Bob Sturm: In 2019, Zeke had bad hands (pass drops)

[AbeBeta]

Oh the PAIN the PAIN....Zeke got his cash and this is driving you Dak-Zoids to extreme behaviors....
Talent ONLY gets the BIG BUCKS!!!!

Sturm used to be excellent.

Now he's on a paid site that relies on him being provocative rather than correct.

Seems like information literacy fails in every zone on this site

 

[buybuydandavis]

Zeke was among the Cowboys top 5 with most drops in 2019. His fellow most-targetted teammates didn't fare so well either.



For a team who led the league in dropped passes and missed out on the playoffs and division title by 1 game, I hope these drops get seriously addressed and fixed in 2020. Too much potential on this team to go 8-8 and be missing out on the playoffs.

Don't know if they've always had this, but I just found Pro Football Reference's Advanced Statistics pages, and they're great.
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2019/receiving_advanced.htm

They've got drop rate, which is much more relevant than drops.
Cobb and Gallup ruined the numbers. Both up around 10%. Bad news.
Pollard and Zeke around 5.
Cooper at 4.
Jarwin at 2.5.
Witten was 7.2. Brutal for a possession receiver.

Gallup and Cobb were 6 and 7 in the league. Witten 23. Two of those guys are no longer with the team.

 

[PAPPYDOG]

For the umpteenth time, just make sure you man up and honor your word to stay away for a whole year once Dak is signed to a big contract with the Cowboys.

It seems at this rate I might get a contract before Dak.....

 

[America's Cowboy]

It seems at this rate I might get a contract before Dak.....

 

[Hadenough]

I saw some balls hit these WRs right in the hands and get dropped but I also saw a lot of passes thrown behind Gallup while running a crossing route that he was just moving to fast to slam on the brakes and reach 3 feet behind him as it hits his hands and falls to the turf. Ball placement by the QB has a lot to do with drops. How many times has Zeke had to reach behind him and scoop a pass up off his shoe laces. Just because a QB can put a ball inside a catch radius doesn't mean it should be considered a drop if its not caught.

 

[StuckMojo]

I saw some balls hit these WRs right in the hands and get dropped but I also saw a lot of passes thrown behind Gallup while running a crossing route that he was just moving to fast to slam on the brakes and reach 3 feet behind him as it hits his hands and falls to the turf. Ball placement by the QB has a lot to do with drops. How many times has Zeke had to reach behind him and scoop a pass up off his shoe laces. Just because a QB can put a ball inside a catch radius doesn't mean it should be considered a drop if its not caught.

Hopefully the new staff will hold the players more accountable. I personally am excited to see this team under MM and company.

 

[Aviano90]

Very. Some count practically every pass that the intended receiver touches as catchable and therefore a drop. Others realize that that is an unrealistic standard.

Yeah, I think PFF hands out drops like they are candy, but most others are realistic and only count drops on balls that definitely should be caught.

 

[DuncanIso]

Hopefully the new staff will hold the players more accountable. I personally am excited to see this team under MM and company.

need to see wins.

we start 0-2 and it’s gets ugly in here quick.

 

[aikemirv]

It was named and posted a month or two ago on several different threads. I'm pretty sure you saw it, but you're acting naive as usual. Not going to do your homework for you.

You made the claim - you name it - don't pass the buck - make a claim and back it up - not doing your homework for you!

What a tool!

 

[Bullflop]

I've seen several instances where Zeke had taken his eyes off the ball to look downfield. It's a commonplace mistake that RBs make, especially when they are seldom used in the passing game. Last season was one that saw Zeke getting more targets than he'd had in the past. Obviously, the new staff will be charged with convincing him to look the ball into his hands before glancing downfield. It's, potentially, a correctable problem.

 

[gimmesix]

Did you ever play receiver in high school or in your life because I did? Those catches would've been caught by ME. And I'm not or never have been a pro, although I played semi-pro football.

I absolutely did. ... And you would not have caught a lot of the passes our receivers dropped. That you think you would just shows your mind-set about those passes.

There are various levels of difficult passes for receivers to catch. The unexpectedly high pass when you are within 10 yards of the quarterback is one of them because the ball gets on you so fast (especially when thrown by an NFL quarterback) that it is difficult to get your hands up in time to get them cleanly on the ball. The throw behind a receiver, to his back shoulder, when he's running the opposite way is one of the toughest because all his momentum is against him and he has to try to reach back with both hands and again get them cleanly around the ball. Both of those are shown in that clip concerning Elliott as well as other difficult catches.

That doesn't mean those catches can't be made. Receivers have saved their quarterbacks on poor throws many times. It just should not be a surprise when those catches are not made. Even when a receiver can react to reach back or reach up, that doesn't mean he can get both hands there at the same time, so sometimes the ball careens off one hand or part of one hand before the other gets there or reaches the pads, which causes it to bounce away.

As a former receiver, I will always give the receivers the benefit of the doubt if the pass is off the mark. Just because they can get low or high, can dive, can reach back, etc., does not mean that they can catch the pass.

