Cowboys Lack of Receivers Could Cost Them Playoff Spot

[CATCH17]

Dak will also need to do his part.

His biggest weakness as I see it is throwing outside the numbers from the pocket. I know they have been working on it along with throwing deep.

Bottom line is that we will know a lot more by the end of October. But if it's not going well half of this fanbase will blame Dak and the other half will blame lack of receiving targets.

All in all, we may be in for a long year if things start going sideways on the field.

Defense will be critical.

If it's not a legit defense the wheels are going to fall off this thing quick.

 

[Doomsday101]

I guess it falls to Dak and the WR to prove their critics wrong. I think there is some good players at WR and hopefully they can quickly get on the same page with Dak.

 

[cern]

one of my biggest concerns is Thompson, our speed guy, hasn't practiced due to a sore achilles. will he even make the team. same for noah.

 

[Rockport]

The "Dak Excuses" have already being set up I see......our problem isn't at WR its the QB baby......

Says no one with any football knowledge.

 

[Rockport]

Well first, I don't "love" Dez but it's interesting that people automatically assume that if you have issues with what we have accumulated at WR one must be a real Dez lover. I didn't think they would move on from him personally but I wasn't losing sleep if they did. My issue with the Dez situation is that I feel they kind of scapegoated him for our passing game issues when it was more than just Dez.

Second Jeffery is better than any WR we have on our roster. Sure, he might have some injury issues, but talent wise, he'd be the best WR on this team and it wouldn't even be close. And you can try to not touch the TEs, but it's a factor here. In other words, if we had a couple of stud TEs already, it would take some pressure off what is an average WR corps. But we don't have that.

What’s Dak doing now if he is such a excellent route runner? You just hate everyone and everything unless its players on other teams or on the couch.

 

[8FOR!3]

I think there's a lot of debate about the deficiency of our WR's. I think they are a lot better than they're made out to be. IMO in the right conditions, Gallup and Austin can be high-quality options with TW, Beasley and Lenoir solid contributors.

This. And you know that Allen Hurns guy is probably every bit the player Dez is at at this point of his career.

 

[blueblood70]

This is an article from Sports Illustrated. The job of the writer is to predict what the season holds for the Cowboys.

So yes, he doesn't KNOW what will happen. They are projections based on what he is seeing today. And what he sees are average at best WR's and below average TE's.

Nothing he wrote seems out to line to me. I believe this is a 8 or 9 win team that may win another game or 2 if the passing game can click.

This is a stacked NFC. Making the playoffs will require double digit wins. Even 10 wins may not be enough.

stacked on paper the season has away of taking turns and going far from what people think or feel it was going to go..the saturated sports Media market and SM have killed the offseason trying to keep it relevant year round, so many so called professionals are so far off their predictions..Football unlike a lot of sports doesnt take much for the top dogs to fall and the underdog to take off and surprise people..

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

This. And you know that Allen Hurns guy is probably every bit the player Dez is at at this point of his career.

Don't we want somebody better than Dez?

 

[Nightman]

Don't we want somebody better than Dez?

We will be lucky to be as good as at this point

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

The receivers have been playing well. I can see how each of Beasley, Gallup, Hurns, Austin, and TWill will be able to contribute in the offense.

King offhandedly calls them third or worse options. We will see. His writings certainly smack of talking to NFL execs about our club and not having watched the receivers in the preseason.

At the end of the day if the passing offense succeeds I bet he attributes it to Dak.

 

[silver]

If anything, lack of depth at every position will cost us the playoffs. It seems the quality takes a nose dive when a starter is out. Looney, Lewis, Gallup, Charlton and maybe Rod Smith are the few exceptions that can come in and sub for a starter for a few games. Don't know if they could hold up for a whole season like Leary or Prescott did a few years ago. Our achilles heel last year was depth when Tyron, Lee & Elliott were out.

 

[xwalker]

There’s no debate: the Cowboys are deficient at wide receiver. Entering training camp, the position boasted six to eight capable contributors … unfortunately, all of them would be third or fourth options on most teams. This offense suffered through shoddy receiver play last year and became inconsistent. Head coach Jason Garrett and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan must reshape their approach. Out with the spread formations that were built to emphasize Dez Bryant outside and Jason Witten inside. With receivers who cannot win on their own in space, an offense must manufacture aerial opportunities via designs from its running game. Those designs often come from condensed formations, where receivers can appear to be potential run-blockers.

The good news is a dominant O-line (more on that later) and an explosive, deceptive runner like Ezekiel Elliott, make Dallas’s ground game the best in football. It’s an almost unbeatable equation when you factor in Dak Prescott’s mobility, which can occupy unblocked defenders and, via rollout designs both real and fake, tame a defense’s backside pursuit.

To maximize that ground game, Garrett and Linehan should flavor it with more misdirection elements. Jet sweeps, end-arounds, decoy pull-blockers and multi-option zone reads would be great additions to Dallas’s staple ghost reverses and split-zone runs, where receivers and tight ends work back across the formation. The Cowboys are primed for this; if they weren’t, they would not have traded for ex-Ram Tavon Austin (and his $3 million cap number, which is more than five times pricier than similarly skilled 2017 fourth-rounder Ryan Switzer, who was shipped to Oakland in a separate deal).

