Prime Troy AIkman on the 2006-2010 Dallas Cowboys

[SWG9]

Please, Troy took way more hits than Tony ever has. Tony wouldn't have survived those early years when the Eagles among others blasted Troy time after time after time. The rules protecting QBs these days makes a huge difference.

I don't see why the question is so dumb. Troy was an all-time great. Tony, as fortunate as we are to have him, isn't as good. Not even close, really.

Thank you.

When Romo shows the ability to stand in the pocket for an extra half second -- knowing that he's going to take a big hit -- in order to deliver the ball accurately, we can have this conversation.

 

[SDCowboy]

Thank you.

When Romo shows the ability to stand in the pocket for an extra half second -- knowing that he's going to take a big hit -- in order to deliver the ball accurately, we can have this conversation.

Have you ever actually watched Romo play?

 

[Gameover]

Have you ever actually watched Romo play?

Yes!!

 

[SDCowboy]

Yes!!

Nobody asked you, but congrats.

 

[Gameover]

Nobody asked you, but congrats.

It's been an unfortunate experience!

I'm only half joking!

 

[Aven8]

Nope.

Why is so hard for people to comprehend? It's not about our QB.

It's about the lame defense, ST's play, and role players haven't been good enough.

Oh, and our coaching staffs have sucked since Big Bill left. That's probably our biggest detriment to the team IMO. Jerry has fooled around with lousy coaches Romo's entire career.

 

[jrumann59]

Aikman would have retired after 2006 due to multiple concussions

 

[jrumann59]

I think the results would have been largely the same. I'm going to assume that we wouldn't run the same offense for Troy and that by "prime" Troy I'm getting the still pretty good athlete with high durability version. Think it's kinda silly to just think Troy would just get killed every week. He wasn't THAT immobile.

Having said that, Troy (and the Boys) never really did squat after the Super Bowls, when they still had enough talent to get to the playoffs but had obviously declined. You would have thought this was a good time for a HOF QB to carry the team on his back, but Troy mostly sucked horribly (2 TDs and 8 INTs in playoff games after the last Bowl). For those who think Troy would have single-handedly won those season enders that Romo couldn't (without the benefit of a HOF RB, WR and G), there's little evidence to support it.

Troys abilities didn't erode but I think he was shell shocked through the decline of the OL, losing Big E hurt, Stepnoski was shell of his pro bowl self, Allen was losing a step, Nate was losing 2 steps, Tunei OD'd. Troy was playing behind rookie OL like Flozell, Solomon Page, while flozell as good he was on a line declining fast with only many has beens and never was guys.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

On the 2007 team there would have been a chance. Any of of those other years though probably nothing more than what the team was already due to subpar play on either the o-line or the defense.

I shudder to even think how punch drunk Aikman would have been with concussions from the piss poor o-line play from 09 on.

 

[Risen Star]

Have you ever actually watched Romo play?

I've seen Romo do that too many times to count.

 

[StarBoyz83]

Aikman was behind the best oline to ever play plus he wasnt near the athlete romo is! Absolutely not and would of had worse records.

 

[Aven8]

I will add that it would have been fun to see Troy play with these guys. Can you imagine the love with TO, or what he would have done if they ran the wrong routes?

Still Troy had great coaching, where Tony hasn't had since Big Bill.

 

[punchnjudy]

A young Aikman would have been fine behind the lines we had in '06 and '07. He didn't become a statue until later in his career. Wouldn't have survived all those years against philly and ny had he been one.

And, actually, Troy would have scored against Seattle on that play (not that he would have been in there). In his early years, he was a faster runner than Tony, who, despite being elusive, is very slow.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Oen day people will realize that every player that plays on the field is important. It's not just defense or trench players. We have seen how long snappers and kickers can hamstring your team.

It's not just the defense or just the trench players and there is no easy quick fix.

 

[jobberone]

No. I actually think he'd have done worse. He didn't have the ability to escape like Tony and he'd have killed his receivers not running their routes properly. You can't run a timing offense without good receivers. He'd love Witten though. He was a better leader by far IMO.

