jday
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My last few weekends could be recapped as follows: Switching back and forth between the blogs, The Mothership (DC.com), the various sports related news outlet websites, Twitter, YouTube – rinse, wash, & repeat all from the comfort of wherever I’m at with my handy-dandy Android.
If you are anything like me, at various points during these last few weeks you may have felt as though you were Lestat (played by Tom Cruise) shortly after sinking his teeth into Daniel Molloy’s neck (played by Christian Slater); a drought of life-giving sustenance coursing through his body for the first time in a millennia.
Football is back baby and we finally have new information to dissect, analyze and debate!
At other times, you may have felt like the cursed Hector Barbosa, part-time captain of The Pearl, (played by Geoffrey Rush) shortly following tipping the wine bottle above his open-mouth and watching it flow through his ribs and down his skeletal body, leaving his thirst unquenched and palate unsatisfied.
For each practice that has transpired so far, there was a sudden glut of that aforementioned “new information,” followed by more hollow conjecture and casual-interest-level speculation from the local and national media. The latter offerings for me was like drinking something that taste and feels just like water, and yet it does nothing to placate my incessant thirst.
From the start of camp to this morning, I have subsisted on the (sometimes slow; sometimes fast) drip of news originating in Oxnard, California (otherwise known as Training Camp, USA). I doubt if a single article, picture, gif, or video clip released on the various media outlets documenting the Dallas Cowboys Training Camp experience has escaped my notice. In other news, my youngest took his first step and uttered his first words (it might have been “dada;” I can’t remember because a Twitter update was occurring at the time), but I assure you my priorities were kept in order.
The following is a mishmash of topics circling the drain of my brain:
The Before & After
A little bit before this same time last year, I caught what was presumably the first meeting between Ryan Switzer and Cole Beasley. What stood out to me in that meeting was the fact that Cole Beasley had got in Prison Shape (swollen and defined upper body balanced on popsicle stick legs) over the offseason. It stood out to me at the time because I remember wondering if that might negatively impact his elite quicks from the season before. It is simple physics: being top-heavy could affect his ability to cut on a dime and create separation at the top of his typical short in/out routes.
In the season that followed, he experienced his worst statistical year next to his first one in 2012 as a rookie. So there’s no confusion, I fully understand that being Dak’s favorite target in 2016, he was bound to get more attention in the season that followed. But to go from 75 receptions for 833 yards to 36 receptions and 314 yards seem to be a bit too significant a difference to explain away with a defensive schematic shift and change in approach by the opposition. Perhaps you could say that was the principal reason; but to suggest that is the only reason seems a bit short-sighted.
Flash-forward to this year, and the Beasley of old seems to be back. Now again, him being the offensive MVP in Training Camp is old hat around here; that is not the only aspect of training camp I’m considering with this assessment. Physically, Beasley looks to be back to his old self. Unfortunately, I do not have access to before & after pictures that provide exact dates, weight by year or his annual fat to lean muscle percentage, but if you watch him play football in 2016 compared to games in 2017 and then look at him now, you can see the difference; he looks lean; specifically look at his arms last year to this year. Whether or not that leads to a statistical output closer to 2016 in 2018 remains to be seen, but for my part, I found it encouraging this weekend to see him back to the body-type that he seems to play his best ball with...but that is just me.
A Better Tool Box
At this point in my fandom, I have learned to see headlines before they are put into print. Take the transition from FS to CB Byron Jones is undergoing. If he is successful in said position-switch, there will be a contingency of the media (and fans who will pick it up and run with it) that will attack the coaching staff for not putting him there in the first place. There are several issues with this line of reasoning:
1. They obeyed their board in 2015 and landed a corner they believed could make the switch to Free Safety; after all, they really didn’t need a corner at the time. Some may say in response to this: “If his best position was Corner, they should have played him at Corner. It’s that simple!” But it really isn’t. Because at the same time you also want to put your best 11 players on the field. Playing him at Corner would have meant putting a sub-standard Safety on the field.
2. Byron Jones is ideal at Corner for Kris Richard’s brand of defense; not so much for the bend-don’t-break that the Cowboys have employed over the past few years. For the latter to be successful, you need guys who have great read-and-react abilities. As great of an athlete as Byron is, he does not have ideal short-area-quickness that you would want in that type of schematic approach.
3. Having been a Safety over the last two years should make Byron an even better Corner. He’s been the guy directing traffic and now he’s a member of the traffic. With him already knowing what his Safeties want and need to do their job, he won’t be hanging the deep secondary out to dry. Byron’s experience at Safety, grants him a better tool box to do the job than what he would have had he been a Corner from day one.
