Two Questions for the Board

[jujoboys]

Most of you are far better attuned to salary cap stuff than I am, so the first question deals with that, namely, does the availability of Philip Rivers change any of the thinking on Dak? That is, is there any scenario in which paying Rivers in the short term while looking to draft a QB in the long term ---then letting Dak go---make sense?

The second is Blake Jarwin. The knock I constantly hear on him is he doesn't block as well as Witten or doesn't block well at all. It seems there isn't much question that he is a playmaker with the ball and has real talent as a WR. So my question is, have any of you seen film or closely looked at his blocking? Is he that bad? Is he getting mauled? Whiffing? Poor technique? I once heard that blocking by a FB or WR is all about will (I think Michael Irvin said that), that anyone could block if they put their mind to it.

Is Jarwin worth committing to as a #1 TE and get him to block?

Keep Dak. Phillip Rivers is old and awful. I watched quite a few of his games last year and he just tosses the ball deep and hopes his WRs can make plays. Results = interception. Also, he is a statue. Has the mobility of an old Drew Bledsoe. Not to mention his constant whining on the sideline is annoying.

I have not paid much attention to Jarwin's blocking. We don't have to commit much since he is a restricted free agent. We can slap him with a 2nd round tender and look around for someone better.

 

[Ranched]

That is, is there any scenario in which paying Rivers in the short term while looking to draft a QB in the long term ---then letting Dak go---make sense?

About as much as Dez coming back to replace Witten.

 

[Creeper]

No, no, and hell no on Rivers. Nice career, but its over.

As for Jarwin, I don;t think McCarthy will put as much of a premium on blocking TEs. But Jarwin is not the only problem. The Cowboys receivers are bad blockers in general. I don;t think they have a good blocker in their receiving corps. The last one they had was Dez. If you watch a good running team you will see WRs that can block well. This is one reason the Cowboys can't run outside very well. Its why WR screens and other short routes don't work. Their receivers don't seem to be able to hold their blocks and keep defenders from swarming the ball. It will be interesting to see what McCarthy does with Dallas. He loves those bubble screens but to execute them the free WR has to be able to block downfield. McCarthy is going to be pulling his hair out with the Cowboys. I can see Noah Brown getting some playing time if he is still around.

 

[Stash]

Kinda like your response, huh?

He's not smart enough to get that part of it.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

No, no, and hell no on Rivers. Nice career, but its over.

As for Jarwin, I don;t think McCarthy will put as much of a premium on blocking TEs. But Jarwin is not the only problem. The Cowboys receivers are bad blockers in general. I don;t think they have a good blocker in their receiving corps. The last one they had was Dez. If you watch a good running team you will see WRs that can block well. This is one reason the Cowboys can't run outside very well. Its why WR screens and other short routes don't work. Their receivers don't seem to be able to hold their blocks and keep defenders from swarming the ball. It will be interesting to see what McCarthy does with Dallas. He loves those bubble screens but to execute them the free WR has to be able to block downfield. McCarthy is going to be pulling his hair out with the Cowboys. I can see Noah Brown getting some playing time if he is still around.

I agree on Rivers but I'm not sure I would agree on the blocking angle. I mean, McCarthy has never really had a great deal of production in the passing game out of his TEs. The number of catches Witten had last year is more then any TE he's ever had on any team and that was considered a down year in terms of receiving for Witten. I guess we'll kinda have to see what happens there. I think Pass blocking might be a more important component to TEs blocking in McCarthy's offense, as opposed to run blocking but again, we'll have to see.

 

[Stash]

I think the idea of signing a Vet who is a proven winner in the NFL is a really good idea for this team. It makes all the sense in the world, based on our current situation but I don't think Rivers is the answer. The idea is solid IMO, but the player is wrong. I don't believe Rivers is the right guy for our Offense.

The idea of TEs who block well and catch the ball are like unicorns anymore. Jarwin is no exception. He isn't a great inline blocker IMO. Honestly, we don't have one of those on the team any longer.

Nailed it on both counts in your post. It's smart to explore all options, especially in a market as loaded with established quarterbacks as this one. You would be foolish not to. But Rivers looks done. No longer physically capable.

