The Great Running Back Debate

[Jenky]

RBBC is not superior in any way. A RB has to get in the flow of the game to be at his best. RBBC can not set the tone of an offense either . This is not a direct quote, but it is close to comments made by Emmitt and other great RBs. I agree with them 100%.

I agree. It's debatable to which is better, but I will always be a fan of the workhorse for the reasons stated.

 

[jday]

RBBC is not superior in any way. A RB has to get in the flow of the game to be at his best. RBBC can not set the tone of an offense either . This is not a direct quote, but it is close to comments made by Emmitt and other great RBs. I agree with them 100%.

The other issue of RBBC is the fact that it shows your offense's hand. The Cowboys maintained the element of surprise by sticking with Murray in the backfield. In the upcoming season, the Cowboys playbook will be narrowed down quite a bit based on who is lining up behind Romo...and you can bet the opposing defenses will be well schooled on what to expect from the running back that is in the game.

 

[Dave_in-NC]

We don't have a bell cow RB on the roster. Have to wonder about Rundles intelligence. Mcffaden won't suddenly become a great back.
I'm pinning my hopes we are still searching. I don't want to revert to a pass happy team.

 

[jday]

We don't have a bell cow RB on the roster. Have to wonder about Rundles intelligence. Mcffaden won't suddenly become a great back.
I'm pinning my hopes we are still searching. I don't want to revert to a pass happy team.

To be honest, I would not be surprised at all if McFadden of a sudden found his legs so to speak behind the Cowboys offensive line. Not that I'm willing to bet the Cowboys season on it...hence the OP.

 

[Idgit]

This is madness. Randle the underwear and cologne thief? Haha.... Mcfadden, although a proven loser in Oakland will be our starter here unless we get AP. Randle will get him water on the sidelines and then get a carry here an there.

He wasn't a thief when they drafted him. At the time, they had decided (rightly) that the RB position had been devalued, and that it had a hard age cap. It's more effective to draft young players who can fit your system and plug them in and let them walk after that rookie contract than it is to either draft them high or resign them at huge premiums. So this has been in the works for two years already. The only complicating factor is the knuckleheadedness from Randle, as you point out.

McFadden's a third down back because he can block and because they have liked him from afar for a while. He's barely clearing more than the vet minimum. It should be exceedingly obvious what the club thinks and what their level of commitment to him is.

 

[Idgit]

The Cowboys have clearly placed their confidence in one of them, but I'm not leaning towards Randle considering his off-the-field issues. For me, it's between Ryan Williams and McFadden.

I like Williams the best, personally. But they just always seem to throw him in as an afterthought when they're talking about the backs. McFadden might be the plan I guess. Or he might change the plan, more likely. I still believe Randle was the idea two years ago, and I don't see anything in his performance to indicate that's changed other than the off the field stuff.

 

[jday]

He wasn't a thief when they drafted him. At the time, they had decided (rightly) that the RB position had been devalued, and that it had a hard age cap. It's more effective to draft young players who can fit your system and plug them in and let them walk after that rookie contract than it is to either draft them high or resign them at huge premiums. So this has been in the works for two years already. The only complicating factor is the knuckleheadedness from Randle, as you point out.

McFadden's a third down back because he can block and because they have liked him from afar for a while. He's barely clearing more than the vet minimum. It should be exceedingly obvious what the club thinks and what their level of commitment to him is.

I wouldn't necessarily dismiss McFadden as the starter simply because they were able to land him at a discount. And while the Cowboys could not have known what would transpire in the aftermath of drafting Randle, I doubt seriously they are going to simply hand him the starting job unless he is head and shoulders the best player for the job or injuries leave him and Dunbar as the last two running backs standing after training camp.

 

[Texas_Pete]

Murray was successful in college
Randle was MORE successful in college
Murray was successful for a season in the NFL
Randle has not been given his shot yet.

We will see.

Murray broke a lot of OU rushing records and scored the most TDs in their history. I don't think Randle had more college success than Murray did.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

RBBC is not superior in any way. A RB has to get in the flow of the game to be at his best. RBBC can not set the tone of an offense either . This is not a direct quote, but it is close to comments made by Emmitt and other great RBs. I agree with them 100%.

Dio you have statistical evidence that quantifies "getting into the flow of the game?"

More likely than not chunk yardage is just more available in the 4th as defenses wear down. Not some magical ability for RBs to suddenly see holes in the 4th that weren't there in the 1st.

