Eatman says McFadden is a couple weeks away

[Stash]

I don't see McFadden on this team's opening day 53-man roster. I think he's either traded/cut or stays on PUP for those first 6 weeks in case of injury and they decide then what to do with him. In "a few weeks", he will have effectively missed all of training camp and not be ready to contribute anyway.

 

[Swanny]

I am not a DMc fan but why do some think Morris is better? Morris has regressed terribly since his rookie season. Played for a good team and Oline last season and Matt Jones and Chris Thompson were the better RBs on that squad. DMC might get cut due to age, contract, injury, and special teams but I think it's clear DMC is the better RB. He's a quality receiving option out of the backfield and a GREA T pass blocker.

 

[BAZ]

Yards mean nothing, points is how you win

C'mon, this is just a simplification of everything.

 

[BAZ]

Because McFadden was the featured back

Also, this is not true.

 

[UTmodisette]

I am not a DMc fan but why do some think Morris is better? Morris has regressed terribly since his rookie season. Played for a good team and Oline last season and Matt Jones and Chris Thompson were the better RBs on that squad. DMC might get cut due to age, contract, injury, and special teams but I think it's clear DMC is the better RB. He's a quality receiving option out of the backfield and a GREA T pass blocker.

You do realize everything you just said about Morris was said about McFadden before he came to Dallas? McFadden averaged 3.4, 3.3, and 3.3 yards per carry the 3 years before Dallas. Morris averaged 4.6, 4.1, and 3.7 the last 3 years. Oh and Matt Jones who is supposedly better than Morris, averaged 3.4 yards per carry. The Commanders went to Matt Jones because he was younger, and was a better receiving back when they decided to focus their offense as a pass happy one, which is the opposite of what Dallas wants to achieve. On top of all of that, Morris has never missed any games due to injury in his career. I can't believe people don't see how obvious it is that Morris is a better backup for the Cowboys.

 

[John813]

I am not a DMc fan but why do some think Morris is better? Morris has regressed terribly since his rookie season. Played for a good team and Oline last season and Matt Jones and Chris Thompson were the better RBs on that squad. DMC might get cut due to age, contract, injury, and special teams but I think it's clear DMC is the better RB. He's a quality receiving option out of the backfield and a GREA T pass blocker.

Blocking scheme.

Commanders ran a ZBS variation when they drafted Morris. Over time, especially last year they went to a man to man blocking scheme.
McFadden isn't as good in a ZBS compared to a M2M scheme.

Talent wise, McFadden might be better. He definitely has better athleticism. However, that doesn't mean much, especially after investing a lot of first round picks on Linemen to run a certain scheme that McFadden struggles in.

From Bob Sturm:
http://sportsday.***BANNED-URL***/d...wboys-snag-alfred-morris-run-scheme-low-price
What makes this all the more remarkable is that they did so while having to alter their scheme to fit the skill-set of McFadden. The former Raider had a reputation that preceded him here that we wrote about quite a bit last summer. He is not comfortable or fluent in the zone running game concepts. Meanwhile, the Cowboys have built their offensive line on the singular premise of finding zone blocking scheme personnel and then investing heavily in that very thing for the last 5 seasons.
Here are the numbers for you to do with what you like: In 2015, Darren McFadden was given the ball 183 times on zone running plays and racked up 668 yards. This averages out to 3.65 yards per carry on a team that generally gets 5 yards a carry on these plays. On the old man-blocking plays with pulling guards and such, he ran 56 times for 442 yards for a whopping 7.89 yards per carry. So, the scheme the Cowboys run was half as productive as the scheme McFadden fits the best.

On Morris:
He can hold on to the football as he hardly ever fumbles (he last fumbled in 2014; he last lost a fumble in 2013). He can get what is blocked and a bit more. He has run almost nothing but zone plays.

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

Because McFadden was the featured back with the best OL in the league. Morris is a 1600 plus back when featured. Not only that McFadden scored 3 TDs.....that's it. Yards mean nothing, points is how you win

Morris was featured last year and got his PT cut in half. Shoots your theory all to hell. McFadden on the other hand earned the srating job and then performed exceptionally the 11 games as a starter. With almost a similar number of carries last year, Morris had almost a yd per carry less and only had one rushing TD.

Morris is marginally cheaper, has been on a downward trend, is not a ST guy, is worse as a pass catcher and as a pass protector. There is no reason to keep him over McFadden unless McFadden broken arm isn't healed.

 

[Bowdown27]

If Jackson keeps playing well. Idk how we can keep McFadden. He hasn't been able to keep up with any of our other rb because of his injury. He may be the odd man out

 

[UTmodisette]

Morris was featured last year and got his PT cut in half. Shoots your theory all to hell. McFadden on the other hand earned the srating job and then performed exceptionally the 11 games as a starter. With almost a similar number of carries last year, Morris had almost a yd per carry less and only had one rushing TD.

Morris is marginally cheaper, has been on a downward trend, is not a ST guy, is worse as a pass catcher and as a pass protector. There is no reason to keep him over McFadden unless McFadden broken arm isn't healed.

