DMN Blog: Offensive line must be much better for three-headed RB monster to reach pot

[WoodysGirl]

9:41 AM Mon, Jul 06, 2009 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
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Three Cowboys offensive linemen received Pro Bowl recognition last season, which serves as further proof that the voting is more about reputation than performance.

For example, consider the cases of C Andre Gurode and RG Leonard Davis, who were both voted into the Pro Bowl. (LT Flozell Adams went as an alternate.) Gurode and Davis have established reputations as overpowering run blockers. The reality is that they were too often liabilities for the Cowboys' running game last season.

KC Joyner, the self-proclaimed Football Scientist, provides the proof in data available to folks who order his book, "Scientific Football 2009." He grades offensive linemen's "Point of Attack" performances, crediting them with a win or loss, with a winning percentage of 80 percent considered acceptable. Gurode (77.0) and Davis (77.5) fell below that mark.

It stands to reason that running backs would be much more successful on carries when their linemen win the point-of-attack battles. But, according to Joyner's post on the New York Times' Fifth Down Blog, the disparities are especially large with the Cowboys' RB corps.

Marion Barber averaged 5.0 yards per carry when there was no point-of-attack loss, 1.7 when at least one O-linemen got beaten. Felix Jones' splits: 10.8/2.4. Tashard Choice's splits: 7.2/1.2.

Quickie conclusion: The big guys up front have to do a much better job than they did last season for Smash, Dash and Tash to fulfill their potential as one of the NFL's elite RB corps.


Comments (15) Leave comment | E-mail entry

 

[WoodysGirl]

July 6, 2009, 7:00 am
If Only the Cowboys Had Better Blocking …
By KC Joyner

The Football Scientist, KC Joyner, is a Fifth Down contributor. Lab results from “Scientific Football 2009,” to be published in August, are available for those who order the book now.


When I did the Scientific Football tour of the NFC East a few weeks ago, I intentionally skipped the Cowboys because I wanted to dovetail that post with some work I was doing with BloggingTheBoys.com. For those who might not be familiar with it, it is, in my humble opinion, the best Dallas Cowboys site around. It is run by Dave Halprin and Rafael Vela, two guys who live and breath everything about the Boys and whose dedication shows up in the quality of their work.

I’ve been corresponding with Rafael and Dave for a while, so when Dave landed an assignment to edit a Cowboys-themed magazine for Maple Street Press and asked me to do some articles, I was more than happy to say yes. The first of these articles focused on a metric review of every offensive and defensive player. I found a number of interesting and contrarian things about the Cowboys, such as:

• Their best run blocker wasn’t one of the three Dallas O linemen that made the Pro Bowl
• The one lead blocking change that could pay significant dividends
• Why Terrell Owens might not be missed nearly as much as some think (and it isn’t just because Roy Williams should be able to take up a good portion of the slack)
• One reason Bradie James might not have made the Pro Bowl
• Numbers detailing why Igor Olshansky could be an upgrade over Chris Canty

I also took a look at Jason Garrett’s playcalling and found that he was much more creative than he is given credit for. An excerpt of this article can be found on the Blogging The Boys site . If you would like to get a copy of the magazine, it can be pre-ordered via the Maple Street Press Web site and will be available on newsstands on July 21.

Now that we have that plug out of the way, I have some interesting Scientific Football Cowboys running back material to share. One of the research areas I am tracking for the book is running back productivity on rushes in which there are no Point of Attack (POA) blocking losses versus rushes with at least one POA blocking loss.

The disparity between the “all-win” POA runs and runs with at least one loss has been fairly significant for all of the backs I’ve tallied up to this point, but the Dallas backs may have the largest disparity of all. Check out the numbers:


Running back Runs w/no POA losses Yds YPA Runs w/at least one POA loss Yds YPA
Marion Barber 145 726 5.0 93 159 1.7
Felix Jones 23 249 10.8 7 17 2.4
Tashard Choice 60 433 7.2 32 39 1.2
Totals 228 1408 6.2 132 215 1.6

The metrics that stand out here are Felix Jones and Tashard Choice’s Yards Per Attempt (YPA) totals in the no POA losses category. They gained a combined total of 682 yards on 83 runs here, or 8.2 YPA. The Boys’ O-line as a whole did not play up to its potential in run blocking (three of their players were at the unacceptable POA win mark of 80% or lower), but if they can improve their consistency even by just a few percentage points, it could mean huge dividends in their rushing productivity.

