Let’s Talk Tony Pollard

[CalPolyTechnique]

Pollard said himself he was worn down in the 4th quarter of the game he started last year.

Back to your Pollard onesies

What did he do the next week?

Speak…or in your case heeehaw.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

A swap for Armstrong would be tempting to Atlanta.
OTOH, the Falcons could roll with keeping Allegier, so as to have a formidable RB group with rookie Bijan Robinson and veteran Cordarrelle Patterson.
That would help to ease the pressure on 2nd-yr QB Desmond Ridder, who will be making only his 5th start in the team's home opener this fall (v. Panthers).

Being 3 deep vs. 2 deep. 3rd Rb won't get much carries.

I wouldn't mind Patterson, but wouldn't give up Armstrong. Unless they would throw in a draft pick.

 

[jazzcat22]

What did he do the next week?

Speak…or in your case heeehaw.

My stalker is back....I have no use for you or your snide attitude...stop wasting everyones time.

 

[LonnieElam]

Why are there quotation marks around his name? Is he a ghost? Are we merely talking about the idea of Pollard, and not the actual person? Is it a single episode of a TV show?

 

[Motorola]

Being 3 deep vs. 2 deep. 3rd Rb won't get much carries.

I wouldn't mind Patterson, but wouldn't give up Armstrong. Unless they would throw in a draft pick.

Patterson has had an outlier career of sorts:
First five seasons as a WR, he totaled only 44 rushing attempts.
Over the next 3 years, Patterson averaged 41 carries.
Then in his 9th and 10th seasons, the player becomes an RB2 that averaged nearly 150 carries per year and gets over 1300 yards ---
and he did it being 30-31 years old.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

My stalker is back....I have no use for you or your snide attitude...stop wasting everyones time.

Lame attempt to save face. That’s what I thought.

Checkmate

 

[conner01]

The idea that there are bell cow backs in the NFL is really outdated. Two backs last year averaged 20 carries per game with Josh Jacobs getting exactly that. Virtually everyone platoons. NFL teams figured out that human beings really do tire out and their effectiveness goes down, almost regardless of who you are.

Pollard is going to get roughly 200 to 220 carries this year as long as he stays healthy. That's going to be right in line with Kamara, Etienne, McCaffrey, Mixon, etc. Dallas' problem is not those possessions. The concern is the other 200 or so carries.

Edit: For the remaining Zeke fans, yes, Zeke had the lowest yards per attempt on this list and Pollard had the 2nd highest with the same O line.

Rk	Player	Tm	Age	Pos	G	GS	Att	Yds	TD	1D	Lng	Y/A	Y/G	Fmb
1	Derrick Henry*	TEN	28	RB	16	16	349	1538	13	65	56	4.4	96.1	6
2	Josh Jacobs*+	LVR	24	RB	17	17	340	1653	12	93	86	4.9	97.2	3
3	Nick Chubb*	CLE	27	RB	17	17	302	1525	12	69	41	5.0	89.7	1
4	Saquon Barkley*	NYG	25	RB	16	16	295	1312	10	62	68	4.4	82.0	1
5	Najee Harris	PIT	24	RB	17	17	272	1034	7	45	36	3.8	60.8	3
6	Dalvin Cook*	MIN	27	RB	17	17	264	1173	8	50	81	4.4	69.0	4
7	Jamaal Williams	DET	27	RB	17	9	262	1066	17	65	58	4.1	62.7	3
8	Miles Sanders*	PHI	25	RB	17	15	259	1269	11	62	40	4.9	74.6	2
9	Christian McCaffrey*	2TM	26	RB	17	16	244	1139	8	59	49	4.7	67.0	1
10	Ezekiel Elliott	DAL	27	RB	15	14	231	876	12	52	27	3.8	58.4	0
11	Kenneth Walker III	SEA	22	RB	15	11	228	1050	9	51	74	4.6	70.0	0
12	Alvin Kamara	NOR	27	RB	15	13	223	897	2	40	27	4.0	59.8	4
13	Travis Etienne	JAX	23	RB	17	12	220	1125	5	52	62	5.1	66.2	5
14	Dameon Pierce	HOU	22	RB	13	13	220	939	4	54	75	4.3	72.2	4
15	Aaron Jones	GNB	28	RB	17	17	213	1121	2	54	36	5.3	65.9	5
16	Tyler Allgeier	ATL	22	RB	16	7	210	1035	3	53	44	4.9	64.7	0
17	Joe Mixon	CIN	26	RB	14	14	210	814	7	47	40	3.9	58.1	0
18	Rhamondre Stevenson	NWE	24	RB	17	7	210	1040	5	49	49	5.0	61.2	4
19	Brian Robinson Jr.	WAS	23	RB	12	9	205	797	2	49	24	3.9	66.4	2
20	Austin Ekeler	LAC	27	RB	17	17	204	915	13	46	72	4.5	53.8	5
21	D'Onta Foreman	CAR	26	RB	17	9	203	914	5	45	60	4.5	53.8	1
22	David Montgomery	CHI	25	RB	16	16	201	801	5	41	28	4.0	50.1	2
23	Tony Pollard*	DAL	25	RB	16	4	193	1007	9	46	57	5.2	62.9	0