If Byron’s trend of great practices carries over to the regular season, make no mistake, this bait will be eventually dropped. Simply put, don’t take it!
New Look Leadership
Say what you will about the talent collected to flesh out the final 53, I really love the overall personality make-up of this team; the attitude. While I am as sick of the “RKG mantra” as any of you, the current construction of the team might just be the epitome of what Jason Garrett has been talking about (minus just a few knuckleheads – David Irving / to a lesser extent, Terrence Williams). It’s early in the evaluation process and the addition of adversity could certainly change appearances, but for the moment we Cowboy fans seem to have a very young team with a very old soul…and I love it.
The addition of Kris Richard and Sanjay Lal may just be icing on an otherwise great cake.
For a team that might have felt the loss of Dez’s passion in the early going of camp, Kris Richard has been just what the doctor ordered. Richard is the definition of a player’s coach; a designation he naturally embodies, having been a player himself. Like Garrett, Richards playing days past by with little fan-fair and accolades. But as a coach, Richard is held in high regard as one of the original architects of The Legion of Boom.
Clearly, both Pete Carroll and Dan Quinn (former Defensive Coordinator of the Seahawks, present Head Coach of the Falcons) deserve as much (if not more) credit for the results of that great defense in the pass-happy era of football; to say nothing of the players that group comprised of. Nevertheless, the art of coaching begins with a person’s ability to make believers out of their players. While this won’t always prove to be true, often times all it really takes for a team to be successful on a given play is 11 players believing in the play called and executing accordingly. This is how a simple draw play can pick up a first down on 3rd & long. Without the element of collective belief, that same play loses yards.
Kris is the type of coach players will run through a wall for. Schematic approach aside, sometimes that’s all you really need to be successful in this league…with or without premier talent. For now, my assessment and grade of Richard could be summed up accordingly: When Kris Richard talks, I listen. I suspect he has that same effect on every player he comes in contact with. That’s not a promise of greatness, but it is a great start.
Like Richard, Sanjay has been collecting more attention than what we are used to seeing for a position coach (of all things). As we all know, this is for 2 big reasons: 1. The Cowboys 2018 season will be without a clear #1 receiver for the first time in a very long time. 2. Sanjay’s unique approach to ensuring the Cowboys don’t need a clear #1 receiver.
Whether or not that need rear’s its ugly head in the regular season remains to be seen, but for now we as a collective fanbase can take encouragement from the appearance that the receivers are truly buying in to his approach, particularly in how to run a crisp and space-creating route. From what I have been able to gather from the various articles and interviews that have been released on the topic, according to Sanjay, every step within a route has a name. And if it has a name, there a good chance that means there is a specific responsibility the receiver has to take in account as he makes that step. Details beyond that have not been offered, but I think I can deduce my way through what he’s looking for.
Ultimately, he’s talking about weight distribution and balance throughout the action. It’s not just about running a crisp route; it is also about protecting the receiver’s tendons, joints and ligaments to ensure they are not placing too much stress on their legs at different points in the route.
If you have ever ran a route, you know that before you make your break in whatever direction the route calls for, the 4 to 5 steps prior to it are preparatory steps. The science Lal is attempting to impart to his players is how to do so protecting the crucial leg joints whilst simultaneously disguising intention.
For a corner, the receivers intention can be fairly easy to determine because when a receiver sinks his hips to make his break, he will often lean in the direction he intends to go and will plant the outside foot (relative to the intended direction) to make his change in direction. For example, if the receiver plants his right foot (to him, not you) and leans left, you know beyond a shadow of a doubt he is about to break left; breaking right would lead to a stumble, if your depth of imagination fails you here.
The difference Sanjay is attempting to have the receivers adopt is rather than planting on one foot, he has them planting both feet (balancing the weight squarely) at the top of the route, sink their hips evenly without leaning in one direction or the other to mask their intention, and use their head turn to create the requisite momentum to shift in a new direction. More often than not, this is something that Beasley has been doing naturally and also a reason he has been so successful thus far in his career, despite his lack of ideal size.
Sounds easy, I know…but it really isn’t and here’s why:
These guys have been running a routes a certain way for a very long time. Habits like that are hard to break; particularly when it comes to something like changing direction at a high rate of speed. They may exhibit the correct way to run a route with Sanjay inches away, but what happens when the bullets are live? Most people regress to what they know. But the proper execution of route running will most likely be one of the primary ways the Cowboys decide which receivers to keep and which ones to escort out the door.
What do you do when the letter “f” is too hot?
