Tony C. On Zeke

[cowboys2233]

I don't think Zeke is a generational back, I think he has everything to be a great back. I don't think he's as good a runner as Gurley. I think he should be more complete.

Gurley has a tremendous size-speed ratio. That will serve him well over the next couple of years but it will also be his downfall. As soon as he loses even a slight amount of his quickness, which he will sooner rather than later because of his aforementioned size, he will go from being an elite back to a big target that will just get hammered carry after carry after carry. Zeke is a much more fluid runner and as such, will wind up having a much more successful, and longer, career than Gurley.

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

Casillas makes a great point but even from the little bit we heard from offseason camps and the start of training camp Zeke has looked every bit the part. He is coming in with a very good resume and it was well earned and documented. The fact that others are doing great just makes it more important for Zeke to be everything we thought he would be.

 

[cowboys1985]

Nothing Cassias said was untrue. All of it is factual. I don't know how anybody could find fault with his statement.

Except not a lot of people are not anointing him anything. Are most people excited? Absolutely. Do most people have ridiculous expectations? Undoubtedly. Are people saying he's already a HOF RB? Not quite.

The problem I have with his comments is he's taking high expectations and excitement and packaging it as anointment. There's nothing wrong with having excitement and high expectations for the consensus #1 RB out of college.

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

Nothing Cassias said was untrue. All of it is factual. I don't know how anybody could find fault with his statement.

"Said in Dallas we like to anoint guys too soon."

Who is the 'we' that is anointing? I myself haven't. Many fans here haven't. Many in the media haven't. So obviously as a so called 'fact', it is untrue in that aspect.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Except not a lot of people are not anointing him anything. Are most people excited? Absolutely. Do most people have ridiculous expectations? Undoubtedly. Are people saying he's already a HOF RB? Not quite.

The problem I have with his comments is he's taking high expectations and excitement and packaging it as anointment. There's nothing wrong with having excitement and high expectations for the consensus #1 RB out of college.

LOL..... Yeah they are. It started day one.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

"Said in Dallas we like to anoint guys too soon."

Who is the 'we' that is anointing? I myself haven't. Many fans here haven't. Many in the media haven't. So obviously as a so called 'fact', it is untrue in that aspect.

The "We" are many in the fan base, many in the Media and even our own Coaching Staff. I believe Garrett is on record as saying, I've already seen enough and he has never even seen him in pads against an NFL Defense. Head Coaches don't say that if they are not already in the tank for a player.

I don't think the statement was wrong at all.

 

[Bullflop]

I see no fault with Tony Casillas' observations. Cowboys' fans in Dallas and Texas in general tend to crown and criticize their players much too soon. We've seen it here on this website every day -- it's not uncommon at all. I don't take it personally and you shouldn't either unless you're one of them. Here's hoping you're not -- lol.

 

[lkelly]

We can and do.
My question is why do people feel the need to rain on people's parade?
I can easily explain why I don't like people raining on others parade. It's fairly simple. I think people should enjoy there pastime 100%. Allowing negativity creep in will not add to their enjoyment.

So many fans have allowed negativity to water down the thrills of victory with fears of the agony of defeat. A fun entertainment outlet can become an unhealthy obsession in some cases. (I live in the Philly market haha)

We all have every right to say almost anything we feel. That what makes this place so great.

I appreciate your perspective.

Fair point. I think the armchair GM/coach role is one that many fans love to play as it gets them even more involved in the sport. The polar extreme would be the fan that just looks at the box score and yells "Yay!" when his team has won. A byproduct of people wanting to dive deeper and analyze the team is the urge to critique or disagree with what the real management is doing. It has powered an industry of sports talk radio. It splits off into the tangent that is fantasy sports. Many times people aren't "raining on the parade" when they disagree with things. They are just expressing a viewpoint like "I wouldn't have spent a top 5 pick on a historically short lived position like running back that often features late picks or free agents with equal production." (Hands glasses to lackey sitting nearby to have them cleaned.)

As for Philly fans, they often have some parade rain in their DNA. It's just the nature of the beast in that area. My wife's whole family is from Bucks County.

I'm not hoping for Zeke to fail to see people rue. In a perfect world he runs for 2K behind the loaded Dallas line. I just have reservations that he was a great use of draft resources. I don't even think he was the best back in the Big Ten last year. Michigan players (acknowledging the rival hate of course) even said so. Barkley, from Penn State, should be a real sight to watch especially if he can run behind a 1-A offensive line.

And as for the early anointing, I'm simply old enough to know that you have to prove it over time, whether it's raining or sunny. RGIII was the greatest QB ever drafted by Washington a few years ago. Colin Kaepernick was the new prototype for the position. Morris Claiborne was the next Deion. How quickly things can change.

