Switzer interview - staff wanted him to be a RB

DeaconMoss

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Vanilla2 said:
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.
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Dude had more punt return TD's in college than Devin Hester, DJAX, and Ted Ginn. Call me what you want, but his PR skills are pretty hard to beat. Austin better deliver. Switzer as a rookie had NFL punters angling ball away from him. That is yardage changing impact in the return game without touching the ball.
 
Ddisco22

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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.
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I liked Switzer as a return specialist and Slot WR, our coaches do not know how to use these young guys, they need to get on board with the new playing style.
 
ThreeandOut

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Austin should be able play the Dunbar or Whitehead (jet sweep) roles better than Switzer. They also brought in three receivers (Hurns, Thompson, and Gallup) that can play the slot. Regardless of whether the Cowboys misused Switzer last year, he wasn’t going to have a role this year.
 
Ddisco22

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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.
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This shows our coaches had no clue how to use this guy.
"I know how successful I can be in this league as the receiver and just being one week with these guys and the offense with [Derek Carr], I feel a lot more confident from an offensive standpoint going into this year with Oakland," he said.
 
Big D

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DeaconMoss said:
Dude had more punt return TD's in college than Devin Hester, DJAX, and Ted Ginn. Call me what you want, but his PR skills are pretty hard to beat. Austin better deliver. Switzer as a rookie had NFL punters angling ball away from him. That is yardage changing impact in the return game without touching the ball.
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This is whats got me worried about the coaching. All we could manage to get from him was one good return?
 

JsnSA

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CalPolyTechnique said:
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.
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That is true. But Dunbar was with the team from 2012 until 2016. That was really just two games out of 5 years he was with the Cowboys that were able to get serious use out of him.

After his first year there was always talk about getting him more involved but it never really happened. And a lot of it was injury related too so I can't its hard to tell how much to fault the coaches on that. But I can tell you I don't have a lot of faith in the coaches when they have to figure out how to use a player in a certain way.

And I remember that period when it seemed we FINALLY were starting to use him like they said we would for years. Then he gets hurt and once he comes back they just never seemed to try to use him in the manner they did during those two games. Could be there were legitimate reasons for that but in the end they didn't do it.
 
Shinaoi

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Sounds like the idea was kicked around just to get him an extra touch or two a game. I’m not saying the cowboys gave him the right chance, but I wouldn’t read into this that he was whole sale switching positions.
 
CalPolyTechnique

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JsnSA said:
That is true. But Dunbar was with the team from 2012 until 2016. That was really just two games out of 5 years he was with the Cowboys that were able to get serious use out of him.

After his first year there was always talk about getting him more involved but it never really happened. And a lot of it was injury related too so I can't its hard to tell how much to fault the coaches on that. But I can tell you I don't have a lot of faith in the coaches when they have to figure out how to use a player in a certain way.

And I remember that period when it seemed we FINALLY were starting to use him like they said we would for years. Then he gets hurt and once he comes back they just never seemed to try to use him in the manner they did during those two games. Could be there were legitimate reasons for that but in the end they didn't do it.
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The primary reason for his lack of production was his penchant for being injured
 
SoupcanSam

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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...
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I really be glade when we do away with that coaching staff. Keep Richards and Sanjay who are likely in the new wave of coaches.
 
jazzcat22

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I still claim Switzer was a wasted pick at the time. And still do.
This is also why Austin will be used the way the wanted to use Dunbar, and any other player they put out there.

Austin however has the speed to do several things. Dunbar's scatback type plays, WR, RB, Jet Sweep instead of Lucky or Switzer.

Those 2 trades saved day 3 of the draft.
 
jazzcat22

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Ddisco22 said:
I liked Switzer as a return specialist and Slot WR, our coaches do not know how to use these young guys, they need to get on board with the new playing style.
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and just what is the new playing style...time and time again these new playing styles are gadget offenses that overall do not work out.
Football is still football, line them up and play...fundamentals work over gadgets every time.

Run and Shoot...gone
Original West Coast Offense, not used like it was when it really worked for awhile.
Spread offense just about all the time, no.
No huddle as when the Bills ran it. It got them there, to the SB, but they did not win...what won...basic fundamental football....
Sugar huddles, no
Wild Cat, no
I am sure there are others that are pretty much defunct
How long did Chip Kelley's style last as it did not work..college yes, NFL, no
 
Roland

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I grew up in NC and pull for the Tarheels, so I was stoked when they drafted him. I saw him make a lot of plays. He was quick! A pretty gifted returner too and I had visions of Beasely and Switzer in a 4 wide set. It think it would be hard to match up against that. Not even sure our scheme would have used them both much at the same time, however I did see him in a 5 wide set once or twice. Would have liked to keep him and possibly he could replace Beasely at contract time. Alas, it was not meant to be...
 
jazzcat22

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links18 said:
Cowboys Zone will explode the first time Zeke is taken off the field for Austin on 3rd and 4 in the red zone. And it should.....
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But they would love it if DJ 2.0 (Scarbrough) is put in, and will make excuses when he loses yards or fumbles. I can see this starting already. I hope Bo is the RB many want him to be. But I need to see this in TC.
 
joseephuss

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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.
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For a guy who you say never returned kicks in college(he has 2 kickoff returns on his statsheet while at UNC), he statistically did better as a kick returner than he did as a punt returner in 2017. You take away his one long punt return and he averaged 6.1 yards per punt return, which isn't that good. Switzer's best return year was as a freshman. He lit it up then. He wasn't quite as dynamic his remaining 3 seasons. I think it was a smart thing to use him as a KO return guy. They were trying to get him involved and he seemed to be doing a decent job as a KO returner. I won't be surprised if the Raiders continue to use him as a kick off returner.

Switzer missed a large portion of training camp and pre-season. How are coaches supposed to get anything out of a player when they aren't available? Few rookie wide receivers make immediate impacts for their team. There are a lot of nuances to the position. Getting anything out of someone who didn't get critical developmental reps in pre-season games is a surprise.
 
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