Are we really better off at RB than last year?

In my opinion with atoms and Riley both coming from strong offensive line background strong run game background along with our OC who wants to see the run game get better we're looking at this as a cumulative effort to make the run game better even if we don't have a dynamic single running back system that can be you know a 3 down back 30 carries a game..

I don't think we need that and then maybe I'm wrong and maybe they'll see that and maybe we could only hope Chubb will still be available when they realize it if they do realize what we have won't work but I'm betting they can resurrect the career clayton Adams turned Connors into a top back in this league you might not be elite but he didn't have a 1000 yards until Adams there's a lot of guys on this roster that could make the team maybe we thought was going to be cut maybe he could do something with Hunter or Vaughn along with the draft picks and the two veterans we brought on I mean they got to be able to put something together...

There's an outside shot he could turn a guy like Mafah into Connor easily..
 
gimmesix said:
I see some hope being placed in the RB group that we've added this year, and that's understandable to some extent simply because we haven't seen this group either succeed or fail here. However, I do think there is reason to look at this group and wonder if we did any better this year than last year.

Miles Sanders vs. Ezekiel Elliott: Elliott had hit the wall that catches up to all players. He had averaged 3.8 YPC, then 3.5 YPC his last two years before going to New England and averaging 3.1. Elliott was in his seventh year when the wheels fell off. Sanders is going into his seventh year, but it appears that his wheels may have come off sooner. He's averaged 3.3 and 3.7 the last two years. Expecting him to recapture his juice is probably expecting too much. This one is likely a wash.

Rico Dowdle vs. Javonte Williams. Dowdle was our best back last year. He was coming off a season in which he averaged 4.1 YPC in a No. 2 role and averaged 4.6 when given a bigger role. That earned him a deal with Carolina, and Williams was brought in as his replacement. Williams has averaged 3.6 and 3.7 YPC in a time-sharing role in Denver the last two years. It's hard to say that he'll ever get back to the form of his first two years while Dowdle's stock is on the rise. Advantage Dowdle.

Jayden Blue vs. Royce Freeman, Before stashing Dalvin Cook on the practice squad and finding out he was just as cooked as Elliott, Dallas first brought in Freeman. Freeman was coming off a 4.1 season with the Rams in a backup role. He had a decent start to his career (averaging 4.0 per carry as a rookie) but it derailed pretty quickly. Blue brings an element to the run game that Dallas didn't have last year with his speed. The Cowboys are hoping that he can outplay his draft status (fifth round). Freeman was a third-round pick (71) while Blue was taken at 149, and we saw what became of Freeman. With this one, we just hope it turns out better.

Phil Mafah vs. Malik Davis. Davis was a UDFA that looked like he was going to at least carve out a backup role, but he faded quickly. Mafah was practically a UDFA, since he was taken in the seventh round. We have to hope he outplays his draft status as well.

Deuce Vaughn vs. Deuce Vaughn. There are times that Vaughn has shined and times when his lack of size has shown. He likely has to prove this year that he deserves a spot on the roster or he'll be gone. He had a grace period the last two years as a fifth-round pick and the son of a Cowboys staffer.

We're all hoping that the guys we've got will be better than the ones we lost or cut, but there are a lot of question marks here. We did not clearly upgrade and may have actually downgraded from Dowdle. It'll be interesting to see how it turns out, but the grass isn't always greener on the other side.
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We won’t know until the games start but on paper, they’re all better than Zeke was.
 
Rockport said:
We won’t know until the games start but on paper, they’re all better than Zeke was.
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It would seem so. How much better is hard to say. Elliott averaged 3.8 and 3.5 YPC the two years before he re-signed with us. Sanders has averaged 3.3 and 3.7 the last two years. Williams has averaged 3.6 and 3.7.

On paper, both backs would appear only slightly better than Elliott based on their most recent 3.7s compared to his 3.5.

With the late-round rookies, it's hard to tell. Some are worse than even the worst starting back right off the bat while others outplay their draft position.

None of them may be better than Dowdle was last year (4.6). We hope they are, but we certainly don't have evidence to prove it.
 
gimmesix said:
It would seem so. How much better is hard to say. Elliott averaged 3.8 and 3.5 YPC the two years before he re-signed with us. Sanders has averaged 3.3 and 3.7 the last two years. Williams has averaged 3.6 and 3.7.

On paper, both backs would appear only slightly better than Elliott based on their most recent 3.7s compared to his 3.5.

With the late-round rookies, it's hard to tell. Some are worse than even the worst starting back right off the bat while others outplay their draft position.

None of them may be better than Dowdle was last year (4.6). We hope they are, but we certainly don't have evidence to prove it.
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That’s what I just said. :rolleyes:
 
Rockport said:
That’s what I just said. :rolleyes:
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Sort of. Better is a qualitative word. They could be better and still not be good enough because Elliott was bad, or they could be better and it be a significant improvement.

I just laid out the reasons why it could be the first (not good enough) instead of the second (significant improvement).

Your way of saying it seems to be more hopeful than mine.
 
gimmesix said:
I see some hope being placed in the RB group that we've added this year, and that's understandable to some extent simply because we haven't seen this group either succeed or fail here. However, I do think there is reason to look at this group and wonder if we did any better this year than last year.

