Cian Fahey's Take on Dak in 2016 and Beyond

[Denim Chicken]

Cian Fahey is probably one of the finest football minds on the planet.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Lol, Wentz.

This is actually pretty consistent with what Wentz actually did this year. I'm not sure how that guy gets the hype he gets given where his skills are actually at. He's got a lot of work to do yet.

Agreed.

Wentz has two things going for him... Arm strength and some athleticism.

On the flip side he has some bad things going for him also.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I don't know how he can say Dak isn't a precise passer. Outside of passes longer than 20 yards and the occasional footwork gaffes, his ball location was quite excellent last season. Of course, Fahey was the same guy stating that Romo should be starting and that Romo should have been the starting QB in the playoff game which is nutty in itself.

Again...he's not a scout. Just playing one on the interwebs.





YR

 

[gimmesix]

So his accuracy can improve from 67.8%? Awesome!

Maybe because the writer is correct that he had some footwork and mechanical issues at times. Based on his college performance, I think more of those issues were expected than actually appeared during games, which means Dak and the coaches all deserve credit for recognizing the problems and working to correct them.

 

[jday]

Tldr.

Occasional footwork and mechanical lapses that affect accuracy.
Little blind spot on the right.
Already a solid starter. Team should contend for the next decade with him at the helm.
Amazing mental grasp.
Had similar time in pocket to Wontz but used it to progress and disect the defense instead of whatever the ginger did with it.

I'm a little more bullish on Daks potential for improvement but Cian wasn't a fan for large stretches of the season so his take suprised me a bit.

Edit: can't get the image to link.

Here's the Reddit thread if anyone is interested or a mod could help me out

Excellent read and breakdown.

 

[gimmesix]

And he himself has only 3 seasons of over 67%. Just find it weird that Dak needs room to improve from a year he went 67.8%.

Don't know why you find it weird. I think it's awesome that he can have that kind of completion percentage and still have room to improve.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

There are parts where I disagree or was surprised that Fahey left things out on each QB.

Wentz has a major issue with his throwing motion as he abducts the right arm too much and gets the right humerus bone parallel to the ground. He could make the argument that the footwork causes throwing motion, but I'm not really buying into that all the way. And that throwing motion is why his passes sail more than his footwork being the issue.

Dak's issues with his footwork are that he tends to not make a long enough stride. And on some touch passes he will not follow thru. But he's very precise with his ball location from under 10 yards. And he's excellent throwing the ball with precision while running right or left. While EE is great and the O-Line was great last year, Dak made things very difficult for defenses with his ability to throw while running left or right because the weakside defender had to account for him on the bootleg and when we ran the ball it would lead to more 10 vs. 10 running plays instead of 10 vs. 11 running plays. If the weakside defender bit on the run to EE, a play action bootleg could come up and create a very easy to execute big play.

I thought Kirk Cousins dramatically increased his arm strength last year to the point where I would not say he has a weak arm. I just don't see how anybody could state that after last year. He threw some big time deep passes (which are more about mechanics than arm strength), but also threw a lot passes that required some big-time velocity to them. I also felt that Cousins got off to slow starts in games and would then start to turn it on as defenses grew tired or were playing more conservatively to not allow big plays to allow the Skins back into the game. That is usually a sign of a quality QB with some serious deficiencies that teams can take advantage of early on and put themselves at a serious advantage to win the game. I agree with most of Fahey's evaluation on Cousins, but how he missed Cousins' slow starts is a little surprising.

Eli has struggled against Cover 2 and Cover 3 concepts. You can't play Cover 0 or Cover 1 against him with success, he'll eat it up. I don't think Eli is accurate even under 5 yards. He also has some throwing motion issues but his footwork has improved. I like the idea of what they are trying to do offensively, but I don't know if Eli can execute it anymore as Fahey mentioned...his arm strength is going downhill and he was never accurate to begin with.




YR

 

[gimmesix]

I hate to admit it.. but the Giants passing threat scares me. Beckham, Marshall, Shepherd, & Engram.. smh. And although I like how Dallas rebuilt our secondary with young, aggressive, and talented players.. that equals a lot of inexperience. Ok, someone please calm me down...

If we can control the running game without having to use an extra defender, Eli will have to put the ball in tighter windows than he's capable of doing consistently anymore.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

And he himself has only 3 seasons of over 67%. Just find it weird that Dak needs room to improve from a year he went 67.8%.

Completion % isn't really that great of an indicator in terms of accuracy that a coach is looking for.

They are looking more at where the ball is located and the 'conditions' of the throw (under duress, tight window to throw thru, etc). I thought Dak's ball location was superb under 20 yards last year. So I can see more improvement needed on the deeper throws. If you combine his completion %, yards per attempt and yards after the catch, you start to see how precise Dak's throwing was last year.





YR

 

[jday]

I don't know how he can say Dak isn't a precise passer. Outside of passes longer than 20 yards and the occasional footwork gaffes, his ball location was quite excellent last season. Of course, Fahey was the same guy stating that Romo should be starting and that Romo should have been the starting QB in the playoff game which is nutty in itself.

Again...he's not a scout. Just playing one on the interwebs.





YR

Part of the problem with guys who attempt to do this for every team is that they are not watching every game. If memory serves (I read this about a week ago somewhere else) he only looked at 3 games, which is a relatively small sample size for what Dak was able to accomplish in every game. It only takes one pass off the mark to say he isn't precise, which every quarterback has been guilty of in just about every game. That said, there is some really good information in the read. You don't have to agree with everything he said, but some of it is pretty on the mark, in my opinion.

