Prediction: Dak-friendly offensive changes

[Bluefin]

dak had an almost great ol to work with which the others did not.
if we fix the ol, running rpo plays with a great ol and great rb introduces complexities that make a defense' life even more difficult.

There isn't much point to anything if Dallas doesn't shore up the OL.

They appear to be doing so (I know these new deals haven't been signed yet).

We saw what happens when Tyron Smith is out and gets replaced by sup-par players. While I haven't given up Chaz Green as a lost cause, he can't be depended on and will have to compete to earn the swing tackle job with his roster spot also in question. I don't want to see any more Byron Bells on the roster. We must be better than that.

these draft picks would make things really interesting:

1. hernandez - lg
2. settle - 1tech
3. jewell - mlb
more lb, rb, g, 1tech

or
1. payne
2. price - lg
3. jewell - mlb
more g, lb, rb

I'm curious to see how the DL shakes out.

I don't see a big need for NT as things stand. That will change if David Irving leaves, but I really like Maliek Collins as the athletic, three down 1T Rod Marinelli desires. Even if Collins is "listed" as a Nose, he'd wind up playing just as much 3T, if not more. Collins played hurt most of last season, that was the problem, it wasn't where he was lining up.

I would package some picks to move up in round three to make sure I got Josey Jewell.

 

[waldoputty]

There isn't much point to anything if Dallas doesn't shore up the OL.

They appear to be doing so (I know these new deals haven't been signed yet).

We saw what happens when Tyron Smith is out and gets replaced by sup-par players. While I haven't given up Chaz Green as a lost cause, he can't be depended on and will have to compete to earn the swing tackle job with his roster spot also in question. I don't want to see any more Byron Bells on the roster. We must be better than that.




I'm curious to see how the DL shakes out.

I don't see a big need for NT as things stand. That will change if David Irving leaves, but I really like Maliek Collins as the athletic, three down 1T Rod Marinelli desires. Even if Collins is "listed" as a Nose, he'd wind up playing just as much 3T, if not more. Collins played hurt most of last season, that was the problem, it wasn't where he was lining up.

I would package some picks to move up in round three to make sure I got Josey Jewell.

It appears the FO learned its lesson on trying to go to the garbage bin and 3rd tier FAs for backups/rotation players.
It appears the FO learned its lesson about the swing tackle.
I dont trust Collins' foot - 2 years in a row.
Agree on moving up in the 3rd - wonder how many teams want jewell for mlb?
for the draft in round 1, the question is who is more likely to be a dominant player - hernandez or payne/vea?
i think the available lbs will be higher risk than the g or 1techs.

 

[Bluefin]

Get Beez back in it. Like his rookie season.

Defenses really neutralized Cole Beasley last season playing lots of bracket coverage because they weren't worried about #11 going deep. Fixing the OL and improved play at QB, outside WR and RB will make it more difficult to use two defenders on Beaz, this season. However, if he can't run more deep routes, a reduction is snaps should be on the table.

Ryan Switzer is faster and should be ready to take more snaps.

There should also be packages with both players on the field.

 

[Zman5]

I know Linehan gets blamed for the crappy offense but he has been handicapped by JG and his crappy scheme.
Linehan is a West Coast/Spread guy. He is not a Air Coryell guy. It's like asking a French chef to make Chinese food. I think some of the changes being made with the coaches in the offense is to finally let Linehan run his offense instead of JG's crappy offense.

Dak would do do much better in a WC/Spread offense than the Air Coryell offense. So would Dez.

 

[hornitosmonster]

With all these great lineman signings the early indication is that we are going to pound the rock. Ball control with some play action.

 

[glimmerman]

Defenses really neutralized Cole Beasley last season playing lots of bracket coverage because they weren't worried about #11 going deep. Fixing the OL and improved play at QB, outside WR and RB will make it more difficult to use two defenders on Beaz, this season. However, if he can't run more deep routes, a reduction is snaps should be on the table.

Ryan Switzer is faster and should be ready to take more snaps.

There should also be packages with both players on the field.

That’s what I want to see. Get both in action. Should be a nightmare for opposing defenses. And open things up. Down field shots are needed this season. We need a deep threat. Speed on the outside.

 

[northerncowboynation]

When Dak first came here with a college background of being a RPO QB who could run, I knew Wade Wilson would do his best to take the run out from him. Make him as pure a pocket passer as he was .We're very lucky Wilson wasn't here for Tony's first three developmental years in the NFL. Sean Payton was and he was young, flexible and a wee bit more innovative than Wilson.

 

[Bluefin]

It appears the FO learned its lesson about the swing tackle.

They really wanted Chaz Green to be a starter last year and it blew up in their face.

