Olawale - The Kellen Moore Effect

[ItzKelz]

Was listening to one of the Cowboys podcast yesterday and while they were on the air the news broke that we resigned Olawale. They didn't spend much time on it in fact you could say that they ignored the subject all together. But what they did say was kinda interesting.

They mention that the plan was to use him as a RB and that Olawale was actually one of the fastest players on the team. Now most of us that post on this site knew that Olawale had some legit running skills and me personally I envisioned us using him in the backfield. However with Linehan that never happened.

My question is if this move is being made because Kellen thinks that Olawale was underutilized last season and he see's a significant role for him as the primary back up to Zeke? I personally think Olawale would be an upgrade to Rod Smith.

 

[BigCatMonaco]

He runs a 4.52
Rod ran between a 4.52-4.64 pre draft.
But Olawale is a very good blocker.
And led the team in special teams tackles.
Tied for 9th in the league.

People mad that we signed him for 1.8 per, but he offers more than Keith Smith whos currently getting 2.1 from Oakland.

 

[Gaede]

There is no way our fullback is one of the fastest players on the team

 

[ClappingCarrot]

There is no way our fullback is one of the fastest players on the team

He was a TE and even a WR his senior season of college. Dude can run.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

There is no way our fullback is one of the fastest players on the team

If you are the leading tackler on ST it often means you are getting down the field in a hurry in other words, he is no slouch.

Now as far as if he will be used more in the offense or not. If history is any indicator the answer would be no as it seems that we don't use our FBs in the running or passing game much.

I think the last one we used in the passing game with success or a decent amount was a year or so with Richie Anderson when the Tuna was here.

 

[JBell]

There is no way our fullback is one of the fastest players on the team

He's fast. No secret that he was underutilized last season.

 

[chagus]

I'd like to think that bringing Olawale back is a KM move. It suggests that KM is already taking over and putting his finger print on the offense.

 

[Falco78]

He has always had wheels, but Linehan never utilized any of our players strengths until his job was on the line then went back to his old ways of being an idiot

 

[ItzKelz]

If you are the leading tackler on ST it often means you are getting down the field in a hurry in other words, he is no slouch.

Now as far as if he will be used more in the offense or not. If history is any indicator the answer would be no as it seems that we don't use our FBs in the running or passing game much.

I think the last one we used in the passing game with success or a decent amount was a year or so with Richie Anderson when the Tuna was here.

What I heard is they will be using him more as a RB.

 

[PhillyCowboysFan]

He was a TE and even a WR his senior season of college. Dude can run.

Oops to the poster....LOL

 

[Sydla]

I was critical of the contract in the other thread because as we used him under Linehan, there was no need to spend that amount of money on a FB we don't use.

But if Moore is going to use him more as a TB and such, then maybe the contract ends up being fine.

 

[conner01]

There is no way our fullback is one of the fastest players on the team

He’s not
He’s fast for a FB. He actually has RB speed
He’s a decent blocker and throughout his career has been a good receiver
He dropped his chance to do much last year
But really other than ST he wasn’t asked to do much

 

[G2]

I don't see him getting many more touches with Elliott in the mix.

 

[ItzKelz]

I don't see him getting many more touches with Elliott in the mix.

I could see the wear and tear of Zeke last season. Hopefully there is a plan to reduce his touches.

 

[G2]

I could see the wear and tear of Zeke last season. Hopefully there is a plan to reduce his touches.

I just wouldn't read that far into it. He's a solid special teams player. That's where I stop with his overall importance.
The most productive RB shouldn't have his workload reduced. Not to mention he was very good as a WR.

 

[glimmerman]

I see Moore being smart and using TE and other components of our Offense that Linehan didn’t use. I am sure we practiced some different looks but when it came game time we seemed to use the same plays over and over. We will be changing tempo and lining up different. These players are going to have to pay attention this TC.

 

[DeaconMoss]

There is no way our fullback is one of the fastest players on the team

If he is faster than our CB's they should all be fired.

 

[ItzKelz]

I just wouldn't read that far into it. He's a solid special teams player. That's where I stop with his overall importance.
The most productive RB shouldn't have his workload reduced. Not to mention he was very good as a WR.

If you are trying to avoid an Todd Gurley situation.....yes he should. They were in the biggest game of the season and he could not stay on the field.

 

[John813]

If you are trying to avoid an Todd Gurley situation.....yes he should. They were in the biggest game of the season and he could not stay on the field.

His knee has Arthritis.

Zeke has stayed healthy and for all we know has healthy knee cartilage.

Don't think the two can be compared due to one suffering a major injury and other one has not.

Gurley experienced pain in his knee after week 1 of last season.
https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2018/12/28/nfl-rams-todd-gurley-knee-injury-week-1-raiders/

After the Rams’ Week 1 win over the Raiders, Gurley was in a similar situation. He was fine by Wednesday and practiced fully on Thursday and Friday, but he was in a lot of pain.

“Felt like (expletive). It was bad,” Gurley said in his press conference Thursday. “I was contemplating on giving the Rams back their money and everything. It was bad. It was real bad.”
Gurley described this injury as similar to his first one in the same knee, only this time around, it’s lasted much longer. In both instances, though, it wasn’t just one play that caused it.

 

[G2]

If you are trying to avoid an Todd Gurley situation.....yes he should. They were in the biggest game of the season and he could not stay on the field.

I don't live in the "should of-would of-could of" world. We spent the 4th overall on Elliott and I'm running him until the wheels fall off.
Using Gurley as an example is silly.