News: BTB: Dak Was Never the Problem, It Was the Receivers. Here’s the Proof

[CCBoy]

Please do not understate the lack of adequate game-planning from Scott Linehan, as well. Every single receiver took a step back last year, and Linehan demonstrated that he was incapable of finding creative ways to get guys into space.

I'm thinking that he stuck to the game plan of a dominant #1 receiving and continually tried to rely upon Dez's presence, despite players on the roster going down as well.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

The entire premise of the article literally lays the blame at the receiving group's feet in an effort to absolve Dak of blame.

And folks are trumpeting this blog piece as obective "facts."

#comedy

 

[xwalker]

Regardless of which side anyone takes, we fixin to find out a lot this season

A passenger once asked how fast does my car (hot rod) run. My answer "you're fixin to find out"...

 

[CCBoy]

The entire premise of the article literally lays the blame at the receiving group's feet in an effort to absolve Dak of blame.

And folks are trumpeting this blog piece as obective "facts."

#comedy

c'mon, who's leg are you attempting to pull off?

What has changed from last season...as if it's an elephant in hiding?

 

[ChronicCowboy]

I disagree and give it a wait and see grade on Dak. We just don't know until he has guys around him he feels good about and he can mesh.He never did mesh with Dez because Dez was ok with status QUO. I THINK THE SKY IS THE LIMIT WITH DAK.

Dak had the exact same guys in year 2 that he had so much success with in year 1. Your “mesh” argument rings hollow.

The absence of Tyron and Zeke is the better argument on Dak’s behalf. But even when they came back late in the season, Dak still looked lost.

If Dak turns into an All-Pro that throws 30+ TDs a season I will be shocked at this point. He’s a little better than Quincy so far in my book. QC took us to the playoffs and lost too. And QC didn’t have an all world RB, he had Troy Hambrick and ancient Emmitt.

 

[Diehardblues]

Hardly, if he does well this season...then we talk about a new contract.

If he does poorly, the Cowboys start to look for another quarterback to match the newly created schemes.

I've already stated such on threads...c'mon, keep up.

Them what was your intention to Landry reference?

 

[CCBoy]

Them what was your intention to Landry reference?

They both didn't arrive over night, and they both developed a solid and sustainable team. That appears to be what's on the plate for Jason Garrett as well.

 

[xwalker]

The entire premise of the article literally lays the blame at the receiving group's feet in an effort to absolve Dak of blame.

And folks are trumpeting this blog piece as obective "facts."

#comedy

The article didn't articulate the facts as well as it should; however, there are msny stats and independent (non-Cowboys) analysis that indicate Dak was really good in 2017.

Dak completion percentage
Target Dez 52%
Target Not Dez 67%

Passes Over 20 yards
Target Dez 21%
Target Butler 67%

The stats of when all 5 starting OL played vs when they didn't show that Dak was terrific when the protection was good.

He was #1 in tight window throw percentage.

He was #2 in 16+ yard passes when adjusted for WR error.

 

[Flamma]

I'm don't put all of the blame on Dak, nor do I put it all on the WRs. I still think Dak has what it takes, it's just that in 2017 some of his weaknesses reared their ugly heads. He was a rookie and WRs were getting open all season long. Even when Dez was injured we didn't skip a beat. Fast forward to 2017. Even when the pressure wasn't on him he was holding on to the ball, and in many cases had to wait for a busted play to make something happen. How many times did we see Tony have to do that? We saw that once in 2016 in the second game against the Giants.

Let's just wait and see how Dak does with some of these younger faster players and our shored up OL. Even Joe Montana crapped himself on occasion when the pressure was all over him. It happens. And please, don't bring up Tom Brady.

 

[LACowboysFan1]

I haven’t written a post in a while, but seeing comments that continue to reflect ignorance about Dak Prescott’s performance the past two years has spurred me into action.

I humbly ask that people read the whole article and digest it before sticking with their anti-Dak beliefs.