Green can probably be fine at guard if given an entire off-season to prep and play there. But he's one of those players that doesn't seem to handle switching positions well on the fly.

Some can do that, others can't. And there's more good tape than bad of Green at LT despite that fiasco against Atlanta. The main issue has been the recurring injuries, I'm glad it's no longer a given that Green is OT #3.

I dont trust Collins' foot - 2 years in a row.

There's no telling with such things. Some players get ruined by such injuries while others never show any effects

Agree on moving up in the 3rd - wonder how many teams want jewell for mlb?

It only takes one and Jewell might go too early for our liking.

It's something I'll be watching if we don't address LB earlier in the draft.

for the draft in round 1, the question is who is more likely to be a dominant player - hernandez or payne/vea?

There's just so much we don't know about these players, even NFL teams spending millions of dollars evaluating them don't know what's going to happen when a 22 year old moves to a new city and starts cashing a big pay check.

If we get Isaiah Wynn or Will Hernandez (possible trade down target), I'll be very happy with the decision!

i think the available lbs will be higher risk than the g or 1techs.

It would almost certainly cost too much to move up for Roquan Smith and I don't want any other LB at pick #19.

Guard would represent more value, IMO, because the player wouldn't be rotating in and out.

 

[waldoputty]

They really wanted Chaz Green to be a starter last year and it blew up in their face.

Green can probably be fine at guard if given an entire off-season to prep and play there. But he's one of those players that doesn't seem to handle switching positions well on the fly.

Some can do that, others can't. And there's more good tape than bad of Green at LT despite that fiasco against Atlanta. The main issue has been the recurring injuries, I'm glad it's no longer a given that Green is OT #3.



There's no telling with such things. Some players get ruined by such injuries while others never show any effects



It only takes one and Jewell might go too early for our liking.

It's something I'll be watching if we don't address LB earlier in the draft.



There's just so much we don't know about these players, even NFL teams spending millions of dollars evaluating them don't know what's going to happen when a 22 year old moves to a new city and starts cashing a big pay check.

If we get Isaiah Wynn or Will Hernandez (possible trade down target), I'll be very happy with the decision!



It would almost certainly cost too much to move up for Roquan Smith and I don't want any other LB at pick #19.

Guard would represent more value, IMO, because the player wouldn't be rotating in and out.

A big weakness of the coaches is their tendency to force players to what they want them to do instead of modifying the system to fit the players' strength.

Yea, imo, hernandez is both safe and valuable. Payne could be a 3-down guy but still needs to be rotated.

Being strong against the run can also be done at the 1tech, and a 2nd round DT would be good as well as possibly Senat in the 4th.

I dont trust the LBs in the draft either. Too much with Smith getting trucked and the Boise state LB does not look good in tape I saw. I would rather draft at least 2 LBs in 3rd and 4th/later.

Someone (cannot remember who) mentioned Green's hip may have had issues last year.

Still need a RB or 2 picks later in the draft - 4th and later.

 

[Bluefin]

That’s what I want to see. Get both in action. Should be a nightmare for opposing defenses. And open things up. Down field shots are needed this season. We need a deep threat. Speed on the outside.

The team definitely needs to become more diverse with their packages on offense.

It is not yet a state law in Texas that Jason Witten must be on the field for 99.9% of the offensive snaps. I know Wit is going to play a ton, but it will be to everyone's benefit to give him at least one series off each half.

Yes, the regular 11 set can be downright lethal with a healthy OL and Zeke toting the pigskin.

But why stop there?

It's a good base to build from, but imagine a defense suddenly having to react to a true 4WR set with no prior film of it being run by the Cowboys!

Cole Beasley in one slot, Ryan Switzer in the other, Dez Bryant wide left, "All in" Hurns wide right with Ezekiel Elliott and Dak Prescott in the backfield!

You can put both big wideouts to one side of the formation with the smalls on the other. You can motion Beaz or Switz across the formation to create double slots. Motion Zeke out of the backfield to create further match-up problems, etc.

Pending further moves, Deonte Thompson is the "speed" threat of the group, but all of our outside targets are capable of making big plays.

Hopefully, it will all come together. Fortify the OL, add some new wrinkles with different personnel packages, run some new plays from old formations, use more RPOs.

 

[408Cowboy]

"Dak Friendly" means he isn't good enough to produce unless he has perfect conditions around him... Not a franchise QB.

What did Romo Friendly mean? I got the same conclusion as you from that one.

 

[waldoputty]

The team definitely needs to become more diverse with their packages on offense.

It is not yet a state law in Texas that Jason Witten must be on the field for 99.9% of the offensive snaps. I know Wit is going to play a ton, but it will be to everyone's benefit to give him at least one series off each half.

Yes, the regular 11 set can be downright lethal with a healthy OL and Zeke toting the pigskin.