 

[sbark]

As Parcells would throw out...he has been fed alot of cheese this far without carrying the rock for a single down

 

[Bullet22]

Caught a segment with him on the radio today. Casillas was asked about Zeke being called a generational type back. Tony (who never minces words) said, he wouldn't know because he's never seen him play a snap yet. Said in Dallas we like to anoint guys too soon. Other guys are in shape and working hard...

Have at it. Don't shoot the messenger.

Who care's right...he is already in the HOF as the greatest NFL back of all time...

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

The "We" are many in the fan base, many in the Media and even our own Coaching Staff. I believe Garrett is on record as saying, I've already seen enough and he has never even seen him in pads against an NFL Defense. Head Coaches don't say that if they are not already in the tank for a player.

I don't think the statement was wrong at all.

Where are the articles by the media that Zeke has already been 'annointed'? Links.

 

[LocimusPrime]

Don't worry, if Zeke doesn't pan out we still have Morris. Win/win - except the draft pick part.
Tony is right we are quick to anoint everyone : Dak, Morris ect. As a fan, I'm excited about both players, but I can understand his view.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

The guy said he'd never seen him take a snap and we should wait until he does and it gets s thread dedicated to it? What on earth did he say that want right?

 

[StarBoyz83]

This is why I hope he plays tomorrow but I feel he won't.

 

[Derinyar]

The reason we should have a lot of hope for Zeke is that the team took McFadden last year and resurrected him. He hadn't really been good for 4 or so years and they turned him into a top yardage RB in a year without a QB1 or WR1. So now we're taking someone who is as physically gifted, though in different ways, as McFadden was when he came out and putting him behind the same OLine and this time what what appears to be a healthy QB1 and WR1. Zeke might never be the best back in the NFL, he might never be top 5 based on pure talent, but I'd bet that he's going to be top 5 in total yardage at the end of many years as long as he's here.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

I'm not sure id say he's been "anointed" as much as his expectations are incredibly high, and in a lot of cases unrealistic. That comes with his draft status and is not unique to him.

I see what you're saying but I think those "unrealistic expectations" are justified: 1) our O-line is so good that you could plug in a RB off the street and he'd get 1,000+ yards, 2) we haven't had a top 4 pick in 20+ years, 3) we had needs all over the defense (not to mention QB but we might've struck gold with Dak). Now, I've heard people say that Zeke was the best player available at #4 and the biggest immediate impact. I'm not disagreeing with that. But we have to have some kind of expectations considering the circumstances. What is a reasonable expectation when we spent the #4 overall pick on a RB despite all our needs on defense and despite the fact that Morris or McFadden could get 1,000+ yards? 100 yards more than Morris? 200 yards more? 500 yards more? 1,000 yards more?

 

[Toruk_Makto]

I'm not sure id say he's been "anointed" as much as his expectations are incredibly high, and in a lot of cases unrealistic. That comes with his draft status and is not unique to him.

Read around their parts. Anointed is the right word.

People are calling him Emmitt. And aren't joking.

 

[kazzd58]

we'll They can go ahead and wait I've already made my decision... he'll be fine

 

[JDSmith]

Hard to argue this under the current regime. Just read in the news zone our healthy starters will only play a couple of series while Seattle and every other Nfl team plays through the half....I get we don't want these guys hurt but the fact is they need the reps. Who needs to practice to get better or study for a test or brush up your knowledge before a presentation or in my case get the buns out before I start flipping burgers. I just don't get it.

I generally don't like to assume that I know more than the coaches, because I simply don't have the same information that they do. But this is one area that drives me nuts. We just don't play our guys enough in the preseason, and we seem to suck for at least 1/2 or 3/4 of the first game as a result. These guys need to play, not just go to meetings and do walk throughs.

In the Miami game Romo play actioned to Morris, but it would have looked a lot more convincing if he wasn't faking the handoff to the right while Morris ran by on his left - leaving Romo handing off to air. I don't want to see crap like that in the regular season, but I'm afraid our guys will still be working the kinks out while other teams are ready to play.

 

[Silver N Blue]

I generally don't like to assume that I know more than the coaches, because I simply don't have the same information that they do. But this is one area that drives me nuts. We just don't play our guys enough in the preseason, and we seem to suck for at least 1/2 or 3/4 of the first game as a result. These guys need to play, not just go to meetings and do walk throughs.

In the Miami game Romo play actioned to Morris, but it would have looked a lot more convincing if he wasn't faking the handoff to the right while Morris ran by on his left - leaving Romo handing off to air. I don't want to see crap like that in the regular season, but I'm afraid our guys will still be working the kinks out while other teams are ready to play.

Could not agree more.