Twitter: Postgame takeaway - RB2 is still up in the air

[Jarntt]

Those are some stats that he had

I had concerns about him fading down the stretch and his red zone efficiency. His ypc for the season was a really good 4.8, but in the red zone he was 2.9. Top RBs in the league were around 4 ypc in the red zone. Williams was pretty much a battering ram in the red zone and that sounds cool but it’s really not.

Our red zone rushing was probably the top offensive problem we had last year because it forced us to rely on Dak’s arm, since he can’t run in the red zone either, for us to score TDs.

He’s a good player, but probably not top ten and the team signing him was as much about his locker room presence and stability as it was about him being a game changing RB. He’s a solid workhorse contributor who is an excellent cultural fit.

I like him just fine but considering his limitations last year, a knee that is can likely never really be structurally sound and the fact that we have nothing behind him is, in my opinion, a really tenuous situaiton. Malik Davis was mainly a practice squad player last year and came back late precisely because there was no one behind Javontae.

If he even repeat what he did last year, red zone struggles included, I’ll be content. There’s no good way to move on until the 2028 off season anyway.

I'm not sure if you are making the argument you think or not. Which top RBs with a lot of carries had 4ypc in the red zone? I'm not saying there weren't any, but I wasn't able to find any. Of course when the field is tight and he isn't a speed guy his YPC will be lower no doubt. But, he was tied for 6th highest in the NFL in red zone YPC in the list I saw even with that and tied for 3rd most red zone rushing TDs. CMC by the way was at 1.8ypc. Javonte was so far from our problem last year IMO. He was a huge strength.

As far as down the stretch goes, he had the same 4.8 YPC for his last 3 games as he did for the season and he also had 2 TDs.


edit: Also, looks like he recovered from the injury at this point so I don't think he is more an injury concern than most backs. Probably less even since he is still only 26 and with less than 900 career carries

 

[boysfanindc]

They were bad in the red zone, as I explained

Williams was 30th in red zone efficiency and our red zone production overall is the biggest offensive concern going into this season.

Their red zone efficiency was a little below average, primarily being hurt by turnovers, penalties, predictable play calling and offensive line instability.

Williams had 10 red zone TD's.

The RB room is low on my list of concerns. Got to get the penalties under control and more creative in the red zone.

 

[Kwyn]

I'm not sure if you are making the argument you think or not. Which top RBs with a lot of carries had 4ypc in the red zone? Please list them because I couldn't find them. Of course when the field is tight and he isn't a speed guy his YPC will be lower. But, he was tied for 6th highest in the NFL in red zone YPC even with that and tied for 3rd most red zone rushing TDs. CMC by the way was at 1.8ypc.

As far as down the stretch goes, he had the same 4.8 YPC for the last 3 games as he did for the season and he also had 2 TDs.

Achane: 4.7
Gibbs: 4.2
Taylor: 4.1

Even some other workhorse backs like Saquon and Cook had 3.5 or more

2.9 ypc is, as I mentioned, 30th, so there are 29 other guys

And he was absolutely not 6th in red zone YPC, he was 6th in total yards … at 2.9 ypc which demonstrates the problem because we fed it to him 54 times (5th) and got little to show for it.

His red zone performance is emblematic of the team’s red zone performance

 

[Kwyn]

Their red zone efficiency was a little below average, primarily being hurt by turnovers, penalties, predictable play calling and offensive line instability.

Williams had 10 red zone TD's.

The RB room is low on my list of concerns. Got to get the penalties under control and more creative in the red zone.

The cowboys redzone efficiency was the biggest problem for our offense and Schottenheimer pretty stated that in the off season

Seeing that we’re 16th and calling that average while statistically true, doesn’t come close to explaining the actual impact our poor red zone offense had on our ability to win games.

