Twitter: Acho: Cowboys have a roster construction issue

[SlammedZero]

As brittle as LVE is, anybody miss him? Anoybod miss #50? I sure do

This is why I never understood the Vander Esch hate.

No, he's not the kind of guy that gave you splash plays. But he was the kind of guy that helped the defense not give up 8 yards per carry.

^ So much of this. I get the frustration with his inability to stay healthy, it's unfortunate, but the guy is a solid player.

 

[buybuydandavis]

Why yall acting like we don't have two LBs on the roster better than Clark and Bell. Micah is a LB who can pass rush. We brought in Evans who is a thumper against the run. They need to let make the adjustment.

We'd improve at *two* positions against the run if we took Micah off DE and put him at LB on run downs.

 

[buybuydandavis]

Why not more Micah at lb then… he’s your biggest and most physical defender. Let him go sideline to sideline… passing downs he’s a rusher.

This.
Been obvious all along.
And it's not like teams don't have to worry about Parson's blitzing from off the ball if he's at LB.

 

[tomokawan]

He talks too freaking much. Never shuts up on the show and let someone else talk.

 

[GORICO]

That, or just subtract a back, like Vaughn, and use his spot to add a run-stopping LB type. There has to be some kind of move we can make. The other idea would be to activate Malik Jefferson to add an actual LB to the mix.

Right now, the team really misses Hankins and LVE, as far as I can tell.

Jefferson plays the run pretty well, though.

Acho, being a Texas alum, dissing Jefferson? Acho is more of a hot take type. I'm trying to find a pragmatic way to fix the issue.

if you can watch AKOYE in his film breakdown we have the personnel but it was the DC that had wrong scheme

for the Bills...add all the penalties at bad times...all wrong calls at bad times...O line not playing as well as in

other games?....i think it was perfect storm not a sign of things to come....but i too am worried if we play the

other big guns like SF in our division ...if we make it that far?....but still hoping this is our year

 

[atlantacowboy]

I don’t like Acho but he is correct. Our safeties playing LB got destroyed on Sunday as did everyone’s favorite cowboy defender. That’s right. PFF gave Micah a 37 grade for his run defense.

 

[The Fonz]

Like it or not he is not wrong

 

[Mac_MaloneV1]

9 rush for 48 yards
4 pass (2 complete) for 24 yards

2 of the rush attempts were after the DLaw penalty and accounted for 3 yards. So, prior to the penalty, which gave the a 1st & goal at the 3, they rushed 7 for 45 (6.4 avg). They roughly rushed 2x as much and for 2x the yardage as pass on that opening drive.

This is wrong. One of the JA runs was a called pass. The split was 6/4, 40/28. But it's misleading anyways. The two biggest plays were the completion to Diggs and the penalty. Running the ball every play for 70 yard and a field goal would be a win for the defense.

The second drive 2 passes and 1 run.

The third drive (TD) was 6 runs for 29 yards, 5 passes for 42 yards, penalty 15 yards.

The split was close, especially considering the fact that Dallas was just defending the pass, and the big plays were all threw the air or via penalty.

 

[Mac_MaloneV1]

Truth

Ok, prove it.

I'll wait for you to use anything other than the "eye test," because you don't know what you're looking at.

I know you won't, but it's always fun to watch people crumble when asked to provide actual facts.

 

[Robster8989]

I don't disagree with this. I was surprised in the off season as I expected us to sign one more true LB, and we never did.
I also see weakness in our DT rotation, and the result is games like this and the Niners game, where we get gashed by a team that can run the ball (Cardinals too). The blueprint to beat us is out there.

2 very common themes you will read on this forum are 1. The Cowboys are cheap, and 2. We like our guys. Sadly, there is truth in both of those generalizations.
We have 5 DTs.
Osa is a very good player. We drafted him, great job.
Hankins is a JAG. I don't mean that in the derogatory way it is usually used. You need JAGS on your team, especially at rotational positions like DT. Hankins is a solid NFL contributor, but he is just a guy, but a guy you need.
The 3 other pieces are the issue.
Props to the team for investing a high pick in the position, finally, but Mazi has been unspectacular to say the least.
My realistic hope for him was that he would platoon with Hankins, and gradually, as the season wore on, get a higher % of the snaps. That hasn't happened. We are lost out there without Hankins. You expect a 1st round pick to contribute a lot more.
I don't dislike Gholston. He brings something different to the table as an interior pass rusher, so I can live with him as our 5th rotational DT. But for us, he is 3rd or 4th player, and he's not good enough to be a 3rd rotational DT on a playoff team.
Gallimore is a waste of space, but again, we rely on him for rotational snaps.
So we are below average at 3 of our 5 rotational pieces in the interior DL.

