Does Rush read defenses and see the field better than Dak?

[JoeKing]

Dak obviously has a better arm and is more athletic. But is Rush a better at seeing the field? Reading defenses and a better game manager?

You give Dak far too much credit for doing things better. You have to be blind to have not seen how Dak played while healthy in week 1. He's not the better QB. Dak gives us no chance to win any games. Rush will win enough to get to the playoffs.

 

[RonnieT24]

You give Dak far too much credit for doing things better. You have to be blind to have not seen how Dak played while healthy in week 1. He's not the better QB. Dak gives us no chance to win any games. Rush will win enough to get to the playoffs.

So you are willing to stake your reputation on the assertion that Dak cannot play any better than he did against Tampa? You're willing to die on that hill are ya?

 

[GINeric]

Dak obviously has a better arm and is more athletic. But is Rush a better at seeing the field? Reading defenses and a better game manager?

No. Rush is good at seeing the field, but so is Dak. The difference is, Rush has benefited from a solid run game that draws linebackers forward and create bigger receiving lanes for Rush to deliver. Call the same plays for Dak and you'll see similar results. The running game has been the biggest change for us the last couple of weeks.

I love Rush's ball placement though, I'll give him that. But Dak could make this thing run smooth as well if KM stick to the running game to set everything else up ESPECIALLY when the opposing team can't stop it.

Its amazing how smooth our offense looks when you have a pretty balanced attack due to running the damn ball and the threat of running the ball. It isn't a coincidence.....

 

[RonnieT24]

Numbers alone don’t mean squat in a vacuum.
Aikman didn’t have stellar numbers. He won big games when it mattered. Dak hasn’t. Against winning teams his numbers aren’t that good.

Beating up on the East to pad numbers needs to be looked at. Cooper has been steady, and not turning the ball over.
Yes he won’t really be judged until Sunday, but his receivers haven’t been spinning around to make catches, and he hasn’t missed wide open guys like Dak has. He’s made some great throws, Dak hasn’t.

I’ll take slow and steady wins over garbage numbers any day.

Dak is way overpriced, and hasn’t improved against winning teams which is really the yard stick, not huge numbers against losing teams. The team is stuck with an albatross, but that’s all on Jerry.
Again let’s see what happens this weekend.

How would you explain what Noah Brown is doing here:




I mean I'm no expert but it looks a lot like a guy putting on the brakes and spinning around to make a catch.. I could also find you plenty of throws that completely missed wide open guys.. Like the ones that hit the Cincy defenders in the hands ( and chest ) ... but you were getting a beer on those plays so you aint see 'em. What you CAN see is tha Cooper Rush has a completion percentage that belongs in the 1980s. Yet you people are lauding his "accuracy." If he is as accurate as yall say that means that the 40% of his passes that end up incomplete.. must be on purpose..

I am very happy that Rush has guided this team to three wins.. I hope he can guide them to two more and we can get our QB1 back at 100%. We can all see that they are calling different plays for Rush to take advantage of what he can do and not ask him to do what he can't. That's good coaching.. but at some point the offense is going to have to put up 30 points.. I have not seen any evidence that Rush can do that.. but I have seen that Dak does it about 50% of the time.. I think with a defense that holds teams to under 20 points Dak is going to win a lot of games.. against ALL teams.. This level of defense is not a luxury he has had previously. I am anxious to see what happens when he gets back. But I don't want him to "rush" back.. pun intended.

 

[Rockport]

Dak obviously has a better arm and is more athletic. But is Rush a better at seeing the field? Reading defenses and a better game manager?

Please, just stop with this nonsense. It’s making you look like an ignorant fool.

 

[cowboyed]

Honestly, I don't think there is anything wrong with Dak's ability to read defenses, it's execution and consistency. You don't win as many games he's won and can't read defenses. Hell, I would argue at this level (NFL ), most, if not all first and second-string QBs can read defenses, otherwise, their career is pretty short ( RG3, Joey Harrington, Vince Young, David Carr just to name a few). Check out this list of 1st round busts....

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1047730-50-biggest-quarterback-busts-in-nfl-draft-history

I think like Wentz, Dak in recent years holds on to the ball too long to try to make the most of a throwing decision. It can turn into an ineffective and bad habit so during the off-season and preseason it was reported that Dak was working on the getting the ball out quicker and with even more zip. Receivers were noting Dak's passes were coming in heavier. Then come the BUCS with greater team speed and their pressure bearing defense and Dak likely is super concerned about the already fractured offensive line blocking breaking down even quicker, and having to deal with less route coordinated, playmaking receivers to throw to. So he presses too much. He rushed his passes and that affects his passing rhythm and he becomes more inaccurate and indecisive, and injures his thumb. A malperformance trifecta.

