This offseason priority-fix the run game!

[Hook'em#11]

Getting rid of Moore would be good. Finding a LT and grooming a LT is a huge need. As well as Center, LG, and RG.. Martin is gettin up there to. Time to revamp the whole line. Or blow it all up and start fresh.

 

[RonnieT24]

Maybe but he was already pretty cooked as a big time back before the injury. He wasn't nearly the same explosive back he was years ago.

Dude he was second or third in the league and averaging over 5 ypc before the injury. I mean I get that you don't like the guy but let's not lose sight of the facts. Zeke was having a monster year, probably headed for 1500 yard/15 TD territory before the injury. If the coaches trusted Tony Pollard not to get Dak killed (Dak was sacked by the guy he missed again Sunday) they would have sat Zeke for 2-3 games and let him get right. he sacrificed his body and his reputation for the good of the team to stay out there.. but in doing so I guarantee you he earned undying respect from his teammates and coaches..

 

[Chuck 54]

I haven’t studied it, but I think the run game improves if
1. Improve the center position with a draft pick or a veteran….you won’t have a dominant run game when you need to help the center all the time. Defense and offense starts up the middle. If you are always trying to cover up a weakness in the middle of either line, you are vulnerable.
2. Find a Callahan type to help design an effective run game with the Moore offensive system.
3. Pray that the OL men drafted this past year can start to provide depth next year. You want your depth young, not old.

But I think you saw the run game begin to struggle when Frederick retired, and that trend has continued. I believe we have one of the worst Centers in the league.

* Decide what you are. If you want to be the big play speed running team, then you can go with smaller mobile linemen. If you want to be the Power running team with Zeke, then you need bigger road grading linemen, especially up the middle. Find a Center!

 

[Carter]

It all starts with the Line. They flat out suck besides Martin. T-Smith is dominant for like 3 games a season before being out or bummed up the rest of the year. The rest of the Line is not starting material. Collins could be but doesnt seem to have the IQ. Center and RG are a huge weakness.

Zeke at this point is a better FB. His blocking is still elite but hes lost all his speed and mojo. Must be one of the slowest backs in the leauge. Pollard is what he is. A nice #2 RB but not a 3-down back.

Need to invest in both this draft. And Early.

Mix into this a TE and a new O-Line Coach

 

[Sydla]

Dude he was second or third in the league and averaging over 5 ypc before the injury. I mean I get that you don't like the guy but let's not lose sight of the facts. Zeke was having a monster year, probably headed for 1500 yard/15 TD territory before the injury. If the coaches trusted Tony Pollard not to get Dak killed (Dak was sacked by the guy he missed again Sunday) they would have sat Zeke for 2-3 games and let him get right. he sacrificed his body and his reputation for the good of the team to stay out there.. but in doing so I guarantee you he earned undying respect from his teammates and coaches..

Stop.

Anyone with a brain could see he lacked the explosiveness he had earlier in his career. He was just a decent TB at this point in his career. I get it, you are a big fan, but seem detached from reality with Elliott. He's a decent/good back, even pre-knee injury, he wasn't a great TB like he was earlier in his career.

And projecting his stats based off four games before the injury is a flawed analysis. Because his stats were skewed by one game - the Panthers game where he ran for 140. The previous 3 games? 33 yards, 71 yards and 95 yards.

I don't really care about undying respect from his teammates. I appreciate he's playing through an injury. But he's not an elite back anymore and unfortunately his contract is going to be a problem when you look at our cap situation going forward.

 

[austin88]

The first play of the game last Sunday opened my eyes big time. Moore called that silly WR screen. The Cardinals saw it was coming before the Cowboys were even set. They anticipated the snap and were behind the Cowboys' blockers before Dak threw the ball. It was almost intercepted for a pick 6. Based on the alignment and Moore's tendencies the defense knew what play was coming. Dak should have throw it into the ground and was lucky it wasn't picked off. The question is, has the league caught on to Moore? Is he predictable? Apparently, yes, because he throws the call all the time.

This is one of the biggest questions facing the team. It seems pretty clear that the league has figured out what Moore was doing early in the season -- hence the shift to zone and cover 2 looks -- and it's not clear that he's been able to adjust. You're right about that WR screen -- Baker was ready for that alignment when he got off the bus. I know that the offense was hurt by penalties and execution errors, but even still, Vance Joseph won the chess match with Moore on Sunday.

