Prime Troy AIkman on the 2006-2010 Dallas Cowboys

[ABQCOWBOY]

Here is a video of Troy at UCLA. Maybe even watch this short clip without sound. Just pay attention to his mobility when he was younger. The offense he played in, in Dallas, asked him to be very precise in his drops and in his delivery. Never asked him to use any wasted motion so you never really saw his ability to move in the pocket or scramble outside containment much. Only when the play completely broke down did you see this and then, more times then not, Troy was really only getting hit and protecting the ball. The timing offense itself, the fact that it required very precise movement and that it was predicated on a 3 or 5 step drop and release, waiting for the last second to deliver the ball, never rally allowed for Troy to use his mobility much. Later in his career, when the offense had changed and the personnel had declined, Troy was forced to scramble more but by then, his running skills has also declined so the perception is often of a QB who could not move well, which is completely inaccurate. However, when he was young, he absolutely had that ability to move in the pocket or escape the rush.

[youtube]-05M_LFw30c[/youtube]

 

[PoetTree]

Here is a video of Troy at UCLA. Maybe even watch this short clip without sound. Just pay attention to his mobility when he was younger. The offense he played in, in Dallas, asked him to be very precise in his drops and in his delivery. Never asked him to use any wasted motion so you never really saw his ability to move in the pocket or scramble outside containment much. Only when the play completely broke down did you see this and then, more times then not, Troy was really only getting hit and protecting the ball. The timing offense itself, the fact that it required very precise movement and that it was predicated on a 3 or 5 step drop and release, waiting for the last second to deliver the ball, never rally allowed for Troy to use his mobility much. Later in his career, when the offense had changed and the personnel had declined, Troy was forced to scramble more but by then, his running skills has also declined so the perception is often of a QB who could not move well, which is completely inaccurate. However, when he was young, he absolutely had that ability to move in the pocket or escape the rush.

[youtube]-05M_LFw30c[/youtube]

Nice post. People do underestimate the pure athlete Troy was. I don't remember what year, but Troy Aikman won the quarterback mobility & accuracy competition at a Pro-Bowl against, among others, Steve Young. The competition put QBs through a speed & agility gauntlet and gauged their ability to throw accurately on the run. Steve Young, obviously, was vaunted for his ability in those departments. Troy Aikman won the competition hands-down.

The fact that he had such a good offensive line and a profound running game, which means he wasn't asked to use those skills as much as Steve Young and/or Romo, results in people not believing he was so skilled in those areas. But anyone who watched his career know full well what a complete package he was.

A Hall of Famer, and in my estimation, one of the most underrated players in NFL history...

 

[cowboyschmps3]

There is no way and yeah I think Romo would go 16-0,way better team with everything those 06-10 teams didn't have lol

 

[Miller]

I'm finding these threads are getting more and more ridiculous when it comes to how people see these teams.

1) If Troy played now, we wouldn't be running the offense we have. Aikman was one of the most accurate passers around. He was accurate vs man coverage that allowed DBs to maul people. He would be even better against the weak hands off coverage they have now. We would probably be running a quick hitting West Coast type offense or a hurry up to take advantage of his smarts and accuracy.

2) Aikman could run. Let's not act like he was immobile like Marino. Late in his career he had some issues but he ran well early on. I mean the guy was recruited to Oklahoma before he got to UCLA.

3) Aikman with the better teams we had would have done better in the playoffs. No mistakes in the playoffs is what he was all about.

I just think a lot of this is conjecture. Romo on those 90s teams wouldn't be as good IMHO because the coverage was tougher with the DBs and you needed accuracy and mistake free ball to win in games vs the 49ers and Packers. I think Romo's propensity to force some throws and to not be as accurate would hurt him. That is where Aikman made the HOF..those games. I'm not sure why people discount so much what Aikman did. You can have a line, Irvin and Emmitt and STILL havce to make the throws in big games in tight windows. It's not like anyone could do that.