TheSkaven
Last Man Standing
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Lost in all the good feelings about Connor Williams adding weight and muscle this offseason is an analysis of just how poorly he played in his rookie year.
Bob Sturm is writing another 4-part series in The Athletic, this time a deep dive into all 56 sacks the Cowboys allowed in 2018 - second in the NFL.
For context, teams that are second in the league in sacks allowed do not usually make the playoffs. That’s a testament to just how good the defense played last year.
I have read too often here that these sacks were Dak’s fault because he holds the ball too long. It’s not true. According to Pro Football focus, only 15 of those 56 sacks were on Dak. And, in fact, Dak and the Cowboys were one of the best teams in the league at not allowing sacks in 2016 and 2017.
So, clearly 2018 was the problem.
In the articles, there is video of every sack and commentary. What’s clear is that Conner Williams had no business starting last year. He did much better in the final quarter of the season, and I have no doubt he’ll be better this year, but a great deal of 2018’s sacks were either errors from CWill or him being outright bull rushed into the quarterback.
In one instance against Seattle, Dak was sacked in 2.6 seconds! As Sturm wrote, “At some point, you feel like the player was let down here by the organization. 2.6 seconds from snap to sack is ridiculous from an inside player.”
Here is Sturm’s description of CWill’s first of many sacks to be given up in 2018:
“We may one day get to a point of Connor Williams’ career when NFL Films will do a feature on how he has progressed and all signs will go back to Week 1 of 2018 when he was asked to deal with Kawaan Short in his “Welcome to the NFL” moment. That game was when everyone quickly realized the growth and development for the college tackle-turned-NFL guard was going to be much longer than anyone let on in Oxnard. This is why we should all slow our roll when practice reports and camp reports tell us a kid is fitting right in and everything is great. You truly don’t know until they’re facing live ammunition. Here, Short destroys Williams for a sack that you would hope a guard would not allow all season. But this, unfortunately, was a sign of things to come for the rookie. He was pulled off balance, and any time you end up on your stomach watching your man blindside your quarterback, something went very wrong.”
Bob Sturm is writing another 4-part series in The Athletic, this time a deep dive into all 56 sacks the Cowboys allowed in 2018 - second in the NFL.
For context, teams that are second in the league in sacks allowed do not usually make the playoffs. That’s a testament to just how good the defense played last year.
I have read too often here that these sacks were Dak’s fault because he holds the ball too long. It’s not true. According to Pro Football focus, only 15 of those 56 sacks were on Dak. And, in fact, Dak and the Cowboys were one of the best teams in the league at not allowing sacks in 2016 and 2017.
So, clearly 2018 was the problem.
In the articles, there is video of every sack and commentary. What’s clear is that Conner Williams had no business starting last year. He did much better in the final quarter of the season, and I have no doubt he’ll be better this year, but a great deal of 2018’s sacks were either errors from CWill or him being outright bull rushed into the quarterback.
In one instance against Seattle, Dak was sacked in 2.6 seconds! As Sturm wrote, “At some point, you feel like the player was let down here by the organization. 2.6 seconds from snap to sack is ridiculous from an inside player.”
Here is Sturm’s description of CWill’s first of many sacks to be given up in 2018:
“We may one day get to a point of Connor Williams’ career when NFL Films will do a feature on how he has progressed and all signs will go back to Week 1 of 2018 when he was asked to deal with Kawaan Short in his “Welcome to the NFL” moment. That game was when everyone quickly realized the growth and development for the college tackle-turned-NFL guard was going to be much longer than anyone let on in Oxnard. This is why we should all slow our roll when practice reports and camp reports tell us a kid is fitting right in and everything is great. You truly don’t know until they’re facing live ammunition. Here, Short destroys Williams for a sack that you would hope a guard would not allow all season. But this, unfortunately, was a sign of things to come for the rookie. He was pulled off balance, and any time you end up on your stomach watching your man blindside your quarterback, something went very wrong.”