 

[Slick]

How would you explain what Noah Brown is doing here:




I mean I'm no expert but it looks a lot like a guy putting on the brakes and spinning around to make a catch.. I could also find you plenty of throws that completely missed wide open guys.. Like the ones that hit the Cincy defenders in the hands ( and chest ) ... but you were getting a beer on those plays so you aint see 'em. What you CAN see is tha Cooper Rush has a completion percentage that belongs in the 1980s. Yet you people are lauding his "accuracy." If he is as accurate as yall say that means that the 40% of his passes that end up incomplete.. must be on purpose..

I am very happy that Rush has guided this team to three wins.. I hope he can guide them to two more and we can get our QB1 back at 100%. We can all see that they are calling different plays for Rush to take advantage of what he can do and not ask him to do what he can't. That's good coaching.. but at some point the offense is going to have to put up 30 points.. I have not seen any evidence that Rush can do that.. but I have seen that Dak does it about 50% of the time.. I think with a defense that holds teams to under 20 points Dak is going to win a lot of games.. against ALL teams.. This level of defense is not a luxury he has had previously. I am anxious to see what happens when he gets back. But I don't want him to "rush" back.. pun intended.

I’m not going to highlight all the bad throws that Dak has tossed, there’s too many to count.

In the end, he needs to deliver playoff wins, not meaningless stats without wins. He wanted top tier money, he needs to deliver top tier talent.

Mahomes certainly has, that’s the expectation Dakota’s contract set.

Thanks also for the attitude in your response, it’s telling.

 

[Gaede]

Dak hits guys in stride. Dak is more accurate. Dak reads the field just fine. All of this has been proven, again and again and again. He scored 37 TDs, 68.8% and led the number one offense LAST YEAR.

These are the same silly criticisms people lobbed against Dak when he started as a rookie, and led us to the playoffs and won rookie of the year. Then he disproved them, year after year. And then the narrative changed. Oh, he is accurate, but he'll be figured out before too long (disproven). Oh, he hasn't been figured out but he can't beat good teams (disproven). Oh, he can beat good teams but he can't win in the playoffs, he can't get over 200 yds (all disproven). How many other moving targets has Dak been able to hit? Now we're back at square one again, and the same flaws that people have unfairly criticized Dak for since day one (despite all evidence proving the contrary) are the same flaws that Rush actually has. Misses open players? Check. Can't make all the throws? Check. Throws behind guys, over them, under them? Check. Small sample size of success against bad teams? Check. Makes questionable throws? Check.

I get it. We've won three in a row and Rush has been a huge part of that. He's playing within the system, making good decisions (for the most part), and absolutely has command of the offense. He is a fantastic backup QB in our system, and there is nothing wrong with that. Him succeeding does not all of a sudden negate everything Dak has done and can still do. Just because he is good at certain things doesn't mean that Dak isn't also good, or better, at those things.

I am also frustrated with Dak, going back to last year's Denver game. I am worried he is declining due to injuries. His pocket presence, in particular, is cause for concern. But those are legit concerns. You don't need to literally bend reality to criticise his play. Not do you need to prop up a journeyman backup to

 

[RonnieT24]

Please, just stop with this nonsense. It’s making you look like an ignorant fool.

You and I both know it's not going to stop.. but at least some of them are actually talking football instead being jealous of another man's salary..

 

[RonnieT24]

I’m not going to highlight all the bad throws that Dak has tossed, there’s too many to count.

In the end, he needs to deliver playoff wins, not meaningless stats without wins. He wanted top tier money, he needs to deliver top tier talent.

Mahomes certainly has, that’s the expectation Dakota’s contract set.

Thanks also for the attitude in your response, it’s telling.

You don't have to... I've seen all of them.. But I was not the one who made the definitive statement that one guy has never made a bad throw while the other guy makes "too many to count".. even though the guy who makes the bad throws has a MUCH higher completion percentage.. People seem to always see what they want to see and ignore reality. Yes Dak makes bad throws.. He is part of a very large fraternity of QBs who do so on occasion. However it is a statistical fact that he makes fewer of them than Rush does.. If highlighting that fact bothers you.. then that's a YOU problem. And the whole "he's got to win in the playoffs" argument is silly. Of course he does.. but when he does we both know the goal post will get moved again..

 

[kskboys]

If "his guy" is getting open to the tune of a 67% completion rate I would say the looks are deceiving in this instance. But when 70% of his completions are to guys other than the X receiver the notion that he's locked in on the primary just doesn't make sense.