You chill the “f” out. I’d recommend a similar approach to the mediots and fans alike who are stressing over Dak’s less-than-stellar camp so far. The Cowboys run a timing offense. The mistake I suspect many fans make when they hear about this brand of offense is that it means every receiver is supposed to adjust their speed to be at a certain spot at a specific time and that, my friends, is inaccurate. Dak has to learn the speed of each of his receivers so he will know when to throw the ball and where to put the ball to were only his receiver has a chance…and again, he has to get down that timing with every single receiver. That takes time; and the more receivers he has to learn that with, the longer it will take (see all the new faces at receiver). Until he gets his individual timing down with each receiver, it won’t be pretty…nor should it be at this point in Training Camp.
That same logic should be applied to the corners, as well. Reports from camp have been more than favorable regarding the defensive side of the ball. But if you consider the situation above, there’s a good reason for it. Until Dak and the receivers get on the same page, the secondary should look great. Over and under thrown passes have a tendency to make corners look really good, but as we all should know, there is no defense for a perfectly thrown pass….and the defense (naturally) has seen very few of this type of pass in the early-goings of camp. Come regular season, that irregularity will be corrected and we as fans had better hope they are ready.
Wrap It Up
I still don’t have high hopes for the season. Nothing has changed regarding that perspective. The beauty of it all, though, is I really honestly don’t care. I am at an age right now where I realize getting worked up over things I have no control over is a stupid waste of my time, so now more than any other phase in my history of being a fan, I am very much ready to simply sit back and enjoy the ride come what may.
Rather than qualify my enjoyment through something as trivial as wins & losses, I want to watch this young team develop before my eyes. Before they are ready to start talking about championships, each unit within this team has to develop continuity; which is something each position group will be sorely lacking going into the new season. For the exception of the core Special Teamers (Dan Bailey, Chris Brown, L.P. Ladouceur), each unit across this team will be featuring new faces. The running backs, tight ends, receivers, offensive line, defensive line, linebackers and secondary all have new players that if not starting will at the very least be featured sporadically throughout the new season.
For that reason (along with my personal misgivings regarding a few of the coaches and their play calling), I have been able to keep my (usually hope springs eternal) optimism in check…for the most part. Of course, if three pass plays being called in the shadow of the opponent’s goal post while you have the best running back in the league standing behind the best offensive line in the league in a win & you might be in the playoffs situation against Seattle last year doesn’t do that for you, nothing will…
Thoughts?
If you are anything like me, at various points during these last few weeks you may have felt as though you were Lestat (played by Tom Cruise) shortly after sinking his teeth into Daniel Molloy’s neck (played by Christian Slater); a drought of life-giving sustenance coursing through his body for the first time in a millennia.
Football is back baby and we finally have new information to dissect, analyze and debate!
At other times, you may have felt like the cursed Hector Barbosa, part-time captain of The Pearl, (played by Geoffrey Rush) shortly following tipping the wine bottle above his open-mouth and watching it flow through his ribs and down his skeletal body, leaving his thirst unquenched and palate unsatisfied.
For each practice that has transpired so far, there was a sudden glut of that aforementioned “new information,” followed by more hollow conjecture and casual-interest-level speculation from the local and national media. The latter offerings for me was like drinking something that taste and feels just like water, and yet it does nothing to placate my incessant thirst.
From the start of camp to this morning, I have subsisted on the (sometimes slow; sometimes fast) drip of news originating in Oxnard, California (otherwise known as Training Camp, USA). I doubt if a single article, picture, gif, or video clip released on the various media outlets documenting the Dallas Cowboys Training Camp experience has escaped my notice. In other news, my youngest took his first step and uttered his first words (it might have been “dada;” I can’t remember because a Twitter update was occurring at the time), but I assure you my priorities were kept in order.
The following is a mishmash of topics circling the drain of my brain:
The Before & After
A little bit before this same time last year, I caught what was presumably the first meeting between Ryan Switzer and Cole Beasley. What stood out to me in that meeting was the fact that Cole Beasley had got in Prison Shape (swollen and defined upper body balanced on popsicle stick legs) over the offseason. It stood out to me at the time because I remember wondering if that might negatively impact his elite quicks from the season before. It is simple physics: being top-heavy could affect his ability to cut on a dime and create separation at the top of his typical short in/out routes.
In the season that followed, he experienced his worst statistical year next to his first one in 2012 as a rookie. So there’s no confusion, I fully understand that being Dak’s favorite target in 2016, he was bound to get more attention in the season that followed. But to go from 75 receptions for 833 yards to 36 receptions and 314 yards seem to be a bit too significant a difference to explain away with a defensive schematic shift and change in approach by the opposition. Perhaps you could say that was the principal reason; but to suggest that is the only reason seems a bit short-sighted.