The other thing to consider is that this was based on what he saw; this is not a projection. Many of the issues he sighted are very much correctable and you can bet the Cowboys coaching staff has identified these areas of improvement and have worked with him on it throughout the offseason. The last thing this does not take in consideration is that intangible quality of Dak to be the best at his craft. He made huge leaps as a rookie; I suspect his next and last significantly noticeable leap will be this year.

 

[Sepia]

Well, I'm amused by his Wentz analysis.

 

[Sepia]

Maybe because the writer is correct that he had some footwork and mechanical issues at times. Based on his college performance, I think more of those issues were expected than actually appeared during games, which means Dak and the coaches all deserve credit for recognizing the problems and working to correct them.

I noticed the footwork criticisms quieted after the Eagles game. I think he really worked on it, and will continue to do so.

 

[Direwolf63]

"An inconsistent rookie who needs to refine weak spots in his skill set can be more valuable than a consistent rookie who has very clear limitations because he is more likely to improve."

Can somebody please explain the above quote to me? The guy is criticizing Dak for being consistent with clear limitations. But he would rather have an inconsistent QB who can refine weak spots in his skill set?

As if Dak is incapable of improving his footwork issues? Because Dak is consistent, he can't get better. As opposed to an inconsistent QB, who can get better?

I'm lost. Help me out.

 

[gimmesix]

Can somebody please explain the above quote to me? The guy is criticizing Dak for being consistent with clear limitations. But he would rather have an inconsistent QB who can refine weak spots in his skill set?

As if Dak is incapable of improving his footwork issues? Because Dak is consistent, he can't get better. As opposed to an inconsistent QB, who can get better?

I'm lost. Help me out.

It's the floor vs. ceiling argument.

Dak would be considered a high-floor, low-ceiling quarterback in this case based on his rookie year, where what we saw is basically what we're going to get. I don't disagree with that completely, but there is certainly room for some growth that would allow him to become even better overall.

Wentz would be low-floor, high-ceiling since clearly he needs a lot of work but has the skill set to be great, which is what got him drafted so early. The trouble with the high-ceiling player is he may never get off the floor and might pretty much be the player he showed himself to be.

I disagree with the author on which one I would prefer.

 

[Sydla]

I guess I fail to see why Wentz (and I think Wentz is a great prospect) has a high ceiling but Prescott does not.

 

[Sepia]

Can somebody please explain the above quote to me? The guy is criticizing Dak for being consistent with clear limitations. But he would rather have an inconsistent QB who can refine weak spots in his skill set?

As if Dak is incapable of improving his footwork issues? Because Dak is consistent, he can't get better. As opposed to an inconsistent QB, who can get better?

I'm lost. Help me out.

I think he's just saying Dak has a low ceiling, weak arm, etc. He thinks Dak will be a good starter for a long time, but never elite.


I disagree, but whatever.

 

[Direwolf63]

It's the floor vs. ceiling argument.

Dak would be considered a high-floor, low-ceiling quarterback in this case based on his rookie year, where what we saw is basically what we're going to get. I don't disagree with that completely, but there is certainly room for some growth that would allow him to become even better overall.

Wentz would be low-floor, high-ceiling since clearly he needs a lot of work but has the skill set to be great, which is what got him drafted so early. The trouble with the high-ceiling player is he may never get off the floor and might pretty much be the player he showed himself to be.

I disagree with the author on which one I would prefer.

Thanks.

But I don't see why Dak has a low ceiling. He has the tools to have a ceiling every bit as high as Wentz. He's smart enough. He works hard enough. He understands the game enough. He knows his footwork needs to get better. His arm strength is not elite, but it's good enough. All the intangibles are there.

I don't see why his ceiling is considered low.

 

[Direwolf63]

I think he's just saying Dak has a low ceiling, weak arm, etc. He thinks Dak will be a good starter for a long time, but never elite.


I disagree, but whatever.

I think the fact that Dak has an elite running game and o-line has stamped him as having a low ceiling by the "experts".

But he took a college team in Mississippi State to a #1 ranking that had no business being ranked that high. And he did that playing in the toughest conference in the country.
He basically carried Miss. State on his shoulders to a #1 ranking by himself. That tells me he's not just a guy who needs elite players around him to play at a high level.

It's only been one year. And maybe this is as good as it gets with him. Maybe he won't get better.

But it's also possible he can get better. Maybe a lot better. To write off that possibility is simply speculation that I don't buy.

 

[gimmesix]

Thanks.

But I don't see why Dak has a low ceiling. He has the tools to have a ceiling every bit as high as Wentz. He's smart enough. He works hard enough. He understands the game enough. He knows his footwork needs to get better. His arm strength is not elite, but it's good enough. All the intangibles are there.

I don't see why his ceiling is considered low.

It depends on how you're looking at it. Dak and Wentz's ceilings might be close to the same level, but Dak's floor was so high that he's closer to his ceiling than Wentz is. If Wentz hits his ceiling, he'll supposedly be a better player than Dak, but it should be far easier for Dak to reach his ceiling because his floor is so high. And ultimately even if both reach their ceiling Dak might still be the better player because those intangibles, the it factor at QB, are difficult to judge, which is one of the reasons Prescott was drafted so much lower.

 

[Sepia]

One thing that stuck out to me midseason was when, after a bad game (or several), the media was asking Wentz something about his mechanics and what he needed to work on. Wentz's response was as if he didn't see anything wrong with his mechanics, or he didn't want to admit to his mistakes.

I just saw it as such a contrast to Dak admitting his footwork was sloppy in that Eagles game, and how he always says he needs to get better at everything. He has the humility and work ethic to work on whatever his flaws are.