SAN ANTONIO -- When the inevitable occurs, and Emmitt Smith supplants Walter Payton as the most prolific rusher in NFL history sometime in the first half of this season, he is apt to reward his offensive linemen with a generous gesture of appreciation.

	Larry Allen is part of a Cowboys offensive line that averages over 330 pounds.

A suggestion for the Dallas Cowboys star tailback: Dinner at an expensive restaurant should not rate high on the list of possibilities. Better perhaps that Smith buy Rolexes for his blockers.

Spoiling them, after all, might be a lot cheaper than feeding them.

Rarely has the league seen more meat stretched over more hooves than with the offensive line the Cowboys have assembled for training camp. Hannibal traversed the Alps with elephants as his pack animals. Smith will reach the summit of the all-time rushing rolls escorted by a pack of power-blocking pachyderms.

"I've coached some pretty big (offensive) linemen," said Cowboys first-year offensive coordinator Bruce Coslet. "But I don't know if there has ever been a group with so many huge people. It really is incredible."

The 14 linemen in camp average 6-feet-4¼ and 333 pounds. Every one of them checks in at 300 pounds or more. Seven are listed at 325-plus and four tip the scales at more than 350 pounds. The weights are conservative, starting with that of Aaron Gibson, who is reputed to be 410 pounds but acknowledges weighing about 422.

The Washington Redskins had The Hogs; the Dallas linemen, cognizant of the public relations benefits of a catchy nickname, are contemplating a handle. The group could do worse than to settle on something appropriate, such as The Mastodons.

A fixation with size commenced with coach Jimmy Johnson, who believed that football is a big man's game and set out to uphold that assessment. It continued with his successors -- Barry Switzer, Chan Gailey and now Dave Campo -- and has become nearly as much a part of Cowboys tradition as the star on the side of the helmet.

	"	I've coached some pretty big (offensive) linemen, but I don't know if there has ever been a group with so many huge people. It really is incredible. "
		— Bruce Coslet, Cowboys offensive coordinator

When second-round draft pick Andre Gurode reported for his first offseason session this spring, the former University of Colorado star, who has already taken the starting job at center, didn't expect to be the biggest lineman on the team. Neither, though, did he think he would be one of the smallest at 326 pounds.

"They just like them big here," Gurode said. "It's like they want to line up a bunch of 300-pound road graders across the board and let them beat on (defenders)."

In its simplest terms, that's precisely the theory of power football under which Dallas operates: Weight correlates to wins.

The starting line over the weekend -- left tackle Flozell Adams, left guard Matt Lehr, Gurode at center, right guard Kelvin Garmon and right tackle Solomon Page -- averaged 6-4 and 332.4 pounds. The average weight will increase by about six pounds when perennial Pro Bowl left guard Larry Allen, arguably the NFL's premier rub blocker but currently sidelined by an elbow injury, returns to the field.

The two biggest linemen, Gibson and Char-ron Dorsey (6-6 and 388 pounds), are backups but understand fully the bigger-is-better approach. Gibson is believed to be the first player in league history listed on an official team roster at more than 400 pounds. It is a bit of notoriety he didn't attempt to dodge, and the squarish blocker allowed that it takes a big man -- figuratively -- to admit being, well, such a big man.

"There are other guys in the league who have weighed 400 pounds," Gibson said. "I'm just the first one to admit it. People look at that number and think you're some kind of a freak or something, and that's not the case."

In this camp, where big is beautiful, that's not the case at all.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.