 

[jday]

I like Williams the best, personally. But they just always seem to throw him in as an afterthought when they're talking about the backs. McFadden might be the plan I guess. Or he might change the plan, more likely. I still believe Randle was the idea two years ago, and I don't see anything in his performance to indicate that's changed other than the off the field stuff.

It is shaping up to be the position battle of the century for the Cowboys. I doubt seriously a position battle will rival what is about to transpire come training camp.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

RB is the one plug & play spot on the offense.

There's no doubt in my mind that if a back shows stinkiness then he'll be gone during training camp.

And there will be several acceptable backs out there as free agents who can come in and contribute.

 

[thisiscowboyscountry]

Actually, I think Chip made the same mistake Jerry Jones is/was notorious for: Overpaying an aging veteran for what they have done and not what they are going to do. But I could be wrong.

Its not like Murray was 30, but I dont think Murray will ever be a 1500 yard back again. If he runs for 1200 yards the Eagles should be pleased because that means he stayed fairly healthy.

 

[Romo2Ogletree]

Well I must say, this thread is new and exciting.

 

[Idgit]

Well I must say, this thread is new and exciting.

You'll take your RB debate and you'll like it. We'll be bringing up the topic of Adrian Peterson in just a few posts if you keep up that attitude, mister.

 

[Champsheart]

The other issue of RBBC is the fact that it shows your offense's hand. The Cowboys maintained the element of surprise by sticking with Murray in the backfield. In the upcoming season, the Cowboys playbook will be narrowed down quite a bit based on who is lining up behind Romo...and you can bet the opposing defenses will be well schooled on what to expect from the running back that is in the game.

Not sure why you feel this way. Both Randle and DMAC are versatile backs that can both run and catch. Either should be able to run any play in the book that has a back in the formation, do not see this being an issue at all.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I like Williams the best, personally. But they just always seem to throw him in as an afterthought when they're talking about the backs. McFadden might be the plan I guess. Or he might change the plan, more likely. I still believe Randle was the idea two years ago, and I don't see anything in his performance to indicate that's changed other than the off the field stuff.

I'm still trying to get a feel for when Garrett is being Coy and when he isn't. I'm with you though I heard it panned as such and took it the same way.

OTOH, Stephen in the conference call made mention of Williams being brought up as comparison and cause when we passed over day 3 RB. None of them were better prospects was the point.

I don't know what to think and I really liked Williams this past preseason so I am going to continue to root for him along with you.

 

[Champsheart]

Like many of you, I am concerned about the Cowboy’s perceived Running Back by committee approach in 2015. After last season, I honestly thought anybody who actually sat down and watched every game understood that much of what was accomplished last year hinged on the running game – every aspect of the Cowboys football team was made better by how well the running game worked.

Some believe Murray benefitted more from the OL. Despite setting the new team record for rushing yards in a season, I do not recall a single game that I walked away from believing that Murray squeezed every last yard he could out of every run. Given that line of thinking, it wasn not too far-fetched to believe that were the Cowboys able to find a guy with a little better vision and better overall speed, behind that offensive line the Cowboys would be unstoppable.

Still others believe that it was the OL that benefitted from the simultaneous threat of the pass vs. the run. It was a true pick your poison situation for the opposing defense last year, meaning much of their game-planning was dependent on reading and reacting post-snap; ill-conceived pre-snap reads against the Cowboys is what led to a good portion of their pay-dirt last season. Therefore, because defenses were continuously off-balance, the offensive line enjoyed a split-second of indecision and this clearly made them look like world-beaters in many situations.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not discounting the efforts of any one entity - be it the OL or Demarco Murray. I’m merely pointing out that both benefitted from each other – both made each other look better than what they deserved to look like…if that makes sense.

So with all of that having been said, the majority of the so-called experts (including my admittedly not-so-expert-opinion) fully expected the Cowboys to find a guy who could at the very least replace a little of Demarco’s production…and most also agreed that despite having signed McFadden, the search would continue in the draft.

Flash forward to the draft. With the first pick at 27 the Cowboys drafted Byron Jones. Some said this was a reach, some said this was a steal given where in the first round he was taken. Regardless of what you believe, I think most will agree that any RB left at that point, with Gordon and Gurley already gone, would have definitely been a reach.

So at this point, while I was disappointed the “great running back situation” had not been addressed in day 1, I at least understood the move. The Cowboys did address a glaring need and many would agree he was the Best Player Available, so I was still content.

