News: BTB: Dak Was Never the Problem, It Was the Receivers. Here’s the Proof

[erod]

@ around 5:25 this is what Sean Lee had to say very recently about Dak

basically what most already know
he has that 'it' factor with his calmness and leadership
but what he doesnt say and what i and many others feel is that he needs to continue cleaning up his mechanics and improve his accuracy

As Troy Aikman says, "you're either accurate, or you're not." You can't teach accuracy.

 

[Jake]

As Troy Aikman says, "you're either accurate, or you're not." You can't teach accuracy.

With all due respect to Aikman that's not a universally held sentiment and frankly it doesn't make much sense. It's like saying you can't improve your shooting percentage in basketball, or your putting percentage in golf.

 

[kskboys]

With all due respect to Aikman that's not a universally held sentiment and frankly it doesn't make much sense. It's like saying you can't improve your shooting percentage in basketball, or your putting percentage in golf.

Huge difference between improving accuracy and teaching accuracy. Not the same thing.

 

[Doomsday101]

As Troy Aikman says, "you're either accurate, or you're not." You can't teach accuracy.

I guess if we are going to refer to Aikman

Aikman said he knew there was something special about Prescott when the two met just before Week One, when Prescott was preparing for his first NFL start and Aikman was preparing to announce the game on FOX.

“I never felt the presence of a young quarterback like I did with him,” Aikman said. “I said this was the most impressive young player I’ve ever been around at the position. I really believed he was going to go out and play well. Before halftime of the game in his first start I was no longer looking at him and viewing him as a rookie. My analysis was along the lines of a veteran quarterback. It spoke volumes how he carried himself.”

Although Aikman has a good relationship with Tony Romo, Aikman was also among the first people in the NFL media to start calling for the Cowboys to make Prescott their permanent starter, even after Romo healed from a preseason back injury. That decision now seems like the obvious choice. A lot of people are as impressed with Prescott as Aikman is.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...ver-seen-a-more-impressive-young-qb-than-dak/

 

[DiResta]

As Troy Aikman says, "you're either accurate, or you're not." You can't teach accuracy.

i think at the upper limit you would get diminished returns and some would always be more accurate naturally with coordination and such
but much can be improved with repetition i completely disagree with no improvement

a example
many passes Dak threw in '16 were wobbly and well pretty ugly
in '17 he was throwing with more velocity and with a tighter spiral (not great but much better)
that alone could be inconsistent hand placement gripping the football

so you throw and throw always aware to set grip correctly
thats just 1 aspect but a tight spiral is more accurate than a wobbly pass so its a foundation to build from and maybe a chain of improvements to his form all of which are crucial as a passer

i havent studied his mechanics and dont plan to but its easy to say the way the ball looks was very inconsistent so i would start there

 

[erod]

i think at the upper limit you would get diminished returns and some would always be more accurate naturally with coordination and such
but much can be improved with repetition i completely disagree with no improvement

a example
many passes Dak threw in '16 were wobbly and well pretty ugly
in '17 he was throwing with more velocity and with a tighter spiral (not great but much better)
that alone could be inconsistent hand placement gripping the football

so you throw and throw always aware to set grip correctly
thats just 1 aspect but a tight spiral is more accurate than a wobbly pass so its a foundation to build from and maybe a chain of improvements to his form all of which are crucial as a passer

i havent studied his mechanics and dont plan to but its easy to say the way the ball looks was very inconsistent so i would start there

It seems that could have been remedied in a single practice.

 

[Dre11]

Try this...if the Cowboys cut Dak today how long would it be until he got signed? Definitely within 24-48 hours. The great Dez is still waiting. You Dez fanboys are detached from reality.

This is absolutely dumb, you would get Dak for peanuts, You’re not getting Dez for peanuts and what’s funny is, Dez is waiting because he wanted to. Did you miss he turned down a deal with Baltimore?...lol

 

[erod]

I guess if we are going to refer to Aikman

Aikman said he knew there was something special about Prescott when the two met just before Week One, when Prescott was preparing for his first NFL start and Aikman was preparing to announce the game on FOX.

“I never felt the presence of a young quarterback like I did with him,” Aikman said. “I said this was the most impressive young player I’ve ever been around at the position. I really believed he was going to go out and play well. Before halftime of the game in his first start I was no longer looking at him and viewing him as a rookie. My analysis was along the lines of a veteran quarterback. It spoke volumes how he carried himself.”

