Our o-line is amazing, but we still need a good RB

[Toruk_Makto]

We need a guy with speed. No more 30 yard runs that end that should have gone for 50 and six.

 

[The Quest for Six]

I'm over AP and don't wanna use a 1st on RB. Times have changed since Emmitt was here and I don't believe an elite RB is necessary. I'm good w a committee approach so we can use more cap space on our def and keeping this Oline intact.

couldn't agree more with your analysis....

 

[DBOY3141]

Melvin Gordon had 631 rushing attempts during his 4 year college career with 348 of those coming this past season. That total doesn't make the top 250 for rushing attempts according to the follow list:

http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/leaders/rush-att-player-career.html

Emmitt Smith had 700 rushing attempts(#213) in 3 seasons. Tony Dorsett had 1163 rushing attempts(#3) in 4 years. DeMarco Murray had 759 rushing attempts(#146). Marion Barber III had 575 rushing attempts. Todd Gurley had 510 rushing attempts.

Pat Kirwan was talking about this yesterday. Said it's becoming a big factor with RB's in the modern NFL. Said guys like Ajaji and David Johnson have almost 900 touches in college which is basically one less year they can play in the NFL.

Said that's why Bill Polian drafted E. James over Ricky Williams. Less touches in college equals more potential years in the NFL.

 

[Crown Royal]

Would it really matter if we had the same number of attempts, spread more evenly over two or three different guys? I'm not sure it does. Teams are going to respect our rushing game no matter what, and we'll still have one of the league's better passing attacks.

The key has always been improving the pass rush. We need to make it harder for good teams to throw the ball. Especially the Giants who are going to have Cruz, OBJ, and Randle now. The rush end helps. Improvement from Lawrence and, hopefully, Crawford will help, too. We need rush from the WIL and probably another coverage player and we ought to be fairly significantly improved on that side of the ball. Give me that and I can live with a rotation at RB as long as it's a rotation of guys who can hold onto the football.

What murray was good at was not the overall rushing yardage, but the ability to turn nothing into a 3 yard gain, or a 2 yard gain into 4-5. A ton of people love to point out that Murray rushed for over 900 yards without being touched. What they fail to point out is that means Murray got 900 yards AFTER being touched, which is also pretty good.

Murray may not have been elite, but he was very tough to tackle and managed to handle the grind. He isn't a Marshawn Lynch tackle breaker, but he is way better than McCoy at pushing a pile for just a little more. I don't see that in either Randle or McFadden right now.

 

[KJJ]

If you listen to most on this board any back could do what Murray did last season behind this OL. If the Cowboys believed that Randle and Dunbar would have received half the carries last season. You don't give a back 392 carries if you feel any back could do the same thing they're doing.

 

[Crown Royal]

If you listen to most on this board any back could do what Murray did last season behind this OL. If the Cowboys believed that Randle and Dunbar would have received half the carries last season. You don't give a back 392 carries if you feel any back could do the same thing they're doing.

2005-2007 our OL was decent (not as good as now, but it wasn't the dumpster fire we saw between 2010-2012). Julius Jones could NEVER live up to his physical ability, but Barber could. The idea that an OL necessarily makes the RB is absurd. You need a good RB too.

EDIT:
Someone will post this and say that Bill Parcells ruined Julius Jones. I want to go ahead and get in front of this and whoever says that to say you are 100% wrong.

 

[joseephuss]

Yea, but I like Gordon...a lot.

That's fine. He just doesn't fit on what you think Dallas needs.

Pat Kirwan was talking about this yesterday. Said it's becoming a big factor with RB's in the modern NFL. Said guys like Ajaji and David Johnson have almost 900 touches in college which is basically one less year they can play in the NFL.

Said that's why Bill Polian drafted E. James over Ricky Williams. Less touches in college equals more potential years in the NFL.

I agree that the number of touches a player gets in college should be part of the equation.

Ajaji had 752 touches in college(678 rushes, 73 receptions, 1 kick return).

Johnson had 1019 touches(866 rushes, 141 receptions, 12 kick returns).

 

[Risen Star]

If you listen to most on this board any back could do what Murray did last season behind this OL. If the Cowboys believed that Randle and Dunbar would have received half the carries last season. You don't give a back 392 carries if you feel any back could do the same thing they're doing.

That's a distortion of the stance. Nobody has said any back can duplicate that 1,800 yard season. What's been said is Murray is not the main reason for it and the Cowboys would be better off not committing long term to an older, not special RB. Take advantage of that OL and find one of many RBs who can have success with it.

And here's the thing. DeMarco Murray himself will never duplicate this past season.

 

[xwalker]

Without a doubt, our incredible line can turn even a decent RB into a pretty good one. Which is what I think will happen if we roll with McFadden, Williams or even Randle.

But our incredible line can turn a very good RB into an elite one, just like DeMarco last year.

Now what if we had an elite RB, what would that line turn a guy like Peterson into? That's what I want to see.

Think back to how great our 90's line was. Now think back to the games that Emmitt missed and how ordinary the other RBs looked whenever Emmitt missed time, even with that dominant line. I think we've kinda fallen into a "our line is so great that we can plug and play any RB", which is kind of true. But there's still a difference in ordinary and special backs, with or without a great o-line.

This is why I really hope we end up with either Peterson, Gurley or Gordon. I think McFadden/Williams/Randle could get the job done, but we would see a drop off from DeMarco's production last season. If we get any of the former three, there will be no drop off, and at least in AD's case, there will be an upgrade.

