CFZ Can they successfully run the football again?

[Mr_437]

The only hope is the coach they brought in from SEA other than that you got the same garbage run plays and approach to running the ball.

 

[4lifecowboy]

I honestly believe that lack of strength with our left guard and center killed the continuity of the whole unit. You can somewhat cover one, but to have two right next to each other. Most here believe the penalties were due to lack of focus, I on the other hand believe it stemmed from trying to compensate for being overpowered damn near every week up the left middle.

 

[CWR]

Problem with trades is you have to trade for both the player and the contract. His contract was bad and no one wanted it. Jerry backloaded the thing so he got easy cap hits and then would have traded the bad cap hits to the next team. But this doesn’t mean no one valued him as Cincy gave him a decent deal, possibly implying there was rival interest

Similar to Cooper. Of course he’s worth a 3rd round pick… but his contract was also not worth taking on.

LC had a 5 year 50 million with 6.5 voided. Tbh I don't know how much would've been accelerated with a trade, but was under the impression he had a reasonable contract for a young, starting RT. I know his new deal is essentially 10mpy for 2 years, though. Do you have the numbers if he was to have been traded?

Coops and all the other wr contracts not worth taking on seem to ultimately get paid anyways. After the wr contracts given out this year Coops deal didn't look so bad.

 

[CWR]

Having the equivalent of ones of these players would changed your opinion...

Cam Fleming
Cam Erving
Ty Nsekhe

I dont think that's worth answering, because you already know. Lol

 

[CWR]

You aren't going to pay a backup 10 million. This staff views Steele as the starter.

In reality, they are interchangeable with LC being the better run blocker. Hopefully Steele grows past LCs level.

 

[Aerolithe_Lion]

LC had a 5 year 50 million with 6.5 voided. Tbh I don't know how much would've been accelerated with a trade, but was under the impression he had a reasonable contract for a young, starting RT. I know his new deal is essentially 10mpy for 2 years, though. Do you have the numbers if he was to have been traded?

Coops and all the other wr contracts not worth taking on seem to ultimately get paid anyways. After the wr contracts given out this year Coops deal didn't look so bad.

Collins’ extension in 2019 was 5 years 50 million, and started in 2020 so he has 3 years left. 10m$ signing bonus meant he had 40m$ in cash yet to be paid. 2m signing bonus in 2019, 2m in 2020, and 2m in 2021, yet Dallas only paid him 4 and 6.5m total for 2020 and 2021. That means his last 3 years would average 12m+ a year in cap hits.

Cincy’s deal is 7m$ a year, but even more than that they’ve structured it so it’s only a 4m$ cap hit this year

 

[CWR]

Collins’ extension in 2019 was 5 years 50 million, and started in 2020 so he has 3 years left. 10m$ signing bonus meant he had 40m$ in cash yet to be paid. 2m signing bonus in 2019, 2m in 2020, and 2m in 2021, yet Dallas only paid him 4 and 6.5m total for 2020 and 2021. That means his last 3 years would average 12m+ a year in cap hits.

Cincy’s deal is 7m$ a year, but even more than that they’ve structured it so it’s only a 4m$ cap hit this year

You're right; they got him for much less. I'm still going to reserve my right to be pissed at JJ though. You know, the whole 25+ years thing.

 

[LatinMind]

Is not about can they but will moore call running plays

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Last year was a tale of two offenses, one prior to Dak's injury to his calf and the other after the Denver blowout loss. Elite offense to more of a middle of the pack one.

We have discussed this in the past numerous times, teams started taking away the big passing plays and forced the Cowboys to run the football, take the underneath passes and drive the entire field. Several issues happened:

-They just couldn't run the football, even in light boxes. We can point to injuries to both the OL and the RB position, Zeke probably should of been playing more of a limited role as he clearly was hurting the team more then helping it.

-When they did have success on the ground, they just couldn't avoid the big penalty. Penalties were drive killers throughout the 2nd half of the season, in which they led the league.

-Most QB's would struggle moving the chains with consistent 3rd and longs. Add in Dak was reluctant to use his legs, defending this offense became much easier.

-Finally, when drives stalled, they had a very inconsistent place kicker, who missed managable FG's throughout the season, even struggled with extra points.

Have success on the ground and play more clean football will force defenses to get out of that so called shell, coverage defense. Question is, have they done enough to fix this #1 problem area?

-Connor Williams who led the league in penalties is now playing in Miami. However, they are replacing him with Tyler Smith who was a flag machine on the college level. Yes, many of his flags were over aggression, but he still must improve.

-Their TE's must do a better job blocking inline and in space. Not much turnover, but the loss of Jarwin certainly helps as he was more of a big receiver. Ferguson, McKeon and Sprinkle need to help in this area.