 

[DallasDomination]

If Aikman got to the playoffs with any of those teams I like his chances to win more than one game.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Aikman was behind the best oline to ever play plus he wasnt near the athlete romo is! Absolutely not and would of had worse records.

Not sure I agree with this. Aikman was every bit the athlete and probably superior to Romo when he first came out of UCLA. I don't know how may remember Aikman before the Cowboys were good but when Aikman 1st came out, he could run, he could throw, his release was lightning quick and he was deadly accurate. When Troy first came to Dallas, the OL was worse then what we have now. The entire team, top to bottom, was worse.

The reality is that if Aikman were playing from 2006 to 2010, the entire team would be different. The offense would be different, decisions made would be different, everything would be different. You can't really know what the results would be but I will say this. Troy Aikman was a 1st ballot HOF QB. Tony Romo is not even a point of discussion in that conversation at this point in his career. Perhaps one day he might be in the conversation but at this point, he's not.

Aikman was more like Luck, IMO, then he was Manning in his physical attributes.

 

[Illini88228]

Thank you.

When Romo shows the ability to stand in the pocket for an extra half second -- knowing that he's going to take a big hit -- in order to deliver the ball accurately, we can have this conversation.

Romo does this all the time. In fact, he'd probably be better off if he took fewer hits and gave up on more plays.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

No. I actually think he'd have done worse. He didn't have the ability to escape like Tony and he'd have killed his receivers not running their routes properly. You can't run a timing offense without good receivers. He'd love Witten though. He was a better leader by far IMO.

.

It's an interesting discussion. We always assume that if Troy played today, he would be running a Norv Turner timing offense and he might. He was certainly capable of doing that, Lord knows. However, the NFL has changed so much, it is not necessarily a given that he would have been in a timing offense. In those days, the timing offense was effective because of how physical defenses could be with receivers. Now, in a day and age when you can't be physical with WRs, you don't really need to run a timing offense. Aikman could really throw that ball. If he were free to play in an open offense, who knows what numbers he could have put up or what style of offense he would have played in. I feel like, at least to a certain extent, Troy was limited to what kind of Offense he played in because of the physical nature of the game then, the talent level available to the Cowboys on Offense and his natural abilities. He could do much more but because of his abilities to run that timing offense, it limited him. I'm not sure that those same limitations would be applicable on this current Cowboys team.

You also figure that he would not have had Emmitt so the Cowboys would probably rely more on Aikmans skills then the teams of the 90s. Those OLs were dominating run blocking units but they really were not asked to pass block nearly as much as the current OLs. Because we ran that timing offense, the OLs really didn't have to hold blocks nearly as long as they do today. Yeah, Romo has the ability to float around in the pocket but Troy had the ability to get that ball out accurately and on a rope in a blink, literally. He could make plays work that Romo could not because the velocity on his ball was such that he could get it there before DBs could react. Romo can't do that. He has to rely more on receivers creating space and getting open. That means that the actual receivers have to be able to run better routes. Irvin was a great WR but other then him, the Cowboys really didn't have great WRs. If Troy had the skills of the WRs we have on the team today, imagine what he could have done. Romo, IMO, has better WRs by far then did Troy at any point in his career.

I really do wonder how good Aikman could have been if he played in this offense?

 

[PoetTree]

I think we probably do, yeah. The year our offense was incredible (with TO) and we lost to the Giants in the playoffs, we were so obviously ill-prepared for that game. Troy was like a coach on the field. A damned good one. Troy was probably the #1 reason we won the Superbowl in '95 with Barry Switzer at the helm. He took the team on his back that year and provided the leadership that was missing on the sidelines. He would have done the same for the über-talented Wade Phillips teams, and I don't think he lets us come out so flat for that Giants game, and we'd have won.

Tony Romo is a tremendous talent at the quarterback position.

Troy Aikman... he will never be.