Absolutely agree.
Our previous Wr core was built for the ‘Romo Era’ and it wasn’t conducive to Daks style of play. That’s not a knock on Dak by any means. Romo was a polished veteran. Dak was only in his sophomore season last year and is refining his skills as expected.
As far as the 2017 receivers go.. the fact is:
- Dez- his poor route running is well known and leading the league in drops didn’t help. His best attribute was being a physical WR, the “50-50” ball, and being an emotional leader (sometimes to a fault). His skills wasn’t a great fit for a young QB that’s known for protecting the ball (with accuracy issues at times), but’s there’s not a doubt in my mind that Dez could return to his 2014 form under a established veterans QB like Rodgers, Brees, etc..
- Williams- also well known body catcher that didn’t create much separation as he’s not considered a ‘burner’. Yet, he found holes in the secondary when plays broke down and Dak scrambling. All it took was an slightly above average CB to take him out of games.
- Beasley- again, not a burner.. but he was the one Wr you could count on to create space with his quickness. Defenses figured it and out and started doubling him up. This was made easier since Beasley was only a threat for ab 10-15 yards down field.
- “Gold Jacket” Witten- as good as he was, no defense was worried ab his speed. He boxed defenders out like no other, timing of throws was critical
At the end of the day, defenses figured out how to shut down our WRs due largely bc of our on limitations, in short.. we were predictable. This is how I invision a DC talking right before the game..
“Put our best Cb on Dez and shade S coverage to prevent the jump ball. Play Williams straight up and see if he can beat us. We’ll use our best coverage LB to help over the top with Beasley and put the most physical secondary player on Witten”
Whether people like our rebuilt core or not, the truth is.. defenses will have to throw the old D playbook out and try to figure out who to cover from week to week. We’ve added a bunch of speed & polished route runners that’s more indicative to Daks game. He’ll be throwing to who ever gets open. And that’s harder to scheme against than what we rolled out there last year.
I know a lot of folks don’t like Scott Linehan “predictable” play calling, but it makes me wonder that he was limited also due to each players limitations. I personally believe, we’re going to see a “revised” look on offense. Of course, not totally different bc we are still a run first team. Hopefully our OL will reclaim thier top status and we’ll have Zeke without suspension ready to prove a point. I really like our Offense. I won’t guess how good they’ll be, but they will be good nonetheless.