-Kellen Moore must be more like his predecessor and stick with the run game to keep teams honest. If you make a team one dimensional, much easier to defend.

-Even if risky, Dak has to threaten teams with his legs. He came into this league as a dual threat QB, he must bring that aspect back to the field.

When you say "zeke was hurting the team".....what do you mean?

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

On paper we look stronger in the run game than last year. The difference this year is teams won't fear our passing game as much so they can focus on stopping the run a little more than what they had to do last year.

What makes our run game look stronger?

 

[Cowboyny]

When you say "zeke was hurting the team".....what do you mean?

Playing hurt.

 

[Cowboyny]

In reality, they are interchangeable with LC being the better run blocker. Hopefully Steele grows past LCs level.

Steele's production as a Right Tackle was as good as Collins. Once he proved he can be a solid starter, the writing was on the wall. Minimum player over one whose production wasn't worth the price tag.

 

[CWR]

Steele's production as a Right Tackle was as good as Collins. Once he proved he can be a solid starter, the writing was on the wall. Minimum player over one whose production wasn't worth the price tag.

Guess what though? He's about to be needing a contract as well. Lol.

Don't get me wrong, I am a Steele fan. I think he will do a good job.

 

[CWR]

Playing hurt.

I credit Zeke for gutting it out. I blame the coaches for hurting us, because it was their job to recognize it and pull him. He played with heart.

 

[Cowpolk]

I credit Zeke for gutting it out. I blame the coaches for hurting us, because it was their job to recognize it and pull him. He played with heart.

And blocked better than some of our Olinemen

 

[Typhus]

Having the equivalent of ones of these players would changed your opinion...

Cam Fleming
Cam Erving
Ty Nsekhe

Lol, and your point is quite obvious.

 

[Cowboyny]

I credit Zeke for gutting it out. I blame the coaches for hurting us, because it was their job to recognize it and pull him. He played with heart.

Yes, it was the coaches fault leaving him out there when clearly he was injured.

 

[Cowboyny]

Guess what though? He's about to be needing a contract as well. Lol.

Don't get me wrong, I am a Steele fan. I think he will do a good job.

I believe they control him this yr and next, then they would have to decide if they want to extend him.

 

[DanA]

Excellent insight.

OL have to work together to execute their assignments. You hear that cohesion is extremely important for offensive line units. Having to constantly shift players in and out of the lineman affected this. I think they have a better plan this yr, with predetermining left side and right side players. It's not an easy transition to move to the other side of the line as many think.

Shultz's issues are less inline, but rather more in space. Those WR screens where he has to block his guy, has giving him a lot of struggles. As I mentioned in another post, Cowboys prefer more of a balanced TE, then an athletic one who probably would be better in that area.

Team no doubt has to play more clean football. With both Connor and Collins gone, might be addition by subtraction in that area.

Steele is nowhere near as good as Collins in pass protection but in the first half of the year how many times did we see him crashing down the line in tandem with Martin creating a huge hole for Zeke or Pollard. I feel like we lost that cohesion when Collins comes in. I agree that we might be much better even if we aren't necessarily more talented.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Last year was a tale of two offenses, one prior to Dak's injury to his calf and the other after the Denver blowout loss. Elite offense to more of a middle of the pack one.

We have discussed this in the past numerous times, teams started taking away the big passing plays and forced the Cowboys to run the football, take the underneath passes and drive the entire field. Several issues happened:

-They just couldn't run the football, even in light boxes. We can point to injuries to both the OL and the RB position, Zeke probably should of been playing more of a limited role as he clearly was hurting the team more then helping it.

-When they did have success on the ground, they just couldn't avoid the big penalty. Penalties were drive killers throughout the 2nd half of the season, in which they led the league.

-Most QB's would struggle moving the chains with consistent 3rd and longs. Add in Dak was reluctant to use his legs, defending this offense became much easier.

-Finally, when drives stalled, they had a very inconsistent place kicker, who missed managable FG's throughout the season, even struggled with extra points.

Have success on the ground and play more clean football will force defenses to get out of that so called shell, coverage defense. Question is, have they done enough to fix this #1 problem area?

-Connor Williams who led the league in penalties is now playing in Miami. However, they are replacing him with Tyler Smith who was a flag machine on the college level. Yes, many of his flags were over aggression, but he still must improve.

-Their TE's must do a better job blocking inline and in space. Not much turnover, but the loss of Jarwin certainly helps as he was more of a big receiver. Ferguson, McKeon and Sprinkle need to help in this area.

-Kellen Moore must be more like his predecessor and stick with the run game to keep teams honest. If you make a team one dimensional, much easier to defend.

-Even if risky, Dak has to threaten teams with his legs. He came into this league as a dual threat QB, he must bring that aspect back to the field.

The fact that you think the turning point was Dak's calf shows you have no idea what went wrong.