You gotta look past the first number that you see. That’s why advanced metrics are what every team relies on. The volume numbers and broad stats are directional but often don’t tell the story

 

[boysfanindc]

The cowboys redzone efficiency was the biggest problem for our offense and Schottenheimer pretty stated that in the off season

Seeing that we’re 16th and calling that average while statistically true, doesn’t come close to explaining the actual impact our poor red zone offense had on our ability to win games.

You gotta look past the first number that you see. That’s why advanced metrics are what every team relies on. The volume numbers and broad stats are directional but often don’t tell the story

I agree we need to improve on turnovers, penalties, predictable play calling and offensive line stability. But don't think you can pin most of it on the RB room.

 

[Creeper]

Can't go by one game, and can't go by what we saw last night. The OL did not do a good job against Seattle's first line backups. That may be a bigger problem than the RBs.

They have to give Blue a chance. He may never be a RB 2, but with his speed he could be useful for a subset of plays.

 

[doomsday9084]

I suspect that no one would pick up Mafah if you cut him. I think he is a practice squad candidate.

Blue is the tough one. IMO, he doesn't have enough skills to justify a roster spot yet but someone might pick him up just based on his speed. Would like him on the practice squad too.

I would be fine with:
RB1: Williams
RB2: Davis
RB3: Israel
PS: Blue / Mafah

 

[kskboys]

I'm not sure if you are making the argument you think or not. Which top RBs with a lot of carries had 4ypc in the red zone? I'm not saying there weren't any, but I wasn't able to find any. Of course when the field is tight and he isn't a speed guy his YPC will be lower no doubt. But, he was tied for 6th highest in the NFL in red zone YPC in the list I saw even with that and tied for 3rd most red zone rushing TDs. CMC by the way was at 1.8ypc. Javonte was so far from our problem last year IMO. He was a huge strength.

As far as down the stretch goes, he had the same 4.8 YPC for his last 3 games as he did for the season and he also had 2 TDs.


edit: Also, looks like he recovered from the injury at this point so I don't think he is more an injury concern than most backs. Probably less even since he is still only 26 and with less than 900 career carries

Yeah, I wasn't interested in arguing about it, but the red zone negatives about JW seemed weird. JW was a revelation, w/ 11 TDs and very hard running. His 11 TDS rushing was 8th best in the NFL. And only 2 guys had more than 15, so there was a cluster for 3rd w/ 8 guys having 10-14 TDs rushing.

 

[kskboys]

I suspect that no one would pick up Mafah if you cut him. I think he is a practice squad candidate.

Blue is the tough one. IMO, he doesn't have enough skills to justify a roster spot yet but someone might pick him up just based on his speed. Would like him on the practice squad too.

I would be fine with:
RB1: Williams
RB2: Davis
RB3: Israel
PS: Blue / Mafah

That is exactly what I was thinking.

 

[erod]

Blue and Mafah both looked like RB3s to me.

Of course it didn't help that Run Blocking wasn't that great when they were in the game the first half.

Davis looked decent in the 2nd half but the Oline was getting good movement.

Don't feel good about the RB2 situation.

I'm always comfortable with Davis on the field. I think I'd be ok with Mafah, but the guy needs to prove he can stay healthy.

Blue seems like a useless piece of fine china.

 

[kskboys]

Achane: 4.7
Gibbs: 4.2
Taylor: 4.1

Even some other workhorse backs like Saquon and Cook had 3.5 or more

2.9 ypc is, as I mentioned, 30th, so there are 29 other guys

And he was absolutely not 6th in red zone YPC, he was 6th in total yards … at 2.9 ypc which demonstrates the problem because we fed it to him 54 times (5th) and got little to show for it.

His red zone performance is emblematic of the team’s red zone performance

On that I agree. I simply don't put it on him, don't believe he is the red zone problem.

 

[kskboys]

I'm always comfortable with Davis on the field. I think I'd be ok with Mafah, but the guy needs to prove he can stay healthy.

Blue seems like a useless piece of fine china.

Since Mafah is a good run blocker, sure, why not.