AMERICAS_FAN
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The question is always asked: “Who will replace T.O.’s production now that he is gone?”
Answers have been plenty-fold, all including names like Roy Williams, Patrick Crayton, Miles Austin, Jason Witten, even Martellus Benett and Felix Jones. Some few even throw Sam Hurd’s name into that mix.
While those names may be considered good responses, some of the even “wiser” responses include the name “Tony Romo”; and I call those the wiser responses because it IS Romo’s team – he is the QB after all - and because, after all, T.O. is gone specifically to make this offense Romo-friendly (so we’re told). So there is truth to assuming that it is up to Romo to spread the ball around better.
But while “Tony Romo” is the wiser response, it still is not the wisest. No, not even Tony Romo can be the one responsible for replacing T.O.’s production, nor any of the WRs TEs and RBs.
Instead, the one and only single person on the Dallas Cowboys who needs to step up and replace T.O.’s production is not a player; it’s a coach, but it’s not even the head coach. And if you’re following closely you may have guessed by now that that person is none other than Offensive Coordinator Jason Garrett!
Jason Garrett you ask? Yes! Jason Garrett, and I’ll tell you why. First off, the question “Who will replace T.O.’s production now that he is gone?” is not really a valid one unless the Cowboys run exactly the same offense in 2009 as they ran in 2008 and before. In T.O.’s time here, teams rolled coverage his way. So the coordinator had to align and call his offense with this in mind. With T.O. gone, we can safely assume defenses will no longer do this in the same way. So Garrett must adjust in kind and NOT run the same kind of offense.
It's obvious that when T.O. was here, the offense was designed for him to be the biggest focal point at WR, so it was mandatory that his position produced the production it did. With a newly aligned offnse, designed to spread the ball around a lot more, it would actually be a detriment to have one receiver (or TE or RB) so drastically outpace all other players in receiving. So with a re-designed offense, the direct need to replace T.O.'s production goes away - and it likely can follow him to Buffalo.
So while everyone is waiting to see who steps up to replace T.O.’s production, I’m not. What I’m waiting to see is what Jason Garrett finally does to re-design the offense to work around the players he does have, and to do it in a way that maximizes all of their receiving contributions.
In the end, the true sign of the 2009 offense’s success will not be measured by whether or not T.O.’s production was replaced; instead, it will be measured by whether or not it was more efficient in contributing to wins, especially in the playoffs; and it is simply not the case that that can only happen if T.O.'s productivity is replaced. In the end, the offense never won a playoff game with T.O.; and that's not exactly the production I'd like to see replicated.
What is ultimately needed is better offensive efficeincy and execution. Yes, it is still up to the players to execute that increased efficiency, but in the end, the ultimately responsibility falls n Jason Garrett to do his job properly as the offensive coordinator and finally put those players in the best position to succeed with increased efficency and execution in mind.
Answers have been plenty-fold, all including names like Roy Williams, Patrick Crayton, Miles Austin, Jason Witten, even Martellus Benett and Felix Jones. Some few even throw Sam Hurd’s name into that mix.
While those names may be considered good responses, some of the even “wiser” responses include the name “Tony Romo”; and I call those the wiser responses because it IS Romo’s team – he is the QB after all - and because, after all, T.O. is gone specifically to make this offense Romo-friendly (so we’re told). So there is truth to assuming that it is up to Romo to spread the ball around better.
But while “Tony Romo” is the wiser response, it still is not the wisest. No, not even Tony Romo can be the one responsible for replacing T.O.’s production, nor any of the WRs TEs and RBs.
Instead, the one and only single person on the Dallas Cowboys who needs to step up and replace T.O.’s production is not a player; it’s a coach, but it’s not even the head coach. And if you’re following closely you may have guessed by now that that person is none other than Offensive Coordinator Jason Garrett!
Jason Garrett you ask? Yes! Jason Garrett, and I’ll tell you why. First off, the question “Who will replace T.O.’s production now that he is gone?” is not really a valid one unless the Cowboys run exactly the same offense in 2009 as they ran in 2008 and before. In T.O.’s time here, teams rolled coverage his way. So the coordinator had to align and call his offense with this in mind. With T.O. gone, we can safely assume defenses will no longer do this in the same way. So Garrett must adjust in kind and NOT run the same kind of offense.
It's obvious that when T.O. was here, the offense was designed for him to be the biggest focal point at WR, so it was mandatory that his position produced the production it did. With a newly aligned offnse, designed to spread the ball around a lot more, it would actually be a detriment to have one receiver (or TE or RB) so drastically outpace all other players in receiving. So with a re-designed offense, the direct need to replace T.O.'s production goes away - and it likely can follow him to Buffalo.
So while everyone is waiting to see who steps up to replace T.O.’s production, I’m not. What I’m waiting to see is what Jason Garrett finally does to re-design the offense to work around the players he does have, and to do it in a way that maximizes all of their receiving contributions.
In the end, the true sign of the 2009 offense’s success will not be measured by whether or not T.O.’s production was replaced; instead, it will be measured by whether or not it was more efficient in contributing to wins, especially in the playoffs; and it is simply not the case that that can only happen if T.O.'s productivity is replaced. In the end, the offense never won a playoff game with T.O.; and that's not exactly the production I'd like to see replicated.
What is ultimately needed is better offensive efficeincy and execution. Yes, it is still up to the players to execute that increased efficiency, but in the end, the ultimately responsibility falls n Jason Garrett to do his job properly as the offensive coordinator and finally put those players in the best position to succeed with increased efficency and execution in mind.
