Sturm on McFadden

[JoeKing]

My friend is a patriots fan. And he thought Randle would be the starter. I had respect for McFadden since day 1.

I just don't think he is the answer nor do I think he fits here.

Do you at least agree he would be more appreciated somewhere else?

 

[Nightman]

He is obviously a backup, but my point is that he has value on the roster. And you can say he got his yards in garbage time, but the flip side of that is that he got his yards on a team where opponents could ignore the Dallas passing game and defend against the run.

If Dunbar is healthy I take him over DMC in a heartbeat. If not I try to sign someone similar to Dunbar.

I am not worried about DMC getting signed by another team. There will be 2 dozen guys like him on the WW.

 

[Maxmadden]

You don't buy a Lambo and drive a Buick for nights on the town

Doesn't matter what I would do. It won't be my decision.

 

[Maxmadden]

lmao, he won't

My point is it won't be Elliot. Dorsett didn't start and neither did Emmitt, but both played a key role in their rookie seasons.

 

[Jimmer]

Darren McFadden will be traded.

 

[Manwiththeplan]

My point is it won't be Elliot. Dorsett didn't start and neither did Emmitt, but both played a key role in their rookie seasons.

times have changed, barring an injury, it will be Elliott on the first series of day 1

 

[TheCount]

I think some of you guys are going to be real bummed when the Cowboys open the season with McFadden as the starter.

I have no idea what any of you guys have seen that makes you think this team likes to throw rookies to the wolves.

Zeke may very well be the starter shortly into the season, but great college blocker or not, this team is not going to trust Romo to a rookie.

 

[mattjames2010]

McFadden starts game 1.

Sorry to disappoint you.

If Zeke can't start day one he better be injured. If he can't beat out McFadden, he's already off to a bad start.

 

[mattjames2010]

I think some of you guys are going to be real bummed when the Cowboys open the season with McFadden as the starter.

I have no idea what any of you guys have seen that makes you think this team likes to throw rookies to the wolves.

Zeke may very well be the starter shortly into the season, but great college blocker or not, this team is not going to trust Romo to a rookie.

Throw rookies tot he wolves? Jesus Christ, this isn't the CB or QB position, if a top 5 RB can't step in right away, why the hell was he taken there?

He better be the dang starter week one or I have a lot of questions for Jones and our coaching staff.

 

[Jstopper]

Throw rookies tot he wolves? Jesus Christ, this isn't the CB or QB position, if a top 5 RB can't step in right away, why the hell was he taken there?

He better be the dang starter week one or I have a lot of questions for Jones and our coaching staff.

Emmitt didn't start his rookie year.

 

[jnday]

You make a valid point.

The issue would be who's the 3rd down back who has experience in pass protection and is more than capable in the receiving department?

Are they going to trust Elliott right outta the shoot? Plus you're looking an even larger workload for a rookie...

I would almost guarantee they won't trust Jackson.

And Morris played little as a 3rd down back with the Commanders... not too mention he doesn't have a sterling reputation as pass receiver.

I think McFadden is kept by default.

In addition if Elliott was injured for any length of time I think a combination of McFadden/Morris could hold the fort and at least not let the running game crumble.

I don't like seeing them pay $10 mil for the position this season– but it is what it is.

These coaches have not trusted rookies in the past. I think it has hurt the development of players at times.

 

[Maxmadden]

If Zeke can't start day one he better be injured. If he can't beat out McFadden, he's already off to a bad start.

It's not a question of wether he can beat someone else out. Everyone knows who is the best RB on the field, but he will have never taken an NFL snap and never faced the level of competition he will face.

It's no big deal, he will be up to speed by season end, and that is all that matters.

 

[Maxmadden]

These coaches have not trusted rookies in the past. I think it has hurt the development of players at times.

This goes back to the Landry days.

 

[mattjames2010]

Emmitt didn't start his rookie year.

I don't care. It's 2016, Elliott was a top 5 pick, we have a great offensive line in front of him. If he can't start, he's either an idiot, injured, or not as advertised.

 

[Jstopper]

I don't care. It's 2016, Elliott was a top 5 pick, we have a great offensive line in front of him. If he can't start, he's either an idiot, injured, or not as advertised.

So he is either an idiot, injured, or not as advertised if he doesn't start, when arguably the greatest rb in nfl history didn't start as a rookie? Lol put Madden down dude.

 

[darthseinfeld]

Emmitt didn't start his rookie year.

Emmitt started 15 of 16 games as a rookie and was OROY

 

[Aliencowboy]

http://sportsday.***BANNED-URL***/d...al-2015-cowboys-running-game-data-man-vs-zone

We've talked about this briefly before, but I think it is clear the Cowboys were trying to not repeat the same mistake they made in 2015 with McFadden, and yes ultimately as well as he did, I do think signing him was a mistake. Not because he isn't a decent player, but simply because he doesn't do extremely well in a zone blocking scheme. If we ran a man blocking scheme, I would probably say that McFadden probably could have been our starter and that drafting Zeke would have been the mistake.

