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

[BoysFan4ever]

My dad is of the opinion that if Jimmy was still coaching he would have cut this guy for fumbling.

Long before my time but you have to wonder if you have a guy who won't ever be worth anything because you can't trust him to hold on to the ball.

 

[ShiningStar]

please provide me with the proof that dunbar has something that other runners clearly do not, show me where he will be at least a Tiki Barber, or on par? SHow me where he can be as good as any RB worth putting the effort into, and i can go out and find the same guy minus the fumbles.

 

[CATCH17]

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.

We'll never find out if he has learned to hold on to it until he is on the field.

No spark from the backfield is going to bite us in the butt more long term than Dunbar fumbling.

We can't take this weak offensive system on the road in the playoffs and expect to do anything.

We need a guy that can make big plays in space and hopefully he is that guy.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

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.

I heard the entire board say the same thing about Romo years back. Same thing with our starting Safety, Church. Same thing with our starting RT, Free.

If the time comes and he can't fix this, then nobody will be calling for that louder then me but not yet. He has talent and he can help if he learns the lessons.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

please provide me with the proof that dunbar has something that other runners clearly do not, show me where he will be at least a Tiki Barber, or on par? SHow me where he can be as good as any RB worth putting the effort into, and i can go out and find the same guy minus the fumbles.

That's funny. Giants fans wanted to cut Tiki Barber for fumbling back in the day. Years later, they treated him like the returning Roman Conqueror in the Giants Victory Celebration after they won the Super Bowl.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

We'll never find out if he has learned to hold on to it until he is on the field.

No spark from the backfield is going to bite us in the butt more long term than Dunbar fumbling.

We can't take this weak offensive system on the road in the playoffs and expect to do anything.

We need a guy that can make big plays in space and hopefully he is that guy.

We'll be fine. Murray, IMO, is a good back and once the OL has had a chance to start gelling, the running game is going to get much, much better. Patients my friend. We have a lot of football left to go yet.

 

[ShiningStar]

That's funny. Giants fans wanted to cut Tiki Barber for fumbling back in the day. Years later, they treated him like the returning Roman Conqueror in the Giants Victory Celebration after they won the Super Bowl.

yes, let me clear it up for you, you might be young, Tiki showed he had it from day one, Dunbar has shown nothing, clearly the two will have different careers. Its hard for you, i understand. Let me make something else clear, the lifespan of a RB is getting shorter and shorter since the days of Emmitt so you have to take things like that into consideration. Its not like Dunbar has shown he has the skills or the talent for the team to say "okay we can invest in this guy" he has clearly proven that.

So its like a test in school. Ill give you the answer, "no", now for the test "is dunbar worth the effort?" Cut your ties and bring in someone new. Ie, go see how Felix is changing teams luck and tactics.

 

[ShiningStar]

I heard the entire board say the same thing about Romo years back. Same thing with our starting Safety, Church. Same thing with our starting RT, Free.

If the time comes and he can't fix this, then nobody will be calling for that louder then me but not yet. He has talent and he can help if he learns the lessons.

again, Romo had proven he had what it takes, QB and RB different, one is an applie, the other is an orange, which is funny, because its named after a color, seems like they ran out of names. but, completely different. And the talent, the talent is what you are looking for here. One can do his job, albiet people plan on making it harder. The other is a runner and you just have to tackle him, takes nothing to do.

 

[Idgit]

yes, let me clear it up for you, you might be young, Tiki showed he had it from day one, Dunbar has shown nothing, clearly the two will have different careers. Its hard for you, i understand. Let me make something else clear, the lifespan of a RB is getting shorter and shorter since the days of Emmitt so you have to take things like that into consideration. Its not like Dunbar has shown he has the skills or the talent for the team to say "okay we can invest in this guy" he has clearly proven that.

So its like a test in school. Ill give you the answer, "no", now for the test "is dunbar worth the effort?" Cut your ties and bring in someone new. Ie, go see how Felix is changing teams luck and tactics.