Flash-forward to this year, and the Beasley of old seems to be back. Now again, him being the offensive MVP in Training Camp is old hat around here; that is not the only aspect of training camp I’m considering with this assessment. Physically, Beasley looks to be back to his old self. Unfortunately, I do not have access to before & after pictures that provide exact dates, weight by year or his annual fat to lean muscle percentage, but if you watch him play football in 2016 compared to games in 2017 and then look at him now, you can see the difference; he looks lean; specifically look at his arms last year to this year. Whether or not that leads to a statistical output closer to 2016 in 2018 remains to be seen, but for my part, I found it encouraging this weekend to see him back to the body-type that he seems to play his best ball with...but that is just me.
A Better Tool Box
At this point in my fandom, I have learned to see headlines before they are put into print. Take the transition from FS to CB Byron Jones is undergoing. If he is successful in said position-switch, there will be a contingency of the media (and fans who will pick it up and run with it) that will attack the coaching staff for not putting him there in the first place. There are several issues with this line of reasoning:
1. They obeyed their board in 2015 and landed a corner they believed could make the switch to Free Safety; after all, they really didn’t need a corner at the time. Some may say in response to this: “If his best position was Corner, they should have played him at Corner. It’s that simple!” But it really isn’t. Because at the same time you also want to put your best 11 players on the field. Playing him at Corner would have meant putting a sub-standard Safety on the field.
2. Byron Jones is ideal at Corner for Kris Richard’s brand of defense; not so much for the bend-don’t-break that the Cowboys have employed over the past few years. For the latter to be successful, you need guys who have great read-and-react abilities. As great of an athlete as Byron is, he does not have ideal short-area-quickness that you would want in that type of schematic approach.
3. Having been a Safety over the last two years should make Byron an even better Corner. He’s been the guy directing traffic and now he’s a member of the traffic. With him already knowing what his Safeties want and need to do their job, he won’t be hanging the deep secondary out to dry. Byron’s experience at Safety, grants him a better tool box to do the job than what he would have had he been a Corner from day one.
If Byron’s trend of great practices carries over to the regular season, make no mistake, this bait will be eventually dropped. Simply put, don’t take it!
New Look Leadership
Say what you will about the talent collected to flesh out the final 53, I really love the overall personality make-up of this team; the attitude. While I am as sick of the “RKG mantra” as any of you, the current construction of the team might just be the epitome of what Jason Garrett has been talking about (minus just a few knuckleheads – David Irving / to a lesser extent, Terrence Williams). It’s early in the evaluation process and the addition of adversity could certainly change appearances, but for the moment we Cowboy fans seem to have a very young team with a very old soul…and I love it.
The addition of Kris Richard and Sanjay Lal may just be icing on an otherwise great cake.
For a team that might have felt the loss of Dez’s passion in the early going of camp, Kris Richard has been just what the doctor ordered. Richard is the definition of a player’s coach; a designation he naturally embodies, having been a player himself. Like Garrett, Richards playing days past by with little fan-fair and accolades. But as a coach, Richard is held in high regard as one of the original architects of The Legion of Boom.
Clearly, both Pete Carroll and Dan Quinn (former Defensive Coordinator of the Seahawks, present Head Coach of the Falcons) deserve as much (if not more) credit for the results of that great defense in the pass-happy era of football; to say nothing of the players that group comprised of. Nevertheless, the art of coaching begins with a person’s ability to make believers out of their players. While this won’t always prove to be true, often times all it really takes for a team to be successful on a given play is 11 players believing in the play called and executing accordingly. This is how a simple draw play can pick up a first down on 3rd & long. Without the element of collective belief, that same play loses yards.
Kris is the type of coach players will run through a wall for. Schematic approach aside, sometimes that’s all you really need to be successful in this league…with or without premier talent. For now, my assessment and grade of Richard could be summed up accordingly: When Kris Richard talks, I listen. I suspect he has that same effect on every player he comes in contact with. That’s not a promise of greatness, but it is a great start.
Like Richard, Sanjay has been collecting more attention than what we are used to seeing for a position coach (of all things). As we all know, this is for 2 big reasons: 1. The Cowboys 2018 season will be without a clear #1 receiver for the first time in a very long time. 2. Sanjay’s unique approach to ensuring the Cowboys don’t need a clear #1 receiver.
