Goal line offensive line

RonnieT24 · Oct 22, 2021

America's Cowboy said:
Keeping the players bunched up at the goal line would be great if Zeke was not afraid to dive over the pile into the endzone.

Zeke is gladfully willing to hurdle DBs in the open, but he's afraid to get airborne and dive 1 yard over the pile at the line of scrimmage into the endzone?

I don't know where you get "afraid" from. Seems like you're projecting your own feelings onto someone else there. I played running back from Pop Warner to college and coached it through the same levels and I can tell you unequivocally that RBs are coached NOT to leave the ground if at all possible. The reason is you obviously lose control once you leave your feet. You have no power.. and in some instances you are left with the choice of sticking your hand out to break your fall or landing on your head. Neither is really all that enjoyable. Then there is the danger of simply having the ball knocked out of your hands like was done to Dak.. Even though IMHO the ball crossed the plane before Dak lost control you always run the risk of some idiot ref seeing it wrong or just the guy in the booth needing to settle up with his bookie.. Staying on the ground is nearly always the best option.. Especially if you have legs that can squat a thousand pounds like Zeke does.. I'd rather we get our line to do its job before sending my 90 million dollar running back diving over the pile and risk having him leave the game on a stretcher with his whole body immobilized.

America's Cowboy · Oct 22, 2021

RonnieT24 said:
I don't know where you get "afraid" from. Seems like you're projecting your own feelings onto someone else there. I played running back from Pop Warner to college and coached it through the same levels and I can tell you unequivocally that RBs are coached NOT to leave the ground if at all possible. The reason is you obviously lose control once you leave your feet. You have no power.. and in some instances you are left with the choice of sticking your hand out to break your fall or landing on your head. Neither is really all that enjoyable. Then there is the danger of simply having the ball knocked out of your hands like was done to Dak.. Even though IMHO the ball crossed the plane before Dak lost control you always run the risk of some idiot ref seeing it wrong or just the guy in the booth needing to settle up with his bookie.. Staying on the ground is nearly always the best option.. Especially if you have legs that can squat a thousand pounds like Zeke does.. I'd rather we get our line to do its job before sending my 90 million dollar running back diving over the pile and risk having him leave the game on a stretcher with his whole body immobilized.

Preach to the choir. I played slot back for 2 years, both aligned behind QB and out wide in the flats. I know the so called "rules" and why they are made. But, the very best RBs do whatever it takes to get that extra yard needed to convert short & 1s into 1st downs or TDs. That is what separates the greats from the rest. Of course, every RB worries about getting injured, but you can get injured just as easily staying firmly touching the ground just like you can getting airborne on a very rare occasion. So, thanks for the words of caution, but the very best do whatever it takes to get the job done.

JW82 · Oct 22, 2021

Dak got screwed out of obvious TD's vs Philthy and New England, that lead to turnover on downs and a fumble afterwards. What do their numbers look like with these 2 TDs.

RonnieT24 · Oct 22, 2021

America's Cowboy said:
Preach to the choir. I played slot back for 2 years, both aligned behind QB and out wide in the flats. I know the so called "rules" and why they are made. But, the very best RBs do whatever it takes to get that extra yard needed to convert short & 1s into 1st downs or TDs. That is what separates the greats from the rest. Of course, every RB worries about getting injured, but you can get injured just as easily staying firmly touching the ground just like you can getting airborne on a very rare occasion. So, thanks for the words of caution, but the very best do whatever it takes to get the job done.

Injured yes.. but not paralyzed. Most of us are old enough to remember Emmitt being carted off after landing on his head in that Monday Night opener against the Bears in '96 or '97. Emmitt said he lost feeling in half his body for a few minutes after that play. Sorry but to me it's just not worth it... The risk outweighs the reward there. And I should mention that I was a 5'6" 150 pound guy with a 41 inch vertical in college. I could ALWAYS leap over the pile if I wanted to and had almost no chance of moving it if I ran into it. But my coaches always told me to stay on the ground. Goal line running is an art.. Some guys just know how to wriggle through and hit pay dirt. I think Zeke is one of those. If I was calling plays on Sunday I would have just handed it to him 4 times and trusted him to find the soft spot in the defense or be able to bounce it if it all collapsed in and drag some 190 pound DB across the goal line. But I guess it was SO close that the sneak made sense. And given that it did actually score.. twice.. it was the right call.