Day 2 of the draft saw a player considered the best pass rusher available in the draft fall to the Cowboys at the 60th pick overall. At one time considered a top 15 talent, knuckleheadedness led to his considerable drop. Despite that, most agree the 60th overall pick was worth the gamble for a team desperate for a pass-rush last season. I’m reluctant to argue against that. Yes, that still meant the running back situation had not been addressed, but once again this was considered a need, especially with the uncertainty of Hardy's suspension situation, so while still uncomfortable with the Cowboys current stable of backs , I understood the move.

Day 3 is where the wheels completely fell off. Every RB worthy of the Cowboys consideration was taken before the Cowboys had an opportunity at 91. Don’t get me wrong, I get that Langford and Ajayi were still available, but to that I would argue that neither of those players or other miscellaneous drafted late RB would be an actual improvement over what the Cowboys already have. Langford is Dunbar/McFadden 2.0. Ajayi remind’s me a lot of JoRan.

Many are still clamoring for a move involving AP which I am resolutely against. He is 30, a year removed from football, would demand a contract of, at least, 3 years 8 mil at minimum, would demand extremely valuable draft picks/players being sent to the Vikings, and would be running on two surgically repaired knees. All the signs and symptoms of disaster waiting to happen are there. Why even Dez is blind to this is beyond me.

Don’t get me wrong, AP may have a good year or two in him…if any Running Back does at 30, he would. But still, the risk versus reward doesn’t add up to good business sense, in my opinion.

In the wake of all this, the Cowboys were able to hush up much of the white-noise in regards to Running Back with the stunning and sudden acquisition of La’el Collins. Clearly, his addition help’s the assertion that any running back should be able to find success behind the offensive line…but still. For me, I still have reservations, misgivings and am back to that old territory that all Cowboys fans should be familiar with post-draft – cautiously optimistic.

Granted, I would give this offseason as a whole an A -. They seemingly improved at various levels on Defense, namely the defensive line. They were able to miraculously add what many would consider three 1st round caliber talents in the draft. With the return of Sean Lee, they are adding what many would consider a first round pick, should you be kind enough to forget about the injury issues. They exercised a great deal of patience throughout Free Agency and ignored the itch to make sweeping massive changes/additions to the team that will cost the Cowboys in the long-run for the exception of the Romo restructure.

All in all, this Cowboys team look’s the best it has since 1995. The big question is will the Cowboys regret not making more of a concerted effort to replace Demarco Murray?

Nice Post.
The Cowboys did the right thing. The reason Demarco did not get the $ from us is he should not have. The old Jerry would have ponied up, the new Jerry/Stephen/Garrett combo knows better.
Demarco is a good back, not a special back. He rode him last year and he had a great year, he deserves credit for what he did, but much of his success was what was around him as well.
Nobody listened, but the Cowboys told you this was not a priority. They obviously had interest for the right situation and if they thought it would improve what they had, that did not happen.

The COWBOYS KNOW THE RUNNING GAME IS WHAT THEY HAVE BUILT THIS FOUNDATION ON. Garrett has told you over an over. WE WILL RUN THE BALL, and run it well. They know what they have and are confident they will be a physical team that is balanced and get production.
Everyone else just can not see it.
I still believe DMAC will have a comeback player of the year kind of season, but do no sleep on Randle either.
I finally trust what this team is doing.
Yea maybe Randle and DMAC are not special, but either was Demarco, but they are all good backs with the right team around them.

 

[jday]

Well I must say, this thread is new and exciting.

I know. I just thought of it out of the blue. I'm a little surprised this position issue hasn't gotten more attention on this site.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

The other issue of RBBC is the fact that it shows your offense's hand. The Cowboys maintained the element of surprise by sticking with Murray in the backfield. In the upcoming season, the Cowboys playbook will be narrowed down quite a bit based on who is lining up behind Romo...and you can bet the opposing defenses will be well schooled on what to expect from the running back that is in the game.

But they didn't use that element often or often enough. Many remarked how conservative the Cowboys became on 1st down as the season progressed.

 

[jday]

Not sure why you feel this way. Both Randle and DMAC are versatile backs that can both run and catch. Either should be able to run any play in the book that has a back in the formation, do not see this being an issue at all.

My concern has more to do with situational football...specifically short yardage situations. First question is, who is the short yardage back? At this point, the only guy's I think capable of getting a few yards when all you need is a few yards are the 2 UDFA's they picked up, Synjin Days being one of them. The problem is, if the Cowboys only use Synjin Days (just for instance, I'm not saying he is making the team) in short yardage situations then by the end of the season the opposition will know what is about to happen when he is put in the lineup. That same issues applies to alot of different scenarios and could create an issue as the season progresses.