Cowboys Oline and Randle

[SSWilliams31]

 

[AsthmaField]

All you are doing is trolling me and trying to get me in trouble. Thats cry baby behavior. As far as Murray, you were one of the first to even mention him. The majority of this thread is about Randle.

Another troll goes on my ignore list. I have decided to take the high road when the trolls come around.

Yeah, if I were you, I wouldn't want to hear what I have to say either.

And you aren't going to get in trouble, lol. This is a message board.

 

[texbumthelife]

I've been watching Randle since he first joined the team with Murray there to run defenses ragged before he joined in the fray. Keep watching the tape and maybe you'll realize that fairly well isn't what this team needs to feed the bulldog. Nobody loves this team more than yours truly, so don't spout that hate garbage to me, OK? You're absolutely right when saying Randle could have been better, though, but saying he's light years ahead of where he's being projected is a gross exaggeration at best. I will be hoping for Randle to do better this week -- let's just hope and pray that he does.

 

[AdamJT13]

Agree, but the problem is that with Dez out opponents are going to stack the line of scrimmage. It will be harder, not easier, than it was Sunday.

Good. How well we run the ball doesn't really matter. What we need to do is exploit that with our passing game. If we can pass the ball more effectively than our opponents do, we'll almost certainly win -- the team that has passed more effectively has won our past 23 games.

The key will be how well we can pass without Dez, not how well we can run without him.

 

[AzorAhai]

Many more accomplished, "Elite" RBs around the league have worse YPC and rushing yards after week 1. Randles 12th in yds right now. Week one is usually not indicative of what we will see from teams and players all around the league. Can we at least get 3-4 games in before people call him a jag?

 

[Idgit]

Thanks Buddy!!!!

And Garrett may have a small little tiny hand, but not the whole hand like he used to. Im sure you can at least agree that everyone involved in the Cowboys is thanking their lucky stars for that one, including you.

So who would take as an OC Garrett or Linehan?

I'm thrilled with the current division of labor. We've got a lot of smart guys who are all contributing and all are working hard.

Who'd I prefer as OC? Linehan. As big a fan as I am of Garrett's as HC--and believe me, I supported him vocally when very few were comfortable doing so--I've never been much of a fan of his offensive system or even his play calling. He's much, much better at those things than some fans seem to want to believe, but he's pretty average-to-slightly-above-average in those capacities, overall. Where he's strong is in organization, communication, and process. He's very logical and not afraid to make hard decisions. And some of those skills are things he's had to grow into.

I'm not blind when it comes to Jason Garrett. I see his warts, too. I just think it's completely insane for posters to think the guy does nothing but walk around and clap. In fact, I can't imagine the effort at willful ignorance it would take to actually believe that after all the obvious evidence to the contrary.

 

[Bullflop]

LOL -- absolutely, as long as the OL performs up to snuff, there's hope . . .

 

[texbumthelife]

LOL -- absolutely, as long as the OL performs up to snuff, there's hope . . .

We are in agreement about the OL. Their run blocking wasn't as good Sunday night as it could have been. Then again, expecting Whitehead, Street and Williams to block linebackers was a knucklehead move too.

 

[ConstantReboot]

The OL wasn't nearly as dominant as it was at times last year. It's not like there were huge holes to run through.

Randle did look a bit tentative, at least early on. He'll get better as the season goes on.

Randle was always like this last year also. This was what I feared would happen. I do hope he will get better but I doubt it.

Cowboys should have opened up the runningback competition when they had the chance.

 

[Idgit]

Randle was always like this last year also. This was what I feared would happen. I do hope he will get better but I doubt it.

Cowboys should have opened up the runningback competition when they had the chance.

What do you mean by 'tentative'? Randle waits for his blocks to get set, but that's one of his strengths.

People are reacting to the rushing yardage and nothing else. I didn't see anything with the run blocking or the backs this week to make me concerned about either. And what I saw from that group in terms of their receiving ability was actually very encouraging. I knew they could all catch, but they were perfect, and they did damage with the ball in their hands after the catch.

The *only* problem I saw offensively had to do with carelessness with the football. From the knee that knocked the ball out of Randle's hands to the Beasley strip in traffic to the Witten pop-up to the Street helmet on the ball (though that was the most forgivable turnover in my book). Beyond that, we played really well on offense, defense, and STs.

 

[CowboyRoy]

I'm thrilled with the current division of labor. We've got a lot of smart guys who are all contributing and all are working hard.