 

[RonnieT24]

Stop.

Anyone with a brain could see he lacked the explosiveness he had earlier in his career. He was just a decent TB at this point in his career. I get it, you are a big fan, but seem detached from reality with Elliott. He's a decent/good back, even pre-knee injury, he wasn't a great TB like he was earlier in his career.

And projecting his stats based off four games before the injury is a flawed analysis. Because his stats were skewed by one game - the Panthers game where he ran for 140. The previous 3 games? 33 yards, 71 yards and 95 yards.

I don't really care about undying respect from his teammates. I appreciate he's playing through an injury. But he's not an elite back anymore and unfortunately his contract is going to be a problem when you look at our cap situation going forward.

You don't have to care.. His teammates and coaches do. I am not even saying I agree with the decision to let him play through the injury.. In fact I am sure I've posted many times over the past weeks that they should sit him a game or two. But it didn't happen. And since it didn't happen he has been playing at far less than 100%. I also notice you conveniently failed to mention his 110 yard game against the Giants after the 140 against the Panthers.. So a three game stretch averaging 118 a game is "skewed" by one game? Maybe more likely the whole 5 game stretch was skewed by the first one where he barely got the ball. Why can't the worst game be the outlier instead of the best one? After all his average (89.8) was closer to the best game than it was the worst game over that first 5 game stretch. The whole "he's not elite" discussion is pointless. I don't care about labels.. I care about performance on the field. Before he got hurt Zeke was performing at a high level. Since he got hurt he hasn't been. And we all know why.. I wish they had sat him until his knee got 100% healthy.. because we would have gotten answers on a few things in his absence. Namely can Pollard handle the lead dog role for more than a game or two and three what does a healthy Zeke look like for the stretch run. Unfortunately the way it played out we get neither.

 

[Aven8]

Screw next year. We have all off-season to figure/discuss that. The time is now. Win.

 

[Sydla]

You don't have to care.. His teammates and coaches do. I am not even saying I agree with the decision to let him play through the injury.. In fact I am sure I've posted many times over the past weeks that they should sit him a game or two. But it didn't happen. And since it didn't happen he has been playing at far less than 100%. I also notice you conveniently failed to mention his 110 yard game against the Giants after the 140 against the Panthers.. So a three game stretch averaging 118 a game is "skewed" by one game? Maybe more likely the whole 5 game stretch was skewed by the first one where he barely got the ball. Why can't the worst game be the outlier instead of the best one? After all his average (89.8) was closer to the best game than it was the worst game over that first 5 game stretch. The whole "he's not elite" discussion is pointless. I don't care about labels.. I care about performance on the field. Before he got hurt Zeke was performing at a high level. Since he got hurt he hasn't been. And we all know why.. I wish they had sat him until his knee got 100% healthy.. because we would have gotten answers on a few things in his absence. Namely can Pollard handle the lead dog role for more than a game or two and three what does a healthy Zeke look like for the stretch run. Unfortunately the way it played out we get neither.

He got hurt in the Panthers game, that's game 4. You've gone on about making excuses for him due to the injury so it makes sense to look at production pre-injury, correct? So that's what I based your projection on.

He's not an elite, great back anymore. He still does some things well - his blocking is still very good and he can still get tough yards between the tackles. But he's not a threat in the passing game much anymore (Pollard is better at this point) and he's really not a threat to get outside when running. And next year, he has like a $18 million cap hit. That's embarrassingly bad for this franchise to have that much cap tied into a good, not elite TB. And before you say "restructure" note we already did that AND his cap hits are massive from this point on, so any restructure is just going to make future years even more painful for a declining TB.

And that's a reason why you'll see guys like Gallup likely end up somewhere else in FA.

 

[GMO415]

Fix the OC

 

[atlantacowboy]

Last year's offseason the team's priority was fixing the rush defense, now it looks like the other side of the football:

-Teams are daring the Cowboys to beat them on the ground and they just cannot do so.
-Yes, Zeke is hurt and unproductive, but Pollard also has had his struggles.
-OL is a penalty machine
-Starting TE is a terrible inline blocker
-Playcaller gets away from the run and does little to scheme for it.

