jday
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If you were to read every contribution I have made since the beginning of preseason, you might have noticed a reoccurring theme: Dak. It’s truly difficult for me to think about anything else. A bottom of the fourth acquisition made possible (ironically) by the Eagles snatching up Demarco Murray in Free Agency…a team who just mortgaged their future in draft picks to acquire their own future quarterback (Carson Wentz) at the top of the first round…and he won’t be starting game 1 according to recent reports. You really can’t make this stuff up. Well, you can but you have to have one hell of an imagination and perhaps a little help from synthetic recreational urban pharmaceuticals.
The Hollywood-like narrative goes deeper, though. You need only look at Dak’s journey to the NFL. In high school, as a sophomore the starting quarterback at the time was injured; in steps Dak and from there he never relinquishes the job until he graduates resetting every record in that high school along the way. He then goes to college at Mississippi state where in his freshman year once again he is called upon to step in for the incumbent injured starter…and once again Dak’s play dictates that a change back once the QB is healthy would be head coach suicide. From his Freshman year through his Senior year, Dak once again rewrites the records book for his perspective school.
Flash forward to mere months after being drafted by the Cowboys, during training camp, the primary backup to Romo, Kellen Moore, has an offensive lineman pushed into his lap and is put out for the season. Once again, Dak step’s up and convincingly takes the job. Roughly a month later, Romo is injured. Obviously, Dak has done nothing yet to prove he can take Romo’s job…but I do wonder what it would take to make the FO consider a change. For instance, what if by the time Romo is ready to go the Cowboys are undefeated? I know, it’s not likely…not even if Romo was healthy…but still, what if?
You’re lying if you try to say you haven’t asked yourself the same question. The experts and analyst and veteran bloggers all agree this is still Romo’s job. But I do wonder if he really can still do it anymore. I mean, in the last five games he has played, he has been injured 4 times. And while each injury for the exception of the collarbone has been different, it does suggest that he may be one hit away from retirement.
But here’s my real question (and before you dismiss it immediately due to heresy, sacrilege and the almighty football precedence, give this question serious thought): Does Romo really give the Cowboys the best chance to win over Dak (yes, you read that right, I went there…if for no other reason than I have nowhere else to go with the Dak topic…yet)? I ask because I’m starting to think that what Dak lack’s in experience (and to be clear that brand of experience is only the NFL variety; he has been playing football his entire life) he more than makes up for with his physical ability. His mental mistakes in many cases will lead to acts of physical poetry on the football field. He has a natural feel for running the ball. He’s not an overly fast runner, like RGIII and/or Vick, but he knows how to pick lanes, create space for himself with pump fakes, he is decisive when he takes off, and he find’s lanes that seem to materialize from thin air as he runs through them. It’s a knack that you can’t teach; you either have it or you don’t. And he has it on a level than many can only dream of.
Now, I’m not saying they should feature this ability; the last thing we want as a fanbase is to see a 3rd QB go down in a season that otherwise has so much promise. But that threat alone for the opposition is going to give him more time to throw that Romo would never have had because that is an ability he simply doesn’t have anymore (and to be fair, he has never had it on the same level than Dak presently does). Romo creates space by making adjustment at the line and ensuring his blocking schemes are setup coupled with the occasional Romdini act. Dak may not have Romo’s eyes to read defenses like you are reading this, but his physically ability is going to bail him out of a good portion of the mistakes his lack of experience creates. And should he hurt the opposition with his legs, the tape future opponents see will force them to respect his ability in that regard. And when they do, that just makes Dak’s job all the more easier. Afterall, you use the run game to create the 8 in a box situation to open up the pass. That is really the whole idea of running the ball in today’s era of football – make the opposition respect the run, then take the top off of the opposing defense with the deep pass.
This could be a trainwreck in the works, but I have serious doubts about that. You see, when the experts say, it’s just preseason, what they are really telling you is to not pay attention to the scoreboard…it means nothing and for it to mean something the starters would have had to play the entire game. That is not to say, however, to disregard individual performance, particularly when a good portion of that individual performance is against the oppositions starters.
Consider the Seattle game especially. I can kind of see where people are coming from when they consign the “it is just preseason” label to the Rams and Dolphins games respectively. But the first half of the Seattle game I watched looked nothing like a preseason game. Seattle was clearly playing to win on both sides of the ball; in particular, there was nothing vanilla about what that defense was doing. Perhaps Carroll just wanted to inject a little confidence in his team going into the season…not sure what other reason he would have for exposing his starters for 3 quarters, a portion of which was against future McDonald order takers of America. Nevertheless, if I’m a fan, or a coach, or a player in Seattle, his efforts to instill confidence fell a little short….at least in the first half. Despite no Dez/Tyrone Crawford, having Romo for only 3 plays to start the game, Zeke was in for only two series, and the fact that a good portion of the starters were donning hat’s by the time the half ended, the score was still tied up at 10. And just in case you have been away for several years and just recently reignited your fandom, Seattle has been a very good team for the last several years and that is especially on defense…that is their identity. So for Dak to be able to execute a two minute drill without the service of his top tier starters Zeke and Dez, manage the clock and get the Cowboys into field goal range to tie the game is nothing short of a miracle for a rookie paired with his draft position.
