Cowboys PFF Offensive Grades - Season To Date

[CCBoy]

The Cowboys were able to be tested with a close game, getting the three-point win. The team's first three wins were by 40, 20 and 35 points.
https://www.dallascowboys.com/news/big-picture-10-storylines-for-cowboys-rams-2023

Watch some direction now...

 

[jterrell]

Terrence Steele and Michael Gallup have to be the most disappointing numbers out of the bunch. Pollard as well.

Tyler Smith is doing alright for a guard who's wearing #73 and shouldn't even be in the league.

Steele is scoring very poorly but he has faced some serious pass rushers and has played a ton of snaps after a year out.
He doesn't worry me much, yet.

The non CeeDee WRs got to get it going in this WCO system which is WR based.
The TEs after Ferg are unplayable.
But if I had one that was unexpected it would be Tony Pollard.
That is an awfully low score for a guy on a franchise tag.
He's blocking and receiving well but he is getting nothing in the run game.

 

[CCBoy]

Steele is scoring very poorly but he has faced some serious pass rushers and has played a ton of snaps after a year out.
He doesn't worry me much, yet.

The non CeeDee WRs got to get it going in this WCO system which is WR based.
The TEs after Ferg are unplayable.
But if I had one that was unexpected it would be Tony Pollard.
That is an awfully low score for a guy on a franchise tag.
He's blocking and receiving well but he is getting nothing in the run game.

I put Pollard's production, which picture of total yards have been adequate in production, on the shoulders of an offense adjustment to identity and the offensive line not yet matching their talent level.

 

[jterrell]

Averages go down with more frequency. I think some blew his skill set out of proportion.

Averages go down with frequency because athleticism is minimalized through fatigue.

TP is a sprinter not a distance runner.
He is a poor man's CMC.
And SF is killing CMC with too many touches.

TP is blocking it and catching it well, but the juice is lacking and he never had Zeke's short yardage build or instincts because that has literally NEVER been his job.

 

[jterrell]

I put Pollard's production, which picture of total yards have been adequate in production, on the shoulders of an offense adjustment to identity and the offensive line not yet matching their talent level.

That is partly true but doesn't excuse his lack of juice.
Dowdle runs noticeably harder.

Could be coming back from injury or could be wear and tear.
Half a step at RB is a career ender.

 

[CCBoy]

That is partly true but doesn't excuse his lack of juice.
Dowdle runs noticeably harder.

Could be coming back from injury or could be wear and tear.
Half a step at RB is a career ender.

He is still using a style that worked upon what was being done the last two seasons by the offensive unit. He can't just up and be a power runner...which is where Dowdle is supposed to even be even more of a help.

Number of carries is keeping him out of a lot of production zones and an affect as alongside of the line as well. It's no where an oiled machine yet. Looking for the projection of yardage doesn't take a play picture of design and use.

He's fully capable right now, cost will be the future determinant.

 

[jterrell]

Vaughn was a publicity pick
Schoonmaker was a wasted pick.
Gallup needs to go

Pollard & Cooks being used entirely wrong.

Hopefully steele snaps out of it.

Calling a 6th round pick a publicity pick is wild. Deuce was an elite producer in a P5 conference.
What I don't like is they planned to take him so probably passed on other RB earlier in the draft.
But most 6th round picks are inactive as rookies so he isn't an outlier, and they may need to use him to catch the ball on kicks as Turpin is scared.

Schoon has been unplayable, but we will see. R2 has been Dallas Achilles' heel in the draft and this guy has been a waste but 6 games do not make a career.
Dalton Schultz went from a guy that couldn't block Jaylon Smith to a Po Bowl TE.

Gallup may not be athletic enough anymore post injury. He was never a route runner or hands guy and instead was a big play deep passing target.
Perhaps he can still adjust his game in this system, but it doesn't look good so far. If you could swap the Ced Wilson/Gallup calls you likely do so.

Cooks is a speed guy that is undersized. They need to move him and get him free releases. Small WRs are terrible fits in a WCO where TO is the prototype.
TP is not explosive right now. Injuries zap guys and he is probably best as a RB2.

Steele will likely be fine. He was out a year, rehab isn't normal off-season prep.

Offense needs to rely on less WCO concepts until they get more WCO pieces.
A plus TE and big WRs with a versatile do everything back are staples in that offense.
Dallas FO spent 2 years adding an explosive but undersized element to the offense....

 

[CCBoy]

Calling a 6th round pick a publicity pick is wild. Deuce was an elite producer in a P5 conference.
What I don't like is they planned to take him so probably passed on other RB earlier in the draft.
But most 6th round picks are inactive as rookies so he isn't an outlier, and they may need to use him to catch the ball on kicks as Turpin is scared.

Schoon has been unplayable, but we will see. R2 has been Dallas Achilles' heel in the draft and this guy has been a waste but 6 games do not make a career.
Dalton Schultz went from a guy that couldn't block Jaylon Smith to a Po Bowl TE.

