Dak or the Play Calling

[khiladi]

Prescott attempted to execute a three-step, five-step, or seven-step drop on average of less than twice a game in 2019. That basic ratio has been true for every year that Prescott has been in the NFL.

I took a lot of criticism earlier in the year when I suggested Prescott’s inability to take a snap from under center and then drop back and deliver a well-timed and properly-placed pass was a limitation, but it is hard to avoid the fact he only attempted 30 passes all year when dropping back from under center

After using the shotgun almost exclusively in high school and college, Prescott was very open as a rookie and sophomore about his ongoing effort to take get better at taking snaps from under center. He has improved dramatically.

Despite Dallas’s success using play-action passes, it is hard to conceive of an offensive coordinator who wouldn’t like the ability to call plays based on a traditional three-step, five-step or seven-step drop. It is also hard to believe Moore would only call 30 of these types of plays out of 677 passes if everyone was comfortable Prescott could effectively execute a traditional three, five, or seven-step drop.

His problems with the drop-back go back since his time in the NFL. And as an aside, anybody that compared Aikman to Dak, while understanding these facts now, is either lying to himself or simply unable to comprehend Dak’s lack of timing and hitting QBs in stride. This is without getting in the issues of him resorting to throwing off his back foot when under a modicum or pressure.

https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/20...lling-snap-analysis-2019-season-dak-prescott/

 

[HungryLion]

Good questions.

Did I miss what his results were on those plays? We’re they ineffective when he did it?

 

[Flamma]

I think it was play calling. Any time I saw Dak drop back in play action he seemed to do it very smoothly. And this is coming from someone in the don't pay Dak fanbase. The fact they didn't use this much aggravated me because it meant if Dak was under center it meant we were running the ball.

 

[Flamma]

Good questions.

Did I miss what his results were on those plays? We’re they ineffective when he did it?

I don't recall it being ineffective. I seem to remember Dak doing just fine. I could be wrong.

 

[John813]

Interesting. Was it more under Linehan?

Like, in 2018 post Cooper.

 

[HungryLion]

I don't recall it being ineffective. I seem to remember Dak doing just fine. I could be wrong.

Dak’s playaction from under center looks good to me. I agree. He does well with his ball fakes IMO. I guess it’s the straight drop backs without PA. Just dropping back, planting his feet and going.

 

[khiladi]

Good questions.

Did I miss what his results were on those plays? We’re they ineffective when he did it?

Good question. I’m not sure the stat exists, as in recorded somewhere. The same author in his previous post, which I will reference below, noted this early in the season as well. In this article it does state the following:

One of the things that stands out the most is that Prescott only threw the ball 30 times after dropping back from under center (he also attempted 90 play-action passes from that formation). A fair number of those 30 passes did not even require an actual drop back from center: some of them were quick screens thrown immediately after the snap.

As far as the same author noticing the trend earlier and in which he referenced in the above, the article is here:

https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/20...tt-kellen-moore-play-calling-third-and-short/

The most glaring trend detected is that Prescott is rarely asked to drop back and pass after taking the snap from under center.

In 44 games, he has never dropped back and passed after taking the snap from under center more than three or four times in game. When he was a rookie, it was sometimes never and often only once a game.

Moreover, many of the infrequent pass attempts from under center are not traditional five-step drops; they are often quick screens to the wide receiver or something similar, which requires the quarterback just to get his feet planted and fire the ball.

After three years as an NFL quarterback, Prescott still doesn’t routinely drop back into the pocket and throw the ball. He did it just twice against the Saints, twice versus Miami, twice in Washington, and three times in the season opener.

 

[khiladi]

In 2018, it was one of things Dak tried working in. As Linehan pointed out, he often found himself dropping way too deep or not planting his feet. Dak himself acknowledged this problem, but the fact the drop-back is rarely used still remains in the play calling. And when it is used, apparently, it’s often times a screen or quick dump off.

https://www.espn.com/blog/nfceast/p...tt-hopes-a-change-in-mechanics-yields-results

 

[khiladi]

And the fact that Dak passed pretty much exclusively out of shotgun in college would be hard evidence to debate that it’s simply the play calling that was the problem for Dak.

 

[HungryLion]

Good question. I’m not sure the stat exists. The same author in his previous post, which I will reference below, noted this early in the season as well. In this article it does state the following:



As far as the same author noticing the trend earlier and in which he referenced in the above, the article is here:

https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/20...tt-kellen-moore-play-calling-third-and-short/

Considering his footwork issues when coming into the league, it’s not terribly surprising.

I would be interested to see what happens if the coaches forced him to run these plays more often. Hard to know without see Dak actually practice them, it’s it’s a design with the system or if the coaches watch him practice it and don’t have a high degree of confidence in him to execute them during games.

I would be interested to see the difference between him and Romo while both playing under Linehan as the play caller.

though Romo also quite clearly ran his own plays a lot of the time.

 

[khiladi]

Considering his footwork issues when coming into the league, it’s not terribly surprising.

I would be interested to see what happens if the coaches forced him to run these plays more often. Hard to know without see Dak actually practice them, it’s it’s a design with the system or if the coaches watch him practice it and don’t have a high degree of confidence in him to execute them during games.

I would be interested to see the difference between him and Romo while both playing under Linehan as the play caller.

though Romo also quite clearly ran his own plays a lot of the time.

