Lance Dunbar will have to earn back the Cowboys' trust after two fumbles in last three touches

[WoodysGirl]

-- Charean Williams

The problem with Dunbar is: The Cowboys can't trust him with the ball right now.

"Yeah, he’s a good football player, and he just needs to understand the importance of ball security, and it’s certainly something we’ve preached as much as anything here," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. "Sometimes when a young player goes into a game, he doesn’t really fully understand how good the opponents are at getting the ball away. He’s found that out, like you said, a couple times in his last couple of carries. He did make a real nice run in the red zone for us, [and then he] ran a good route, recognizing their pressure for a completion, but the ball came out. Guys like that, they just need to simply understand it more, how valuable the ball is. They need to drill it, and they need to be able to take it to the game. He’s a good football player. We like him a lot. He goes about it the right way. We’ll give him more chances, but again he has to continue to earn that trust to give him those opportunities."

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[Bullflop]

He'll have to get into the habit of carrying the ball "high and tight' if he's ever destined to gain the confidence of the coaching staff. Holding it low and loose isn't likely to help Dunbar hang onto the ball, especially when so many defenders are being drilled and grilled on the advantages of ripping the ball loose these days. If Lance wants to continue being included in the gameplan, he'd best change that bad habit.

 

[CATCH17]

Screw that.

IT's time to get this guy on the field. If he keeps fumbling then we can take him off but right now we need a spark. Stop tapping the breaks and lets see what he can do.

 

[Bullflop]

Screw that.

IT's time to get this guy on the field. If he keeps fumbling then we can take him off but right now we need a spark. Stop tapping the breaks and lets see what he can do.

Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. You haven't noticed the way Dunbar routinely carries the ball low and loose? Your idea is probably the same one that the Giants had when they allowed Wilson to lose the game for them when they played us. How'd that work out?

 

[Staubacher]

It's a shame Dunbar is a fumble machine. We could really use his speed. His kind of running is suited for our offense. Sigh it's always something...

 

[conner01]

Screw that.

IT's time to get this guy on the field. If he keeps fumbling then we can take him off but right now we need a spark. Stop tapping the breaks and lets see what he can do.

he has fumbled 2 or his last 3 touches. at what point do you take him out if not when he has that rate of fumbles

 

[pugilist]

we really do need him out there for a couple of reasons

1. There's no experience like live game experience. Sure, he can flash and show great progress in protecting the ball in practice but that doesn't mean a hill of beans if he can't do it on the field in a game. It's a bit of a catch 22 in the sense that yeah, we don't want to risk him fumbling but at the same time he won't get any better at it unless he's out there getting snaps. We need to take that risk and expose him more to live game action, that's the only real way he can get a grasp on protecting the football. Maybe we do that in a game where we're up 20+ in the middle of the 4th quarter or something (yea right, like that'll happen).

2. To provide a different pace from the north/south running style of Murray. He can be the lightning to Murray's thunder, so to speak

 

[Idgit]

Yeah, ball control is way too important. You can't put a fumbler in the game. He's got to work on it and demonstrate that he's got it fixed. Apparently, Garrett said as much in the walk-away from his press conference yesterday. The running plays have to be safe plays for his offense, and you can't put a guy in the game until he understands how good NFL teams are at stripping the ball out. Dunbar will get it corrected, but he can't be trusted until the team is sure that he has.

Right now, Murray's overthinking a bit. He's also suffering from Dallas Backup Running Back disease, which is a mysterious malady in which, if you're Julius Jones, then Marion Barber is better than you are. If you're Marion Barber, then Felix Jones is better than you are. If you're Felix Jones, then Demarco Murray is better than you are. If you're Demarco Murray, than Fumblin' Lance Dunbar is better than you are. If you're Fumblin' Lance, then Joseph Randle's about to be better than you are. There is, apparently, no cure for this disease.

This week, because the people who have been complaining about interior OL play still aren't seeing the running game they associate mentally with a winning football team, all the emphasis is going to be on Demarco Murray and why he's a bad player. The reality is, he's in a bit of a slump right now in terms of his aggressiveness at the LoS, but, if the team and his position coach do his job, he's about to answer with a string of good games.

I hope he does because, unless we find a more effective way to beat the blitz using our passing game, we're going to need to rely more heavily on the run here because we're about to get blitzed our of our skulls until we prove we can make teams pay a heavy price for it.

 

[CATCH17]

he has fumbled 2 or his last 3 touches. at what point do you take him out if not when he has that rate of fumbles

Young RB's are likely to fumble. It's a common theme in the NFL.

Correct it and stick him back out there. I don't want to wait 8 weeks before I see this guy finally "Earn the coaches trust". We need him now. Get him on the field and lets see what he can do.

 

[sbark]

Problem is the other teams will really go after the ball with him right now...........he's gotta change how he carries it loosely .....and other teams holding him up and really going after it to strip it........he built his own reputation, gonna take time to change it.

 

[Idgit]

Young RB's are likely to fumble. It's a common theme in the NFL.

Correct it and stick him back out there. I don't want to wait 8 weeks before I see this guy finally "Earn the coaches trust". We need him now. Get him on the field and lets see what he can do.

What he can do, is lose you a football game. No, thanks. He shouldn't play until he can demonstrate to the coaches that he can hold onto the ball. Randle shouldn't play until we're sure he can pass-protect. Murray's the obvious viable starter right now. We're better off helping him run in the manner he's accustomed to.

 

[CATCH17]

What he can do, is lose you a football game. No, thanks. He shouldn't play until he can demonstrate to the coaches that he can hold onto the ball. Randle shouldn't play until we're sure he can pass-protect. Murray's the obvious viable starter right now. We're better off helping him run in the manner he's accustomed to.

No running game will lose it too.