Gallup may not be athletic enough anymore post injury. He was never a route runner or hands guy and instead was a big play deep passing target.
Perhaps he can still adjust his game in this system, but it doesn't look good so far. If you could swap the Ced Wilson/Gallup calls you likely do so.

Cooks is a speed guy that is undersized. They need to move him and get him free releases. Small WRs are terrible fits in a WCO where TO is the prototype.
TP is not explosive right now. Injuries zap guys and he is probably best as a RB2.

Steele will likely be fine. He was out a year, rehab isn't normal off-season prep.

Offense needs to rely on less WCO concepts until they get more WCO pieces.
A plus TE and big WRs with a versatile do everything back are staples in that offense.
Dallas FO spent 2 years adding an explosive but undersized element to the offense....

Gallup isn't focused enough as he was three seasons ago...

This was the picture from this past win:

• Dak Prescott is coming off his best game of the season in the win over the Chargers. He led the offense to a fourth-quarter touchdown to take the lead, and then another drive that resulted in the go-ahead field goal. Prescott also used his legs more, rushing for a season-high 40 yards and his 18-yard touchdown run was the longest of his career.
• After recording two straight games without a sack, Micah Parsons nearly went a third full game before recording a key sack in the fourth quarter against the Chargers. That set up an interception on the next play to seal the game. Parsons is tied for 16th in the NFL with five sacks.

https://www.dallascowboys.com/news/big-picture-10-storylines-for-cowboys-rams-2023

 

[RonnieT24]

With Terence Steele rating so poor (50.3) while rookie Asim Richards has graded 20 points better (70.1), wouldn't it be smart to temporarily bench (or alternate start/play) Asim Richards for Terence Steele at Right Tackle?

No... continuity is the #1 component of a good offensive line. Shuffling guys typically yields disastrous results. See the end of last season when the musical chairs was in full force. For better or worse they need to keep the starting five together as much as possible and get them to gel.

 

[America's Cowboy]

No... continuity is the #1 component of a good offensive line. Shuffling guys typically yields disastrous results. See the end of last season when the musical chairs was in full force. For better or worse they need to keep the starting five together as much as possible and get them to gel.

Good point, Ronnie T. You're right about the musical chairs mess Joe Philbin ran last year.

 

[Mcsports]

Mcarthy old trashy offense. Worst mistake letting kellen walk with 4 straight top offenses in league

Yeah Kellen was tarred and feathered when he left town. It was unjust. Dallas put up huge numbers with him.

Thats the job of an offensive coordinator: put up numbers and score points.

 

[Hennessy_King]

We need to stop pushing the other TEs and just let Fergy do his thing

i said this before and after we drafted schoon dumpster

 

[Brax]

That's fine if it's your system but the mathematical and statistical definitions disagree with you. My standard has always been the top 10% is elite.. so 3.5 out of 35.. round it to 4.. Anything in the upper 20% would have to be considered at "very good." So that's the top 7 or 8. Currently this system has Dak graded around the top 30%. Which I would consider above average to good. And we all know that ranking is being dragged down by one game. If he strings together a couple more games like his last one he will likely climb into that top 7 o r 8 realm which frankly is about where he belongs. Not creme of the crop but certainly above most of his peers. Time will tell.. THAT's why the play the games!

Your assessment sounds good according to pff
players are awarded grades between 0 to 100. A grade of 85 or higher is an NFL-caliber rating. Anything from 78-68 is considered above average
So by definition Dak is above average but not nfl caliber yet. Doesn’t say a lot about the QB s below 16 but I think most would agree those lower guys are placeholders. Above average wins games against similar or lower talent teams with a occasional win against a superior opponent. Everyone is fine with above average and it appears Jerry is too.

 

[RonnieT24]

Yeah Kellen was tarred and feathered when he left town. It was unjust. Dallas put up huge numbers with him.

Thats the job of an offensive coordinator: put up numbers and score points.

You're 2/3 right.. It's also the offensive coordinator's job to help the team win games. Moore was too busy playing Madden and not paying attention to the game on the field. Which is why we lost several large leads when he was here when we kept slinging it around the yard when we SHOULD have been running the ball and eating clock. Similarly there were games when the defense was out of sorts and needed time to regroup and we went out there and threw it three straight times and punted after eating up a whole 35 seconds on the clock. Not even letting the defense get a swig o Gatorade. Moore is a good OC. What he is not is a great OC. Not that he can't get there but he isn't there yet. The fact that his offense scored like two fewer TDs per game when Dak has been out says it all. Yes there is going to be a dropoff when the backup goes in.. but 14-15 points per game is ridiculous. I know he is struggling to regain his form as a playcaller this season but McCarthy had a Hall of Fame QB in Green Bay but his teams never fell off the map like that when Rodgers went down. Hell guys like Matt Flynn put up such nice numbers in place of Rodgers they got big money contracts. You see anybody backing up the Brinks truck for Andy Dalton, Ben Dinucci or Cooper Rush?

 

[jay94]

Tony is a full yard off his YPA from last year.

He’s clearly done as a starter.

That injury wrecked his career.

I'm sure some of that is to do with that, but the run blocking has been the worst I can recall seeing it, at least while we were relevant.