Romo was traditionally a drop back passer. That being said, in Romo’s 2014 season, the first with Linehan he threw 75 attempts off play action into January of 2015. That was the most in his career I believe. In Dak’s first year, by half the season Linehan already called more play-action than in a full season with Romo.

https://www.espn.com/blog/dallas/co...3/romos-play-action-passes-bringing-big-gains

As an aside, Garrett almost never called play action and on his last official year in the 2012-2013 season, Dallaswas bottom five in play action. Can one imagine how much pressure Romo was put under with this HC/OC that could hardly field a proper RG, while very rarely using play-action to freeze LBs And DBs. Here is the Garrett track record:

https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/201...ion-much---we-try-to-figure-out-why-tony-romo

That is why any comparison between what Romo worked with a Dak is ridiculous.

 

[OmerV]

Going so much from shotgun may just be something the team (Garrett/Linehan) decided would play into Dak's strengths, but I agree with others above that it doesn't seem Dak struggles when he does drop back and pass from under center. And, realistically, it never seemed the Cowboys used a lot of play action even with Romo. Who knows, it might work well if used more.

 

[khiladi]

Dak’s playaction from under center looks good to me. I agree. He does well with his ball fakes IMO. I guess it’s the straight drop backs without PA. Just dropping back, planting his feet and going.

His ball fakes are pretty much perfect.

 

[khiladi]

Also play-action versus traditional drop-back is mainly an issue of ability to read progressions and dissect defenses.

 

[HungryLion]

Also play-action versus traditional drop-back is mainly an issue of ability to read progressions and dissect defenses.

True. Timing is key too. Guys like Aikman and Brady could plant that last step and release the ball to a precise location
At an exact time. Which admittedly, is not Dak’s best strength.

 

[Future]

This article doesn't account for situation or contextualize around the league, so it's completely pointless.

The Cowboys are a S11 team - just like 20-something others. The number of dropback passes from under center is small around the league. I doubt this "A mere 17.7% of the passing plays called by Moore came when Prescott started under center (120 of 677), with 90 of those pass attempts coming off play-action" is much different than the rest of the league.

"I took a lot of criticism earlier in the year when I suggested Prescott’s inability to take a snap from under center and then drop back and deliver a well-timed and properly-placed pass was a limitation, but it is hard to avoid the fact he only attempted 30 passes all year when dropping back from under center," is also a horrible conclusion based on the full context of the league. Dallas had a higher pass rate on snaps under center than KC, I guess Mahomes can't drop back either? https://www.sharpfootballstats.com/snap-rates--shotgun-v-under-center--off-.html

Selective data yields dumb conclusions. Writer's a clown looking to justify his pointless take.

 

[khiladi]

This article doesn't account for situation or contextualize around the league, so it's completely pointless.

The Cowboys are a S11 team - just like 20-something others. The number of dropback passes from under center is small around the league. I doubt this "A mere 17.7% of the passing plays called by Moore came when Prescott started under center (120 of 677), with 90 of those pass attempts coming off play-action" is much different than the rest of the league.

"I took a lot of criticism earlier in the year when I suggested Prescott’s inability to take a snap from under center and then drop back and deliver a well-timed and properly-placed pass was a limitation, but it is hard to avoid the fact he only attempted 30 passes all year when dropping back from under center," is also a horrible conclusion based on the full context of the league. Dallas had a higher pass rate on snaps under center than KC, I guess Mahomes can't drop back either? https://www.sharpfootballstats.com/snap-rates--shotgun-v-under-center--off-.html

Selective data yields dumb conclusions. Writer's a clown looking to justify his pointless take.

What does other teams have to do with the fact that Dak doesn’t use a 5 or 7 step drop back often, like Romo did, especially in a Coryell offense and in college operates pretty much exclusively out of shotgun? Dak’s weaknesses in that is totally irrelevant to whether or not other QBs have the same weakness.

 

[Future]

What does other teams have to do with the fact that Dak doesn’t use a 5 or 7 step drop back often, like Romo did, especially in a Coryell offense and in college operates pretty much exclusively out of shotgun? Dak’s weaknesses in that is totally irrelevant to whether or not other QBs have the same weakness.

It's not a weakness if it's nobody's strength, or not something that's asked of a QB.

 

[khiladi]

It's not a weakness if it's nobody's strength, or not something that's asked of a QB.

Of course it’s relevant, considering what type of offense a QB is running.

Further,

https://seahawkswire.usatoday.com/2020/05/14/seahawks-qb-russell-wilson-most-suited-for-7-step-drop/
“As the NFL has transitioned to more of a quick passing game by default, the seven-step drop is almost a thing of the past,” Farrar writes. “Jared Goff was the only quarterback in 2019 with more than 50 attempts on seven-step drops (68), but it was Wilson, Goff’s NFC West rival, who proved most effective on those longer dropbacks with a 157.6 passer rating.”

This is SEVEN STEP drops.. Goff had 68, so Dak is clearly not even close, with thirty TOTAL drop backs this season, while being second in passing attempts. It is a CLEAR weakness of Dak, especially in the type of offense Linehan ran.

 

[Runwildboys]

His ball fakes are pretty much perfect.

You wanna see perfect, watch Lamar Jackson. That guy might be the best I've ever seen at faking a handoff.