Josh Ball’s troubled past places talent on back burner for Cowboys draft pick
The Dallas Cowboys offensive line play in 2020 was nothing short of a disaster. The injuries piled up so quickly players who never should have taken meaningful snaps played for huge swaths of the season. If it weren’t for the gaping holes on the defensive side of the ball the front office might have selected a lineman earlier, instead gambling on Josh Ball.
Ball will follow in the ignominious footsteps of talented NFL players with an ugly and checkered past that can’t be ignored. It also puts his job security on uneven footing, as one misstep could signal the end of his career.
Background Detail
Jersey No: 76 Position: OT Age: 23 Height: 6-foot-8 Weight: 304 pounds Hometown: Fredericksburg, VA High School: Stafford Senior High School College: Marshall by way of Florida State and Butler Community College NFL Draft: 2021 Fourth round, No. 138 overall by the Dallas Cowboys
Stats
College Stats: Starts: 17 Ejections: 1 Positive Covid tests: 1 First-team All-Conference USA
Courtesy of Marshall University
Courtesy of Marshall University
Player Profile
Four-star recruits who start nine games as a redshirt freshmen don't go to a community college the following season unless something bad happens. That's the case for Ball, and it's frankly the only place to start the conversation. Detailed reports can be found here and here, but the summary of it is that Florida State's judicial panel found enough reason to suspend him from the school for several incidents of dating violence with an ex-girlfriend. He left the school soon after. To make matters worse he wasn't particularly apologetic about it in his first public appearance after being selected by the Cowboys in April's NFL draft. During his interview on the Draft Show he only offered up, "The past is the past and everybody's moved on so I don't really have a comment on all that." It's a bad look for both the player and the team. Still, as it stands he's on the roster so when it comes to his work on the field, he's an absolute mammoth. The Athletic's Dane Brugler described the 6-foot-8 Ball in his draft guide as a player with "nimble athleticism and body control to shut down the corner." His game will require refinement, but there'll be plenty of time for him to do exactly that. A starting job isn't on the immediate horizon, so in the meantime he'll be fighting for a roster spot at offensive tackle with the likes of veterans Ty Nsekhe, Terence Steele and Brandon Knight.
Film Session with Voch Lombardi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkAWptmdKT8
This profile is part of our countdown series to the regular season. For the full 90-man roster, go here. For our 53-man roster prediction, go here.
No. 99: DT Justin Hamilton
No. 98: DT Quinton Bohanna
No. 97: DL Ron'Dell Carter
No. 96: DT Neville Gallimore
No. 95: DT Brent Urban
No. 94: DE Randy Gregory
No. 93: DE Tarell Basham
No. 92: DE Dorance Armstrong
No. 91: DL Carlos Watkins
No. 90: DE DeMarcus Lawrence
No. 89: TE Blake Jarwin
No. 88: WR CeeDee Lamb
No. 87: TE Jeremy Sprinkle
No. 86: TE Dalton Schultz
No. 85: WR Noah Brown
No. 84: TE Sean McKeon
No. 83: WR Brennan Eagles
No. 81: WR Simi Fehoko
No. 79: OT Ty Nsekhe
No. 78: OT Terence Steele
No. 77: OT Tyron Smith
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