Scott Linehan on Moore and Rush

[bsbellomy]

Linehan and Wilson are the primary reasons.

Scouts didn't like Dak, coaches loved him. That is why Dak is a Cowboy.

I wonder how long it took Patriot fans to not take cheap shots at their coaches for waiting so long to pick Brady...I doubt he was the top rated QB on their board...they simply waited to draft him until it made sense on their draft board, like the Cowboys did.

If not for the Broncos Paxton Lynch would be a Cowboy. If not for the Raiders Connor Cook would be a cowboy. Everything else is secondary to that.

 

[Idgit]

If not for the Broncos Paxton Lynch would be a Cowboy. If not for the Raiders Connor Cook would be a cowboy. Everything else is secondary to that.

I'd actually say the fact that we did in fact draft Dak is primary, and that we reportedly looked at drafting other QBs but didn't end up doing it is secondary to that. Since drafting Dak had a more obvious impact on the roster than almost drafting Lynch or Cook.

 

[robjay04]

If not for the Broncos Paxton Lynch would be a Cowboy. If not for the Raiders Connor Cook would be a cowboy. Everything else is secondary to that.

If the Cowboys valued either of those QBs enough, they would've ponied up the resources to land them.

They didn't think either of them were worth it.

 

[Roadtrip635]

If we end up losing Coop due to Linehan's unnatural love for Moore, I never want to hear any BS from this coaching staff about competition, or guys earning their spot etc. It will be just as hollow as the RKG thing has become.

 

[Bullflop]

Linehan's impression of Kellen Moore is so wildly jaded, it boggles my mind. How a guy who manages to show such good judgment when making offensive playcalls can be so extremely blind about Moore's performance is insane. He seemingly must drink blue kool aid and wear rose colored glasses when gazing in Moore's direction. His judgment of Moore to be highly productive just seems foolhardy to me. Evidently, man-love bonding can most assuredly be a mind-blowing experience.

 

[MileyDancer]

And that's why he will be on the team.

Linehan is probably the reason we have Dak so should we give him a pass?

Yes. If Dak goes down, it doesn't matter who is at QB. We're not winning much.

 

[Bullflop]

Yes. If Dak goes down, it doesn't matter who is at QB. We're not winning much.

I can easily picture where that would apply with Kellen steering the ship -- not nearly so much if Rush were to take the wheel.

 

[Ranching]

Linehan's offense is largely responsible for 13 & 3 last year. Granted, he had alot of help from the additions of Dak and Elliott, but someone had to quickly tailor this offense to their strengths and based on title, we have to assume that was Linehan...though, I'm sure Garrett also had a hand in that.

With that said, he has certainly earned a pass, given the fact that the backup QB will likely not see the field often if at all in the upcoming season, so the issue is not as important as say a starting position. But given the woes this team has had in recent history with the backup position, if they keep Kellen over Rush, as I said before, that move alone will certainly earn simultaneous scrutiny from fans and media alike.

I was a coach for a long time. Believe me, Linehans offense was good last year because of his players, not his play calling. As much as I would love to take credit for my successes as a head coach, I understand that my teams were better, when we had better players. You can't win the Kentucky derby with a mule.

 

[robjay04]

Yes. If Dak goes down, it doesn't matter who is at QB. We're not winning much.

I do believe that if Dak misses anything longer than a month or if he goes down late in the season...we will place some phone calls around to some recently retired players...

 

[haleyrules]

I can easily picture where that would apply with Kellen steering the ship -- not nearly so much if Rush were to take the wheel.

Yeah. The Cowboy offense can survive. Its a well balanced attack with a great OL so it could well survive with an average QB.

 

[jobberone]

Need these next two games before arriving at conclusions.

 

[Bullflop]

Yeah. The Cowboy offense can survive. Its a well balanced attack with a great OL so it could well survive with an average QB.

I'm hoping Rush continues to shine as he has in the preseason. He may have an average arm but compared to Moore, it's terrific. Seriously, I think if Cooper Rush has the overall stuff to do this well as a rookie, I can't help but be optimistic for his future. Others like Moore, Cassel and Weeden have performed miserably with much the same offensive support that Rush has. I do think he's good but there's no doubt he'll be tested further before he's likely to win over the #2 spot. I think he stands a real shot to be that guy next year, if not this one.

 

[Idgit]

I'm hoping Rush continues to shine as he has in the preseason. He may have an average arm but compared to Moore, it's terrific. Seriously, I think if Cooper Rush has the overall stuff to do this well as a rookie, I can't help but be optimistic for his future. Others like Moore, Cassel and Weeden have performed miserably with much the same offensive support that Rush has. I do think he's good but there's no doubt he'll be tested further before he's likely to win over the #2 spot. I think he stands a real shot to be that guy next year, if not this one.

We've got him for three years, and then an RFA season after that. It'd be amazing if the guy can play well against the #1s and #2s as a rookie.

