K.C. Joyner's article

[Alexander]

Can anyone post the K.C. Joyner article on ESPN about Owens' impact or provide a recap?

 

[WoodysGirl]

I didn't see KC Joyner article... Got a link?

But there's a fantasy football article by Scott Engel. Do u want that instead?

 

[Alexander]

I didn't see KC Joyner article... Got a link?

But there's a fantasy football article by Scott Engel. Do u want that instead?

I abhor Fantasy Football.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/insider/columns/story?columnist=joyner_kc&id=2378035&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnfl%2finsider%2fcolumns%2fstory%3fcolumnist%3djoyner_kc%26id%3d2378035

 

[AdamJT13]

The gist of the article (which is loaded with stats) is that Keyshawn was NO factor on deep passes last season, and Owens gives us two very good deep threats (Owens and Glenn). Owens also catches a lot of short passes and uses his RAC ability to turn them into big plays.

He sums it up by saying, "Fortunately, Owens' skill set is varied enough that he can fill a number of roles. If the Cowboys need him to be a possession receiver who can move the chains, Owens can do it. If they need him to be an explosive vertical receiver who can take some of the coverage away from Glenn, he can do that as well. I don't know whether Jerry Jones had all this in mind when he paid Owens a king's ransom, but he did make a wise investment. Owens' value as a deep threat is well known, but his flexibility is the rare commodity that sets him apart from most other receivers."

 

[Alexander]

The gist of the article (which is loaded with stats) is that Keyshawn was NO factor on deep passes last season, and Owens gives us two very good deep threats (Owens and Glenn). Owens also catches a lot of short passes and uses his RAC ability to turn them into big plays.

He sums it up by saying, "Fortunately, Owens' skill set is varied enough that he can fill a number of roles. If the Cowboys need him to be a possession receiver who can move the chains, Owens can do it. If they need him to be an explosive vertical receiver who can take some of the coverage away from Glenn, he can do that as well. I don't know whether Jerry Jones had all this in mind when he paid Owens a king's ransom, but he did make a wise investment. Owens' value as a deep threat is well known, but his flexibility is the rare commodity that sets him apart from most other receivers."

Thank you, Adam.

 

[Charles]

Can anyone post the K.C. Joyner article on ESPN about Owens' impact or provide a recap?

Here's the entire article:
Owens will help Cowboys

By KC Joyner
ESPN Insider


The biggest free-agent move so far this offseason has been the Dallas Cowboys' signing of Terrell Owens. While most of the analysis has centered on Owens' combustible personality, very little attention is being given to Owens' expected impact on the Cowboys' passing game. Some important questions must be asked.

What exactly did the Cowboys need? Here are the team's passing metrics from the 2005 season (excluding the meaningless Week 17 game against St. Louis):

Dallas Cowboys
Depth Attempts Comp Yards TD INT Pen Yds/Att
Short 289 211 1714 10 5 60 6.1
Medium 88 53 926 7 1 1 10.5
Deep 64 19 749 5 9 32 12.2
Total 441 283 3389 22 15 93 7.9


The short and deep yards per attempt are solid, and the medium yards per attempt will likely be a top-10 figure. The deep pass interception total is quite high, but the total yards per attempt may also be a top-10 figure. There aren't any glaring weaknesses, other than the interceptions.

The second question is how does Owens compare with Keyshawn Johnson? Here are Johnson's 2005 metrics (also excluding the Week 17 game):

Keyshawn Johnson
Depth Attempts Comp Yards TD INT Pen Yds/Att
Short 65 47 400 2 0 5 6.2
Medium 33 19 316 4 0 5 9.7
Deep 13 1 26 0 2 0 2.0
Total 111 67 742 6 2 10 6.8


The short pass numbers are solid and the medium pass numbers are very good. The deep pass numbers are simply abysmal, and likely represent the primary reason the Cowboys opted to replace him.