I think he will get about 15 carries a game. That’s 255. The key is how many touches he gets in passing game
15 carries isn’t gonna wear him down if you try and limit the amount of times he’s protecting

 

[CowboyRoy]

In my opinion, minus Dak and Parsons, he’s the most important cowboy for this upcoming season. I believe with my whole heart we would’ve beaten San Fran had pollard not gotten hurt. Couple of things:

1. Do you have confidence Pollard will be fine coming back from injury?

2. Do you believe he can carry the load as the RB1?

3. How do you expect McCarthy to manage the RB Carrie’s with the current roster?

4. Predict his stats for the upcoming season

I agree that we definitely have a chance to beat SF with Pollard healthy. I dont agree we definitely win. Once he went down it was 100% over.

1. I have no concerns over his offseason injury
2. 225-250 rushing attempt is what I would give Pollard. I would use him wisely in blowouts and save him for the playoffs. Is that "carrying the load"?
3. I have no idea what MM will do. I dont like their revamp of the RB position.
4. 230 rushes for 1200 yards, 55 receptions for 400 yards. 15 total TD's.

 

[Coogiguy03]

Don't overwork him, use the backs that you do have. Use him like they use tank lawrence

 

[KJJ]

In my opinion, minus Dak and Parsons, he’s the most important cowboy for this upcoming season. I believe with my whole heart we would’ve beaten San Fran had pollard not gotten hurt. Couple of things:

1. Do you have confidence Pollard will be fine coming back from injury?

2. Do you believe he can carry the load as the RB1?

3. How do you expect McCarthy to manage the RB Carrie’s with the current roster?

4. Predict his stats for the upcoming season

Pollard only carried the ball six times for 23 yards against San Francisco. He averaged under 4.0 a carry. We simply couldn’t run the ball against them. I don’t think it would have made much difference had he not been injured. The game came down to Dak and he didn’t play well. I don’t believe Pollard can carry the load and be as effective as he was. I don’t have a lot of confidence he’s going to be as good as he was without Zeke softening up the defense. I have no idea what his stats will be this season but I believe this season will likely be his last with the Cowboys. With five years of mileage on him, I don’t see the Cowboys re-signing him to a lucrative contract. The only way he returns in 2024 is if he agrees to a team friendly deal. The Cowboys are done paying big money to RBs.

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

I think he will get about 15 carries a game. That’s 255. The key is how many touches he gets in passing game
15 carries isn’t gonna wear him down if you try and limit the amount of times he’s protecting

That’d be about right. The days of a single back running 22-25 carries a game are over save for a couple backs.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Patterson has had an outlier career of sorts:
First five seasons as a WR, he totaled only 44 rushing attempts.
Over the next 3 years, Patterson averaged 41 carries.
Then in his 9th and 10th seasons, the player becomes an RB2 that averaged nearly 150 carries per year and gets over 1300 yards ---
and he did it being 30-31 years old.

So although older, his body hasn't taken the pounding

 

[CowboyRoy]

Pollard only carried the ball six times for 23 yards against San Francisco. He averaged under 4.0 a carry. We simply couldn’t run the ball against them. I don’t think it would have made much difference had he not been injured. The game came down to Dak and he didn’t play well. I don’t believe Pollard can carry the load and be as effective as he was. I don’t have a lot of confidence he’s going to be as good as he was without Zeke softening up the defense. I have no idea what his stats will be this season but I believe this season will likely be his last with the Cowboys. With five years of mileage on him, I don’t see the Cowboys re-signing him to a lucrative contract. The only way he returns in 2024 is if he agrees to a team friendly deal. The Cowboys are done paying big money to RBs.

So the lack of a run game you dont think had any affect on Dak's ability to play QB?