Although Aikman has a good relationship with Tony Romo, Aikman was also among the first people in the NFL media to start calling for the Cowboys to make Prescott their permanent starter, even after Romo healed from a preseason back injury. That decision now seems like the obvious choice. A lot of people are as impressed with Prescott as Aikman is.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...ver-seen-a-more-impressive-young-qb-than-dak/

Aikman likes his leadership qualities like we all do. However, the flaws are revealing themselves louder and louder.

 

[Doomsday101]

Aikman likes his leadership qualities like we all do. However, the flaws are revealing themselves louder and louder.

His rookie season he hit 67% accuracy which was up towards the top of the league. No doubt year 2 he had struggles some of his own doing and some not. It just gets old seeing people pound on this kid, it is almost as if they are more concerned about their opinion than they are backing a young guy who is still developing. Then I again that is why I stopped coming here for a while. Just got old.

 

[Doomsday101]

 

[Cap12]

Again, you are inferring something without evidence of it actually happening.

I can only go by what I've seen and this article seems to validate the eye test for me. Unless you and i sit down and watch film, there is no way I can prove my position, but for anybody who has seen the kind of things I have are likely to agree with the article. I'm not exactly sure what you are looking for in games when you watch games, but if you've seen that negative Dak video it shows examples of this (which again, seems to match what I've seen watching games live). Yes, the video is one sided and prejudiced against Dak. It doesn't show any highlights where Dak has made exceptional plays, but it does seem to give an accurate account of some of Dak's issues. Issues like footwork and balance in the pocket are apparent to anyone who's played the game or watched it for a long time. These issues have been documented by his coaches and the player himself.

Back to the video, people are quick to point out that we don't know who was truly at fault based upon the playcall etc. I will say to this to those people: I am more likely to give the established veteran player the benefit of the doubt, over the younger player. I think it is more likely that Dak's troubles are mostly caused by Dak, rather than his veteran receiving corps (many who had great success with his predecessor).

 

[Whyjerry]

This is absolutely dumb, you would get Dak for peanuts, You’re not getting Dez for peanuts and what’s funny is, Dez is waiting because he wanted to. Did you miss he turned down a deal with Baltimore?...lol

So you believe Dez Bryant turned down a big contract so he can torment the Cowboys? I have some Oklahoma ocean front property for sale. You interested? Right now Dez is going to be playing for a lot less than you think. Veteran minimum is not out of the question. You fan boys crack me up.

 

[Cap12]

This is a good point. Dak is the new Romo. Romo was asked to win games by himself and when he couldn't then he was labeled a "choker". The bottom line is that if a large chunk of the team is not playing well then it's hard to win football games. In 2016 Dak looked incredible, but so did Zeke, Witten, Dez, Beasely, Frederick, Martin, Tyron and even Twill.

2015- Zeke was in trouble and a weekly distraction of "is he going to play or is he getting suspended", which I think took a toll on everyone in the organization the more it went on. Zeke had to deal with it and then when he finally did get suspended he was unavailable. Tyron was hurt. Dez, Twill, Beasely, Witten all had down years and teams figured out how to stop them. And one thing not a lot of people talk about is Doug Free. Essentially we lost Leary, Doug Free, and Tyron from that dominant offensive line. (Tyron played but was not himself)

So a distracted and frustrated origination about the Zeke suspension, running game dropped, receivers struggled, offensive line reshuffled and a poor defense. And one major thing is the coaches stubbornly never adjusted to any of these things left Dak with the task of winning the games.

Just like Romo all those years. All the Romo haters labeled him a choker, said he sucked, said he wasn't a franchise QB but now I bet everyone would take a healthy Tony Romo over Dak. Romo in his prime would have had a drop off in his play with this team last year. And Romo would have been blamed for it. Just like Dak is getting blamed by the Dak haters.

I believe Romo is a HOfer and Dak is a franchise QB but regardless how good a QB is they can not win consistently with poor coaching, poor running game, hurt roster and suspended players. Dak is the least of my worries going into 2018. the top of my worries is replacing Witten and Bryant and that secondary.

I'm not sure I would call Dak a "Franchise QB" yet, but I can tell you the potential is there. In 2016, he was playing with house money. Expectations were low. He was surrounded with exceptional talent. It gave him the opportunity to let his positive attributes shine through and by late in the season, his confidence was off the charts. In 2017, more was expected of him. He became the face of the franchise after Romo was not retained. The problems on the line and Zeke's suspension magnified his flaws and he became exposed as teams knew his tendencies. His vaunted rookie poise took some hits and he seemed to rattle easier. He was required to win games himself down the stretch and under the circumstances, he did not play well. This is not to say that his 2017 was a bust. It wasn't, but there were a heck of a lot of humbling moments for him.

