Big Picture: when discussing a change at RB, consider the Offensive Line ...

[BulletBob]

Perhaps we should consider more of a wide-angle lens when looking at the possibility of turning over our talent at the RB position. Of course, all of this may be moot, because the trade talks are fueled purely by rumor, but since we have no more substantive content to discuss on Super Bowl week, I’ll throw in my two cents.

Jerry Jones has two possible motives in wanting to bring in new talent at RB. First, an exciting new player at a skill position would help put butts in the seats of his new stadium. Whether or not this is a worthy rationale is up for debate.

:jackpot:​

However, the second motive is more interesting. Jerry is desperately trying to rebuild the Cowboys to their glory years in the only image he has known as a winner – the team of the nineties. You can see the trail leading up to this goal very clearly. He is building the offense based on the nineties blueprint, and I believe that he thinks he has all of the pieces in place except one – a league-dominating RB.

He has his accurate, confident QB in the mold of Aikman, his passionate, game-busting WR in the mold of Irvin, his trusty, chain-stretching TE in the mold of Novacek. He has a big, bruising OL.

Think about that Offensive Line for a moment. It always struck me as odd that as a group, they seemed to verge on dominant in the pass-protecting department, but seemed average in the run-blocking department. Isn’t the opposite usually true? Isn’t run-blocking much easier than pass-protecting? I cannot recall an offensive line that protected the QB extremely well, but was below-average in the run-blocking phase of the game.

:holmes:​

Let’s suppose that the coaching staff led by Garrett (another nineties link) has analyzed the game film from this season and has broken down their run-blocking performance and come to the conclusion that they did exactly as they were supposed to do – and that their run-blocking skills met or exceeded their pass-protecting skills.

What if the problem was that the line opened up the proper running lanes, but the RB tandem only found them about 50% of the time that they should have?

None of us would be able to do that type of analysis because not only do we not have access to the game film, but we also do not know how each play is designed to flow.

The coaches do.

Suppose they conclude that the O-Line performed extremely well, but the RBs only performed average.
Would that then not point to a strong need to upgrade that particular position?

We all love MB III for his heart and never-die attitude. Some of us love Julius because of his life story and a sense of unrealized potential. But what if we’re all way off base? What if the offensive line did its job, and we simply need a RB with a better blend of speed and vision (and perhaps football intelligence) who can hit the hole he is supposed to hit a little bit quicker than what we currently have?

:a-team:​

 

[AMERICAS_FAN]

Suppose they conclude that the O-Line performed extremely well, but the RBs only performed average.
Would that then not point to a strong need to upgrade that particular position?

We all love MB III for his heart and never-die attitude. Some of us love Julius because of his life story and a sense of unrealized potential. But what if we’re all way off base? What if the offensive line did its job, and we simply need a RB with a better blend of speed and vision (and perhaps football intelligence) who can hit the hole he is supposed to hit a little bit quicker than what we currently have?

I read somewhere this past season that the reason that Julius Jones was struggling is because he works better behind a zone-blocking OL, and in 2007 Dallas was man-to-man blocking instead. Conversely, the man-blocking scheme lent itself better to a runner like MBIII becuase he simply hits the hole designed for the play --- unlike JJ who waits for the gap to develop, because he's not a pure north/south runner like MBIII is.

You defenitely are onto something. It's not about the RB position or the OL per se, but rather how these positions coordinate together as a backfield running unit in the man-blocking scheme. Sp whether we replace JJ in the draft or free agency, we absolutely must target only RBs who are effective north/south runners in a man-blocking scheme.

**

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

it's not the RBs...the OL is not a good run blocking OL...and we need another WR to discourage the defense from stuffing the box....Darren McFadden would only improve what we do when our RBs get in the open field...but getting hit in the backfield is a problem no RB can overcome on a consistent basis

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

it's not the RBs...
the OL is not a good run blocking OL...

and we need another WR to discourage the defense from stuffing the box....Darren McFadden would only improve what we do when our RBs get in the open field...but getting hit in the backfield is a problem no RB can overcome on a consistent basis

Bingo!

we need a back that can catch the ball outta the backfield too....
WR's that can catch would help also.

 

[joseephuss]

I read somewhere this past season that the reason that Julius Jones was struggling is because he works better behind a zone-blocking OL, and in 2007 Dallas was man-to-man blocking instead. Conversely, the man-blocking scheme lent itself better to a runner like MBIII becuase he simply hits the hole designed for the play --- unlike JJ who waits for the gap to develop, because he's not a pure north/south runner like MBIII is.

