Steele Is Broken, so what now?

[fivetwos]

Jerry loves the Genius Jerry stories, and will pay heavily to make them seem true.

He also thinks that paying a player gives them incentive to play better, when generally the opposite is true.

Steele has a top of the line work ethic though, and it’s not about that in this case.

It’s about a player who isn’t quite as talented as they wanted to believe, and a knee injury has apparently slowed him down a tick from there.

 

[noshame]

The last two OL coaches have not panned out under McCarthy.

And the Solari hire is looking even worse than Joe Philibin.
So I no longer trust McCarthy in that OL coach search anymore.

I just have a slight feeling. Quinn will be picking the next OL coach.

 

[quickccc]

I admit I was never a fan of Philbin going back to his Miami days. However, I thought here just as an O-Line coach we saw some growth from Biadasz and Steele, and players like Smith(Tyron) and Martin kept up at their high level of play. Seemed like Philbin didn't want to rock the boat in terms of changing up technique aspects such as hand/footwork like Alexander did.

So, I have to say I was concerned he wasn't re-signed and they went in another direction for a coach that not also ran different schemes but also was a bit more hands on for technique.

I wasn't the biggest fan of Philibin when i heard he was not fond of drafting Tyler Smith,.. then comes the far too late foresight that Conner Williams was a much better player as a center than what he was as an LG.

I never heard about any complains of Philibin's coaching vs the dreadful Paul Alexander - as you said, he was actually very pivot in development of Steele. And Tyler Biadasz was day-night different after last year.

More so, Pollard was popping thru lanes and cracks en route to big plash plays and home run TDs
with Philibin's OL unit

I still wonder if it was more " philosophical " differences vs management that doomed Philibin than what he
graded out as an OL coach. Joe P was part of that surprising coach- cut by the club that also included
George Edwards, Leon Lett.

 

[StarOfGlory]

We can't keep sending him out there every week when he is consistently dragging this line down. At this point he's probably the lowest graded RT in the league. So what should the plan be? Clearly Steele is still not 100% and needs some time to rest. Or maybe this is his 100% now and it's time for a more permanent change?

Can Richards play RT any worse than Steele right now? This seems like the least disruptive option?

Should we move Tyron to RT and put Richards at LT?

Move Tyler to LT, Tyron to RT and Bass to LG?

Any FAs out there? That can come play RT (or LG to give us some flexibility)

Thoughts?

Someone just doesn't forget how to play football. I wonder how much of this is related to O-line coaching. Perhaps he is not fully recovered from his injury.

 

[John813]

I wasn't the biggest fan of Philibin when i heard he was not fond of drafting Tyler Smith,.. then comes the far too late foresight that Conner Williams was a much better player as a center than what he was as an LG.

I never heard about any complains of Philibin's coaching vs the dreadful Paul Alexander - as you said, he was actually very pivot in development of Steele. And Tyler Biadasz was day-night different after last year.

More so, Pollard was popping thru lanes and cracks en route to big plash plays and home run TDs
with Philibin's OL unit

I still wonder if it was more " philosophical " differences vs management that doomed Philibin than what he
graded out as an OL coach. Joe P was part of that surprising coach- cut by the club that also included
George Edwards, Leon Lett.

I agree. It seemed based off the rumor mill he wasn't a fan of Smith, but to his credit, unless it was all Smith, Tyler looked good to start the year at Left Tackle as a raw rookie with little practice time.
Yea, definitely was surprising that he was not retained along with the other two. To me consistency is key, and it's not like the Offensive Line was regressing under Philbin.

Just seems more than a coincidence that the run game is poor among all the backs even though on paper it's a better starting 5 than last year(minus a healthier Steele) without Zeke.

 

[Coogiguy03]

Gotta wonder if Martin's struggles are tied to the guy to his right

Could be!

 

[conner01]

Same old story eh? Guy gets paid and forgets how to play football.

That might be it. It might be physical because he is coming off an injury. What ever it is they got to figure it out

 

[conner01]

Jerry’s fault for extending him so let Jerry reap what he sows. Maybe in the offseason, get a better RT and see if he can slide over to LG

Extending him was logical. He was coming off two fraught really good seasons

 

[conner01]

You guys are crazy. The guy is coming off a major injury. Just because he can play doesn't mean it will be at a high level. I bet you are all going to lose your mind when Diggs play falls off next year. You'll all say it's because he got paid and ignore the catastrophic knee injury he suffered.

If it’s physical that’s on the staff. I would have taken him out at some point because it was obvious he wasn’t capable of handling the position

 

[plasticman]

he's coming off an acl injury, don't think hes fully back.

The Cowboys management knew this, how could they not?

Their reaction to Steele's recovery process, losing McGovern and Tyron's ongoing injury issues bordered on criminal neglect. The same goes for their issues at the RB position. Their lack of a response to real issues on offense makes it one dimensional. All this talk about Dak being in a busdriver role and the running game being emphasized more is nothing more than that.....talk.

 

[conner01]

Maybe give Waletzko a shot. If he ever gets back from IR.

Just put Edoga there. He’s the backup and has play fairly solid when in the games. Waletzko may be a future option but not now

 

[conner01]

Maybe we move Tyler Smith over there? We can’t keep Steele there. He’s going to get the qb killed.