Apart from the enormous fumbling problem, I think it's tough to argue that Lance Dunbar hasn't shown much since he's been in Dallas. He's run hard from day one, has very good hands, and picked up pass protection very quickly. He was the talk of early training camp, and he's a player several vets--most notably Jason Witten-have gone on record as having very high hopes for. He needs to learn to wrap up the football better when being tackled, but options like him aren't just available on the street right now.

And the bar really shouldn't be set at Tiki Barber. Tiki Barber was a very, very good NFL running back. As is always the case around here, we need to temper our expectations for our backup players a bit.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

yes, let me clear it up for you, you might be young, Tiki showed he had it from day one, Dunbar has shown nothing, clearly the two will have different careers. Its hard for you, i understand. Let me make something else clear, the lifespan of a RB is getting shorter and shorter since the days of Emmitt so you have to take things like that into consideration. Its not like Dunbar has shown he has the skills or the talent for the team to say "okay we can invest in this guy" he has clearly proven that.

So its like a test in school. Ill give you the answer, "no", now for the test "is dunbar worth the effort?" Cut your ties and bring in someone new. Ie, go see how Felix is changing teams luck and tactics.

Yeah, I was old when Tiki was playing at Viginia but hey, I'm OK when anybody even suggest that I might be young so by all means, continue with that.

Tiki showed that he could cough up the ball and that's why he was almost cut by NY. Dunbar has shown nothing yet but the point is that you don't just give up on guys because they make mistakes. You develop them and turn them into good productive players. The people who are going to be in the best position to do that are not name ShiningStar or ABQ for that matter. Lets give him some time and see what happens. Since you really have no choice in the matter, I'm going to assume you're good with that.

How's that little test working for you there?

 

[Doomsay]

To be fair, opponents have only really forced him to fumble once, the first looked pretty unassisted. I'm not sure if that is better or worse. With his speed, he really needs to think of back-side strips when his progress has stopped.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

again, Romo had proven he had what it takes, QB and RB different, one is an applie, the other is an orange, which is funny, because its named after a color, seems like they ran out of names. but, completely different. And the talent, the talent is what you are looking for here. One can do his job, albiet people plan on making it harder. The other is a runner and you just have to tackle him, takes nothing to do.

Romo had proven nothing. He sat on the bench for 3 years.

 

[noshame]

-- 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."

Read more here: http://sportsblogs.star-telegram.co...bles-in-last-three-touches.html#storylink=cpy

Oh Please, every time something goes wrong it's not your fault, you taught them better....already in CYA mode huh?

Why don't you try this.. when he fumbles, meet him ten yards out on the field and chew his arse all the way to the bench...geeezzz.

 

[ShiningStar]

Apart from the enormous fumbling problem, I think it's tough to argue that Lance Dunbar hasn't shown much since he's been in Dallas. He's run hard from day one, has very good hands, and picked up pass protection very quickly. He was the talk of early training camp, and he's a player several vets--most notably Jason Witten-have gone on record as having very high hopes for. He needs to learn to wrap up the football better when being tackled, but options like him aren't just available on the street right now.

And the bar really shouldn't be set at Tiki Barber. Tiki Barber was a very, very good NFL running back. As is always the case around here, we need to temper our expectations for our backup players a bit.

Tiki is an example, not the rule, but the same applies to all other RBs entering the league, there is not a long lifespan for you in this game anymore. They know it, we know it. Dunbar doesnt have it. I dont know where we get the mentality that we can wait on this and hes going to magically prove it down the road. We have Randle sitting for what? Get him out there, get it working. The SB is out of the question.

The only questions we are dealign with is, does Garrett have a future with us, can this 4-3 work for us in the future, whos the next QB to take us to the next platform, whos going to be here for that rise and whos our next TE.is and if we can straighten out our offense? Other than that, the wins can fill the stadium, business as usual, and lets see where we are heading for the future. When we win, great, rah rah rah, when we lose, everyone on the ledge. Other than that, the team has had a great offseason, but the offense once again is holding us up. Either fix it or deal with it, but if they choose to deal with it, what can we do? Nothing. Another wasted season in a division that usually beats itself up because the teams play strong.

 

[Idgit]

Oh Please, every time something goes wrong it's not your fault, you taught them better....already in CYA mode huh?