It is not an OL problem. It is a Zeke is playing injured problem. It is a refusal to use Pollard more. It is a pass happy QB and OC problem. We have the best OL in the NFL overall.

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-week-15-offensive-line-rankings-2021

 

[atlantacowboy]

Fix the OC

But he can't look smart and pump his credentials to be a HC handing the ball off.

 

[mardwin]

Priority #1 should be getting better at the QB position but we have to ride Mr. Excuses for another 2 years.

 

[JohnsKey19]

1. No movement inside.
2. The primary runner is not explosive at all. Obviously that is even more of an issue with the knee injury.
3. The TEs are poor blockers.

You combine these issues and you make it "easy" for good coordinators to nullify whatever rushing attack the Cowboys plan to have. Simply running it more is not the answer. Forget about whatever we saw earlier in the season. That's ancient history. If the Cowboys plan to to have a credible rushing attack in the playoffs, they have to get creative, put player salaries aside and have all hands on deck.

 

[Cowboyny]

I would draft two center/guard prospects. Bring in a new tight end that can block and catch passes. Draft Zeke’s replacement in the 3rd-5th round. I would trade Cooper for middle round picks. CeeDee is our 1. You don’t need two. Draft speed receivers and develop them. Gallup/Wilson developed well. Use the money to bring back Gregory, Kearse, and a true 1 tech. We are a running football team. Dak is top end bus driver. Nothing wrong with that. Let’s have a gritty tough football team led by Parsons. That is the only way we can beat these high octane offenses. Ball control football.

We will get into the off-season priorities after the season. I agree with most you said, outside of moving on from Cooper.

 

[baltcowboy]

We will get into the off-season priorities after the season. I agree with most you said, outside of moving on from Cooper.

I like Cooper but not for 20 million. That money could be used elsewhere and trading him won’t hurt our cap unlike Zeke and Tank.

 

[Cowboyny]

I think we need to invest some draft capital in OL. And probably need to think about replacing Philbin as OL coach.

We are stuck with Elliott so you can't really re-work the TB position. Elliott, Pollard and Clement (if you bring him back), is a nice trio if they get consistent run blocking.

I am not so worried about our 2 backs when healthy, more so the line, TE and the scheme.

 

[Cowboyny]

I like Cooper but not for 20 million. That money could be used elsewhere and trading him won’t hurt our cap unlike Zeke and Tank.

They can restructure his contract to free more money. Look at Gallup this yr, gave us basically nothing, not giving him a 13 million plus contract.

 

[quickccc]

Last year's offseason the team's priority was fixing the rush defense, now it looks like the other side of the football:

-Teams are daring the Cowboys to beat them on the ground and they just cannot do so.
-Yes, Zeke is hurt and unproductive, but Pollard also has had his struggles.
-OL is a penalty machine
-Starting TE is a terrible inline blocker
-Playcaller gets away from the run and does little to scheme for it.

- How much of our problems is player personnel? … how much is it coaches play call/run scheme ?
Imo, that's what needs to be determined in offseason.

- What is going on to where we are either getting stalemated up front, or our RBs are constantly stoned stopped in the backfield ?
Our guys are constantly getting penetration in our backfield.

- We had a good stretch between Chargers, Philly, Carolina ..but really dropped off since.
It’s not just zeke, ..Pollard has had his difficulties too.

- We may have the worst blocking TEs in the NFL. Difficult to capture the edge, off tackle runs when penetration allowed.
This is why I’m not sold on going all out to re-signing Schultz at any cost. Tough, clever underneath but major liability blocking wise and doesn't have elite separation. .

- Is our OL more suited for man power blocking scheme than McCarthy’s zone block scheme ?
It's a problem because we let go an OL coach better suited for man scheme, for sake of adding MM's preferred coach/scheme.

 

[Cowboyny]

It is not an OL problem. It is a Zeke is playing injured problem. It is a refusal to use Pollard more. It is a pass happy QB and OC problem. We have the best OL in the NFL overall.

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-week-15-offensive-line-rankings-2021

It's not just Zeke, Pollard has had his issues as well running behind this line.