CFZ Has the front office done enough to fix run game?

[Mr_437]

No

 

[DanA]

Well, its a good thing I never called him "great". He was solid and well suited to his role in Wade Phillips defense, and Wade did a good job getting the most out of him. Its hilarious that we are having this discussion b/c he's better than anyone Dallas has had at DT in a loooong time and you are calling him a JAG.

You asked me to show you a qood defense without that dude in the middle and I raised the 2015 Broncos. My entire point is you can have a good defense without a good 1T and that our defense has other avenues to improve against the run that don’t revolve around the 1T.

I would have liked us to focus more on the position, they didn’t but that doesn’t give the coaches a free pass against the run. I still have expectations of improvement in that area because the D-line is maturing.

 

[Ranching]

We all witnessed how the run game disappeared in the 2nd half of the season. Teams started to used extra men in coverage and dared the Cowboys to beat them on the ground against light boxes, which they couldn't do. Without a run game and balanced attack, our offense went from being elite to being more of a middle of the pack threat.

There are many things we can point to, Zeke playing hurt and the coaches refusing to sit him down. Reshuffling the OL due to injuries, especially to Tyron Smith. League high penalties committed, Dak not fully healthy and refusal of taking off due to it. Moore playcalling was also a big part of the problem.

In my opinion, fixing the ground attack and becoming more balance was the team's #1 offseason priority. Question is, have they done enough to fix this weakness?

-Both Zeke/Pollard should be more healthy this season. Zeke has been one of the most durable backs since he was drafted. He may not be a homerun back no longer, but still should have plenty of juice to hurt teams on the ground.

-The draft additions of both Tyler Smith and Jake Ferguson were made to help the run game out. Smith is a legitimate power guard who has the ability to move players in the run game and is athletic enough to reach block on the move. The hope with Ferguson is that he is a better inline blocker then Shultz was last season, which will allow more 12 personnel and Shultz to play more to his strengths as a pass catcher.

-Is Terrence Steele a downgrade over Collins at RT? What we do know is that the team was undefeated when he filled in for Collins due to the suspension. Our run game was at it's peak during that stretch.

-What about the penalties? Tyler Smith was a penalty machine on the college level. The hope is that his move from Tackle inside he will do less reaching in space. He needs to work on better hand placement, but his character suggests he won't be mentally weak like Connor Williams. Him next to Biaz, should help alleviate the lack of strength with our center position.

-Tyron's Smith health. To the team's credit they have drafted tackles in back to back years to develop for the future. Question is, will one of them be ready to spot start when Tyron goes down again. Think the wise decision would be find a stop gap, bridge veteran swing tackle.

-Will MM have more influence with the playcalling this season? Reportedly he is going to get more involved. They must do a better job with what type of runs they call and sticking with it.

All of your points are valid and we'll thought of, but the FO has nothing to do with many of your points.....injuries and adjustments during the season fall on the coaching staff...

 

[CowboyRoy]

We all witnessed how the run game disappeared in the 2nd half of the season. Teams started to used extra men in coverage and dared the Cowboys to beat them on the ground against light boxes, which they couldn't do. Without a run game and balanced attack, our offense went from being elite to being more of a middle of the pack threat.

There are many things we can point to, Zeke playing hurt and the coaches refusing to sit him down. Reshuffling the OL due to injuries, especially to Tyron Smith. League high penalties committed, Dak not fully healthy and refusal of taking off due to it. Moore playcalling was also a big part of the problem.

In my opinion, fixing the ground attack and becoming more balance was the team's #1 offseason priority. Question is, have they done enough to fix this weakness?

-Both Zeke/Pollard should be more healthy this season. Zeke has been one of the most durable backs since he was drafted. He may not be a homerun back no longer, but still should have plenty of juice to hurt teams on the ground.

-The draft additions of both Tyler Smith and Jake Ferguson were made to help the run game out. Smith is a legitimate power guard who has the ability to move players in the run game and is athletic enough to reach block on the move. The hope with Ferguson is that he is a better inline blocker then Shultz was last season, which will allow more 12 personnel and Shultz to play more to his strengths as a pass catcher.