 

[Sydla]

LOL at the Zeke crowd getting all pissy at this.

 

[nate dizzle]

Look at what you bolded from my quote. "One of the best, most well rounded backs."

Key words:

One of.
Well rounded.

Which he was, and which he is. Here's a quick glance:

4th rushing yards
5th rushing TD's
1st in rushing 1st downs
6th in rushing yards after contact
1st in Defensive yards above replacement (total value)
4th in Defensive adjusted value over average (value per play)

FWIW I agree, Elliott had a down year compared to his standards, which is why I'm sure he said what he said. I also agree that his contract exceeds his value. I was never a fan of mega deals for RB's. That doesn't change the fact that he is one of the best in the league and the OP's original post citing Bob Sturm is trying to zoom in on 6 drops as some indication that he's got "bad hands" was ludicrous.

 

[John813]

need to see wins.

we start 0-2 and it’s gets ugly in here quick.

Just wait and see if we lose the first preseason game.

 

[nate dizzle]

LOL at the Zeke crowd getting all pissy at this.

There were better arguments to make about Zeke.

Lack of big plays.
Avg. YPC was down (see lack of big plays)
Not enough broken tackles.

"Bad hands" was a foolish hill to choose to die on.

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

When it comes to 2019, our receivers had bad hands. Way too many drops. It doesn't mean they haven't performed better before, but last year was a bad year for our receivers, especially when they led the league in dropped passes. Hoping our new WRs coach and new coaching staff get that corrected this year.

How is it ALL of receivers developed bad hands? Odd. How can a WHOLE TEAM have "bad hands". Was there some common denominator?

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Everyone knows the team quit on coaches right? Are we just finding people to look down on because everyone is bored? Lol

I think people believe it's fashionable and in-the-know to bash Zeke or Dak. Puts them in the "i'm an expert" kool kids klub.

 

[Clove]

I absolutely did. ... And you would not have caught a lot of the passes our receivers dropped. That you think you would just shows your mind-set about those passes.

There are various levels of difficult passes for receivers to catch. The unexpectedly high pass when you are within 10 yards of the quarterback is one of them because the ball gets on you so fast (especially when thrown by an NFL quarterback) that it is difficult to get your hands up in time to get them cleanly on the ball. The throw behind a receiver, to his back shoulder, when he's running the opposite way is one of the toughest because all his momentum is against him and he has to try to reach back with both hands and again get them cleanly around the ball. Both of those are shown in that clip concerning Elliott as well as other difficult catches.

That doesn't mean those catches can't be made. Receivers have saved their quarterbacks on poor throws many times. It just should not be a surprise when those catches are not made. Even when a receiver can react to reach back or reach up, that doesn't mean he can get both hands there at the same time, so sometimes the ball careens off one hand or part of one hand before the other gets there or reaches the pads, which causes it to bounce away.

As a former receiver, I will always give the receivers the benefit of the doubt if the pass is off the mark. Just because they can get low or high, can dive, can reach back, etc., does not mean that they can catch the pass.

You must have sucked as a receiver because I dropped nothing. Those passes hit him right in the hand, not too high, not too low, not too wide. Directly in the HANDS. I’m not debating any of that in here with anyone anymore, it’s not my problem nor is it yours, but one last thing. If Dak wasn’t so accurate last year yet Romo was an accurate passer, how did Dak miss out by a couple of yards to Romo. This should be amusing...

 

[Qcard]

The reporters for this team are borderline terrible at this point. Now Zeke has bad hands because he dropped a few? Does Gallup have bad hands since he was top 3 in the NFL in drops?

Career:
Zeke 243 targets (61 per season) 78% catch rate
Cook 128 targets (43 per season) 82% catch rate
Barkley 143 targets (72 per season) 74% catch rate
Fournette 174 targets (58 per season) 77% catch rate

Why are you using a catch against weak team?

Why do you care Detroit are a weak?

Only catches against good teams count please or the OP is right Elliot has bad hands

See how dumb your logic against Dak appears when you try it on Zeke, Gallup and Amari

Dak Haters..... chicken are coming home to Roost.

 

[gimmesix]

You must have sucked as a receiver because I dropped nothing. Those passes hit him right in the hand, not too high, not too low, not too wide. Directly in the HANDS. I’m not debating any of that in here with anyone anymore, it’s not my problem nor is it yours, but one last thing. If Dak wasn’t so accurate last year yet Romo was an accurate passer, how did Dak miss out by a couple of yards to Romo. This should be amusing...

Not sure why you want to make this about Romo. Every quarterback throws bad passes; some are caught, some are not. But I guess since you are superior to every NFL receiver since you never "dropped" a pass, you can't understand that.

In addition to not catching those difficult passes last year, our receivers also dropped some they should have caught, which led to a higher drop rate than is acceptable. I said in my first post that this doesn't mean Dak "wasn't so accurate last year." He just had some passes that were off (particularly throwing behind receivers crossing the field for some reason) and the receivers were unable to save him on them by making difficult catches. Take away the drops on good passes and those off passes likely wouldn't have mattered.