Morris got demoted once they decided to move to a pass happy offense. Matt Jones had a worse ypc average than Morris, so it wasn't because he was worse at running the ball. And you can't compare stats of McFadden running behind the Cowboys line as proof he is better than Morris when Morris hasn't had that opportunity to compare yet. Look at McFadden's numbers before he came to Dallas, they are much worse than what Morris had before coming to Dallas. While you say Morris is worse at pass catching and pass blocking, I'll counter with the fact that he is better at short yardage plays, getting dirty yards, and staying healthy in his career than McFadden has. Morris also isn't marginally cheaper than McFadden, dead money matters. If we cut or trade McFadden, we gain 2 million in cap space. If we cut Morris, we gain $0.

 

[Zimmy Lives]

I like Morris better than McFadden, but his 1600 yard rushing season was aided by a rookie RG3 season when the NFL didn't know how to defend their zone read plays. Elliot is a pre-injury version of Edgerrin James. Elliot is a guy who is going to get Dez, Williams, Witten, and Beasley more space and open looks. Morris and McFadden are not those kind of guys.

If he stays healthy, Elliott will take this offense to another level. All areas, including the defensive unit, should benefit.

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

Morris got demoted once they decided to move to a pass happy offense. Matt Jones had a worse ypc average than Morris, so it wasn't because he was worse at running the ball. And you can't compare stats of McFadden running behind the Cowboys line as proof he is better than Morris when Morris hasn't had that opportunity to compare yet. Look at McFadden's numbers before he came to Dallas, they are much worse than what Morris had before coming to Dallas. While you say Morris is worse at pass catching and pass blocking, I'll counter with the fact that he is better at short yardage plays, getting dirty yards, and staying healthy in his career than McFadden has. Morris also isn't marginally cheaper than McFadden, dead money matters. If we cut or trade McFadden, we gain 2 million in cap space. If we cut Morris, we gain $0.

Since it is post June, if we cut Morris, that is 1.3m in dead money to the cap. Moneywise there is about $800k difference in the two. It's not enough to justify keeping a lesser player. While Morris has been on a downward trend since his rookie year and looked to have tired legs, McFadden looked the best he ever has, has the best acceleration on the roster and can get to holes that Morris never will.

The bigger issue is that it isn't really a matter of Morris v McFadden, it is more likely Jackson v McFadden. Jackson can play ST

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

If he stays healthy, Elliott will take this offense to another level. All areas, including the defensive unit, should benefit.

Preach it. We spent a lot to get him and in many people's eyes we had much great needs. He has to be a franchise back or we screwed the pooch.

 

[gimmesix]

He's overpriced at 2 million? He had a better year than Morris last season, I'd want him starting if Zeke went down.

I think that's the only reason he stays. Dallas knows what he can do as the starter behind this line. It's not all good, but it was certainly good enough, especially considering that we didn't have a passing game.

The only ways I think McFadden doesn't make the team are if some team makes a decent offer for him or this injury is followed by another that keeps him off the field (which is possible with him).

 

[Daillest88]

I think if Morris actually started he would get 1400 yards, watch us surprise people and have 2 1000 yard rushers

 

[Zimmy Lives]

Preach it. We spent a lot to get him and in many people's eyes we had much great needs. He has to be a franchise back or we screwed the pooch.

Completely agree.

I was against taking anyone not named Lynch, Goff or Wentz in the 1st round but I do see the value of taking a premier running back (for this offense) if he can stay healthy.

 

[Teague31]

What is his role on this team? He's not the starter. And he's not the backup. So basically he is fighting it out with Dunbar to be the third down back. And he doesn't contribute at all on ST like Jackson will.

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

I think if Morris actually started he would get 1400 yards, watch us surprise people and have 2 1000 yard rushers

Recent history, if McFadden would have started and got 20 carries a game all year he would have been over 1400. As it was he had almost 1100 on about 240 carries.

What is his role on this team? He's not the starter. And he's not the backup. So basically he is fighting it out with Dunbar to be the third down back. And he doesn't contribute at all on ST like Jackson will.

Who says he isn't the backup? I haven't heard anything official about the order. Jackson isn't going to be a returner, so his ST contributions aren't anything that a backup S or LB couldn't do and probably do better.

 

[Idgit]

McFadden's role is going to come to whether or not Jackson looks capable offensively and can also play special teams. If he can, it's McFadden v. Morris and Morris wins that deal with his health, solid play, and extra year on contract.

Our RB3 needs to give us something on Teams.

 

[TheCount]

I like Morris better than McFadden, but his 1600 yard rushing season was aided by a rookie RG3 season when the NFL didn't know how to defend their zone read plays. Elliot is a pre-injury version of Edgerrin James. Elliot is a guy who is going to get Dez, Williams, Witten, and Beasley more space and open looks. Morris and McFadden are not those kind of guys.

I'm still waiting to see Zeke get an NFL carry.

He may be the next Edge, or whichever all-time great we're comparing him to this week, but I'm going to let him prove it.

I'm sure the Raiders and Saints thought they'd just drafted an all-time back when they took McFadden and Reggie Bush as well.

 

[Bullflop]

A couple of weeks could be all it takes for Jackson to prove himself capable enough to tempt the staff to award him a RB role.

I'm not necessarily implying it would be the one that belongs to DMC. (He's not the only RB whose future is in limbo . . .)