Who'd I prefer as OC? Linehan. As big a fan as I am of Garrett's as HC--and believe me, I supported him vocally when very few were comfortable doing so--I've never been much of a fan of his offensive system or even his play calling. He's much, much better at those things than some fans seem to want to believe, but he's pretty average-to-slightly-above-average in those capacities, overall. Where he's strong is in organization, communication, and process. He's very logical and not afraid to make hard decisions. And some of those skills are things he's had to grow into.

I'm not blind when it comes to Jason Garrett. I see his warts, too. I just think it's completely insane for posters to think the guy does nothing but walk around and clap. In fact, I can't imagine the effort at willful ignorance it would take to actually believe that after all the obvious evidence to the contrary.

Obviously its an exaggeration to say he just pats fannies. But this team took a giant leap when he no longer handles the offense. And Although I agree that his strength is orgainization, communication, and process, I would in no way trade 7 years of learning for what we have now. We could have EASILY gone out and gotten a great, veteran head coach any time we wanted. And no doubt Garrett needs great coordinators to be effective. And he is certainly NOT a personnel guy. So as long as you keep him doing walk around stuff and running his mouth, and real football people picking the players and taking care of the product on the field, then he can work. But in my opinion, there are far better head coaches in this league than Garrett.

But............at this time, I would NOT break up the what we have going here. Signing the coordinators to 3 year contracts was huge.

 

[ConstantReboot]

What do you mean by 'tentative'? Randle waits for his blocks to get set, but that's one of his strengths.

People are reacting to the rushing yardage and nothing else. I didn't see anything with the run blocking or the backs this week to make me concerned about either. And what I saw from that group in terms of their receiving ability was actually very encouraging. I knew they could all catch, but they were perfect, and they did damage with the ball in their hands after the catch.

The *only* problem I saw offensively had to do with carelessness with the football. From the knee that knocked the ball out of Randle's hands to the Beasley strip in traffic to the Witten pop-up to the Street helmet on the ball (though that was the most forgivable turnover in my book). Beyond that, we played really well on offense, defense, and STs.

Yes he looked tentative. Which means that he either was waiting for this blocks or it could also mean that he was unsure. He was not hitting the holes hard enough and allowed tacklers to converge on him quickly. Compare this to MacFadden. He hit the hole hard and gave a different dynamic to our run attack then did Randle.

I was not impressed at all with him running the ball. With Murray those 3 yard runs could have turned into 8-9 yard gains. Thus Randle should have done better. Especially with those arm tackles. I don't if he's not Murray. But he needs not to get tackled that easily if he is going to be our lead back during the entire year.

 

[conner01]

Good. How well we run the ball doesn't really matter. What we need to do is exploit that with our passing game. If we can pass the ball more effectively than our opponents do, we'll almost certainly win -- the team that has passed more effectively has won our past 23 games.

The key will be how well we can pass without Dez, not how well we can run without him.

That's really the key
If teams stack the line that helps overcome dez being out
The RB passing game is pretty good and forces teams to cover the entire field which spreads them out and makes it harder to double the other guys
This is a passing league and while running the ball is important, your pass game is more important to convert those 3rd downs so you get to run the ball more
Dez will be missed but I think most teams will still have to use 8 to stop our run and that means someone is open so protect romo and he will find them

 

[texbumthelife]

Yes he looked tentative. Which means that he either was waiting for this blocks or it could also mean that he was unsure. He was not hitting the holes hard enough and allowed tacklers to converge on him quickly. Compare this to MacFadden. He hit the hole hard and gave a different dynamic to our run attack then did Randle.

I was not impressed at all with him running the ball. With Murray those 3 yard runs could have turned into 8-9 yard gains. Thus Randle should have done better. Especially with those arm tackles. I don't if he's not Murray. But he needs not to get tackled that easily if he is going to be our lead back during the entire year.

This place is a broken record of the same erroneous information today. Randle ran very hard. His only real deficiency was in choosing which hole to hit a few times. Furthermore, this whole "arm tackle" idea is about as wrong as 2+2=5. I watched every run several times this morning. He was arm tackled 3 times, tops, the entire game. He was actually gang tackled on around 75% of his runs.

I think this will be my last post on the topic because it's clear so many of you have no idea what you're talking about and are just regurgitating the same misinformation.

 

[Idgit]

Yes he looked tentative. Which means that he either was waiting for this blocks or it could also mean that he was unsure. He was not hitting the holes hard enough and allowed tacklers to converge on him quickly. Compare this to MacFadden. He hit the hole hard and gave a different dynamic to our run attack then did Randle.

I was not impressed at all with him running the ball. With Murray those 3 yard runs could have turned into 8-9 yard gains. Thus Randle should have done better. Especially with those arm tackles. I don't if he's not Murray. But he needs not to get tackled that easily if he is going to be our lead back during the entire year.