I don't see much difference in physical ability between McFadden and Murray. Merray is a little more physical but McFadden is faster. They Cowboys Zone scheme is perfect for McFadden's style.

Ryan Williams college game footage was better than many of the RBs in this draft. He also looked really good in the preseason.

 

[Idgit]

What murray was good at was not the overall rushing yardage, but the ability to turn nothing into a 3 yard gain, or a 2 yard gain into 4-5. A ton of people love to point out that Murray rushed for over 900 yards without being touched. What they fail to point out is that means Murray got 900 yards AFTER being touched, which is also pretty good.

Murray may not have been elite, but he was very tough to tackle and managed to handle the grind. He isn't a Marshawn Lynch tackle breaker, but he is way better than McCoy at pushing a pile for just a little more. I don't see that in either Randle or McFadden right now.

Who was it, Joyner maybe? That calculated Murray's YAC (contact) last year relative to the league average here recently? It worked out to about ~250 yards or so, IIRC. That's above league average, of course and our current backs might not meet that 'average' mark just now. But it puts a pretty good measure out there for the incremental value of an above average RB.

Give me just average from a guy who never puts the ball on the ground, and I'd be pretty happy, honestly. Or spread it between several backs who don't have or lose fumbles. That, and pass protection, and I'm good.

 

[DBOY3141]

That's a distortion of the stance. Nobody has said any back can duplicate that 1,800 yard season. What's been said is Murray is not the main reason for it and the Cowboys would be better off not committing long term to an older, not special RB. Take advantage of that OL and find one of many RBs who can have success with it.

And here's the thing. DeMarco Murray himself will never duplicate this past season.

Especially in Philly he won't.

 

[Crown Royal]

That's a distortion of the stance. Nobody has said any back can duplicate that 1,800 yard season. What's been said is Murray is not the main reason for it and the Cowboys would be better off not committing long term to an older, not special RB. Take advantage of that OL and find one of many RBs who can have success with it.

And here's the thing. DeMarco Murray himself will never duplicate this past season.

Lol nobody will.

Look I hold Murray in a higher regard than you and many others, but I think too many people get lost in the "he isn't special line." Forgive me if I'm wrong, but when you say that I don't think you're calling him JAG or a low quality running back. Just that he isn't a Special Franchise PLayer.

I don't think, for instance, that Scandrick is a Special Franchise Player, but I do think he is of good quality and that he plays under a good contract. I'd never give him a ton more money though.

 

[Crown Royal]

Especially in Philly he won't.

Eh, I wouldn't go that far. Philly's OL is probably near if not as good as ours. If there is a place to find out whether he is really as good as he thinks he is, it is in Philadelphia. I would expect him to have a 1300-1500 yard season there so long as he stays healthy.

 

[ChronicCowboy]

IMHO Murray made the line look good as much as the other way around. He's a top 3 RB in the league. Our running game will NOT be as good next season. But our defense could be a lot better.

We needed more balance, putting all the money on the offensive side of the ball was never going to win us a title. But the people claiming we can plug in any RB and have similar success are just wrong.

 

[Risen Star]

Just a guess, but this coming draft may look like the 2004 draft with the Cowboys trading out of the first round into the top half of the 2nd and making a RB their first choice.

 

[Crown Royal]

Who was it, Joyner maybe? That calculated Murray's YAC (contact) last year relative to the league average here recently? It worked out to about ~250 yards or so, IIRC. That's above league average, of course and our current backs might not meet that 'average' mark just now. But it puts a pretty good measure out there for the incremental value of an above average RB.

Give me just average from a guy who never puts the ball on the ground, and I'd be pretty happy, honestly. Or spread it between several backs who don't have or lose fumbles. That, and pass protection, and I'm good.

Not sure, I don't read Joyner all that much because as much as I love stats, his stuff seems a bit esoteric.

I would suggest that I don't trust any RB on our roster to maintain even an average YAC, but I could be wrong on that.

 

[NeonNinja]

We will grab a RB in the draft, just not sure what round it will be. I do think Gurley and Gordon will be among the top targets at 27.

 

[joseephuss]

Who was it, Joyner maybe? That calculated Murray's YAC (contact) last year relative to the league average here recently? It worked out to about ~250 yards or so, IIRC. That's above league average, of course and our current backs might not meet that 'average' mark just now. But it puts a pretty good measure out there for the incremental value of an above average RB.

Give me just average from a guy who never puts the ball on the ground, and I'd be pretty happy, honestly. Or spread it between several backs who don't have or lose fumbles. That, and pass protection, and I'm good.

I think Murray is greatly under-appreciated. I think he was a very physical runner and was good at moving the pile. I like that in a running back. Now I will bash him. Not really, but something to ponder. When a running back is ranked high in yards before contact, that means he has gotten through the big uglies and is facing the smaller linebackers and even smaller DBs. It may be a little easier to break tackles from these guys than it is breaking tackles from 275 lb+ defensive linemen. I think Dallas had a great marriage of good offensive line and good running back last season. Unfortunately, it is not realistic to pay Murray the kind of money he wanted. Dallas has some work to do to find a way to replace his production.

 

[silver]

sucks to have lost Murray. Hopefully we draft the second coming of Marion Barber in the 4th round

 

[Crown Royal]

Just a guess, but this coming draft may look like the 2004 draft with the Cowboys trading out of the first round into the top half of the 2nd and making a RB their first choice.

Please don't even THINK about jinxing us into repeating the 2004 draft. The best player we got out of that was Patrick Crayton.