Zeke wouldn’t have to be in the “best shape of his life” to improve from the end of his last stint with the Cowboys. At the end he appeared to be nothing more than a plodder, running about as fast as an offensive lineman.
"Or"?
I am glad to see Biadsz gone. I saw him as a very weak link and a huge part of our OL issues.
I still wonder how much the knee injuries affected that. In both 2021 and 2022, he started off much stronger than he finished and wasn't the same either year after injuries to his knees (including the PCL tear in 2021). I think health might be the most important factor for him. Unfortunately, that's usually the case with older players. The body starts breaking down and not matter how well you try to prepare it, it just can't handle the pounding anymore.
Fair enough."Or"?
I am very interested in what Beebe could bring to the position. I like the idea of having a power player there, like Frederick was. When you have a center who can move people one-on-one, it allows the guards to peel faster and bury linebackers. When the center constantly needs help, the DT/NT holds those double teams long enough for the linebackers to get past and make the play. I feel like Hoffman is going to be of similar quality as Biadasz if he becomes the starter, while Beebe could make that spot a strength if he's able to adjust quickly to the spot. I like hearing that he's a heady player since that should help with the transition. I do feel that the need to protect Biadasz kept our interior from being all that it could have been last year.
Bingo .. I don't know why people refuse to acknowledge what those injuries took away from him. He was 2nd in the league in rushing and getting 5.2 yards a pop before he went down that first year. He was a complete gimp after that. Even though I admired the grit and toughness I wondered aloud even back then whether playing through the injury in 2021 would do further damage and leave him permanently compromised. He looked a lot quicker in his stint in Foxborough but that team was so bad it's hard to gauge how much he has left from it. We can only hope he gets a little better blocking in Dallas than he got in New England. We already know he will get better QB play.
Complete clusterf of player management and a good case for getting that money.
Yeah.. it would be a tragedy if that stupid 12 week stretch cost us a chance to watch another 12000 yard rusher. That would give the Cowboys three... As it stands Zeke will likely have to settle for just 10K yards.. Still a good career but short of what it should have been. Still I think the coaching staff kept having flashbacks to those first few games that year when it seemed like every time we asked any RB not named Zeke pass block Dak got crunched a couple of times. I remember that one in Tampa and then another at the Chargers where Pollard or Davis whiffed and Dak paid the price. I guess after what happened after Dak went down in 2020 they just didn't want to risk it. So they sacrificed Zeke's knee in the name of Dak's health. I way not agree with it.. but I understand.
Not sure he could average that on punt returns!
Beebe will be a major upgrade once he settles in.