A few inconvenient facts for those that believe Dak isn’t a franchise QB.

COMPLETION PERCENTAGE

Rookie year: 67.8

Year two: 62.9

It fell off a bit with more pressure and sacks given up by the offensive line and the absence of Zeke for six games, combined with some pretty horrendous game planning by coaches. Also, the fact that Dez was no longer a true number one receiver was a massive problem, because he was still demanding excessive targets and getting them.

That second year percentage for Dak was still better than Carson Wentz or Jared Goff.

YARDS PER COMPLETION

If you believe Dak is only good for short passes, your beliefs are wrong. Sorry, but the facts clearly blow up that myth.

COMPLETED AIR YARDS

Rookie year: 7.5

Second year: 6.6

His rookie year, Dak had an average completion percentage through the air that was higher than Tom Brady, Carson Wentz or Drew Brees.

As everyone knows, the offensive line had protection issues in 2017. Dak had less time to throw. Zeke was gone for six games.

https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/201...problem-it-was-the-receivers-here-s-the-proof

1. His stats did fall off, regardless of missing Zeke, etc. they did fall off, so you have to at least have some concern about that. Brady won a SB his second year, you can talk stats all you want, but championships speak louder than any other stat.

2. It's way too early to say whether Dak is, or isn't, a franchise quarterback, after two years in the league.

 

[CyberB0b]

Dak had his share of the blame, let's be real. With that said, his line and WRs didn't do their job either.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

c'mon, who's leg are you attempting to pull off?

What has changed from last season...as if it's an elephant in hiding?

I think it's clear the FO/coaching is committed to making the offense more "Dak friendly," that being more quick reads, more RPO and of course a heavy dose of Zeke (running game).

We've seen great QBs (think Aaron Rogers) rise to the occasion and carry a team with their arm, smarts and game management. Dak isn't that guy. In fairness, he's still developing but I don't see that as his ceiling. Stephen Jones lended credence to that notion this off-season when he said "Dak is more Aikman than Romo..."

We can win with Dak. He needs to improve (and I'm confident he will progress).

 

[Point-of-the-Star]

lol. Do not stop there. There are Romo ‘haters’ that never truly appreciated him, who initially loved Prescott and began ‘hating’ him during his second season.

Fans are fickle.

Yep, there are those fans that if they're not seeing a 92% completion percentage with 25.6 yds/catch and 6.2 TD's/game are not happy. I hate to plagiarize but it's been said ... "Just win, baby". Good ol' Al, he had the right perspective on this!

Good post Monkey!

 

[Verdict]

I haven’t written a post in a while, but seeing comments that continue to reflect ignorance about Dak Prescott’s performance the past two years has spurred me into action.

I humbly ask that people read the whole article and digest it before sticking with their anti-Dak beliefs.

A few inconvenient facts for those that believe Dak isn’t a franchise QB.

COMPLETION PERCENTAGE

Rookie year: 67.8

Year two: 62.9

It fell off a bit with more pressure and sacks given up by the offensive line and the absence of Zeke for six games, combined with some pretty horrendous game planning by coaches. Also, the fact that Dez was no longer a true number one receiver was a massive problem, because he was still demanding excessive targets and getting them.

That second year percentage for Dak was still better than Carson Wentz or Jared Goff.

YARDS PER COMPLETION

If you believe Dak is only good for short passes, your beliefs are wrong. Sorry, but the facts clearly blow up that myth.

COMPLETED AIR YARDS

Rookie year: 7.5

Second year: 6.6

His rookie year, Dak had an average completion percentage through the air that was higher than Tom Brady, Carson Wentz or Drew Brees.

As everyone knows, the offensive line had protection issues in 2017. Dak had less time to throw. Zeke was gone for six games.

https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/201...problem-it-was-the-receivers-here-s-the-proof

Just think how awesome Dak's stats would have been in his rookie year if he had a "real #1 receiver" who could catch to throw the ball to!