But why stop there?

It's a good base to build from, but imagine a defense suddenly having to react to a true 4WR set with no prior film of it being run by the Cowboys!

Cole Beasley in one slot, Ryan Switzer in the other, Dez Bryant wide left, "All in" Hurns wide right with Ezekiel Elliott and Dak Prescott in the backfield!

You can put both big wideouts to one side of the formation with the smalls on the other. You can motion Beaz or Switz across the formation to create double slots. Motion Zeke out of the backfield to create further match-up problems, etc.

Pending further moves, Deonte Thompson is the "speed" threat of the group, but all of our outside targets are capable of making big plays.

Hopefully, it will all come together. Fortify the OL, add some new wrinkles with different personnel packages, run some new plays from old formations, use more RPOs.

Think Thompson is going to be the speed guy on the jet sweep.
Never understood why the coaches did not come up with counters for the defense adjustments for Dak's rollouts.
What the Chiefs did was not rocket science but yet there was no apparently counters developed by the Cowboys.
Dak was quite effective in the rollouts until the adjustments.
It felt like the adjustments shut down the roll out plays.

 

[waldoputty]

What did Romo Friendly mean? I got the same conclusion as you from that one.

strong ol and run with zeke.

 

[Sarge]

Dak had a 52% completion rate to Dez last year.
Dak had a 70% completion rate to everyone else.
Dez has the worst completion rate of any WR in the NFL over the last three years.

Seems like a case of additional by subtraction if you want to be Dak friendly.

Little dose of reality right there.

 

[408Cowboy]

strong ol and run with zeke.

So the same thing then. Just do it from different sets.

 

[glimmerman]

The team definitely needs to become more diverse with their packages on offense.

It is not yet a state law in Texas that Jason Witten must be on the field for 99.9% of the offensive snaps. I know Wit is going to play a ton, but it will be to everyone's benefit to give him at least one series off each half.

Yes, the regular 11 set can be downright lethal with a healthy OL and Zeke toting the pigskin.

But why stop there?

It's a good base to build from, but imagine a defense suddenly having to react to a true 4WR set with no prior film of it being run by the Cowboys!

Cole Beasley in one slot, Ryan Switzer in the other, Dez Bryant wide left, "All in" Hurns wide right with Ezekiel Elliott and Dak Prescott in the backfield!

You can put both big wideouts to one side of the formation with the smalls on the other. You can motion Beaz or Switz across the formation to create double slots. Motion Zeke out of the backfield to create further match-up problems, etc.

Pending further moves, Deonte Thompson is the "speed" threat of the group, but all of our outside targets are capable of making big plays.

Hopefully, it will all come together. Fortify the OL, add some new wrinkles with different personnel packages, run some new plays from old formations, use more RPOs.

Agree. So much can be done with what we have. It’s just getting the staff to do it.

 

[waldoputty]

So the same thing then. Just do it from different sets.

that was for romo but needed to be protected for multiple reasons.

dak is good in rollouts and tougher built.
he could go the rpo but just needed less predictability in the formations.
silly to run a rollout without counters when the defense adjusts.
these 4wr/5wr sets changes the situation because they may play to the strengths of dak.
combining rpo with zeke/dominant ol may be a game changer for the offense.
how many offenses boast of both a dominant rb and dominant ol.
the rams are the closest i can think of and our ol is better particularly if we draft a G in the 1st.

 

[mardwin]

Dak-friendly:
1. Upgrade OL
2. Hand ball to Zeke
3. Throw on play-action.

Don't forget to limit his "hot reads" and "audibles" on passing downs. He tends to get too cute acting like he's Payton Manning and looking more like Ryan Leaf.

 

[Bluefin]

Agree. So much can be done with what we have. It’s just getting the staff to do it.

I'm almost always going to lean on the optimistic side when it comes to the Cowboys, but the staff certainly appears to be making changes designed to compliment Dak Prescott this off-season.

As bad as the offense looked in the second half of 2017, some might forget the team averaged over 28 points per game in the first half of the season before Ezekiel Elliott's suspension. And it's NOT like the offense was hitting on all cylinders those first eight games, either.

There was plenty of room for improvement by the players and the coaching staff.

One area that gets brought up a lot is chunk plays.

It's very difficult to put together multiple 10+ play drives against NFL defenses.

Dak only had 34 pass plays of 20+ yards last season, good for just 21st in the NFL..

Interesting, Prescott only had 38 such plays in his remarkable rookie campaign, and actually ranked lower in a tie for 23rd place.

We've got to find ways to generate more explosive plays in the passing game.

 

[Section446]

To be fair, I had the same thought with Romo and sure enough, he wasn't good enough either.

What did Romo Friendly mean? I got the same conclusion as you from that one.