I know I’ve been a broken record lately…stuck on stupid, if you will…good thing you guys don’t pay me for this, right? But honestly, between the potential windfall of a top tiered running back behind an elite offensive line to the unique skillset of Dak, who also is a threat to take it to the house on his own two feet, how could you possibly be thinking of anything else right now?
So, in closing, let’s shake things up a bit. I’m going to guess at what the detractor’s will have to say about these questions I have posed to save myself some time:
Detractor: Romo clearly gives the Cowboys the best chance to win; this offense was designed with him in mind. We all saw what happened when Weeden, Castle, and Moore all made an attempt to run the offense in his absence…what makes you think Dak will be any better.
Me: Dak is different. He has captured the respect and heart of his team. Sure, the team gave the PC answers last year in response to their take on starters other than Romo, but did you get the feeling in any of those interviews that they were completely and totally confident in Romo’s replacement? Be honest. I ask, because I didn’t. It felt like they were merely regurgitating what they were supposed to say. Did Dez come out at any point and say any of those replacements were “the truth,” as he puts it? Did any of those replacement look even half as good as Dak has in preseason? Have you forgotten the constant checkdown charlies who were petrified of unleashing the ball for more than 5 yards for fear of making a mistake? Has Dak in any way displayed characteristics’ that suggest he will do the same in the regular season? Finally, did those backup QB’s have the same potential elite running game that these Cowboys do with the additions of Zeke and Morris? No, they did not. And, like I said, Dak is different. He is on a whole nudder plain than any Cowboys QB not named Romo since Romo took the field for the first time.
Detractor: Dak is going to fall flat on his face, but it won’t be his fault. That defense is terrible and you just can’t trust a rookie to win given that situation. He needs the defense to mitigate his rookie mistakes like Russell Wilson and Big Ben had when they were rookies.
Me: Absolutely, but this defense is not terrible. The problem is 1.most people measure passrush by sacks and sacks alone and 2. most people don’t understand what a bend, don’t break defensive concept entails. If the opposing QB has to move away from the pocket, you have a passrush. The passrush is not about sacks, though those are ideal. A passrush is about effecting the decision making of the opposing QB – forcing him to take his eyes away from downfield, forcing him to get the ball out of his hands sooner than he would like, forcing him to make mistakes he wouldn’t ordinarily make…these effects all are indicative of a passrush. And, I’d add, you are blind if you have not seen evidence of that in these first 3 preseason games. The problem is, you have also simultaneously seen opposing offenses seemingly move the ball against the Cowboys with ease. The problem is you are paying attention to the wrong stat. Yards gained from scrimmage by the opposition, at the end of the game, really doesn’t matter. All that matters at the end of the game is the scoreboard. And with this offense and the defense slowing the opposition, the scoreboard is all you will remember following the game.
Detractor: Dak hasn’t been schemed against yet…just wait until that happens…when coaches figure out what he struggles with, they’ll force him into that situation and he will come back to earth.
Me: Maybe this mean’s nothing, but Mississippi state is not exactly the SEC darling. For years, they have merely been the speed bump that better recruiting teams have embarrassed throughout the years up until Dak came into the picture. Dak was for the most part a one-man offense. So, guess who those SEC defensive coordinators game planned against exclusively? Dak, of course. In the pro’s he is not faced with that daunting reality, because in the pro’s team’s will also have to game plan for Dez, Witten, Beasley, Zeke and to a lesser extent Morris. Sure, starting out, teams are going to bring the house at Dak to try and rattle him. But everything we have seen thus far suggests he is not easily rattled and furthermore he has the arm and the weapons to make them pay for it…pay for it dearly. And, as an aside, whatever you do opposing defense, when you decide to bring the house against Dak, please don’t lose lane integrity. If you do, Dak also has the ability to take it to the house by himself from pretty close to anywhere on the field.
Detractor: It’s gonna be a shootout. You can’t expect a rookie to answer that call on a pro level. He will make mistakes that will ultimately lead to losing games.