Prescott is best-suited for a run-first offense—and that’s not a slight at his quarterbacking. He has what few mobile QBs possess: the poise and toughness to stay in the pocket and deliver with defenders closing in. That’s crucial for long-term development. But Prescott is not an aggressive anticipation passer like most of the league’s top pocket QBs. He’s a facilitator who can make second-reaction plays when need be. This type of skill set works great on play-action, bootlegs and rollouts—tactics, in other words, that stem from the running game.
https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/08/20/d...er.com&utm_campaign=themmqb&utm_medium=social

It's all about the OLine. If they are healthy and C-Will holds up at LG then Dak and the WRs will have success to go with Zeke's success.

If the OLine has problems then it won't matter who plays WR.

 

[CT Dal Fan]

This. And you know that Allen Hurns guy is probably every bit the player Dez is at at this point of his career.

And at half the cost and 100 percent fewer histrionics.

 

[EMMITTnROY]

I have zero worries about our WRs. They’ll be fine.

Just give me Earl Thomas or George Iloka and a season of health, and we are good to go.

 

[CT Dal Fan]

I have zero worries about our WRs. They’ll be fine.

Just give me Earl Thomas or George Iloka and a season of health, and we are good to go.

Your optimism is something all too lacking on this forum, but until we know all the facts about Frederick and Martin, the season of health is already out the window.

 

[Captain-Crash]

Just wondered if it was ok for moron trolls to jump in and start ruining every thread again. Your presence confirms it.

another personal attack from a poster who's feelings got hurt. everybody has an opinion, if your feelings get hurt by reading posts, maybe you're not mature enough to be on a board reading "opinions"

 

[JBond]

There’s no debate: the Cowboys are deficient at wide receiver. Entering training camp, the position boasted six to eight capable contributors … unfortunately, all of them would be third or fourth options on most teams. This offense suffered through shoddy receiver play last year and became inconsistent. Head coach Jason Garrett and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan must reshape their approach. Out with the spread formations that were built to emphasize Dez Bryant outside and Jason Witten inside. With receivers who cannot win on their own in space, an offense must manufacture aerial opportunities via designs from its running game. Those designs often come from condensed formations, where receivers can appear to be potential run-blockers.

The good news is a dominant O-line (more on that later) and an explosive, deceptive runner like Ezekiel Elliott, make Dallas’s ground game the best in football. It’s an almost unbeatable equation when you factor in Dak Prescott’s mobility, which can occupy unblocked defenders and, via rollout designs both real and fake, tame a defense’s backside pursuit.

To maximize that ground game, Garrett and Linehan should flavor it with more misdirection elements. Jet sweeps, end-arounds, decoy pull-blockers and multi-option zone reads would be great additions to Dallas’s staple ghost reverses and split-zone runs, where receivers and tight ends work back across the formation. The Cowboys are primed for this; if they weren’t, they would not have traded for ex-Ram Tavon Austin (and his $3 million cap number, which is more than five times pricier than similarly skilled 2017 fourth-rounder Ryan Switzer, who was shipped to Oakland in a separate deal).

Prescott is best-suited for a run-first offense—and that’s not a slight at his quarterbacking. He has what few mobile QBs possess: the poise and toughness to stay in the pocket and deliver with defenders closing in. That’s crucial for long-term development. But Prescott is not an aggressive anticipation passer like most of the league’s top pocket QBs. He’s a facilitator who can make second-reaction plays when need be. This type of skill set works great on play-action, bootlegs and rollouts—tactics, in other words, that stem from the running game.
https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/08/20/d...er.com&utm_campaign=themmqb&utm_medium=social

"Garrett and Linehan should flavor it with more misdirection elements. Jet sweeps, end-arounds, decoy pull-blockers and multi-option zone reads would be great additions to Dallas’s staple ghost reverses and split-zone runs, where receivers and tight ends work back across the formation."

Nope. Very tired of jet sweeps and end arounds. Not convinced Dak will have the time for players to work back to the middle. Our Oline starters are among the best in the business, but I want Dak to deliver the ball quicker. He has worked to improve his release. Our Oline is beat up already and the scrub backups are just that. How healthy is our LT? Back? Knee?

I like the speed of several of our WR's. Quick passes combined with Zeke should equal more success. Gimmick plays do not win playoff games.

 

[JBond]

Actually the Cowboys are better off at WR this year than last year. Dez had an awful catch rate and Witten didnt run anything but 5 yards and turn around. The coaches think Dak doesnt needs a #1 guy and he doesnt either.

I miss Witten already. Solid hands. Yes, he slowed with age, but always managed to find the hole in coverage.

 

[Bullflop]

Imho, TE and safety are the two most anemic areas on the Cowboys' roster.

Hopefully, the final cuts might serve to supplement what we've got in house.

 

[HoosierCowboy]

Why can't we be like all those other teams and have pro-bowl backups at every position?