There were guys available that could have helped, and at reasonable cost.
I've always liked Shelby Harris. Just a solid DL. A JAG for sure, but a solid rotational piece. The Browns signed him for 3 mil, so about a mil more what Gallimore is costing us. Imagine adding him and moving on from Gallimore. Harris's PFF is currently over 80, so about OSA range. With Osa, Hankins and Harris, now you have a much better DT rotation.
But again, 1. We are cheap, and 2. We like our guys.

Now you add in what Acho correctly points out, that we have 200 lb safeties playing in place of 240 lb LBs, and what happened Sunday vs. the Bills becomes a reality. Signing LVE was a risk. He has never been the same, attacking player he was before his injury, and he was always one hit away from retirement. We gambled we could get another year from him and lost.
I've brought up Bobby Wagner (as have others). He cost a few mil more than LVE, but again, 1. We are cheap, and 2. We like our guys came into play. It didn't even have to be Wagner, just the recognition that we needed a true, attack the LOS, big true LB. We resigned LVE and checked the box, and it's now biting us in the XXX.

There were players available in the off season who would have helped.
Imagine replacing LVE and Gallimore on our roster with Wagner and Harris. Would have cost about 3 million combined, but IMO, we'd be a much better defense, and one that could stop the run.

Look, I'm a Cowboys fan. I hope we win the Super Bowl and it is possible this year, I just have this sinking fealing that the Niners will be up by 4, with 5 minutes left in the game, with the ball, and they will run it down our throats when it matters, and win the game.
Hope I'm wrong. It's irritating because it's been a weakness for so long. It's like we drafted a high pick and checked the box and we should have had a back up plan with pproven NFL players like Harris and Wagner (or others like them).

 

[SoCalBoy]

The solution to the problem is to go into the season with 15 linebackers that way if we lose 10 it will be okay.

 

[Rockport]

Ok, prove it.

I'll wait for you to use anything other than the "eye test," because you don't know what you're looking at.

I know you won't, but it's always fun to watch people crumble when asked to provide actual facts.

Just ask anyone. You’re really not this mentally challenged are you?

 

[Mac_MaloneV1]

Just ask anyone. You’re really not this mentally challenged are you?

There's a lot of people wrong. If it's so obvious, give me a fact to prove it.

Dallas ranked 4th in EPA against the run last year. That is a fact.

How challenged do you have to be to do a 5 second Google and find all of these obvious metrics and points that prove how much of a problem the run defense is.

 

[Sydla]

This isn't anything new. Quinn likes using a lot of safeties and being fast on defense. Granted, his hand has been forced a bit due to issues/injuries at LB.

This is why we look so good against some teams and then teams that are big and physical like Buffalo and San Fran, gives us fits. Unfortunately, if this team has any hope of beating San Fran in the playoffs, Dak is going to have to play out of his mind because I suspect the defense is gonna get carved up.

 

[Rockport]

There's a lot of people wrong. If it's so obvious, give me a fact to prove it.

Dallas ranked 4th in EPA against the run last year. That is a fact.

How challenged do you have to be to do a 5 second Google and find all of these obvious metrics and points that prove how much of a problem the run defense is.

 

[Mac_MaloneV1]

Cool, good fact. Really proving me wrong with that one!

All of these "ask anyone" people you refer to are exactly the same. They all think it's 1992 and they all refuse to believe in things like fact, data, and context.

Your eye test means nothing.

 

[Sydla]

The talk of EPA made me just realize that one of my favorite stats spots - Football Outsiders - went into the trash heap.

Sad.

 

[America's Cowboy]

but it requires strength as well. a 245lb LB is much stronger than a 205 saftey. you can get leverage, but if not the strength to execute on that leverage you lose. if it was all about leverage, then you can put a 240LB DT and expect him to go against guards and centers and say, just use leverage!

@Mac_MaloneV1 is a stubborn mule, bro. He's arguing the same gibberish in another thread.

 

[Mac_MaloneV1]

@Mac_MaloneV1 is a stubborn mule, bro. He's arguing the same gibberish in another thread.

So are you. And like your little buddy, neither of you can post a single morsel of evidence.

Calling me stubborn lmao.

 

[sbark]

The Cowboys defense is built for speed. The fact they went out and got Hankins was something of a surprise because they seem to prefer smaller more mobile players. LVE is bigger but he is soft too. Donovan Wilson was the hardest hitter on the team last year and he is not the same player this year. It seems when the Cowboys do hit hard, they get flagged for it!

I am not going to allow one game to determine my opinion about the Cowboys defense, but there was definitely a big problem Sunday where LBs were not in position and when they were they missed tackles or could not get off of blocks. The Cowboys defense was slow to react to running plays against the Bills. Maybe it was a one game thing, I don't know, but there were plays where the RB got the handoff and the LBs took a second to see the play and move to the point of attack, often getting there too late.

The team was just not showing the quickness and determination we have seen from them in the past.

The D team is built to rush the QB, but that requires the offence grab a lead, or match point for point