Me: Sure he will. He is going to make mistakes. He is going to lose games. Name the starting QB in the NFL who that still doesn’t apply to. Hell, even Brady throws the occasional interception. It happens to everyone. That’s not reason to give up on the season, though. He will have to learn fast, but considering how much understanding of the game he has already displayed in a relatively short amount of time, I think he is up to the task…nay, he was born for this task.
Did I miss something?
The Hollywood-like narrative goes deeper, though. You need only look at Dak’s journey to the NFL. In high school, as a sophomore the starting quarterback at the time was injured; in steps Dak and from there he never relinquishes the job until he graduates resetting every record in that high school along the way. He then goes to college at Mississippi state where in his freshman year once again he is called upon to step in for the incumbent injured starter…and once again Dak’s play dictates that a change back once the QB is healthy would be head coach suicide. From his Freshman year through his Senior year, Dak once again rewrites the records book for his perspective school.
Flash forward to mere months after being drafted by the Cowboys, during training camp, the primary backup to Romo, Kellen Moore, has an offensive lineman pushed into his lap and is put out for the season. Once again, Dak step’s up and convincingly takes the job. Roughly a month later, Romo is injured. Obviously, Dak has done nothing yet to prove he can take Romo’s job…but I do wonder what it would take to make the FO consider a change. For instance, what if by the time Romo is ready to go the Cowboys are undefeated? I know, it’s not likely…not even if Romo was healthy…but still, what if?
You’re lying if you try to say you haven’t asked yourself the same question. The experts and analyst and veteran bloggers all agree this is still Romo’s job. But I do wonder if he really can still do it anymore. I mean, in the last five games he has played, he has been injured 4 times. And while each injury for the exception of the collarbone has been different, it does suggest that he may be one hit away from retirement.
But here’s my real question (and before you dismiss it immediately due to heresy, sacrilege and the almighty football precedence, give this question serious thought): Does Romo really give the Cowboys the best chance to win over Dak (yes, you read that right, I went there…if for no other reason than I have nowhere else to go with the Dak topic…yet)? I ask because I’m starting to think that what Dak lack’s in experience (and to be clear that brand of experience is only the NFL variety; he has been playing football his entire life) he more than makes up for with his physical ability. His mental mistakes in many cases will lead to acts of physical poetry on the football field. He has a natural feel for running the ball. He’s not an overly fast runner, like RGIII and/or Vick, but he knows how to pick lanes, create space for himself with pump fakes, he is decisive when he takes off, and he find’s lanes that seem to materialize from thin air as he runs through them. It’s a knack that you can’t teach; you either have it or you don’t. And he has it on a level than many can only dream of.
Now, I’m not saying they should feature this ability; the last thing we want as a fanbase is to see a 3rd QB go down in a season that otherwise has so much promise. But that threat alone for the opposition is going to give him more time to throw that Romo would never have had because that is an ability he simply doesn’t have anymore (and to be fair, he has never had it on the same level than Dak presently does). Romo creates space by making adjustment at the line and ensuring his blocking schemes are setup coupled with the occasional Romdini act. Dak may not have Romo’s eyes to read defenses like you are reading this, but his physically ability is going to bail him out of a good portion of the mistakes his lack of experience creates. And should he hurt the opposition with his legs, the tape future opponents see will force them to respect his ability in that regard. And when they do, that just makes Dak’s job all the more easier. Afterall, you use the run game to create the 8 in a box situation to open up the pass. That is really the whole idea of running the ball in today’s era of football – make the opposition respect the run, then take the top off of the opposing defense with the deep pass.
This could be a trainwreck in the works, but I have serious doubts about that. You see, when the experts say, it’s just preseason, what they are really telling you is to not pay attention to the scoreboard…it means nothing and for it to mean something the starters would have had to play the entire game. That is not to say, however, to disregard individual performance, particularly when a good portion of that individual performance is against the oppositions starters.
Consider the Seattle game especially. I can kind of see where people are coming from when they consign the “it is just preseason” label to the Rams and Dolphins games respectively. But the first half of the Seattle game I watched looked nothing like a preseason game. Seattle was clearly playing to win on both sides of the ball; in particular, there was nothing vanilla about what that defense was doing. Perhaps Carroll just wanted to inject a little confidence in his team going into the season…not sure what other reason he would have for exposing his starters for 3 quarters, a portion of which was against future McDonald order takers of America. Nevertheless, if I’m a fan, or a coach, or a player in Seattle, his efforts to instill confidence fell a little short….at least in the first half. Despite no Dez/Tyrone Crawford, having Romo for only 3 plays to start the game, Zeke was in for only two series, and the fact that a good portion of the starters were donning hat’s by the time the half ended, the score was still tied up at 10. And just in case you have been away for several years and just recently reignited your fandom, Seattle has been a very good team for the last several years and that is especially on defense…that is their identity. So for Dak to be able to execute a two minute drill without the service of his top tier starters Zeke and Dez, manage the clock and get the Cowboys into field goal range to tie the game is nothing short of a miracle for a rookie paired with his draft position.