CowboyRoy · Oct 22, 2021

jazzcat22 said:
And mess with any OL chemistry? No.
You put Steele in as a TE eligible. And run to the right side behind Martin, Collins, Steele.
also have the option of McGovern as a FB.

Good idea? Lol

renny · Oct 22, 2021

jazzcat22 said:
And mess with any OL chemistry? No.
You put Steele in as a TE eligible. And run to the right side behind Martin, Collins, Steele.
also have the option of McGovern as a FB.

Only in goal line situations, you could then move Connor Williams to TE and be even bigger with McGovern in the backfield. You would put extreme pressure on a defense.

Cowboy4ever · Oct 22, 2021

America's Cowboy said:
Keeping the players bunched up at the goal line would be great if Zeke was not afraid to dive over the pile into the endzone.

Zeke is gladfully willing to hurdle DBs in the open, but he's afraid to get airborne and dive 1 yard over the pile at the line of scrimmage into the endzone?

With his fumble issues, that's more than likely a coaching decision, not the player.

Cowboy4ever · Oct 22, 2021

You guys act like moving players from right to left, guard to tackle is no big deal. It's a completely different way to block, your techniques are completely different, your hand placements are completely different, the footwork, the first step, the splits, your vision (how you see the field) are completely different.. to do something like that would take the entire off season to work on it.. it's not something you do on the fly if you are not forced to do it.

Creeper · Oct 22, 2021

In short yardage run situations you can see time and again the C and LG do not get any movement on the DL. More often than not, Biadasz winds up on the ground behind the LOS. It is a problem but not an insurmountable problem. They can still run behind Martin and Steele or Collins. They can use McGovern or Ralston as a FB. In fact, they can hand Ralston the ball and he will drive the pile more than a yard in most cases.
Or they can play action pass to either of their TEs or a RB in the flat. But in the long term they need to fix the problem at LG and C.

I think the Cowboys also need to come up with some better 2 point conversion plays.

America's Cowboy · Oct 22, 2021

Creeper said:
In short yardage run situations you can see time and again the C and LG do not get any movement on the DL. More often than not, Biadasz winds up on the ground behind the LOS. It is a problem but not an insurmountable problem. They can still run behind Martin and Steele or Collins. They can use McGovern or Ralston as a FB. In fact, they can hand Ralston the ball and he will drive the pile more than a yard in most cases.
Or they can play action pass to either of their TEs or a RB in the flat. But in the long term they need to fix the problem at LG and C.

I think the Cowboys also need to come up with some better 2 point conversion plays.

RonnieT24 · Oct 22, 2021

Creeper said:
In short yardage run situations you can see time and again the C and LG do not get any movement on the DL. More often than not, Biadasz winds up on the ground behind the LOS. It is a problem but not an insurmountable problem. They can still run behind Martin and Steele or Collins. They can use McGovern or Ralston as a FB. In fact, they can hand Ralston the ball and he will drive the pile more than a yard in most cases.
Or they can play action pass to either of their TEs or a RB in the flat. But in the long term they need to fix the problem at LG and C.

I think the Cowboys also need to come up with some better 2 point conversion plays.

Yeah um with ya there.. But I still think not having a post up TE or a good jump ball receiver or a good edge blocking receiver group in general handicaps us in that situation. We have a great short yardage runner in Zeke but we have two guys up front who are only about 50/50 in their ability to move people off the ball in short yardage.. The net result is we can't run up inside consistently down there and we can't run outside consistently either .. then just for good measure we don't have a beast receiver for that closed down area.. Frankly I'm starting to think running Dak is going to be our best option in those situations. Get him out on the edges, stress the defense and create throwing lanes with the option to run for it if the defense falls back. Frankly I hate having that weakness but it absolutely is a weakness for us.

BAT · Oct 22, 2021

Play the best 6.

This should not be that hard.

Goal line offensive line

RonnieT24

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America's Cowboy

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JW82

JJ21

RonnieT24

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CowboyRoy

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renny

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Cowboy4ever

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Cowboy4ever

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Creeper

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America's Cowboy

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RonnieT24

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BAT

Mr. Fixit