Why not just put his backup in and only have one change? Part of the issue with the oline is lack of playing time together. The least amount of change seems to me to be the best option. Edoga came in for a couple snaps though I didn’t even notice. But obviously he was active and couldn’t have been any worse. He’s played pretty decent when he’s played

 

[Tabascocat]

Extending him was logical. He was coming off two fraught really good seasons

Logical? He was also coming off a torn ACL/MCL.

 

[Robster8989]

What is the usual time of recovery for a knee injury such as Steele had?

How long was it before he started playing again?

Do any of you truly believe he lost his skill set in pass rush because he got paid? Are you really that obtuse?

Or could it be that he is still in the time frame of healing from this injury, and will not return to his former self until some time next season?

If that is the case, how would you characterize the vilification of Steele by the fans here?

Childish? Pouting? Name calling? Looking for something to ease the hurt feelings because of a loss?

And what steps would a tuned-in GM have done back in the off season coming up to the draft to ensure his aging offensive line would be more productive?

And with an offensive line that protects better, how would that aid to the passing game, and perhaps the running attack?

Maybe your maligning Steele would be bettered served if you pointed your sulking toward the two guy who deserves your ire.

Great post.
Steele tore his ACL in mid December last year, does it really surprise anyone that he is not 100%?
Don't we always hear how our players make these remarkably quick recoveries from major injuries? Must be the water in Frisco, lol.
The real questions should be why did we give an injured player a contract like that, and why did we not plan better for the position?

I like Steele a lot. Great story. Undrafted FA makes it big. He was really good last year (but let's not act as if he was a Pro Bowl caliber player, he was not.) Great run blocker and learning to be at least servicable as a pass blocker.
We controlled his rights with the tender, and no other team really looked at him (probably due to the injury), but Jerry rushes out and gives him a huge extension. Now knowing Jerry, do you think that may have had something to do with his own ego?

Take a critical look at the player. He's good, and will likley get better, but he had a MAJOR knee injury. Maybe you see how he looks after the injury before the big extension? Also, a real GM would have planned for Steele to be limited. We had 2 Tackles, one coming off a major injury in Dec, and the other is unable to stay on the field for years now. Now we did have Tyler Smith, but what else? Ball? Walezko? And we signed Edoga, another guy with upside but always seems to be injured, plus he was needed inside because we let a starting G go and didn't replace him in the draft like we should have.

This organization lacks accountability, because our owner thinks he knows everything. A real GM would have looked at the situation more critically and objectively (knowing his job is on the line). Like the player, even admire the player, but let's see how he looks after such a major injury before we unecessarilly rush out and give him a huge extention. It's the prudent move. And by all means plan for the player to be limited. We just saw the Jags get a starting G from the Vikings for a 6th rounder. Could we have used Ezra Cleveland? Then Edoga could be your swing T. My best guess is this team will lose in the playoffs because it can't control the LOS, and the lack of depth at OL is the main reason for that. We played a good game against the Eagles, had a chance to win a big game on their field, but Jerry's hubris came back to bite us in the *** because Steele is not ready to be on the field and got steamrolled by the Eagles Edge guys at critical moments.

 

[Creeper]

This is a really tough situation for the Cowboys. First, they just paid him a huge contract so he has to work out for them. Then, he is reportedly a very hard worker who does all the right things. He is coming off an injury and what we do not know is how much has he recovered. He was never a great pass blocker, but he was adequate. Now he is horrible. But if he just needs a year to recover and regain the straign and mobility in his leg then we don't want to destroy him lentally, like they did with Chaz Green.

What concerns me about Steele is not just his pass blocker. He was a road grader in the run game last year. I saw him bulldoze Flether Cox a few times and that is no easy task. This year he is not moving anyone. We have to remember that after knee surgery a player is unable to work out his legs and his muscles atrophy. It takes time to rebuild the strength in the leg. If Steele can come back next year as strong as he was in 2022 then we want him back.

The question is can they give him some help? Can they use a TE to make sure the Edge guys don't out-flank Steele to the outside? I think benching him might be bad for him mentally. But I don't know the player.

 

[Mr_437]

You put Steele out there and give him help, Dallas only throws to 2 receivers anyway.

 

[Rayman70]

I think hes lacking confidence and isnt 100%. He is what he is. Next year he should be just fine. That was a major injury he had. Erik Williams isn't waking thru that door guys, he is the starter at RT barring a major setback.

 

[G2]

You put Steele out there and give him help, Dallas only throws to 2 receivers anyway.

I can remember one time they brought help to the right side, I don't think there were many.

 

[aikemirv]

I don't think we need to write him off but it's obvious he's struggling either mentally or physically. He needs some time on the pine to either get his body or his mind right.

I think he function adequately for the first 3 qtrs. It looked to me he got tired in the 4th. That's when the worst breakdowns happenned. His knee is probably just not really 100%

 

[gtb1943]

Haha maybe but then who helps Biadasz

Zach can only help one at a time. Tyler seems to be learning how to help TB on his side; but when the Center and RT both need help at the same time that really puts the O in a bind