Switzer interview - staff wanted him to be a RB

DeaconMoss · May 7, 2018

I think this shows a lot about our staff. Dallas really drafted him to be a RB and to run sweeps? Dude is a dynamic slot receiver and great PR guy. He never returned kickoffs and never played rb at UNC. So lets draft him to play rb and return kicks. That's a great idea. He was confused as how him and Beasley could be used. So was I. Dallas never tried playing them both on the field together running underneath stuff. What is the staff's infatuation with the (dunbar role) dynamic 3rd down rb/wr? What's that guy going to get 5 touches? Leave Zeke on the field. Switzer was one of my favorite college players to watch recently and I think he has a place in this league. Dallas had a different plan for him, than using him for what he excels at as a player. I guess Tavon Austin will be our next experiment at this position.

https://247sports.com/college/north...-feeling-wanted-by-Raiders-and-more-118031958

Switzer: I don't know. That's something I'm still kind of pondering. The more I think on it, I think that they had a different plan for me than what I was capable of doing. I don't know. Looking back I had two or three rushes in the NFL before receptions and I was taking reps at running back at times. I don't know if were trying to use me as like a scat-back or what. There was a lot of talk about my high school days and being a RB and I don't think I ever fit that mold as a change-of-pace back or someone with slide sweeps and carries. I don't know if that's the plan they had for me [because] it was never spoken, but when I try to piece these things together -- that's kind of what I'm thinking. ...I think that had a little bit to do with it because I can't really think of anything else. ...I did, like coach Garrett [told] me, I did everything [asked of me] and more. I felt like that, too. I'm not really sure. That's about as good of a guess as I have.

JsnSA · May 7, 2018

We barely even used Dunbar when we had him. The coaches would talk him up all off season then when it came down to it they never really could figure out how to get him on the field in a productive manner.

Setackin · May 7, 2018

Kinda telling that the player didn’t know what his role was or the teams plan/vision for him. That’s bad coaching...

Big D · May 7, 2018

I had high hopes for Switz but in the end I'm not sure he's quick enough to play his type of game at the NFL level. I think we'll see immediate improvement at pr/kr just based on Tavon's speed. The wr screens and that end-around play will be interesting as well.

OmerV · May 7, 2018

DeaconMoss said:
I think this shows a lot about our staff. Dallas really drafted him to be a RB and to run sweeps? Dude is a dynamic slot receiver and great PR guy. He never returned kickoffs and never played rb at UNC. So lets draft him to play rb and return kicks. That's a great idea. He was confused as how him and Beasley could be used. So was I. Dallas never tried playing them both on the field together running underneath stuff. What is the staff's infatuation with the (dunbar role) dynamic 3rd down rb/wr? What's that guy going to get 5 touches? Leave Zeke on the field. Switzer was one of my favorite college players to watch recently and I think he has a place in this league. Dallas had a different plan for him, than using him for what he excels at as a player. I guess Tavon Austin will be our next experiment at this position.

https://247sports.com/college/north...-feeling-wanted-by-Raiders-and-more-118031958

Switzer: I don't know. That's something I'm still kind of pondering. The more I think on it, I think that they had a different plan for me than what I was capable of doing. I don't know. Looking back I had two or three rushes in the NFL before receptions and I was taking reps at running back at times. I don't know if were trying to use me as like a scat-back or what. There was a lot of talk about my high school days and being a RB and I don't think I ever fit that mold as a change-of-pace back or someone with slide sweeps and carries. I don't know if that's the plan they had for me [because] it was never spoken, but when I try to piece these things together -- that's kind of what I'm thinking. ...I think that had a little bit to do with it because I can't really think of anything else. ...I did, like coach Garrett [told] me, I did everything [asked of me] and more. I felt like that, too. I'm not really sure. That's about as good of a guess as I have.

I suspect they were just trying to figure out where he might fit and how they might get the ball in his hands without having to put other players on the bench. If so, there is nothing wrong with that, but if it's true that they didn't talk to Switzer about what they were thinking, that was a poor choice. In any case, it was just his rookie year and he was a 4th rounder, so he wasn't a lock to get a lot of playing time immediately, especially considering he sat out most of training camp and preseason with an injury. Had they kept him I would have expected more playing time and involvement this year. Ultimately they must have felt Austin could play the role better, so they essentially swapped Switzer and a 6th round pick for Austin and Ward (yes, I know it was 2 separate deals, but the Austin deal is probably what made the team okay trading Switzer).

DeaconMoss · May 7, 2018

Big D said:
I had high hopes for Switz but in the end I'm not sure he's quick enough to play his type of game at the NFL level. I think we'll see immediate improvement at pr/kr just based on Tavon's speed. The wr screens and that end-around play will be interesting as well.

Dude is as quick as it comes. Top end speed is another discussion. I have 0 faith Austin will be as good at PR as Switzer. I hope he proves me wrong.

Big D · May 7, 2018

DeaconMoss said:
Dude is as quick as it comes. Top end speed is another discussion. I have 0 faith Austin will be as good at PR as Switzer. I hope he proves me wrong.

You could be right. I tend to believe that most of our special teams woes are based on coaching. We're going to need Austin to do his best Romo impression and make things happen outside of what coaching provides. :laugh:

Section446 · May 7, 2018

Setackin said:
Kinda telling that the player didn’t know what his role was or the teams plan/vision for him. That’s bad coaching...