Sure Dak needs to get better.. but let's not get bogged down with these mindless absolutes to justify our preconceived notions. A lot of times I believe Dak sees these open receivers on the underneath routes just fine.. but he has fallen in love with the big play so he zips right past that guy and is waiting for the bigger play to open up. Mind you I think he needs to cut that crap out but I don't think his problem is not seeing the short throws.. Rather I think his problem is not taking them..

The preconceived notions thingie. I think that's a term better left out of a good discussion.

Passes up open receivers intentionally. Wow. If that's the case, then my estimation of Dak just went down a little.

Do you think he really does this?

 

[kskboys]

Post like that are best ignored completely. Unless you know one of these guys personally you have no idea if he's smart or not. And the argument that a QB who wins better than 65% of his games in the NFL is not a good football is a moronic premise and equally unworthy of acknowledgement. We're all unhappy with the inconsistently Dak has displayed over the last 12-13 games.. but the fact of the matter is that even while he was "slumping" last season there were more good games than bad.. I expect Dak to at least get back to that level.. and if he can get back to the level he was at through the first 6 games of last year, we're on our way to the Super Bowl.. I know that's what I'm rooting for.. because as nice a story as this Cooper Rush thing is, we aint gittin to the Super Bowl scoring 22 points a game.

Yup. It's not about being smart, it's about how fast you can be smart. Fitz was a great example. Obvious head for the game, and brilliant. However, he just couldn't always be quick enough mentally.

 

[XXLMike]

Rush is taller and has a better pocket presence .
Rush also throws a real nice deep ball .

 

[RonnieT24]

The preconceived notions thingie. I think that's a term better left out of a good discussion.

Passes up open receivers intentionally. Wow. If that's the case, then my estimation of Dak just went down a little.

Do you think he really does this?

He has admitted it himself on more than one occasion. He has admonished himself for "getting greedy" repeatedly over the past three seasons. He really needs to fix that. Hopefully watching the team win being conservative rekindles his instinct to protect the ball and take what's there instead of holding the ball looking for the big play. But bear in mind.. he's led the #1 offense in the league for most of those three seasons and he has a pretty good won-loss record. So it's going to be a tough sell. Plus I still think Moore wants this to be a Mountain West offense and he knows he can run that style of offense with Dak but not with Rush.

 

[Slick]

You don't have to... I've seen all of them.. But I was not the one who made the definitive statement that one guy has never made a bad throw while the other guy makes "too many to count".. even though the guy who makes the bad throws has a MUCH higher completion percentage.. People seem to always see what they want to see and ignore reality. Yes Dak makes bad throws.. He is part of a very large fraternity of QBs who do so on occasion. However it is a statistical fact that he makes fewer of them than Rush does.. If highlighting that fact bothers you.. then that's a YOU problem. And the whole "he's got to win in the playoffs" argument is silly. Of course he does.. but when he does we both know the goal post will get moved again..

Ignoring reality is defending Prescott as a franchise QB.
There’s no goal post to move, because he’s come up woefully short in the playoffs. He’s needing to rise up to that level first.
I never said Rush was their savior, only that they way way way overpriced Dak.

 

[RonnieT24]

Ignoring reality is defending Prescott as a franchise QB.
There’s no goal post to move, because he’s come up woefully short in the playoffs. He’s needing to rise up to that level first.
I never said Rush was their savior, only that they way way way overpriced Dak.

You may wish to go back and re-read your post. Because that is decidedly NOT the only thing you said.

 

[Slick]

You and I both know it's not going to stop.. but at least some of them are actually talking football instead being jealous of another man's salary..

Now you’re making things up. Who is jealous of anyone’s salary? Saying he’s not worth it is not the same thing.

 

[RonnieT24]

Now you’re making things up. Who is jealous of anyone’s salary? Saying he’s not worth it is not the same thing.

Yeah sure.. people who bring up salary all the time are doing so for purely altruistic reasons.. The bottom line is that the only guy who needs to feel like Dak is worth his salary is Jerry.. The rest of us are just pissin in the wind. Which is why I don't talk about salaries.. I don't pay them and I don't like pee in my face..

 

[CowboyoWales]

Prescott is never going to get the credit respect he deserves. Especially after taking over for everyone’s hero Tony. That being said. Rush being just a little bit taller. Maybe you can see the Lane faster. Definitely not better.

We have a winner in the, Lets Derail a Reasonable Thread by throwing in a Dead Cat

 

[CowboyoWales]

Yes, and its pretty obvious. He doesn't have the arm talent of Dak or the leadership, but he's definitely seeing more of the field and making decisions faster. He also has a better sense of the pocket and how to roll away from pressure.

Fair points, however, after Helman mentioned that Dak had changed a number of running to passing plays (vrs Buccs) I wonder if Dak is trying to do too much and because of the contract he's taking personal responsibilities, when his no.1 function as the field manager is to delegate to the best option.