Why don't you try this.. when he fumbles, meet him ten yards out on the field and chew his arse all the way to the bench...geeezzz.

Seriously? First, you think the HC is throwing the guy under the buss in that generally-complementary quote? And, secondly, you think the solution is to chew him out on tv, rather than simply teaching him to protect the ball in practice? I can't say that I agree with you on either point.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

My dad is of the opinion that if Jimmy was still coaching he would have cut this guy for fumbling.

Long before my time but you have to wonder if you have a guy who won't ever be worth anything because you can't trust him to hold on to the ball.

I think that if that is the case, then yeah, you cut him but I don't think you cut a guy with so little track record. Believe me, if the fumbling problem doesn't get solved, I'm all for moving on. I just don't think enough time has passed to make that determination as yet. JMO

 

[ShiningStar]

Romo had proven nothing. He sat on the bench for 3 years.

and whats Dunbar done? I seen Romo make plays, i seen Romo put the team in position to win, ive seen his first full game against the Giants, a loss, but he was good, ive seen Romo improvise, and ive seen Romo change up to get the job done. Explain Dunbar and you're idea that hes got what it takes?

 

[Idgit]

Tiki is an example, not the rule, but the same applies to all other RBs entering the league, there is not a long lifespan for you in this game anymore. They know it, we know it. Dunbar doesnt have it. I dont know where we get the mentality that we can wait on this and hes going to magically prove it down the road. We have Randle sitting for what? Get him out there, get it working. The SB is out of the question.

The only questions we are dealign with is, does Garrett have a future with us, can this 4-3 work for us in the future, whos the next QB to take us to the next platform, whos going to be here for that rise and whos our next TE.is and if we can straighten out our offense? Other than that, the wins can fill the stadium, business as usual, and lets see where we are heading for the future. When we win, great, rah rah rah, when we lose, everyone on the ledge. Other than that, the team has had a great offseason, but the offense once again is holding us up. Either fix it or deal with it, but if they choose to deal with it, what can we do? Nothing. Another wasted season in a division that usually beats itself up because the teams play strong.

Randle's on the bench until he masters pass protection. Then, he'll have to beat out Dunbar to be active, anyway.
Dunbar gives us a lot that no other player on the roster provides right now. Except he turns the ball over. He's the fastest guy we've got to the edge. He's elusive in space. He's got good hands and can make the first tackler miss in the short passing game. For a team that's really, really struggling on third downs so far, we actually need him in the lineup more. We just can't get him on the field because he's too lose with the ball getting tackled.

I have to admit, though, I'm not very high on Joseph Randle, overall. He looks like a solid back to me, but he's slower and, like Murray, has a knack for falling forward (that's obviously a good thing). But he doesn't look special. I actually like both Dunbar and Tanner better. Especially Dunbar, because of the added dimension he gives the offense.

 

[ShiningStar]

Randle's on the bench until he masters pass protection. Then, he'll have to beat out Dunbar to be active, anyway.
Dunbar gives us a lot that no other player on the roster provides right now. Except he turns the ball over. He's the fastest guy we've got to the edge. He's elusive in space. He's got good hands and can make the first tackler miss in the short passing game. For a team that's really, really struggling on third downs so far, we actually need him in the lineup more. We just can't get him on the field because he's too lose with the ball getting tackled.

I have to admit, though, I'm not very high on Joseph Randle, overall. He looks like a solid back to me, but he's slower and, like Murray, has a knack for falling forward (that's obviously a good thing). But he doesn't look special. I actually like both Dunbar and Tanner better. Especially Dunbar, because of the added dimension he gives the offense.

okay, at least its something, but Dunbar has to learn to take hits and protect that ball. I just dont know if Tanner can give us the same thing, tho Tanner seems more like Murray as well and not as shifty as Dunbar, but so far Tanner hasnt lost the ball and right now thats a positive. Not saying he wont when his time comes, but I say churn the roster on RBs and keep it moving.

 

[Denim Chicken]

but so far Tanner hasnt lost the ball and right now thats a positive.

Tanner fumbled in game #1.