Hmmm. I think I preferred what Randle did to what McFadden did. McFadden did get that nice chunk play, but he also tends to run right into traffic quickly, making him very hit or miss. Randle, on the other hand, is very patient waiting for his blockers to set their blocks. He sort of hides behind them and then explodes to whichever side sets up right. If the blocking isn't there or if the defense converges fast enough, he's left running in traffic where he tends to not be all that strong and maybe doesn't pick up his legs enough. But if the blocks are there--and they usually are--he gets his yardage. He's also quick to exploit an opening once the blocks are there.

Which is why I wouldn't characterize him as tentative. If there's an opening, he's gone. Just look how he turned the corner on that left-handed grab screen. He gets down the field in a hurry when he's got a lane.

Honestly, I didn't see much meat left on the bone last night. The Giants played pretty much above their heads defensively. We took what was there patiently, except when we were turning the ball over.

 

[ConstantReboot]

Hmmm. I think I preferred what Randle did to what McFadden did. McFadden did get that nice chunk play, but he also tends to run right into traffic quickly, making him very hit or miss. Randle, on the other hand, is very patient waiting for his blockers to set their blocks. He sort of hides behind them and then explodes to whichever side sets up right. If the blocking isn't there or if the defense converges fast enough, he's left running in traffic where he tends to not be all that strong and maybe doesn't pick up his legs enough. But if the blocks are there--and they usually are--he gets his yardage. He's also quick to exploit an opening once the blocks are there.

Which is why I wouldn't characterize him as tentative. If there's an opening, he's gone. Just look how he turned the corner on that left-handed grab screen. He gets down the field in a hurry when he's got a lane.

Honestly, I didn't see much meat left on the bone last night. The Giants played pretty much above their heads defensively. We took what was there patiently, except when we were turning the ball over.

Thats the problem. There was no explosion through the hole during this game. Thus the reason why I thought he was tentative.

Regardless of what are opinions are 4.1 per carry is not going to cut it if we want to make it to the playoffs. Not with this oline.

 

[Idgit]

Obviously its an exaggeration to say he just pats fannies. But this team took a giant leap when he no longer handles the offense. And Although I agree that his strength is orgainization, communication, and process, I would in no way trade 7 years of learning for what we have now. We could have EASILY gone out and gotten a great, veteran head coach any time we wanted. And no doubt Garrett needs great coordinators to be effective. And he is certainly NOT a personnel guy. So as long as you keep him doing walk around stuff and running his mouth, and real football people picking the players and taking care of the product on the field, then he can work. But in my opinion, there are far better head coaches in this league than Garrett.

But............at this time, I would NOT break up the what we have going here. Signing the coordinators to 3 year contracts was huge.

The team took a giant leap forward when it put the coaches it had in the right positions to be successful. Yes, having the play calling off his plate took something where Garrett did not give us an advantage and turned it into something that was an advantage. But the flip side of that was that it also freed him up to manage the entire team. We saw every area of the team improve last year, not just the offense. It's because we were using our coaching resources better, not because Garrett was doing less.

And he *is* most definitely a personnel guy. His father was a scout for forever, and Garrett paid a ton of attention when he took over to both revamping the personnel in the scouting department and into redoing the way the scouting and coaching staffs interact. He talked about it a lot at the time, too. He also started the process of much more aggressively churning the bottom of the roster and of promoting younger player into starting positions when they earned them. He started us relying on the scouts to find replacement players for guys like Ware and Murray when we never had done that before. In fact, it's night and day different the way we go about personnel acquisition between Wade and Garrett. Honestly, I can't believe that's not obvious to you.

But you already know I think your read on how coaching works in this league and specifically for the Cowboys is half-baked. Maybe quarter-baked. That's not going to change until your opinion changes. But to tie this all back to your OP, yes, I do think that Garrett and company made the right call betting on the OL and not extending a RB who was right at the mileage mark where the wheels fell off. It was another in a long line of good decisions we've made since Jason took over.

 

[Idgit]

Thats the problem. There was no explosion through the hole during this game. Thus the reason why I thought he was tentative.

Regardless of what are opinions are 4.1 per carry is not going to cut it if we want to make it to the playoffs. Not with this oline.

Of course 4.1 per carry is going to cut it. YPC has almost nothing to do with making the playoffs. That said, I don't think this Giants game was all that indicative of how the running game is going to work this season. Take away the turnovers, and we'd have ground out a lot more yardage salting away an early win.

 

[darthseinfeld]

My take after week 1:

Murray is done

Randle is a Jag

Murray is the new Eddie George

Randle is the new Julius Jones

 

[Nightman]

I love the first week.

So many snap judgements and overreactions.

I thrive on the Waiver Wire during the first 2 weeks.