Cooper Beebe confirmed to be playing center for Cowboys
When the Cowboys made Cooper Beebe one of their third-round draft picks a few weeks ago, there was plenty of speculation that he might be transitioning to the center position. This has now been confirmed by Beebe himself, adding weight to the projections that he’ll be Dallas’ new starting center in 2024.
While Beebe played all over the rest of the offensive line in college, center is the one spot where he’s had little experience. But the front office expressed confidence in his versatility immediately after drafting him, and apparently the team will waste no time in asking Beebe to make the switch.
Cooper Beebe will begin his NFL career at center for the #Cowboys — that being settled by OL coach Mike Solari giving him that instruction:
“Right after the draft, he called me and said, ‘Start working on center.’
It was already the expectation, but it is now concrete.
— Patrik [No C] Walker (@VoiceOfTheStar) May 10, 2024
No, this doesn’t guarantee Beebe will be the starting center in Week 1. He still has to beat out Brock Hoffman, who’s been in the system for two years and started a couple of games last season. But if pre-draft scouting and pedigree mean anything, Beebe is seen to have a much higher ceiling and just needs to prove a certain degree of competence to bump Hoffman back to the bench.
The starting job at center was vacated by Tyler Biadasz’s departure in free agency to Washington. While Hoffman at least provided a default option to start in 2024, the Cowboys saw an opportunity to upgrade when Beebe was available at the 73rd pick. Using the extra third-rounder they acquired from trading down the night before, Dallas added Beebe to OT Tyler Guyton for a major influx of talent on the offensive line.
Given his versatility, Beebe doesn’t necessarily have to play center to start as a rookie. Who knows how injuries and other developments could affect the landscape over the next four months? But if the projected starters at tackle and guard, Guyton, Terence Steele, Zack Martin, and Tyler Smith, all go as planned then center is the one spot where Beebe would find immediate first-team reps.
With camps and practices starting soon, we’ll see if Beebe or Hoffman gets the first crack at playing with the starters. But even if Beebe is a backup to open the season, learning to play center still has value as nobody else on the roster is known to have that skill. There’s been talk of T.J. Bass trying to pick it up, but this latest news on Beebe is the most substantial sign yet of Dallas’ plan going forward.
It’s still so early in the process and much has to play out. But at least it’s now official that Cooper Beebe will be in the mix for the center job going forward, and should probably be considered the favorite. Granted, we had a strong sense that was the case when the Cowboys made him a Day 2 pick. You don’t do that for backups, ideally. Now we’ll see if Dallas made the right choice projecting Beebe as their next starting center.