You defenitely are onto something. It's not about the RB position or the OL per se, but rather how these positions coordinate together as a backfield running unit in the man-blocking scheme. Sp whether we replace JJ in the draft or free agency, we absolutely must target only RBs who are effective north/south runners in a man-blocking scheme.

**

I often watched MBIII not hit the hole where the play was designed to go. Instead he would bounce to another open area. The main complaint about JJ was that he went to the designed hole whether it was there or not.

 

[Fletch]

it's not the RBs...the OL is not a good run blocking OL...and we need another WR to discourage the defense from stuffing the box....Darren McFadden would only improve what we do when our RBs get in the open field...but getting hit in the backfield is a problem no RB can overcome on a consistent basis

Agreed! I have mentioned (insert patting on the back icon) that season after season. Where has the run blocking gone? We have an above-average (room for improvement) pass blocking O-line. But the run blocking left a long time ago.

Since I doubt we see any changes to personnel along the O-line, perhaps Hudson can cure what has been ailing us for so long.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

A well-thought-out post, young man.
Well, of course, Jerra wants to rebuild the team in the image of the ones of the early to mid '90s.

He has all the ingredients, including a potential BIG draft day this offseason.

We are all in agreement that we love MB. But time and the NFL wait for non one.

As for Julius, he's run out of excuses and would be happier elsewhere.

Also, let's not assume that while we are so close to the Super Bowl that other teams will remain static and not challenge the 'Boys next year.

Fer instance, the skins are on the rise. The Giants left the 'Boys in the dust. (Yes 2 out of 3 ain't bad, but the third game was the dealbreaker for the Cowboys.)

 

[Nexx]

julius could never hit the hold or cut back well enough to get into the open. barber could hit the and make the cut but doesnt have the speed to take it to the house. i remember numerous times when he got into the open field and just didnt have the legs to take it all the way. a long run for a TD has been lacking for toooooo long. a game changing run can help a team immensely. bring in chris johnson imho.

 

[superpunk]

Pretty interesting speculation...I like it.

I think we have a terrible blocking system in place. Either it was bad, or it was taught bad, or our linemen are just awful, or our RBs aren't much good. Now, we know Julius is not quality at all. That's been proven. He lacks the patience and vision to manipulate the zone blocking, and personally I think we suck at executing that scheme.

If you watch other zone teams, it's almost beautiful the way the hole opens up, the runner makes one cut and suddenly he's 5 yards upfield. With ours, it looks like each member of the unit is kind of doing their own thing, and only rarely do we get something that is executed well. One of the few plays we did execute well would have to be that toss where the T/G and FB pull. Sprung quite a few long Barber runs with that - Julius never had the patience to wait for it to set up.

Those 5 members should work together. We look like a quintet playing 5 different songs out there sometimes. I wonder if some changes are in store now that Sparano is gone. I'm sure our big maulers would love to be unleashed on the men in front of them, instead of their current read and react system.

 

[vlad]

My opinion is and has been this year that while our O-line has improved compared to past years, they still basically are weak.

I think Romo makes them a "great" pass blocking line. But honestly, all these magical crazy plays Romo makes are mainly because a lot of time he is dodging traffic but keeps his eyes downfield.

I think the lack of holes is proof of that. Now that last game I think we surprised them, but overall, I'm not impressed, particularly with 3 pro-bowlers.

 

[wileedog]

I think Romo makes them a "great" pass blocking line. But honestly, all these magical crazy plays Romo makes are mainly because a lot of time he is dodging traffic but keeps his eyes downfield.

I don't think this can be overstated.

4/5 of this line blocked for Bledsoe the first half of last year and was considered a major team weakness. I don't think just the addition of Davis over Marco, while a huge upgrade to be certain, is soley responsible for turning them into a great pass blocking line.

Goods points though BB. As much as I like Barber he strikes me as a bit of a freelancer, especially when he bounces the inside stuff outside, which sometimes works for him and sometimes doesn't. Wouldn't surprise me if he wasn't always going where the play is supposed to be.

JJ's problem is and always will be balance. He consistently goes down on first contact, and no line, no matter how good, is going to keep you that clean on every play. You have to be able to beat someone occasionally.

Only point against your original premise is that I think Barber has become a fan favorite. Trading him for McFadden could backfire HUGE in the ticket selling department if D-Mac busts.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Pretty interesting speculation...I like it.

