Tony (2.8 ypc) Pollard eh?

[quickccc]

This whole season is extremely disappointing and Zeke is certainly part of it. However he is far from all of it. I doubt any of the guys ahead of him are toiling behind a line that features 2 undrafted free agents, one of whom is a rookie, a second year "rookie", and a couple of journeymen. Add in an offensive coordinator who really seems to prefer running out of shotgun over traditional power running formations and you have a recipe for disaster.

it's not about just this year - but when we started seeing the decline in splash big runs and lack of burst.
That didn't just start happening this year behind a makeshift OL.
He was no longer making the big runs when he had a former OC and still the same big name OL in 2018.

When zeke was at Ohio St. ,..that burst and acceleration just hit and wowed your eyes and that's when we still had
DeMarco Murray running for 1800 yards.

After 2017,.. he just didn't have that wow burst anymore.
It starts with him first ..before we put it on coaches and the OL.

 

[aria]

If the line is healthy and Zeke still doesn't perform I'll be leading the charge to replace him. The fumble thing is a big bugaboo but he has two in the past 7 games I think. If he keeps it to that pace hell be fine. I think a lot of the early season issues had to do with him pressing along with his having to work harder for his yards than in years past with the line problems. The one on Turkey day was a fluke.. but after the Monday night debacle against the Cards he changed the way he ran and protected the ball and went 4-5 games without even a hint of it. Then on Thanksgiving he tried to reach it out for the sticks and got it punched out. As for Pollard.. I don't think he's starter caliber for a number of reasons.. not the least of which is that he averaged 2.7yards per carry on first down. Meaning on downs when the defense is truly playing run all the way he gets you next to nothing. By comparison Zeke averages 4.2 yards per carry on first down behind the same line. Which of course keeps you on schedule from a move the chains perspective. Pollard has gotten his most carries of the season the last two games.. The result has been 8 carries for 22 yards (2.75) and 11 for 39 yards (3.55) yards per carry. In the other game he got 10 carries against the Cards it was 10 for 31. 3.1 ypc. I think Pollard has shown himself to be an outstanding change of pace back.. However when he has gotten heavy carries it has not worked out so well. The exception being Pittsburgh when he had 9 or 57 thanks to two 20 yarders. When he wasn't breaking off nice long ones he was averaging 2 ypc. As I keep repeating.. That aint winnin football. Both backs have struggled to get positive yards behind this line. Zeke has done it a little more consistently than Pollard has.. which is why I keep him around for next year. He's owed a boatload of money anyway so I'd rather pay him while finding out if he still has anything left than cut him, have him go to a team that actually blocks and watch him reel off a couple of 1500 yard seasons in say, Los Angeles with the Chargers. Think that team couldn't use a bellcow back to take some of the pressure off their young QB? .

Sure have a lot of stats thrown in there for someone who admitted that stats are crap and you don’t need them to tell us which RB’s ared better than others.

Bwahahahahaha...so you used Pollards stats against him for breaking off a few long runs less then a week after you complained about someone saying if it weren’t for zeke’s one long run then he would have averaged 2 ypc.

Hypocrite Ronnie strikes again! You put out so much crap you can’t keep up with your own contradictions.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Prior to whole sale changes along the OL, lets say the first 3 games to be fair, Zeke wasn't exactly lighting it up. This was with Dak being a passing threat, he never broke a hundred, in any of those games and was just OK. I think this is really the problem. Zeke isn't terrible, he's just not the game changing back a lot of people thought he was. He really hasn't been for a couple of seasons now.

 

[RonnieT24]

Sure have a lot of stats thrown in there for someone who admitted that stats are crap and you don’t need them to tell us which RB’s ared better than others.

Bwahahahahaha...so you used Pollards stats against him for breaking off a few long runs less then a week after you complained about someone saying if it weren’t for zeke’s one long run then he would have averaged 2 ypc.

Hypocrite Ronnie strikes again! You put out so much crap you can’t keep up with your own contradictions.

Dude are you even capable of fashioning an argument even remotely based on what has been written? If you are unable to follow that when I point out that this last game it was Zeke getting the one long run to make his stats look better it was an intentional tweak at those who make that argument for why Pollard should be playing more then I don't know what to tell ya. I will try to type slower next time. LOL!