Whether or not that need rear’s its ugly head in the regular season remains to be seen, but for now we as a collective fanbase can take encouragement from the appearance that the receivers are truly buying in to his approach, particularly in how to run a crisp and space-creating route. From what I have been able to gather from the various articles and interviews that have been released on the topic, according to Sanjay, every step within a route has a name. And if it has a name, there a good chance that means there is a specific responsibility the receiver has to take in account as he makes that step. Details beyond that have not been offered, but I think I can deduce my way through what he’s looking for.
Ultimately, he’s talking about weight distribution and balance throughout the action. It’s not just about running a crisp route; it is also about protecting the receiver’s tendons, joints and ligaments to ensure they are not placing too much stress on their legs at different points in the route.
If you have ever ran a route, you know that before you make your break in whatever direction the route calls for, the 4 to 5 steps prior to it are preparatory steps. The science Lal is attempting to impart to his players is how to do so protecting the crucial leg joints whilst simultaneously disguising intention.
For a corner, the receivers intention can be fairly easy to determine because when a receiver sinks his hips to make his break, he will often lean in the direction he intends to go and will plant the outside foot (relative to the intended direction) to make his change in direction. For example, if the receiver plants his right foot (to him, not you) and leans left, you know beyond a shadow of a doubt he is about to break left; breaking right would lead to a stumble, if your depth of imagination fails you here.
The difference Sanjay is attempting to have the receivers adopt is rather than planting on one foot, he has them planting both feet (balancing the weight squarely) at the top of the route, sink their hips evenly without leaning in one direction or the other to mask their intention, and use their head turn to create the requisite momentum to shift in a new direction. More often than not, this is something that Beasley has been doing naturally and also a reason he has been so successful thus far in his career, despite his lack of ideal size.
Sounds easy, I know…but it really isn’t and here’s why:
These guys have been running a routes a certain way for a very long time. Habits like that are hard to break; particularly when it comes to something like changing direction at a high rate of speed. They may exhibit the correct way to run a route with Sanjay inches away, but what happens when the bullets are live? Most people regress to what they know. But the proper execution of route running will most likely be one of the primary ways the Cowboys decide which receivers to keep and which ones to escort out the door.
What do you do when the letter “f” is too hot?
You chill the “f” out. I’d recommend a similar approach to the mediots and fans alike who are stressing over Dak’s less-than-stellar camp so far. The Cowboys run a timing offense. The mistake I suspect many fans make when they hear about this brand of offense is that it means every receiver is supposed to adjust their speed to be at a certain spot at a specific time and that, my friends, is inaccurate. Dak has to learn the speed of each of his receivers so he will know when to throw the ball and where to put the ball to were only his receiver has a chance…and again, he has to get down that timing with every single receiver. That takes time; and the more receivers he has to learn that with, the longer it will take (see all the new faces at receiver). Until he gets his individual timing down with each receiver, it won’t be pretty…nor should it be at this point in Training Camp.
That same logic should be applied to the corners, as well. Reports from camp have been more than favorable regarding the defensive side of the ball. But if you consider the situation above, there’s a good reason for it. Until Dak and the receivers get on the same page, the secondary should look great. Over and under thrown passes have a tendency to make corners look really good, but as we all should know, there is no defense for a perfectly thrown pass….and the defense (naturally) has seen very few of this type of pass in the early-goings of camp. Come regular season, that irregularity will be corrected and we as fans had better hope they are ready.
Wrap It Up
I still don’t have high hopes for the season. Nothing has changed regarding that perspective. The beauty of it all, though, is I really honestly don’t care. I am at an age right now where I realize getting worked up over things I have no control over is a stupid waste of my time, so now more than any other phase in my history of being a fan, I am very much ready to simply sit back and enjoy the ride come what may.
Rather than qualify my enjoyment through something as trivial as wins & losses, I want to watch this young team develop before my eyes. Before they are ready to start talking about championships, each unit within this team has to develop continuity; which is something each position group will be sorely lacking going into the new season. For the exception of the core Special Teamers (Dan Bailey, Chris Brown, L.P. Ladouceur), each unit across this team will be featuring new faces. The running backs, tight ends, receivers, offensive line, defensive line, linebackers and secondary all have new players that if not starting will at the very least be featured sporadically throughout the new season.
For that reason (along with my personal misgivings regarding a few of the coaches and their play calling), I have been able to keep my (usually hope springs eternal) optimism in check…for the most part. Of course, if three pass plays being called in the shadow of the opponent’s goal post while you have the best running back in the league standing behind the best offensive line in the league in a win & you might be in the playoffs situation against Seattle last year doesn’t do that for you, nothing will…
Thoughts?
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