Miles Sanders vs. Ezekiel Elliott: Elliott had hit the wall that catches up to all players. He had averaged 3.8 YPC, then 3.5 YPC his last two years before going to New England and averaging 3.1. Elliott was in his seventh year when the wheels fell off. Sanders is going into his seventh year, but it appears that his wheels may have come off sooner. He's averaged 3.3 and 3.7 the last two years. Expecting him to recapture his juice is probably expecting too much. This one is likely a wash.

Rico Dowdle vs. Javonte Williams. Dowdle was our best back last year. He was coming off a season in which he averaged 4.1 YPC in a No. 2 role and averaged 4.6 when given a bigger role. That earned him a deal with Carolina, and Williams was brought in as his replacement. Williams has averaged 3.6 and 3.7 YPC in a time-sharing role in Denver the last two years. It's hard to say that he'll ever get back to the form of his first two years while Dowdle's stock is on the rise. Advantage Dowdle.

Jayden Blue vs. Royce Freeman, Before stashing Dalvin Cook on the practice squad and finding out he was just as cooked as Elliott, Dallas first brought in Freeman. Freeman was coming off a 4.1 season with the Rams in a backup role. He had a decent start to his career (averaging 4.0 per carry as a rookie) but it derailed pretty quickly. Blue brings an element to the run game that Dallas didn't have last year with his speed. The Cowboys are hoping that he can outplay his draft status (fifth round). Freeman was a third-round pick (71) while Blue was taken at 149, and we saw what became of Freeman. With this one, we just hope it turns out better.

Phil Mafah vs. Malik Davis. Davis was a UDFA that looked like he was going to at least carve out a backup role, but he faded quickly. Mafah was practically a UDFA, since he was taken in the seventh round. We have to hope he outplays his draft status as well.

Deuce Vaughn vs. Deuce Vaughn. There are times that Vaughn has shined and times when his lack of size has shown. He likely has to prove this year that he deserves a spot on the roster or he'll be gone. He had a grace period the last two years as a fifth-round pick and the son of a Cowboys staffer.

We're all hoping that the guys we've got will be better than the ones we lost or cut, but there are a lot of question marks here. We did not clearly upgrade and may have actually downgraded from Dowdle. It'll be interesting to see how it turns out, but the grass isn't always greener on the other side.
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Dowdle was serviceable, not great.
We have no one as good as he was.
Our RB room is pathetic.
 
gimmesix said:
Sort of. Better is a qualitative word. They could be better and still not be good enough because Elliott was bad, or they could be better and it be a significant improvement.

I just laid out the reasons why it could be the first (not good enough) instead of the second (significant improvement).

Your way of saying it seems to be more hopeful than mine.
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Read the title again.
 
john van brocklin said:
Dowdle was serviceable, not great.
We have no one as good as he was.
Our RB room is pathetic.
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That is the big question. We certainly don't know if we have anyone as good as he was. There's reason to question it. I'm not ready to say the room is pathetic because of the unknowns, but there are sound reasons to believe that it could be an issue.

We have to hope either Williams or Sanders or both is better than what they've showed the last two years. We have to hope that a fifth-round pick and/or a seventh-round pick outplay their draft status; same with a sixth-round pick from a couple of years ago. That's a lot of hoping.
 
gimmesix said:
And your answer is that they are all better than Zeke. I just wrote why they may or may not be.

If you don't want responses, you should say that.
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They are better off than last year on paper which I stated. You never even mentioned Blue in your comparison. Disingenuous
 
gimmesix said:
That is the big question. We certainly don't know if we have anyone as good as he was. There's reason to question it. I'm not ready to say the room is pathetic because of the unknowns, but there are sound reasons to believe that it could be an issue.

We have to hope either Williams or Sanders or both is better than what they've showed the last two years. We have to hope that a fifth-round pick and/or a seventh-round pick outplay their draft status; same with a sixth-round pick from a couple of years ago. That's a lot of hoping.
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We are placing our hope in retread never was'es and mid and late round draft picks?
That is pathetic.
 
Rockport said:
They are better off than last year on paper which I stated. You never even mentioned Blue in your comparison. Disingenuous
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Late-round rookies covers Blue. But you believe what you want to believe.

I hope the best for this group. I hope that they are much better than Elliott and even better than Dowdle. But right now that's just hope. We have two backs who averaged under 4 yards per carry the past two years, but we hope they are better than that. We have drafted players (Blue and Mafah) who lasted until the later rounds of the draft, but we hope they are better than that. We hope they are better than a player we've taken in that same range (Vaughn in the sixth) has been for us, and hope he's better than he has been while we're at it.

Right now, we're relying on the unknown because that's all we have. Hopefully when it becomes known, it will be a good thing instead of a bad one. The numbers and the draft status suggest that it could be bad, but sometimes you get lucky.
 
john van brocklin said:
Yup,
Hope is not a winning strategy.
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This is why I would add Nick Chubb to the mix. Yes, Chubb is coming off an awful season where he suffered an injury setback and may be done. But he's been better as a pro than any of these players (averaging 5-plus yards per carry for six straight seasons before last year's 3.3) and it would at least add another hope to the mix. Get enough of them and you increase your chances of getting lucky.

Dobbins might be a better signing from a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately standpoint, though. I will be surprised if we trade for a back before training camp, and I think we'd only trade for one if what we've got is an absolutely failure.
 
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