 

[basel90]

8 carries for 22 yards? Really? This is the guy yall are insisting should replace Zeke? As I predicted the long layoff allowed Zeke to bring a little juice to the stadium tonight. Alas I think he will be hard pressed to be physically ready in 5 days to play on Sunday. F you Goodell. So instead of just one game on short rest we get two this year. F you Goodell. But I digress. Both backs ran hard tonight.. but again we see that Pollard is good for an occasional splash play but there's a lot of bone dry in between them. What we saw from Zeke was consistently grinding out positive yards.. Even a couple of nice cutbacks for over 10.. Except for the idiotic play calling on the first and goal from the 1. Three straight plays into the teeth of a 9 man box with the line getting blown into the backfield. Would it kill you to run wide or off tackle down there Kellen Moore? Good thing Cooper bailed Dalton out on the 4th down throw. Dalton almost airmailed that thing.. McCarthy needs to take film of that sequence into his offseason meeting with Jerry and say " this is why I need to call plays man.. "

Pollard did have the one nice kick return but I repeat for those of you who believe he ran 4.3 at his pro-day.. If he was really that fast that linebacker doesn't track him down once he broke free like that. A true 4.3 burner takes that thing to the house high stepping the last 30 yards.

pollard is not great but i think shown equal or close enough productivity to a very expensive and average zeke.

 

[aria]

Dude are you even capable of fashioning an argument even remotely based on what has been written? If you are unable to follow that when I point out that this last game it was Zeke getting the one long run to make his stats look better it was an intentional tweak at those who make that argument for why Pollard should be playing more then I don't know what to tell ya. I will try to type slower next time. LOL!

I know exactly what you meant and what I said stands true for more then just the example I gave. Since you can never remember what you type, here’s what you said

I love it when people use the "if not for" argument so inconsistently

Kinda like when you defend zeke and use these excuses that you apply to zeke but not Barkley or several other RB’s?

If not for the O line? If not for the coaching? If not for the play calling? If not for the QB? Or the several other convenient excuses you use?

You’re a hypocrite Ronnie.

 

[jaythecowboy]

wasn't Xavier Howard already INT'ing passes and making pro bowls before Byron Jones even arrived?
the way I saw that is Howard is gonna make a play to secure an INT on passes ..while Jones is gonna just make a play to knock passes down to the ground.

Yes the difference is when we had Byron we had Awuzie on the opposite side getting torched. You need two guys or otherwise they can just get their matchup on the other side (especially if you don't have your corners travel). Howard has 9 interceptions this year which is a career high and the season isn't even over yet.

 

[cowboyed]

Pollard has a bigger spark than Zeke. Also we went pass happy that game because our defense put us in that position. Is it really fair to judge Pollard on that? Zeke isn't that guy anymore. I do believe that we need to go running back by committee with both of them. But can we justify that with Zeke's contract? Jerry's ego won't allow that.

Jerry, Stephen and McCarthy would make the most of the situation by continuing to go running back by committee in the second half of this season to salvage Zeke for another season or so to take less of a salary cap hit on his contract. A two pronged Zeke and Pollard running attack is an offensive plus rather than a minus. I don't think it is an ego issue with Jerry. At this stage and age he is more worried about his testicles having dropped so low that they are ankle spankers.

 

[DuncanIso]

The OL is a disaster.

both RBs have suffered.

 

[fairviewfarmer]

Elliot and Pollard both need a better O-line in front of them than what they have right now. If we had more 3 TE sets it would also help with better blocking and would help with their YPC numbers. But I understand why we are committed to the 3 and 4 WR packages. Too much talent at WR not to play them.

 

[fairviewfarmer]

LOL Yet again you display your bias for Zeke and Dak in virtually every thread.


Zeke Elliott Cap Hits 2020 $10.9M 2021 $13.7M 2022 $16.5M

Zeke Elliott 2020 Stats 12 Games 199 Carries 784 Yards 3.9 YPC 5 TD's 43 Catches 274 Yards 6.4 YPC 2 TD's 6 Fumbles


Tony Pollard Cap Hits 2020 $841K 2021 $1.016M 2022 $1.131M

Tony Pollard 2020 Stats 12 Games 64 Carries 300 Yards 4.7 YPC 2 TD's 16 Catches 94 Yards 5.9 YPC


So you slam a 4th round draft pick who has 1/3 the carries of a #4 OVERALL draft pick simply for having a low YPC in his limited 8 carries for what reason? To make yourself feel better in an attempt to justify the overpaid overhyped declining Zeke????? Okay, good luck with that.