The talent is there for Dak, but now he has to seriously hone his skills and mechanics. He has had some serious flaws in his game. That is true of most young QBs (especially those who are not high draft picks). I am optimistic for Dak and am rooting for him. I'm just tired of everybody blaming everything under the sun for Dak's problems, when a lot of this falls on Dak.

Now that he has two years under his belt he should be able to take a step forward. No excuses. Just get better and perform.

 

[Cap12]

As Troy Aikman says, "you're either accurate, or you're not." You can't teach accuracy.

Accuracy can improve with mechanics. If Dak can improve his footwork, throwing mechanics and timing, he could be as accurate as anybody.

 

[DiResta]

It seems that could have been remedied in a single practice.

it takes reps to change stuff like that and to do it under pressure without thinking
and theres lots of little things that can be improved that add up
Romo was tweaking his mechanics 10 years in
just happens that Dak is starting with less
but then he wasnt a 2nd overall pick either

if hes a person who works and is self driven he can greatly improve and 1 thing everyone seems to agree on is that he puts in the work

 

[MarionBarberThe4th]

I don't let a half season of bad football negate the season and a half of good football that I saw Dak play for the Cowboys. That half season of bad football didn't happen until we lost Tyron Smith and Zeke. If you choose to be blind to how good Dak is then that's on you. It doesn't really matter... you'll jump back on his fan wagon once the season starts with Dak leading the way.

Even the good stats he put up he never displayed a good arm. The offense was a machine of efficiency and he hit the first read.

I mean you don’t gotta call me blind or whatever were debating the abilities of a stranger.

 

[Doomsday101]

I can only go by what I've seen and this article seems to validate the eye test for me. Unless you and i sit down and watch film, there is no way I can prove my position, but for anybody who has seen the kind of things I have are likely to agree with the article. I'm not exactly sure what you are looking for in games when you watch games, but if you've seen that negative Dak video it shows examples of this (which again, seems to match what I've seen watching games live). Yes, the video is one sided and prejudiced against Dak. It doesn't show any highlights where Dak has made exceptional plays, but it does seem to give an accurate account of some of Dak's issues. Issues like footwork and balance in the pocket are apparent to anyone who's played the game or watched it for a long time. These issues have been documented by his coaches and the player himself.

Back to the video, people are quick to point out that we don't know who was truly at fault based upon the playcall etc. I will say to this to those people: I am more likely to give the established veteran player the benefit of the doubt, over the younger player. I think it is more likely that Dak's troubles are mostly caused by Dak, rather than his veteran receiving corps (many who had great success with his predecessor).

I agree that when his mechanics and footwork are off his accuracy suffers and these are things Dak himself has talked about and is working on this off season.

 

[Cap12]

I agree that when his mechanics and footwork are off his accuracy suffers and these are things Dak himself has talked about and is working on this off season.

The problem is that these things are usually off when passing from the pocket. It doesn't mean that he can't complete passes because if he gets the ball in a receivers catch radius, it allows the player to make a play on a not-so-accurate pass. Dak doesn't seem to have as many accuracy problems when he's throwing on the run because he doesn't have to worry quite as much about his footwork (as opposed to 3-5-7 step drops and coordinating his feet or pocket awareness if from the pistol or shotgun). It's just plant and throw.

Dak's issues remain his accuracy from the pocket. He probably threw the worst completed pass in Cowboys history on that pass behind Beasley that was so far behind him, he trapped it against his back (after seeing that catch, I wondered if Bease borrowed Freddy Belintakoff's can of stick'um and sprayed his whole uniform, lol).

 

[Cap12]

it takes reps to change stuff like that and to do it under pressure without thinking
and theres lots of little things that can be improved that add up
Romo was tweaking his mechanics 10 years in
just happens that Dak is starting with less
but then he wasnt a 2nd overall pick either

if hes a person who works and is self driven he can greatly improve and 1 thing everyone seems to agree on is that he puts in the work

Neither was the UDFA. Antonio Romo from Eastern Ill. U. No doubt Romo had time to sit and develop, but a lot of that development comes by working with coaches and QB gurus etc. Dak is getting those chances, so let's hope for his continued development.

 

[Kevinicus]

His rookie season he hit 67% accuracy which was up towards the top of the league. No doubt year 2 he had struggles some of his own doing and some not. It just gets old seeing people pound on this kid, it is almost as if they are more concerned about their opinion than they are backing a young guy who is still developing. Then I again that is why I stopped coming here for a while. Just got old.

Completion % is not the same as accuracy.