-Is Terrence Steele a downgrade over Collins at RT? What we do know is that the team was undefeated when he filled in for Collins due to the suspension. Our run game was at it's peak during that stretch.

-What about the penalties? Tyler Smith was a penalty machine on the college level. The hope is that his move from Tackle inside he will do less reaching in space. He needs to work on better hand placement, but his character suggests he won't be mentally weak like Connor Williams. Him next to Biaz, should help alleviate the lack of strength with our center position.

-Tyron's Smith health. To the team's credit they have drafted tackles in back to back years to develop for the future. Question is, will one of them be ready to spot start when Tyron goes down again. Think the wise decision would be find a stop gap, bridge veteran swing tackle.

-Will MM have more influence with the playcalling this season? Reportedly he is going to get more involved. They must do a better job with what type of runs they call and sticking with it.

Not until zeke is no longer featured or we have a top 5 oline.

 

[CowboyRoy]

All of your points are valid and we'll thought of, but the FO has nothing to do with many of your points.....injuries and adjustments during the season fall on the coaching staff...

How do injuries fall on the coaching staff?

 

[Ranching]

How do injuries fall on the coaching staff?

They are the ones that need to adjust schemes and game plans accordingly. The FO can't just go and get new players when one gets injured, but the staff can shuffle the lineup and adjust the way the game is called.

 

[CowboyRoy]

They are the ones that need to adjust schemes and game plans accordingly. The FO can't just go and get new players when one gets injured, but the staff can shuffle the lineup and adjust the way the game is called.

Injuries aren’t the fault of the staff. That’s just injuries. Now if your talking about benching an injured zeke I’m right there with you.

 

[Ranching]

Injuries aren’t the fault of the staff. That’s just injuries. Now if your talking about benching an injured zeke I’m right there with you.

They should have sat him a few weeks.....that's what I mean, coaching staffs have to make that call. Yes, some will say that Jerry made MM play Zeke, but Zeke could have said no and just collected a paycheck. I respect Zeke for playing through an injury, but he should have been told NO.

 

[CouchCoach]

Losing WR 1, 3and 4 and 2 for the first part of the season and replacing them with Washington and a rookie has me wondering about the pass game side of it. This is not a run team, passed 61% of the time.

 

[Captain43Crash]

This is really a big unknown. I'm hoping the rookie makes a big impact at left guard. If he does, and Tyrone and Martin stay healthy, We should be good. But what do we have in Zeke and Pollard? I really don't know. This is a wait and see kind of thing. I gotta believe this rookie is better than Connor Williams.

What do we have in Zek and Pollard? You don’t know! For the doubters. If healthy Zek is a very good all around back.

 

[Flamma]

What do we have in Zek and Pollard? You don’t know! For the doubters. If healthy Zek is a very good all around back.

Interestingly enough, I just watched highlights of our week 3 game against the Eagles. Zeke was definitely way quicker than what we saw towards the end of the season. So I'm hoping he plays a good role in 2022 while healthy.

 

[CowboyRoy]

They should have sat him a few weeks.....that's what I mean, coaching staffs have to make that call. Yes, some will say that Jerry made MM play Zeke, but Zeke could have said no and just collected a paycheck. I respect Zeke for playing through an injury, but he should have been told NO.

probably one of worst coaching decisions I’ve seen in a while not to bench zeke.

I’m biased but I see it differently. I see zeke protective of his #1 spot and trying to avoid allowing pollard to showcase his skills. I also see a guy more concerned about getting to 1000 yards than team goals.

 

[plasticman]

I doubt we can all agree on what they have actually done.

In my opinion, they have drafted for more aggressive run blocking in Smith. That's about it.

I don't know if Jason Ferguson would be considered a better run blocker than Schultz, his profiles put him between "fairly inconsistent" to "adequate".

The wildcard could be the development of Ball and even Farniok. The reason I say that is because Tyron Smith's health will always be suspect from here on out. In addition, Steele did not prove himself as a legitimate NFL starting tackle in half a season, he was just the best choice the Cowboys have. Where he goes from there remains to be seen. It would be sweet irony if Matt Waletzko was the forgotten man that became the steal of the entire draft.....but I wouldn't place a bet on it.