Zeke softening them up? Cmon you cant be serious still touting that nonsense. LOL

 

[CowboyRoy]

My stalker is back....I have no use for you or your snide attitude...stop wasting everyones time.

How many stalkers do you have? Maybe there is just many of us that remember your Pollard hate and your Zeke overzealous blunderings. We also listen to you continue to bash Pollard even now.

 

[phildadon86]

This would be spectacular if he achieves this…..I’m just hoping that our other depth at this position can contribute and take some of the load off Tony

What depth? That is the single biggest mistake next to OL this FO made this off-season. Ronald Jones just isn’t good. Like. At all. He couldn’t even beat out CEH for RB2 in KC. If you think Zeke was slow, you’re in for a treat.

If the worst happens and pollard goes down, there is no depth what so ever. Remember WR last season? They did the same thing with RB this year. Next year they will correct it. It’s what they do.

They should be doing any and everything to sign Cook right now IMO. One year deal. Give him 7 million with incentives and at the end of the season we know who to keep. This FO does not plan ahead. They react. Hence the attempt to try and trade for cooks last deadline when they realized Washington was garbage and Gallup wasn’t 100 percent.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Size, ok, but stamina, no. He has not shown that yet. And he has not been able to work on that this off-season yet.

He has never had to carry the load. And this whole trumped up theory of yours is based on what exactly? One little comment in a game after he came the sidelines after a 45 yard TD run, his 3rd of the game and 143 yards?

More unfounded and hatred because he make your hero Zeke look like the chump he is.

Do you honestly think a top level athlete like Pollard cant get into shape or better shape? More laughable nonsense.

Besides...........I highly doubt they will be giving Pollard 25 carries a game. That would be dumb considering he has never done it in his career.

 

[CowboyRoy]

I am concerned about his health. Not sure if it will impact his quickness, not necessarily his speed as the two are different. He may have his long speed, but will he have the short area quickness, which is something that zeke lost and with it his effectiveness

With that said, also concerned that he has never carried the load and its a different role. So depthnis key and I don't have world of confidence in Jones. He is essentially a cheaper zeke which is not saying much.

I would like to see us make a trade with Atlanta perhaps, for Tyler Allegier, may even involving dorsnce Armstrong. Tyler got 1000 yards last year, and is younger so gives us a little leverage in Pollard negotiations if we decide to negotiate or options in drafting

Would love to get Algiers.

 

[KJJ]

1. Yes he will be fine

2. Can he carry the load? Yes. He is big enough and fast enough - Height 6′ 0″, Weight 209 lbs
LaDainian Tomlinson Height 5′ 10″, Weight 216 lbs
Curtis Martin Height 5′ 11″, Weight 210 lbs
Emmitt Smith Height 5′ 9″, Weight 216 lbs
Terrell Davis Height 5′ 11″, Weight 210 lbs
Thurman Thomas Height 5′ 10″, Weight 206 lbs
Barry Sanders Height 5′ 8″, Weight 200 lbs

3.Tony should bet 65% of the plays, other should get 35% IMO

4. Stats for season - 1,345 yards rushing, 400 receiving, 14 TDs

5. Yes

You’re comparing him with Hall of Fame backs. Get real! Pollard is a very good back, our most explosive player on offense, but I don’t see him being as effective with more carries, especially coming off a serious injury. Just like some of the backs we’ve had in the past who were great splitting carries, they weren’t as effective carrying more of the load. No way will Pollard sniff 1300+ rushing yards. If the Cowboys attempt to make him an every down back this season, it will be a mistake. He won’t be as effective as he begins to wear down, and he likely won’t stay healthy. Don’t forget our OL is still a question mark. A big part of the reason he’s been so effective is he’s been kept fresh.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Pollard said himself he was worn down in the 4th quarter of the game he started last year.

Back to your Pollard onesies

So what?

He had just come in from a game winning 45 yard TD run his 3rd of the game and 143 yards rushing.

 

[CowboyRoy]

You’re comparing him with Hall of Fame backs. Get real! Pollard is a very good back, our most explosive player on offense, but I don’t see him being as effective with more carries, especially coming off a serious injury. Just like some of the backs we’ve had in the past who were great splitting carries, they weren’t as effective carrying more of the load. No way will Pollard sniff 1300+ rushing yards. If the Cowboys attempt to make him an every down back this season, it will be a big mistake.

I agree it will be a mistake to make him an every down back. 225-250 carries should be the goal. And take him out in blowouts and use the other guys more against weak teams. Save Pollard.