure rate of 2.82 percent from 2010, providing a statistically significant sample size. You can see the overall 2010 numbers below.

Many of you know I often praise Kosier’s pass protection ability, and Holland has been superior to the veteran in 2011. To get a broader sense of Holland’s 2011 success, I took a look at the numbers of some of the top-graded guards (and middle tier guards) on Pro Football Focus.

You can see Holland’s pressure rate, although not elite, was well above average. The No. 32 and No. 33 ranked guards at PFF surrendered pressure rates up to 46 percent higher than Holland’s. On top of that, I would grade Holland as the Cowboys’ second-best run blocker all season if I were turning in my grades today. I would provide him with a "B" in both run blocking and pass protection, and that run blocking grade will undoubtedly be higher than all non-rookie offensive linemen in Big D.

Whether Derrick Dockery or Kevin Kowalski replaces Holland, the Cowboys will see a decline in production. Holland was having a really strong 2011 campaign, and one which was being overlooked even by me.

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