 

[sunalsorises]

Brandon Weeden had a 72% completion percentage with an average of 7.5 per back in 2015. Albeit only 4 games, I would say those stats don't tell the full story.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

The article didn't articulate the facts as well as it should; however, there are msny stats and independent (non-Cowboys) analysis that indicate Dak was really good in 2017.

Dak completion percentage
Target Dez 52%
Target Not Dez 67%

Passes Over 20 yards
Target Dez 21%
Target Butler 67%

The stats of when all 5 starting OL played vs when they didn't show that Dak was terrific when the protection was good.

He was #1 in tight window throw percentage.

He was #2 in 16+ yard passes when adjusted for WR error.

And this is where context matters.

Of course it's likely the completion percentages to the other receivers like Witten and Beasley areare go to be higher; they live off quick reads and high percentage underneath routes.

It's also not surprising 20+ yard passes to Butler were completed at a higher percentage. Dez was very often doubled (or bracketed in coverage which serves the same purpose) which opened up passing windows for others. Not to mention the disparity in sample size between the two is a factor.

Dez was not a precise route runner, I won't debate that point, but if wager any amount of money this same group of receivers wouldn't have struggled under the same circumstances with Romo.

 

[LittleD]

Oh, I understand your point.

But to be discussive, and not biased, Landry was given a vote of confidence after five years. That is when ownership could actually buy a team that they wanted and Murchison's Father had very, very deep pockets. Oh, Tom Landry was a great figure in the history of the Dallas Cowboys. Nineteen straight winning seasons will never again be equaled as long as football remains similar to the original game.

But things then and when Jason Garrett came to the Cowboys, were very much changed. Jason inherited cap hell and a roster that was in need of extreme changes. Since the lockout, the Dallas Cowboys, under Garrett have re-emerged as a challenging team. I dare say, that if success in the playoffs return, he will be looked at similarly or at least on common grounds of success.

Granted, that has to be seen, to be more than possible direction...but I think we all can agree that the Cowboys have been improving and are actually pretty good.

You are right that the game has changed very much. Free agency and the salary cap has dramatically changed the game. Outside of NE, you see teams go all in for 1 or 2 seasons and then dump the season and roster to draft high for the next future run. If you have the best coaching you can win every season if you have a great QB. Jerry and Garrett have not learned the art of the dump yet and Jerry
can seem to hire great coaching to save his life.

 

[DallasEast]

They are indeed. My thing is we gave Romo 8 years to win a SB. He tried. I'm sure the delirious will say he didn't because he didn't have great teams and you can't just blame the QB. Then turn around out of the other side of their mouth and blame Dak for 9-7. How delirious is that?

It is pretty delirious but it falls short of grouping FickleNation totally together. For example, there are critics who do not place emphasis on any, literally any, roster miscues outside of quarterback. Talent or lack of talent is not given any consideration whatsoever. Non-quarterback mistakes made in-game contributing to losses are minimized or ignored completely. The overpowering self-compulsion is to automatically associate every significant loss on the quarterback entirely.

That illogical perspective is completely opposite what should be applied to team sports and football in particular. It is irrational thinking that will always short-circuit good football discussion.

 

[G2]

I think it's clear the FO/coaching is committed to making the offense more "Dak friendly," that being more quick reads, more RPO and of course a heavy dose of Zeke (running game).

We've seen great QBs (think Aaron Rogers) rise to the occasion and carry a team with their arm, smarts and game management. Dak isn't that guy. In fairness, he's still developing but I don't see that as his ceiling. Stephen Jones lended credence to that notion this off-season when he said "Dak is more Aikman than Romo..."

We can win with Dak. He needs to improve (and I'm confident he will progress).

Congrats on illustrating what literally every NFL team does. Making their team QB friendly!

 

[Diehardblues]

They both didn't arrive over night, and they both developed a solid and sustainable team. That appears to be what's on the plate for Jason Garrett as well.

How does that relate to Dak?