I think we have a terrible blocking system in place. Either it was bad, or it was taught bad, or our linemen are just awful, or our RBs aren't much good. Now, we know Julius is not quality at all. That's been proven. He lacks the patience and vision to manipulate the zone blocking, and personally I think we suck at executing that scheme.

If you watch other zone teams, it's almost beautiful the way the hole opens up, the runner makes one cut and suddenly he's 5 yards upfield. With ours, it looks like each member of the unit is kind of doing their own thing, and only rarely do we get something that is executed well. One of the few plays we did execute well would have to be that toss where the T/G and FB pull. Sprung quite a few long Barber runs with that - Julius never had the patience to wait for it to set up.

Those 5 members should work together. We look like a quintet playing 5 different songs out there sometimes. I wonder if some changes are in store now that Sparano is gone. I'm sure our big maulers would love to be unleashed on the men in front of them, instead of their current read and react system.

Bang!

My opinion is and has been this year that while our O-line has improved compared to past years, they still basically are weak.

I think Romo makes them a "great" pass blocking line. But honestly, all these magical crazy plays Romo makes are mainly because a lot of time he is dodging traffic but keeps his eyes downfield.

I think the lack of holes is proof of that. Now that last game I think we surprised them, but overall, I'm not impressed, particularly with 3 pro-bowlers.

Bang!

Right on the money.

 

[CrazyCowboy]

very good post....well thought out!

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I don't know. To me, JJ just never had very good balance. To me, that was a lot of his issue. Most NFL RBs, you stick an arm out there and they'll run through it. Jones got tackled a lot that way IMO. The run to the whole thing was Parcells influence on him, IMO. When JJ first came into the league, he would adlib a little bit but in that first year, he got hammered for it. I think that he kinda lost something there. JJ may be a back like Sanders was. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying he's anything close to Sanders. Only that he may be a guy who needs to be able to do some crazy things to be succesful. The draw back on that is that you lose yards when you run like that. You suffer TFLs and that can kill a drive. However, you can also break runs that way. For the record, I don't think that there is probably much to the whole OL is blocking well but RBs are not getting it done. To me, the difference was that teams started playing us closer to the box and stacking a bit more then they were in the early going. I think everybody kinda realized that we could not stretch the field on the off side so the rolled coverage on TO and played Crayton straight up. You gotta remember that this is is the first year with this OL played together and really, you figure Kosier is in his second year with us, Gurode is in his second year at Center and Columbo has started only one full year at RT. They will improve, over time.

 

[burmafrd]

If they were run blocking well we would see huge holes at least now and then. I never saw many at all. How many times did MB have to bounce around like a pinball in a machine before he found a hole since it hardly ever was where it was supposed to be?
It was said time and again this season that we have a very good pass blocking line but a definitly below average run blocking line, by many observers. They all can't be wrong.

 

[khiladi]

Actually, our offensive line sucked at run-blocking. The only reason we were good at pass-blocking was because of the pocket presence of Romo...

 

[BulletBob]

it's not the RBs...the OL is not a good run blocking OL...and we need another WR to discourage the defense from stuffing the box....Darren McFadden would only improve what we do when our RBs get in the open field...but getting hit in the backfield is a problem no RB can overcome on a consistent basis

I'm not sure I agree with your conclusion.

As fans, most of us can only judge the effectiveness of a running play based on the results we see on TV.

Only the coaches can determine if the Offensive Line executed its run-blocking exactly as it was originally drawn up (i.e., only the coaches can judge the overall success of the play, based on the way it was designed).

Plus, I have rarely heard of an Offensive Line that is more effective at pass-protecting than run-blocking. Normally, if the OLine can pass-protect, it can also perform the more-easily executed run-blocking scheme effectively. Put another way, if an OLine cannot run-block effectively, it almost certainly cannot pass-protect.

I think it is very plausible to conclude that the RBs simply weren't effective at executing the scheme IF we see a shopping spree at RB this off-season.

 

[Chief]

Bang!



Bang!

Right on the money.

Agreed.

Good posts.

 

[BARRYRAY]

Well if Romo makes our line look good at pass blocking, imagine what it would be to block for a guy like McFadden who could take it to the house like Dorsett could. I'm not syaing they are equal but honestly part of the reason our line looks so bad is because their blocking for these guys. Get a real number one back and see what happens..

 

[Boys_of_Legend]

I think our o line especially the tackles are tall and thus have a high center of gravity and long arms. This makes them better in pass protection because of reach but it hurts them in run blocking because the defenders can get below their pads and fill the running lane. It is a question of where our power base is located.