Therefore the starting tackle positions on the O-line may have been addressed in the future, just not the "immediate" future of the 2022 season. It wouldn't be a surprise to me if Tyler Smith ended the season as a starting tackle and McGovern once again filled the left guard slot

I was hoping for a 3rd RB to create competition as well as a future option should they part ways with Zeke after the 2022 season. I'm not impressed with any of the backup/practice squad/Hard Knocks guys they kept. Should either of our veteran RB's go down, I seriously doubt the other would be capable of assuming the full burden of carries......then what?

So to answer the question.....that depends.......on a quick maturation of our drafted rookies and 2nd year O-linemen

 

[DandyDon52]

Mike...the "I'm not getting involved" head coach?

Well to be fair to mike, jerry told him not to interfere with boy genius kellen, so he didnt.
Evidently jerry wanted to know why he didnt help kellen, and mike said well you told me to leave him be and not interfere!
So then jerry says well you can help him, so mike says he will be more involved now.

But that is no way to set things up, as maybe kellen doesnt want help, or maybe he wants some advice but will still do what he wants lol.

See jerry doesnt understand how the whole HC thing works, the HC has to have power to fire any of his coaches, or they wont listen to him,
or do what he says.
Mike should be kellens boss, and mike then decides on offense and game plans, and kellen does what he is told. And mike could take over play
calling at any point he wants to.

But the way jerry has this set up, none of that can happen

 

[Ranched]

Time will tell. By Dallas using its first pick for Tyler Smith whom is expected to play left guard, appears to be his main value to the team to sure up the run blocking for Elliott.

 

[DanA]

All of your points are valid and we'll thought of, but the FO has nothing to do with many of your points.....injuries and adjustments during the season fall on the coaching staff...

There are things that we can point too that we can say are the front office. Investing a 1st round pick being one thing. But I also suspect La’el Collin’s training effort was inconsistent and not accepting that is a step in the right direction.

Maybe it’s a step back to allow us to love forward but I don’t disagree with it. I just perhaps wish they invested a bit more than a 1st round pick.

 

[quickccc]

I seen a video about his penalties
A few were from a bit too much aggression and a few was dealing with speed guys on the edge which is easier in the small space at guard. I also don’t think he really realized the impact. At the combine he was ask about that and didn’t seem to realize it was as big a deal as it really was.

So hopefully with coaching he can fix that issue but guard is much easier to play. I do think these really quick DT’s will be tough and he will need to learn to handle stunts. That’s why I would only have him playing guard in this camp. Let him really work on one thing before you give him another. Next year you can work on tackle. I don’t think that’s what they will do but I would

* Just like Conner Williams, he will have to learn how to transition from college OT to play OG position,.. and at the NFL level of competition.
It's gonna be huge task for this coaching staff- and how Tyler rush-learns and adjusts to this GB like zone-scheme.
Maybe just me, but i question if this is the right scheme fit for Tyler. but we'll see.

* I expect defenses will run stunts, twists and middle/overload blitzes at him, to confused and derail him, so it won't be just a technique game, it's also
gonna be a mental-savvy game.
-That's one reason why i am expecting/preparing it could be a bumpy rough ride for Tyler early on.
-That's also why it's gonna be so big for Tyron's injury-replacements (when Tyron gets injured) to be able to help out. Ball ?.. Waletzko ?
So if there's no experienced vet OT signed up, Tyler's gonna have OT swing guys, no more experienced than he is. Ouch..!

- That's why it's gonna be so huge for the vet center that is gonna be counted on to help out Tyler on these stunts, twists, drift over/pick-up assignments.

- I can see him training at both OG and swing OT, but i would expect 80% will be at OG.
We can only dress up so many spots/roles on game day active. and in the event of injury- emergency, it may actually come down to
who can swing in an blink of an eye.

- That's one reason why i thought Williams a fine OT in college, could've seen some reps at swing OT, rather than center.
But current OL coach Philibin, never sought him in a swing OT role.
But Philibin was determined to have Williams at center, where he struggled camp/preseason.

 

[quickccc]

'They were playing hurt' is a fine reason/excuse for last year, but they are betting on it not happening again as Elliott gets older and has even more miles on him.....and Pollards injury tends to be recurring in nature.