I know I’ve been a broken record lately…stuck on stupid, if you will…good thing you guys don’t pay me for this, right? But honestly, between the potential windfall of a top tiered running back behind an elite offensive line to the unique skillset of Dak, who also is a threat to take it to the house on his own two feet, how could you possibly be thinking of anything else right now?
So, in closing, let’s shake things up a bit. I’m going to guess at what the detractor’s will have to say about these questions I have posed to save myself some time:
Detractor: Romo clearly gives the Cowboys the best chance to win; this offense was designed with him in mind. We all saw what happened when Weeden, Castle, and Moore all made an attempt to run the offense in his absence…what makes you think Dak will be any better.
Me: Dak is different. He has captured the respect and heart of his team. Sure, the team gave the PC answers last year in response to their take on starters other than Romo, but did you get the feeling in any of those interviews that they were completely and totally confident in Romo’s replacement? Be honest. I ask, because I didn’t. It felt like they were merely regurgitating what they were supposed to say. Did Dez come out at any point and say any of those replacements were “the truth,” as he puts it? Did any of those replacement look even half as good as Dak has in preseason? Have you forgotten the constant checkdown charlies who were petrified of unleashing the ball for more than 5 yards for fear of making a mistake? Has Dak in any way displayed characteristics’ that suggest he will do the same in the regular season? Finally, did those backup QB’s have the same potential elite running game that these Cowboys do with the additions of Zeke and Morris? No, they did not. And, like I said, Dak is different. He is on a whole nudder plain than any Cowboys QB not named Romo since Romo took the field for the first time.
Detractor: Dak is going to fall flat on his face, but it won’t be his fault. That defense is terrible and you just can’t trust a rookie to win given that situation. He needs the defense to mitigate his rookie mistakes like Russell Wilson and Big Ben had when they were rookies.
Me: Absolutely, but this defense is not terrible. The problem is 1.most people measure passrush by sacks and sacks alone and 2. most people don’t understand what a bend, don’t break defensive concept entails. If the opposing QB has to move away from the pocket, you have a passrush. The passrush is not about sacks, though those are ideal. A passrush is about effecting the decision making of the opposing QB – forcing him to take his eyes away from downfield, forcing him to get the ball out of his hands sooner than he would like, forcing him to make mistakes he wouldn’t ordinarily make…these effects all are indicative of a passrush. And, I’d add, you are blind if you have not seen evidence of that in these first 3 preseason games. The problem is, you have also simultaneously seen opposing offenses seemingly move the ball against the Cowboys with ease. The problem is you are paying attention to the wrong stat. Yards gained from scrimmage by the opposition, at the end of the game, really doesn’t matter. All that matters at the end of the game is the scoreboard. And with this offense and the defense slowing the opposition, the scoreboard is all you will remember following the game.
Detractor: Dak hasn’t been schemed against yet…just wait until that happens…when coaches figure out what he struggles with, they’ll force him into that situation and he will come back to earth.
Me: Maybe this mean’s nothing, but Mississippi state is not exactly the SEC darling. For years, they have merely been the speed bump that better recruiting teams have embarrassed throughout the years up until Dak came into the picture. Dak was for the most part a one-man offense. So, guess who those SEC defensive coordinators game planned against exclusively? Dak, of course. In the pro’s he is not faced with that daunting reality, because in the pro’s team’s will also have to game plan for Dez, Witten, Beasley, Zeke and to a lesser extent Morris. Sure, starting out, teams are going to bring the house at Dak to try and rattle him. But everything we have seen thus far suggests he is not easily rattled and furthermore he has the arm and the weapons to make them pay for it…pay for it dearly. And, as an aside, whatever you do opposing defense, when you decide to bring the house against Dak, please don’t lose lane integrity. If you do, Dak also has the ability to take it to the house by himself from pretty close to anywhere on the field.
Detractor: It’s gonna be a shootout. You can’t expect a rookie to answer that call on a pro level. He will make mistakes that will ultimately lead to losing games.
Me: Sure he will. He is going to make mistakes. He is going to lose games. Name the starting QB in the NFL who that still doesn’t apply to. Hell, even Brady throws the occasional interception. It happens to everyone. That’s not reason to give up on the season, though. He will have to learn fast, but considering how much understanding of the game he has already displayed in a relatively short amount of time, I think he is up to the task…nay, he was born for this task.
Did I miss something?
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