Your points are valid, but right now neither Pollard nor Elliot have what it takes to help produce wins: A Competent O-line.

 

[morasp]

Give Dowdle some carries he looked pretty quick on that kick return.

 

[G2]

pollard is not great but i think shown equal or close enough productivity to a very expensive and average zeke.

Pollard couldn't handle the load.

 

[Risen Star]

Elliot and Pollard both need a better O-line in front of them than what they have right now. If we had more 3 TE sets it would also help with better blocking and would help with their YPC numbers. But I understand why we are committed to the 3 and 4 WR packages. Too much talent at WR not to play them.

Too much talent is our downfall.

 

[quickccc]

Yes the difference is when we had Byron we had Awuzie on the opposite side getting torched. You need two guys or otherwise they can just get their matchup on the other side (especially if you don't have your corners travel). Howard has 9 interceptions this year which is a career high and the season isn't even over yet.

my point was Byron is not the reason why Xavier has 8 or 9 INTs ,..because opposing teams are trying to avoid Byron and choosing to go after Howard.
It's more because Howard is a ball hawk and his way of playing the ball lets him snare the ball when it's coming in his direction... , vs just being content on knocking it down the ground,
every game and every single year.

I would say that Jones' vastly lack of turnover numbers is what discouraged the Cowboys from re-signing him to such a lucrative contract.
It depends upon the prerogative of NFL teams 'demand for their DBs.

 

[quickccc]

The OL is a disaster.

both RBs have suffered.

OL per injury than performance, only true question was allowing Steele to start so many struggling games.
all things considered, the patchwork OL has actually held up adequately than what was expected.

If we could've at least kept some of the reserves healthy (ala Erving, Knight).. and gave McGovern an early entrance
what does hampers matters more so is Kellen's lack of design creativity in the run scheme and RB receiving game.

 

[jaythecowboy]

my point was Byron is not the reason why Xavier has 8 or 9 INTs ,..because opposing teams are trying to avoid Byron and choosing to go after Howard.
It's more because Howard is a ball hawk and his way of playing the ball lets him snare the ball when it's coming in his direction... , vs just being content on knocking it down the ground,
every game and every single year.

I would say that Jones' vastly lack of turnover numbers is what discouraged the Cowboys from re-signing him to such a lucrative contract.
It depends upon the prerogative of NFL teams 'demand for their DBs.

If there was a lesser corner opposite Howard, they would be throwing over there more often instead of throwing at Howard. That's why he is having a career year. Howard has been targeted more this season than any other, and there are still games left to play. The reason Howard is being targeted more than ever is because Byron Jones is often playing blanket coverage on the other side.

 

[RonnieT24]

Elliot and Pollard both need a better O-line in front of them than what they have right now. If we had more 3 TE sets it would also help with better blocking and would help with their YPC numbers. But I understand why we are committed to the 3 and 4 WR packages. Too much talent at WR not to play them.

Sadly I don't think any of our tight ends is much of a blocker so all they really do when we bring in three of them is allow the defense to pack in even tighter. Which we could take advantage of if we ran wide more than twice a game but Moore seems to be allergic to running outside except on gadget plays.

 

[quickccc]

Sadly I don't think any of our tight ends is much of a blocker so all they really do when we bring in three of them is allow the defense to pack in even tighter. Which we could take advantage of if we ran wide more than twice a game but Moore seems to be allergic to running outside except on gadget plays.

Not even Blake Bell ?
That's supposed to be his specialty and easily his best value here.

 

[RonnieT24]

Not even Blake Bell ?
That's supposed to be his specialty and easily his best value here.

I know I read the same scouting reports but when I watch him try to dig a DE out or seal a linebacker I don't see a lot of production there. His blocking may have simply gotten overhyped in KC because Kelce is so bad at it. Big fish small pond syndrome? He doesn't seem to be much better than Dalton.. both are okay when asked to double team with the tackle, which sadly we rarely do but in those times when we leave them to get in the way of the backside DE that guy runs untouched to our ball carrier or QB. Now we can question the wisdom of leaving our tight ends one on one with some of the best pass rushers in the league but that's a lament for another day.