xwalker
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http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2015/06/19/spagnola-under-radar-d-mac-certainly-raising-eyebrows-and-hopes
Darren McFadden.
Still, I’m telling you, this guy – up to this point – passes the eyeball test. He’s got something.
Not real sure what I was expecting, but it was not this:
Took a handoff on a running play going left where the daylight was no more than a glimmer, and in the blink of an eye he slithered through the crease without missing a step, then put his foot in the ground, boom, off he went with speed that made you go are you kidding me?
Then there was a run to the outside, sort of a sweep, and the defense appeared to have the angle on him. His speed minimized the angle. Off he went, vroom.
And on a few up-the-middle runs his vision was wide-angle, his nature not shy.
Then there was this, too: The Cowboys on Thursday were practicing kickoff returns in earnest. Bunch of young dudes back there, the sort trying to do whatever they ask just to make the 53-man roster. And there with them was No. 20, showing the enthusiasm and speed teams feared when he was an Arkansas Razorback.
Made you go hmmmm.
And, it wasn’t just me.
“We talk about how our running game created a mentality for the whole football team last year,” Jerry Jones would say. “McFadden is very capable of creating that kind of mentality out of the running back position,” all after prefacing that this has nothing to do with being a former Razorback himself, saying, “It’s been a long time since I was a Razorback, so I’m more interested in McFadden for what he can do for the Cowboys than the fact he was a Razorback several years ago.”
In other words, an unbiased optimism.
Then there was Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett, he the advocate of creating the physical mentality his ball club adopted last year with Murray running the ball and certainly not wanting to regress into finesse in Murray’s absence.
“At his size, he’s definitely a physical presence, a physical player,” Garrett begins on the 6-1, 218-pouind McFadden. “I remember evaluating him coming out of school, and that’s the thing that jumped off the tape more than anything else. Whether he was the lead blocker on some of that Razorback stuff that they ran with Felix Jones or whether he was just running the power play, he was just a physical, physical player.”
And this from running backs coach Gary Brown: “He has impressed everybody with his professionalism and skill set.”
Now then, they’ll all willingly qualify this with …
So far.
Can’t tell for sure with running backs until the pads come on. Can’t tell until the head-knocking starts. Can’t tell until they get some carries in preseason games when the tackling begins. Can’t wait until the Rams formidable defensive front shows up for those training camp practices in Oxnard when the competitiveness amps up, when boys will be boys in the supposedly no-tackling team drills. Right.
But you, too, would’ve liked how McFadden ran in these three minicamp practices. You, too, would have been impressed with his vision, this knack for slithering through holes, and most of all, his finishing speed.
Now, if he can just stay healthy, and funny thing, isn’t that what we were saying this time last year about Murray? Not a soul knew an 1,800-yard season and NFL rushing title were in his future. Nor a contract including $21 million in guaranteed money. There would have been those who thought you had fallen on your head had you suggested any of the such about Murray at this time a year ago, despite the Cowboys having upgraded the quality of that now Pro Bowl-laden offensive line.
So we’ll see, and that certainly is better than the can’t bear to watch, same thoughts most had about the Cowboys defense a season ago. What a difference a year can make.
Plus, like what I heard from Brown when someone asked about a “running back position by committee” approach since there is not a clear-cut starter.
Well, Brown politely objected, and corrected, saying, “Hopefully we won’t have to go to a pure running back by committee. Each guy will have a role.”
Telling you, after what I saw, don’t discount McFadden’s.
Darren McFadden.
Still, I’m telling you, this guy – up to this point – passes the eyeball test. He’s got something.
Not real sure what I was expecting, but it was not this:
Took a handoff on a running play going left where the daylight was no more than a glimmer, and in the blink of an eye he slithered through the crease without missing a step, then put his foot in the ground, boom, off he went with speed that made you go are you kidding me?
Then there was a run to the outside, sort of a sweep, and the defense appeared to have the angle on him. His speed minimized the angle. Off he went, vroom.
And on a few up-the-middle runs his vision was wide-angle, his nature not shy.
Then there was this, too: The Cowboys on Thursday were practicing kickoff returns in earnest. Bunch of young dudes back there, the sort trying to do whatever they ask just to make the 53-man roster. And there with them was No. 20, showing the enthusiasm and speed teams feared when he was an Arkansas Razorback.
Made you go hmmmm.
And, it wasn’t just me.
“We talk about how our running game created a mentality for the whole football team last year,” Jerry Jones would say. “McFadden is very capable of creating that kind of mentality out of the running back position,” all after prefacing that this has nothing to do with being a former Razorback himself, saying, “It’s been a long time since I was a Razorback, so I’m more interested in McFadden for what he can do for the Cowboys than the fact he was a Razorback several years ago.”
In other words, an unbiased optimism.
Then there was Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett, he the advocate of creating the physical mentality his ball club adopted last year with Murray running the ball and certainly not wanting to regress into finesse in Murray’s absence.
“At his size, he’s definitely a physical presence, a physical player,” Garrett begins on the 6-1, 218-pouind McFadden. “I remember evaluating him coming out of school, and that’s the thing that jumped off the tape more than anything else. Whether he was the lead blocker on some of that Razorback stuff that they ran with Felix Jones or whether he was just running the power play, he was just a physical, physical player.”
And this from running backs coach Gary Brown: “He has impressed everybody with his professionalism and skill set.”
Now then, they’ll all willingly qualify this with …
So far.
Can’t tell for sure with running backs until the pads come on. Can’t tell until the head-knocking starts. Can’t tell until they get some carries in preseason games when the tackling begins. Can’t wait until the Rams formidable defensive front shows up for those training camp practices in Oxnard when the competitiveness amps up, when boys will be boys in the supposedly no-tackling team drills. Right.
But you, too, would’ve liked how McFadden ran in these three minicamp practices. You, too, would have been impressed with his vision, this knack for slithering through holes, and most of all, his finishing speed.
Now, if he can just stay healthy, and funny thing, isn’t that what we were saying this time last year about Murray? Not a soul knew an 1,800-yard season and NFL rushing title were in his future. Nor a contract including $21 million in guaranteed money. There would have been those who thought you had fallen on your head had you suggested any of the such about Murray at this time a year ago, despite the Cowboys having upgraded the quality of that now Pro Bowl-laden offensive line.
So we’ll see, and that certainly is better than the can’t bear to watch, same thoughts most had about the Cowboys defense a season ago. What a difference a year can make.
Plus, like what I heard from Brown when someone asked about a “running back position by committee” approach since there is not a clear-cut starter.
Well, Brown politely objected, and corrected, saying, “Hopefully we won’t have to go to a pure running back by committee. Each guy will have a role.”
Telling you, after what I saw, don’t discount McFadden’s.
