Video: Dukes vs Doug Free: The Video Evidence

[aikemirv]

I think that after looking at the video you could make a case either way. Fact is that the rest of the line played so horribly that the pressure that Free allowed in some cases took longer to get there than the jailbreaks on the other side. That does not mean that Free did not have problems. Yes he was better later in the game but he gave up way to much space early in the game. I thought his run blocking was good though for the most part. You could take pieces of that video and make a strong case for and against Free IMO.

The fact that is was against Jarred ALlen and that it was his first game at LT gives me a lot of hope. I do think he showed that he can do the job, but it was not impressive by any means.

And the commentary was irritating as can be!

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I can count on one hand the number of analysts that actually do this. Sadly, most are just like Dukes, uninformed and more than a little bit lazy. Again, these types of junkies (ala Ron Jaworski) are few and far between. Even those bring their baggage to the table. Jaworski is as technical as can be, but he will absolutely inject bias.

Bias isn't a problem. Blind bias is. Jaworski blows. I wish people would understand this. He does watch film, but his blind bias clouds his analysis. I'm not sure why saying 'hey, this guy sucks and he sucked in the Vikings game and here's some plays showing that' would not appeal to the average fan and the 'this guy sucks and he sucked in the Minny game' and provide no evidence of it would appeal to the average fan.

Even if it does, these sports sections, football magazines, and shows could do themselves well if they went against the grain rather than going with it and getting dropped on their head in the ratings/newspaper buys/Web site clicks game.

Again, WHY would a football fan pay extra to get NFLN if they are going to be just like ESPN, which usually comes with the cable package? Now, if you provided a different product that many thought was superior, that can change. Hell, it's why ESPN grew into what it is today. They provided a different product that most people felt was superior to their local sports product.







YR

 

[Chief]

I was trying to find out more about Jamie Dukes to see if he had been dropped on his head as a child, or is part of the NFL Network's outreach program for providing jobs to challenged people.

I just did a Google search and typed in his name. Immediately, "Jamie Dukes is an idiot" was one of the options, so I clicked on it. There are 640,000 results. It's page after page of football fans calling out the league's speaker of all things idiotic.

 

[HoleInTheRoof]

I was trying to find out more about Jamie Dukes to see if he had been dropped on his head as a child, or is part of the NFL Network's outreach program for providing jobs to challenged people.

I just did a Google search and typed in his name. Immediately, "Jamie Dukes is an idiot" was one of the options, so I clicked on it. There are 640,000 results. It's page after page of football fans calling out the league's speaker of all things idiotic.

:laugh2:

I actually wonder if we should start Emailing the NFL Network or someone to start complaining.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Before working on NFLN, Jamie Dukes worked for Atlanta's The Zone Sports radio station. I worked with a guy who worked at The Zone for awhile as an engineer and he said he really didn't like two people there, one guy named Matt Stewart and the other was Jamie Dukes. He didn't like Stewart because he felt he was a real snobby type of guy who thought he was better than the rest of the employees who were not an on-air personality. He didn't like Dukes because in his words 'he's a moron who thinks just because he played in the league that he's always right and he doesn't work very hard and brings nothing to a show.'

I do agree with the one poster, I'm not sure how being accurate is something only the 'afficianados' would like and enjoy. But my posts haven't been about Dukes, just writers and analysts in general and how there is a market for good, accurate analysis and writing out there and why there's little provoking people to pay extra for the NFLN if they can get the same thing from ESPN for a cheaper price.





YR

 

[MarionBarberThe4th]

I think Chris Collinsworth is the best right now.

Hes not the easiest listen but he watches a ton of film and can school all these guys in general knowledge.



I was surprised when I heard Schlereth and Golic watch film. Not that they are dummies but that just doesnt sound like something an ESPN boss would make them do.

ESPN President - "Uh, we are going to need you to pop in the film to really be able to let people know whats happening in these games.

Typical analyst - "Not necessary, Its all about momentum and karma"

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Seriously. Saying Free sucks isn't generating any ratings for NFLN. Dukes is just an idiot.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

FWIW... Schlereth is on 103.3 right now and just said he thinks Free will be an improvement over Flo. Says both our tackles the last few years have been average at best.

 

[jnday]

EXACTLY.

I have no prob with Dukes criticizing Free, but he needs to at least look at some film. Free is exactly opposite the slow non-athlete Dukes makes him out to be.

This is the problem with Dukes. He has said that Free is a "stiff waistbender" . If Dukes would take 2 minutes of his time , he could find out that Free is anything but that. Free is far from perfect , but anyone with the least amount of knowledge knows that "stiff waistbender" and Doug Free shouldn`t be used in the same conversation.

 

[67CowboysFan]

Seriously. Saying Free sucks isn't generating any ratings for NFLN. Dukes is just an idiot.

If anything he's hurting them some. If he can't get the obvious right, why should I listen to anything he has to say? I turn off the show when I see he's on it. I'd rather watch Around The League a little earlier in the day.

 

[Doomsay]

and some people still blame romo for losing. our offensive line sucked, it was a jailbreak every play.

And we haven't made any offseason changes to the line that we've just been watching.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

If anything he's hurting them some. If he can't get the obvious right, why should I listen to anything he has to say? I turn off the show when I see he's on it. I'd rather watch Around The League a little earlier in the day.

I doubt that is going to hurt them very much. I mean, I don't even pay attention to NFLN and ESPN during the offseason.

 

[JBell]

Good stuff, DC.

I feel a lot better about Free now.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

If anything he's hurting them some. If he can't get the obvious right, why should I listen to anything he has to say? I turn off the show when I see he's on it. I'd rather watch Around The League a little earlier in the day.

Madden is a great example of debunking the ‘analysis doesn’t work for the masses and only works for the connoisseurs’ theory. Madden was quite elaborate in his analysis during the game and light years ahead of other announcers in this area.

He eventually got the reputation of ‘the guy who states the obvious’, although often times in football, people get so focused on the intricate part of the game they fail to look at the big picture. Still though, he was by far the first guy to analyze O-Line play, coverages, route running, etc.

The key with Madden was he understood how to analyze this stuff so the viewer could understand it and find it interesting. He then went on to become practically an icon in the world of football.

I’m guessing that being an announcer must be hard work because most suck at it and those who don’t, eventually see their skill at it greatly erode over time, much like Madden (although I always liked him to some degree). Dick Vermeil is really good when he gets the chance. Gruden is good, but overrated. ESPN acts like he’s the Messiah of football broadcasting. