Can Zack Martin Push the Cowboys Into the Playoffs?

Mar 20, 2014; Notre Dame, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish former football player Zack Martin runs a drill during Notre Dame pro day at the Guglielmino Athletics Complex. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Cowboys have finished on the cusp of a division title for too long. While watching every team possible win the division the last three years, Dallas has got to be fed up.

The playoff push is real, and they used their first round pick to literally push their own way in.

Notre Dame’s Zack Martin really picked up steam the longer we waited for the draft, and he was rewarded for his work by becoming the 16th overall player selected in 2014. Martin’s athletic ability, competitiveness, football smarts, and the overall fact that he is possibly the most clean prospect in the draft led to his selection by the Cowboys, who now have drafted an offensive lineman in the first round of three of the last four drafts.

Like I said, the push is real.

Martin can play anywhere on the offensive line, another reason he was picked in the first round by the Cowboys, but he’ll start off his NFL career as a right guard. Inside at guard is where many envisioned he would find his niche in the NFL, and the Cowboys obviously feel the same, at least initially.

Protecting Tony Romo is obviously of paramount importance for Dallas, which they’ve struggled to do in recent years, but Martin’s ability to play a zone running scheme will also help a Dallas team that wants to run the ball more effectively and more efficiently to set up their stars in the passing game.

DeMarco Murray is not reliable in terms of health, but looking up and down the Cowboys’ depth chart at running back, who really is?

If the Cowboys can open up running lanes, it won’t much matter who is running the ball but that they are efficient in doing so.

Martin brings another presence to the offensive line, similar to the one brought by first rounders Tyron Smith and Travis Frederick. The picks aren’t flashy, but in the long run, they might help the Cowboys establish balance offensively and give them the stability down the stretch of the season that could propel them from playoff pretenders into playoff contenders.