And the fixation on 'blocking TE' is and has been a foolish one. If the guy is a playmaker in the passing game, you take that first and work around the rest. The best TE's in the game like Kelce and Ertz aren't the best because of their blocking, but making plays in the passing game. Jimmy Graham has NEVER been worth anything as a blocker. If you find one that can, it's a bonus, not a deal-breaker if you can't.

 

[Cowboysheelsreds053]

Stafford is the only one of those that I think would be a reasonable replacement, but he isn't available except by giving up value in a trade, and I don't think he is an upgrade anyway, so what would be the point?

This, on the others I would stick with Dak but would not trade for Matt. Would stick with Dak and draft some D.

 

[McKDaddy]

Rivers was not himself last year. Not sure what the issues were but it does make it doubtful that he would be what you are looking for.

Jarwin is fine & would probably already be a star on any other team. Its 2020, let him go do his thing downfield and accept that he isn't ever going to be a mauler. (but he's not as bad as many make him out to be). Add another viable TE to the mix & you'll be just fine. (I'm not saying any other TE on roster is or isn't viable, just saying we don't have to have elite but someone who can be both a blocker & receiver to compliment Jarwin)

 

[Oz-of-Cowboy-Country]

Most of you are far better attuned to salary cap stuff than I am, so the first question deals with that, namely, does the availability of Philip Rivers change any of the thinking on Dak? That is, is there any scenario in which paying Rivers in the short term while looking to draft a QB in the long term ---then letting Dak go---make sense?

The second is Blake Jarwin. The knock I constantly hear on him is he doesn't block as well as Witten or doesn't block well at all. It seems there isn't much question that he is a playmaker with the ball and has real talent as a WR. So my question is, have any of you seen film or closely looked at his blocking? Is he that bad? Is he getting mauled? Whiffing? Poor technique? I once heard that blocking by a FB or WR is all about will (I think Michael Irvin said that), that anyone could block if they put their mind to it.

Is Jarwin worth committing to as a #1 TE and get him to block?

Absolutely no on Rivers. He's kaput. I'd rather pay Dak 40 mil.

Jarwin can't block but he's a receiving threat which makes the LB to his side back off the line a little more. Its easy to keep a deep set linebacker from getting to the ball carrier. All he has to do is get in his way. Its in the jumbo packages and short yardage situation that he struggles with. When the defense knows what's coming. So his inline point of attack blocking sucks.

I expect Zeke to have longer runs with Jarwin at TE in place of Witten. Because LB's will respect his down field abilities more than Witten's. So make no mistakes about it Jarwin makes this offense better.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Jarwin is worth bringing back. If we forced as many targets his way as we did Witten in 2019, he'd have doubled his numbers last year. That would've been good for 700-something yards, 6 TDs, 34 first downs, and an 11-something yard average. That's perfectly good #1 TE production (appreciably better than the miserable production Witten gave us with the 83 targets we forced his way in the undeserved starting spot we handed him). That's actually great production from a TE who is only the 4th option behind 3 strong wide receivers.

Yes, he's worth bringing back. To say he can produce in a #1 TE position isn't the same thing as saying he's an elite TE who will give you 1000 yards and double-digit TDs and about 50 first downs. So bring him back, but not expecting him to be (or paying him as if he is) the elite-level TE.

Well, were are gonna see if this is true or not. Again, and I really don't know if I'm writing this in Chinese or if nobody is play attention or what but once again, the season that Witten had last year, a down year for him, is better then any year any TE has ever enjoyed in a McCarthy Offense.

We'll see if what everybody thinks is true. If Jarwin really is that much better then Witten.

 

[CF74]

If Rivers wants to be our Bernie Kosar for a couple games that might work. Jarwin is a threat out in space, blocking meh. We need to draft a TE if one falls to us.

 

[Whyjerry]

Rivers replacing Dak is ridiculous. 25 year old guy coming off his best season replaced by a 38 coming off his worst. Even Jerry isn’t that stupid.

Jarwin went undrafted for a reason. He is a good athlete. Can catch the football in space. That’s it. He is extremely limited. No way he is a number 1.

 

[conner01]

Rivers is done
Jarwin is a better blocker than some seem to think
He’s not great but he good and his value is more as a receiver than blocker
Schultz needs to improve his blocking since that’s why he was drafted

 

[Hook'em#11]

The Dak lover bot is in high gear.