A close examination of Owens' 2005 numbers is quite revealing (keep in mind that Owens had fewer attempts because he played in only seven games last season):

Terrell Owens
Depth Attempts Comp Yards TD INT Pen Yds/Att
Short 51 33 418 3 0 0 8.2
Medium 24 10 159 1 1 15 7.3
Deep 14 4 186 2 2 0 13.3
Total 89 47 763 6 3 15 8.7


Owens' short pass numbers are terrific, but the numbers are a bit skewed by a 91-yard touchdown pass that began as a 5-yard hitch pass against Champ Bailey in Week 8. With Bailey slowed by a hamstring injury, Owens broke Bailey's tackle and ran 86 more yards for the touchdown. On the rest of Owens' short passes, he averaged 6.4 yards per attempt, which is only slightly more than Johnson.

One of the things that surprised me about Owens' metrics was the distribution of passes by route depth; 57 percent of attempts thrown his way were short passes. I checked his pass distribution numbers from the 2004 season and found that this distribution wasn't an anomaly. Just over 60 percent of the pass attempts to Owens in 2004 were short passes.

Owens' medium pass numbers are solid, but not spectacular. As expected, his deep numbers are very good, but the Cowboys seemingly already have this area covered. Take a look at Terry Glenn's 2005 metrics:

Terry Glenn
Depth Att Comp Yds TD INT Pen Yds/Att
Short 46 28 225 1 0 37 5.7
Medium 30 18 273 2 1 5 9.3
Deep 40 14 587 4 6 27 15.4
Total 116 60 1085 7 7 69 9.9


All of these metrics are strongly indicative of a vertical pass receiver. Glenn's short pass numbers aren't very good and much of that yardage came from penalties. Glenn's medium pass completion percentage and yards per attempt are both quite good. Glenn's deep pass numbers are excellent, with the exception of the six interceptions.

The percentage of medium and deep pass attempts is also noteworthy. Over 33 percent of the pass attempts to Glenn are deep passes, and over 60 percent of those attempts were either medium or deep passes.

The addition of Owens means the Cowboys now have two viable deep threats, which actually might create a problem. The Cowboys threw only 68 deep passes in 2005, as compared to 93 in 2004. Owens likely will receive more vertical attempts than Johnson did, but I cannot see his supplanting Glenn as the primary vertical threat. Glenn simply doesn't possess the skill set to be anything other than a vertical threat, which limits the roles he can fill.

Fortunately, Owens' skill set is varied enough that he can fill a number of roles. If the Cowboys need him to be a possession receiver who can move the chains, Owens can do it. If they need him to be an explosive vertical receiver who can take some of the coverage away from Glenn, he can do that as well.

I don't know whether Jerry Jones had all this in mind when he paid Owens a king's ransom, but he did make a wise investment. Owens' value as a deep threat is well known, but his flexibility is the rare commodity that sets him apart from most other receivers.

KC Joyner, aka The Football Scientist, is a regular contributor to ESPN Insider. He has a Web site at http://thefootballscientist.com.

 

[Alexander]

Thank you, Charles.

You are a nice fellow, no matter what they all say.

 

[lspain1]

Intersting article. Unlike some others on this board, I believe BP has the ability to use TO's talents to best advantage. We'll see who is correct.

 

[Alexander]

Intersting article. Unlike some others on this board, I believe BP has the ability to use TO's talents to best advantage. We'll see who is correct.

I am more concerned really about first time passing coordinator Todd Haley designing smart enough plays for Coach Parcells to call.

 

[Cbz40]

I would like to thank all of you......even you Alexander for starting this thread.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

One of the things that surprised me about Owens' metrics was the distribution of passes by route depth; 57 percent of attempts thrown his way were short passes. I checked his pass distribution numbers from the 2004 season and found that this distribution wasn't an anomaly. Just over 60 percent of the pass attempts to Owens in 2004 were short passes.

Is this really surprising considering Owens is coming from a WCO and a coach who uses short passes as an extension of the running game?

Fortunately, Owens' skill set is varied enough that he can fill a number of roles. If the Cowboys need him to be a possession receiver who can move the chains, Owens can do it. If they need him to be an explosive vertical receiver who can take some of the coverage away from Glenn, he can do that as well.

I don't know whether Jerry Jones had all this in mind when he paid Owens a king's ransom, but he did make a wise investment.

Does he seriously question whether Jerry and Parcells studied enough tape to know Owens could do it all? Especially after Jerry gave him five million dollars up front?

 

[CrazyCowboy]

Whoa.....it is amazing to think about all the possibilies T.O. brings to our team!