 

[dfense]

If you've watched enough preseason football in your life, you'd realize there are a lot of QB's who look pretty good against the most vanilla 3rd and 4th string defenses.

I'll give Linehan the benefit of the doubt. His track record with QB's the last two years is pretty good.

 

[jday]

I was a coach for a long time. Believe me, Linehans offense was good last year because of his players, not his play calling. As much as I would love to take credit for my successes as a head coach, I understand that my teams were better, when we had better players. You can't win the Kentucky derby with a mule.

Your well versed, I think, in my ideal scenario, coach. My ideal scenario would be to keep Rush and Dak and move on from the rest. But I've never been paid a dime to scout or coach. Meanwhile, Linehan is likely earning millions for his knowledge, and as such, every decision he makes, in a sense, is him putting his money where his mouth is. It's really hard to argue with a guy who backs up his decisions with the knowledge that he could be losing millions if he's wrong.

For that reason, I try to be cautious in my criticism of the coaches. I certainly don't want to give off the impression that I think I know more...because I don't. You may have noticed that at times I will say, "in my limited opinion." I do that to pay respects to the people who 1. are paid for their opinion and 2. have access to everything I don't...which pretty much extends to everything beyond the actual games. Granted, I'll find the occasional tweet or clip of the practices the media has access to, but even that is not enough to formulate a fair opinion as compared to that of Linehan's.

All of that said and confessed, I am seriously struggling with the prospect of the Cowboys keeping Moore. At this point, based on what we have seen in 3 games so far, Rush is the clear winner of the QB battle; if there really is one. I said earlier in this same thread that if they end up keeping both Moore and Rush, I'll get over it. But, initially, I'll be pretty upset. After all, in my mind, Moore still being on this team will mean one thing: a player that was better at their craft than Kellen is at his was cut.

 

[Ranching]

Agreed, Moore should be cut. Coaches are notorious for being loyal and stubborn. This might be the case with Linehan. This is where, Garrett and the FO need to step in and do what is right.

 

[Ranching]

If you've watched enough preseason football in your life, you'd realize there are a lot of QB's who look pretty good against the most vanilla 3rd and 4th string defenses.

I'll give Linehan the benefit of the doubt. His track record with QB's the last two years is pretty good.

Yeah, He did a great job with Cassell and Weeden. Lol

 

[jday]

Agreed, Moore should be cut. Coaches are notorious for being loyal and stubborn. This might be the case with Linehan. This is where, Garrett and the FO need to step in and do what is right.

Agreed. I do worry about that aspect of the conversation. Belief can be a double-edged sword. I suspect Linehan, despite all that we have seen, truly believes in Kellen. And really, I'm sure you will agree, part of being a successful coach is having that ability to have belief in your players even when you stand alone. That's an important ingredient to success, I think. But the big question is how does he weight what he sees to supplement his belief?

Based on reports I'm hearing and reading, Kellen plays really well in practice. Transversely, Rush, for some reason, seems to struggle. But when the big lights come on, a completely opposite narrative plays out. And since these games don't count, both are facing largely vanilla defenses, and the talent mix is all over the page, does that even the credence Linehan gives based on what he sees between practice and games?

Because if this was the regular season, I'm not even sure over-belief in Kellen would save him.

 

[Ranching]

Agreed. I do worry about that aspect of the conversation. Belief can be a double-edged sword. I suspect Linehan, despite all that we have seen, truly believes in Kellen. And really, I'm sure you will agree, part of being a successful coach is having that ability to have belief in your players even when you stand alone. That's an important ingredient to success, I think. But the big question is how does he weight what he sees to supplement his belief?

Based on reports I'm hearing and reading, Kellen plays really well in practice. Transversely, Rush, for some reason, seems to struggle. But when the big lights come on, a completely opposite narrative plays out. And since these games don't count, both are facing largely vanilla defenses, and the talent mix is all over the page, does that even the credence Linehan gives based on what he sees between practice and games?

Because if this was the regular season, I'm not even sure over-belief in Kellen would save him.

Assistants get paid to coach, the head coach needs to make the final decision. I've been critical of Garrett in the past for not having the cajones to overrule Linehans play calling, let's see if he has them to get this right.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

Linehan's impression of Kellen Moore is so wildly jaded, it boggles my mind. How a guy who manages to show such good judgment when making offensive playcalls can be so extremely blind about Moore's performance is insane. He seemingly must drink blue kool aid and wear rose colored glasses when gazing in Moore's direction. His judgment of Moore to be highly productive just seems foolhardy to me. Evidently, man-love bonding can most assuredly be a mind-blowing experience.

Just so you'll know ..........there's an article out there quoting Linehan saying if he ever had any doubt about Moore's talent as backup QB, the last 2015 game of the season against the Commanders ( where he passed for over 400 yards ) showed him everything he needed to know. Another thing to remember, if Moore is playing for an injured Dak Prescott, we probably toss out only 25-30% of the playbook due to his physical limitations, where as with Rush we probably lose 60-70% coz of inexperience.