OP mentions Rivers. RIVERS of all QB's. I am sure it's not Dak lover in this case, it's common sense that Dak is better than Rivers at this point.

 

[romonumberone]

Sign Tom Brady for 2 years, $32,000,000 a year. Sign Antonio Brown. Who has said he only wants to play with Brady.... obviously Antonio does not think Brady has regressed. Tag and trade Dak or let Dak walk. Sign Amari. Sign Jones. 4 stud O lineman keeping Brady upright. WR's are Antonio Brown, Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup. Try to bring Cobb back. Bring Dez in for a camp invite. It is worth taking a look. So Zeke and Pollard running the ball. Brady at QB. Throwing to Brown, Cooper, Gallup, Cobb, Bryant. Jarwin is the Novacek TE.

Defense will be below average. But Dallas would be unstoppable. Win a couple of SB's. Jerry would be happy because it would be the greatest Offense ever assembled. The fans would be entertained & Jerry would make a lot of money. As an extra bonus this plan would require less money to be spent than what Dallas will end up doing just to go 8-8. Everyone would be talking about Dallas... which Jerry loves.

 

[Bullflop]

One reason why some here favor Rivers so much is that he beat the pants off of us in the past.

What they seem to ignore is that the limitations of the Cowboys defense made it quite possible.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Rivers was not himself last year. Not sure what the issues were but it does make it doubtful that he would be what you are looking for.

Jarwin is fine & would probably already be a star on any other team. Its 2020, let him go do his thing downfield and accept that he isn't ever going to be a mauler. (but he's not as bad as many make him out to be). Add another viable TE to the mix & you'll be just fine. (I'm not saying any other TE on roster is or isn't viable, just saying we don't have to have elite but someone who can be both a blocker & receiver to compliment Jarwin)

I think a lot of it was just poor play along the OL and not enough weapons on O. I mean, there LT is terrible. With Okung out, the LT position gave up something like 88 pressures last year. I mean, that's horrible and the interior OL play was not much better. That OL has really been bad for a few years now. They aren't very good at RB, Melvin Gordon was only available for 12 games but honestly, he was not very good over those 12 games. You can attribute a lot of that to the OL, I'm sure but even so, doesn't change the fact. Offensively, they have a lot of holes.

If Dak had their issues in Dallas, the fan base would be making excuse after excuse because they would recognize the situation and account for it. But with Rivers, it's apparently all him. I look at the stats and honestly, the case can easily be made that Rivers had the better season.

No question, he threw way too many INTs but he was under constant pressure with not a lot of help and he's not a real mobile guy but you have to understand that he needs a line to block for him. If he has that, he can still be effective IMO. Look at the numbers.

4600 yards throwing, better completion percentage fewer attempts. I mean, I get it but I don't think the guy is done necessarily. In the right Offense, he can be very productive still IMO.

 

[MCMetal69]

Rivers had a 66.0% completion rate with 4,615 yards and 23 TD's with TWENTY interceptions.......................No thanks.

Plus Dak has mobility...............Philip R is a virtual statue...............

 

[Cowboysheelsreds053]

You could blame poor OL on the play of Rivers but the games I saw was mostly him. He was flat out terrible with no rush in his face.

 

[SSoup]

Well, were are gonna see if this is true or not. Again, and I really don't know if I'm writing this in Chinese or if nobody is play attention or what but once again, the season that Witten had last year, a down year for him, is better then any year any TE has ever enjoyed in a McCarthy Offense.

That's an easily proven lie.

Witten in 2019 was good for 525 yards, 4 TDs, and an 8.4 average per catch.

Donald Lee in 2007? 575 yds, 6 TDs, 12 yd average. Better, easily.

Jermichael Finley in 2009? 676 yds, 5 TD, 12.3 avg. Better, easily.

Finley in 2011? 767 yds, 8 TD, 13.9 avg. Better by a mile.

Finley in 2012? 667 yds and 10.9 avg are both easily better, though he scored a couple less TDs.

Richard Rodgers in 2015? He had 15 fewer yards, but he scored 8 TDs and had a better average. I'd take that over Witten's 2019 too.