But that isn't the reality that we live in and as most of you know I was on the Zeke bandwagon from the beginning when people were telling us all to stop talking about Zeke because we were never going to draft him. I digress, this isn't a post about bragging.

The point that is that the Cowboys are now, directly targeting running backs who have scheme fit. Alfred Morris comes from a ZBS and had an extremely high success level when Shanahan was their coach. Zeke also comes from a ZBS in Ohio State. Both players are tested within our scheme. This is why I somewhat question the drafting of Darius Jackson who scouting reports suggest has extremely limited vision. Someone mentioned Rod Smith potentially becoming a fullback, which would give him the best chance to stick with the team, but at 6'3, I find that isn't likely either.

I think when a lot of people suggested that the Cowboys didn't need a running back they didn't properly consider that McFadden didn't fit here. The argument was that he had over 1000 yards without Romo and Dez, and without starting from week 1. While there is a lot of truth to that, I feel like that argument doesn't tell the whole story and doesn't speak to the inconsistency of our running game last year.

Rather than try to make the most success out of putting a square peg in a circle hole, we made the right choice of getting circle pegs to fit the circle hole. This is going to pay dividends for our offense and give us a level of success surpassing that of 2014*. We just need to stay healthy. Speaking health, I think that is probably why they went with Morris over Foster who I think is a much better back but also older and more injury prone.

I wouldn't be surprised if McFadden doesn't make the team. Not because he isn't a really good running back, he is, but because he just doesn't fit here. Will anyone trade for him? I seriously doubt it, but I think he could go to a team that focuses on man running, has a good offensive line, and put in another really productive year for them and maybe it's worth it to keep him on the roster to prevent that from happening say for the Eagles or Giants.

I totally disagree with this assessment.

McFadden was the only sign of life on offense and the defense stacked the line to stop him. 4.6 ypc with no passing game at all. Given a whole season, he would have put up even bigger numbers. No doubt he will absolutely be on the roster and is a bargain.

I'd bet his avg per carry goes up with a whole year to get the system and be in shape and healthy while Shakeing off the rust and disillusionment of being a Raider.

Zeke by mid season will in all likelihood be the center piece but I expect McFadden to come in and gash teams in part time work. I think McFadden gets another contract after this year.

 

[TheCount]

Throw rookies tot he wolves? Jesus Christ, this isn't the CB or QB position, if a top 5 RB can't step in right away, why the hell was he taken there?

He better be the dang starter week one or I have a lot of questions for Jones and our coaching staff.

He'll see plenty of time, don't worry.

 

[mattjames2010]

So he is either an idiot, injured, or not as advertised if he doesn't start, when arguably the greatest rb in nfl history didn't start as a rookie? Lol put Madden down dude.

Madden? Again I ask, what the hell are you guys on about? You have on example dating all the way back to 1990. Here are a dozen examples for you

Tomlinson - Started day one
Lewis - Started day one
James - Started day one
Peterson - Started day one
Lynch - Started day one
Richardson - Started day one
Gurley - Didn't start in his first game due to coming off injury, started week after and tore it up

Here you are, going all the way back to 1990 to show an exception. There is absolutely no reason to not have Zeke start day one unless he's not as advertised. His game film displays he should, his football IQ shows he should be intelligent enough to get himself ready in the offseason. If he can't, he was falsely advertised.

Is Zeke on the level of the guys I listed or not? Make up your minds. Those RBs came in the last 16 years, started behind worse offensive lines, and here you are talking like being disappointed a top 5 RB can't start immediately is ridiculous.

 

[darthseinfeld]

Madden? Again I ask, what the hell are you guys on about? You have on example dating all the way back to 1990. Here are a dozen examples for you

Tomlinson - Started day one
Lewis - Started day one
James - Started day one
Peterson - Started day one
Lynch - Started day one
Richardson - Started day one
Gurley - Didn't start in his first game due to coming off injury, started week after and tore it up

Here you are, going all the way back to 1990 to show an exception. There is absolutely no reason to not have Zeke start day one unless he's not as advertised. His game film displays he should, his football IQ shows he should be intelligent enough to get himself ready in the offseason with the playoff. If he can't, he was falsely advertised.

Is Zeke on the level of the guys I listed or not? Make up your minds. Those RBs came in the last 16 years, started behind worse offensive lines, and here you are talking like being disappointed a top 5 RB can't start immediately is ridiculous.

Dont forget Emmitt. He started as a rookie...