Fumbles happen. If he starts fumbling every game then fine. Release him.

Right now though we need to get him on the field.

I saw Montee Ball fumble the other day. The Bronco's got him right back on the field.

It's part of the game. If it happens with consistency then get rid of him.

Lets not wait 2 or 3 years to finally see he fumbles 1 out of every 15 carries.

 

[Staubacher]

No running game will lose it too.

Fumbles happen. If he starts fumbling every game then fine. Release him.

Right now though we need to get him on the field.

I saw Montee Ball fumble the other day. The Bronco's got him right back on the field.

It's part of the game. If it happens with consistency then get rid of him.

Lets not wait 2 or 3 years to finally see he fumbles 1 out of every 15 carries.

Dunbar will only get 2-3 touches a game and if he fumbles again he's done.

Murray has to be the bell cow for better or worse. I think Tanner should get a few runs per game. His vision is no better than Murray but at least his runs into bodies net a few more yards.

 

[Idgit]

No running game will lose it too.

Fumbles happen. If he starts fumbling every game then fine. Release him.

Right now though we need to get him on the field.

I saw Montee Ball fumble the other day. The Bronco's got him right back on the field.

It's part of the game. If it happens with consistency then get rid of him.

Lets not wait 2 or 3 years to finally see he fumbles 1 out of every 15 carries.

We're much better off running the ball poorly in more obvious rushing situations and trusting our passing game than we are putting in a player with ball security issues. The problem with Dunbar is not just the two recent fumbles. It's that the ball isn't always secure in plays where he hasn't fumbled it. And now that teams know it's an issue, it's going to get worse. He's got to work on it, the same way David Wilson over on the Giants has to work on it. It's correctible, but it's a fatal flaw that can keep him out of games until the team's confident he can hold onto it.
But it won't be 2-3 years. It'll be 2-3 weeks, and he'll very likely get some touches even during that span. We can't use him the way we want to, until then.

At the same time, our third down offense really needs some help. If Dunbar doesn't do it, then we need to be just feeding Dez the ball until a team proves they can stop it. If that doesn't work, we're going to need to start looking at more drastic options, like making room on the gameday roster for Beasley for nothing other than his work in the slot on third downs. That frustrates the heck out of me, because it would mean sitting Terrence Willams and moving Miles outside, and I don't want that to happen just because we can't use our third down back in the passing game effectively because he's a fumble-risk. But ball control is just too important. It gets you beat surer than any limitation to your running game. You just can't have a guy on the field if you're able to see him not doing the things he needs to do to take care of the football on every single touch he gets.

 

[CATCH17]

We're much better off running the ball poorly in more obvious rushing situations and trusting our passing game than we are putting in a player with ball security issues. The problem with Dunbar is not just the two recent fumbles. It's that the ball isn't always secure in plays where he hasn't fumbled it. And now that teams know it's an issue, it's going to get worse. He's got to work on it, the same way David Wilson over on the Giants has to work on it. It's correctible, but it's a fatal flaw that can keep him out of games until the team's confident he can hold onto it.
But it won't be 2-3 years. It'll be 2-3 weeks, and he'll very likely get some touches even during that span. We can't use him the way we want to, until then.

I just think we're desperate for a run game.

Any time Garrett's offense has looked NFL worthy is when we can run the ball effectively.

MB3 in 2007, & Felix @ the end of 2009 is the best Jason Garrett's O has ever looked.

It's our only way to overcome all of this predictability within the scheme so I do think we are that desperate to get someone on the field that can find holes. If it's Dunbar, Tanner, Randle, or even Murray then it just has to be done. Fumbles or not we can't have ultimate success with Garrett's system just letting defenses dictate our every move.


I know it sounds good to feed Dez and Austin but more than likely the defense is going to give us checkdowns to Witten and passes to Terrance Williams and that is what we'll do all game long.

 

[Risen Star]

Terrance Williams is just going to become a bigger part of the offense as time goes on. He's a bit of a spare now because he's a wide eyed rookie. Eventually he'll be gashing defenses for paying too much attention to Dez.

 

[ShiningStar]

Why do we have to play this game, we dont have time for it, we are already behind the 8 ball on this, cut him and move on, Murray, Tanner , Randle are your runners til someone better comes along. This is inane to keep players around who arent super stars, or are not going to make that much of a difference. WE need a runner to go forward, we dont have time for fumblers, Dunbar is not worth the work. Find someone else who can run forward and cut your losses. Simple as that.

 

[Zordon]

Why do we have to play this game, we dont have time for it, we are already behind the 8 ball on this, cut him and move on, Murray, Tanner , Randle are your runners til someone better comes along. This is inane to keep players around who arent super stars, or are not going to make that much of a difference. WE need a runner to go forward, we dont have time for fumblers, Dunbar is not worth the work. Find someone else who can run forward and cut your losses. Simple as that.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Screw that.

IT's time to get this guy on the field. If he keeps fumbling then we can take him off but right now we need a spark. Stop tapping the breaks and lets see what he can do.

Can't agree with that Catch. This is how you build an identity. You can't just let young players make mistakes and reward them with playing time. They have to learn lessons so that if we ever do make the playoffs, things like this don't come back to bite us in the Butt.

Nope, he sits until he can learn to hold onto the ball.

 

[ShiningStar]

Can't agree with that Catch. This is how you build an identity. You can't just let young players make mistakes and reward them with playing time. They have to learn lessons so that if we ever do make the playoffs, things like this don't come back to bite us in the Butt.

Nope, he sits until he can learn to hold onto the ball.

cut him, hes not special enough to put the effort into, hes not a wine, hes not going to get better the older he gets, it gets harder. Cut him, find a new guy. Like all runners, they ahve to go forward and hold on to the ball. Lets go get that guy.