(You can follow KC Joyner on Facebook at http://************/ckavry or on Twitter at http://twitter.com/kcjoynertfs).

 

[Bob Sacamano]

July 6, 2009, 7:00 am
If Only the Cowboys Had Better Blocking …
By KC Joyner

The Football Scientist, KC Joyner, is a Fifth Down contributor. Lab results from “Scientific Football 2009,” to be published in August, are available for those who order the book now.


When I did the Scientific Football tour of the NFC East a few weeks ago, I intentionally skipped the Cowboys because I wanted to dovetail that post with some work I was doing with BloggingTheBoys.com. For those who might not be familiar with it, it is, in my humble opinion, the best Dallas Cowboys site around. It is run by Dave Halprin and Rafael Vela, two guys who live and breath everything about the Boys and whose dedication shows up in the quality of their work.

I’ve been corresponding with Rafael and Dave for a while, so when Dave landed an assignment to edit a Cowboys-themed magazine for Maple Street Press and asked me to do some articles, I was more than happy to say yes. The first of these articles focused on a metric review of every offensive and defensive player. I found a number of interesting and contrarian things about the Cowboys, such as:

• Their best run blocker wasn’t one of the three Dallas O linemen that made the Pro Bowl
• The one lead blocking change that could pay significant dividends
• Why Terrell Owens might not be missed nearly as much as some think (and it isn’t just because Roy Williams should be able to take up a good portion of the slack)
• One reason Bradie James might not have made the Pro Bowl
• Numbers detailing why Igor Olshansky could be an upgrade over Chris Canty

I also took a look at Jason Garrett’s playcalling and found that he was much more creative than he is given credit for. An excerpt of this article can be found on the Blogging The Boys site . If you would like to get a copy of the magazine, it can be pre-ordered via the Maple Street Press Web site and will be available on newsstands on July 21.

Now that we have that plug out of the way, I have some interesting Scientific Football Cowboys running back material to share. One of the research areas I am tracking for the book is running back productivity on rushes in which there are no Point of Attack (POA) blocking losses versus rushes with at least one POA blocking loss.

The disparity between the “all-win” POA runs and runs with at least one loss has been fairly significant for all of the backs I’ve tallied up to this point, but the Dallas backs may have the largest disparity of all. Check out the numbers:


Running back Runs w/no POA losses Yds YPA Runs w/at least one POA loss Yds YPA
Marion Barber 145 726 5.0 93 159 1.7
Felix Jones 23 249 10.8 7 17 2.4
Tashard Choice 60 433 7.2 32 39 1.2
Totals 228 1408 6.2 132 215 1.6

The metrics that stand out here are Felix Jones and Tashard Choice’s Yards Per Attempt (YPA) totals in the no POA losses category. They gained a combined total of 682 yards on 83 runs here, or 8.2 YPA. The Boys’ O-line as a whole did not play up to its potential in run blocking (three of their players were at the unacceptable POA win mark of 80% or lower), but if they can improve their consistency even by just a few percentage points, it could mean huge dividends in their rushing productivity.

(You can follow KC Joyner on Facebook at http://************/ckavry or on Twitter at http://twitter.com/kcjoynertfs).

the best run-blocker was probably Flozell

that's bad

 

[TonyS]

the best run-blocker was probably Flozell

that's bad

I would guess Colombo. These stats are what concern me the most going into the season. If we're relying on a power running game, we can't have our blockers performing below average.

 

[JBS]

It's no secret to me and probably not to anyone else on this board. The success of the 2009 Dallas Cowboys rests on the shoulders of the big uglies of the offensive line.

 

[BAT]

Hey 41gy! Joyner's calling out your center!

 

[big dog cowboy]

It's no secret to me and probably not to anyone else on this board. The success of the 2009 Dallas Cowboys rests on the shoulders of the big uglies of the offensive line.

We likely will only go as far as they can take us.

 

[adbutcher]

The offensive line and RBs have a symbiotic relationship. They both feed off of each other and both need each other to survive. If the running back sucks even a good offensive line will look bad. Our three head monster should really compliment our offensive line providing we stay healthy. Injuries scare the hell out of me but we are do a healthy season after last season.

 

[Future]

Like pretty much every other aspect of this team, it's all about consistency with these guys. They need to put together play after play after play for a whole game, not just when they feel like it.

I wonder if they were worried about Proctor struggling to block his man also and tried to help him which might have hurt them...just a thought