But as I said already, they are stuck with Elliott for another year and act like that's a great thing, so he is the guy anyway.

Smith may be fine despite Philibin being his teacher, but it's not realistic to expect him to be Quinton Nelson from day one. I'm not sure that's a huge factor though, as he will likely be serviceable right away.

Overall the biggest problem is Moore, who doesn't seem to mind letting the defense know when a run is coming, just like his teacher.

I have very high hopes for the defense under Quinn, but until Jerry's fingerprints come off of the offense, namely Moore out of the building and he finally doesn't force an OC on his HC, and bringing in someone who isn't a yes man about the idea of featuring Prescotts arm.......I don't expect much.

- As simplistic and bland as Kellen Moore, is it totally out of the question that we can have a productive enough run game under his watch ? .
As we were 5th in the NFL rushing in Moore's rookie, first year in 2019 as new OC.
And that was Travis Fredrick still struggling with his syndrome and Jason Witten's ever declining blocking ability.

- Another problem is that was a blocking scheme under Marc Columbo's man-blocking scheme. (which his OL unit also finished 2nd in NFL in least sacks allowed)
whereas now this is a GB like zone blocking scheme.
And that was a more healthier Tyron, a younger Zach, and probably Collins best year as a starter.

- There's a lot less experience on this new OL now, than the 2019 crew. And frankly i'm not sold on the blocking of the TEs right now.
It's totally a wait and see with rookie Ferguson, and then there's only limited experience 3rd string McKeon.
We're already familiar with Schultz's blocking- both in line and in space.

 

[fivetwos]

- As simplistic and bland as Kellen Moore, is it totally out of the question that we can have a productive enough run game under his watch ? .
As we were 5th in the NFL rushing in Moore's rookie, first year in 2019 as new OC.
And that was Travis Fredrick still struggling with his syndrome and Jason Witten's ever declining blocking ability.

- Another problem is that was a blocking scheme under Marc Columbo's man-blocking scheme. (which his OL unit also finished 2nd in NFL in least sacks allowed)
whereas now this is a GB like zone blocking scheme.
And that was a more healthier Tyron, a younger Zach, and probably Collins best year as a starter.

- There's a lot less experience on this new OL now, than the 2019 crew. And frankly i'm not sold on the blocking of the TEs right now.
It's totally a wait and see with rookie Ferguson, and then there's only limited experience 3rd string McKeon.
We're already familiar with Schultz's blocking- both in line and in space.

I dont think it's out of the question to have success if enough things go the right way.

But the problem always ends up back in the same direction....we have to win in spite of ourselves, and it's tough enough to do without that handicap.

And our fearless leader either doesnt see that or doesn't care, because Mr "I would do anything to win" is a liar. Being a celebrity and the face of the franchise is #1. He thinks so much of himself that he thinks he is unequivocally the best man for the job, and always wants a guy he can control running the offense.

We have and have had good players here of late, but we typically end up outcoached or outschemed when it matters most. Why? Jerry's ego.

 

[quickccc]

Everything I heard this offseason was about fixing the trenches, running the ball and stopping it. I don't think fresh legs was the issue last season for either back, they both were playing hurt. As for Shultz, with the addition of Ferguson they can play more double TE's and allow Shultz to be more of a receiver then a blocker.

- We're replacing two starters per LG and RT in a revamped OL unit, while we still have the remaining three in Tyron, Biadsz and Martin, we'll have reserves limited to zero game experience guys in McGovern, Ball, Waletzko, and Matt Farniok.

- And there is still some questions with the TE unit in Schultz, rookie Ferguson and 3rd TE McKeon. We have not established TE blocking yet.
Also as an OG, Tyler is likely to have some road bumps and growing pains as he learns how to play OG, at the NFL level, as well as this zone scheme.

- And what has become of the run game scheme in regards to the coaches ? Kellen and Philibin ?
because quality proper blocking personnel, these backs need to be much better schemed and designed into both run/pass game.

- i'm concerned about the lack of vet game experience that we seem intent to go without. And there's gonna be questions unanswered about the
quality blocking of the TE units.

Not easy answers and solutions still in progress at this time.