Shocking...

conner01 · May 7, 2018

Switzer is gonna be a good player

Irvin88_4life · May 7, 2018

Big D said:
I had high hopes for Switz but in the end I'm not sure he's quick enough to play his type of game at the NFL level. I think we'll see immediate improvement at pr/kr just based on Tavon's speed. The wr screens and that end-around play will be interesting as well.

Quick enough to take a punt to the house and get separation when used in the passing game

OmerV · May 7, 2018

DeaconMoss said:
Dude is as quick as it comes. Top end speed is another discussion. I have 0 faith Austin will be as good at PR as Switzer. I hope he proves me wrong.

I think Switzer made the Cowboys nervous because he was a risk taker as a punt returner who was willing to sacrifice ball security for a shot at a big return. That's why Beasley was put in to field punts in some situations, just as he was when Whitehead was with the team. Of course, Austin has had a few fumbling issues of his own I think.

gimmesix · May 7, 2018

DeaconMoss said:
I think this shows a lot about our staff. Dallas really drafted him to be a RB and to run sweeps? Dude is a dynamic slot receiver and great PR guy. He never returned kickoffs and never played rb at UNC. So lets draft him to play rb and return kicks. That's a great idea. He was confused as how him and Beasley could be used. So was I. Dallas never tried playing them both on the field together running underneath stuff. What is the staff's infatuation with the (dunbar role) dynamic 3rd down rb/wr? What's that guy going to get 5 touches? Leave Zeke on the field. Switzer was one of my favorite college players to watch recently and I think he has a place in this league. Dallas had a different plan for him, than using him for what he excels at as a player. I guess Tavon Austin will be our next experiment at this position.

https://247sports.com/college/north...-feeling-wanted-by-Raiders-and-more-118031958

Switzer: I don't know. That's something I'm still kind of pondering. The more I think on it, I think that they had a different plan for me than what I was capable of doing. I don't know. Looking back I had two or three rushes in the NFL before receptions and I was taking reps at running back at times. I don't know if were trying to use me as like a scat-back or what. There was a lot of talk about my high school days and being a RB and I don't think I ever fit that mold as a change-of-pace back or someone with slide sweeps and carries. I don't know if that's the plan they had for me [because] it was never spoken, but when I try to piece these things together -- that's kind of what I'm thinking. ...I think that had a little bit to do with it because I can't really think of anything else. ...I did, like coach Garrett [told] me, I did everything [asked of me] and more. I felt like that, too. I'm not really sure. That's about as good of a guess as I have.

Switzer was brought in primarily as a return man. He might have eventually taken Beasley's role in the slot (when Beasley leaves), but he didn't really have a defined receiver role. Dallas wanted him to take on the Whitehead role, but Switzer didn't really look like much of a threat on the jet sweep because he's more of quick than fast player.

I have no doubt that they wanted him to be a "web back" in the Dunbar mold, and I agree that it wasn't who he is as a player. Without that, he became a redundancy because of Beasley. Whether they should have or not, this staff was not going to line up four receivers that included two smaller, quicker slot guys very often. It's not their MO.

gimmesix · May 7, 2018

OmerV said:
I think Switzer made the Cowboys nervous because he was a risk taker as a punt returner who was willing to sacrifice ball security for a shot at a big return. That's why Beasley was put in to field punts in some situations, just as he was when Whitehead was with the team. Of course, Austin has had a few fumbling issues of his own I think.

Yes, primarily with fielding punts, so we'll likely see Beasley back there again on fair-catch situations unless we decided one of the other receivers can handle it.

CalPolyTechnique · May 7, 2018

JsnSA said:
We barely even used Dunbar when we had him. The coaches would talk him up all off season then when it came down to it they never really could figure out how to get him on the field in a productive manner.

He had 21 receptions after just three weeks in 2015, then tore his knee in Week 4. I get what you’re saying but it was clear he was being heavily utilized before his season ending injury.

Vanilla2 · May 7, 2018

Floaty levels of college homerism.

I think the coaches didn’t like his risk taking out there on punts.

Those guys aren’t high on boom or bust type players.

Idgit · May 7, 2018

He’s a 4th round WR they drafted primarily as a returner and who thought might replace Beasley by his third year. In the mean time, they experimented with him in the Lucky/Dunbar role to get him some snaps on offense.

There’s no great mystery, and nothing to piece together. He’s just a dude. I liked his potential as much as many of us did, but he was likely to be nothing more than a complementary player like Beasley is at his best.

DFWJC · May 7, 2018

It's not like they cut or even gave Switzer away.

They traded him for Jihad Ward--which is most likely a bit more value than the 6th rounder that the Rams sold Tavon for,

Tangle_Foot · May 7, 2018

As soon as the trade was completed I became more concerned over what we have rather than what we gave up. We may have made a mistake in how we handled Switzer and his role but Ward is the cow in the barn now. I'm looking forward to how much milk we can get rather than crying over what was presumably spilled.

glimmerman · May 7, 2018

They are gonna do the same with Austin. If they wanted Switzer to be that guy then why didn’t they put him there? Was he not getting it?

G2 · May 7, 2018

If only he knew how to call a fair catch.

Switzer interview - staff wanted him to be a RB

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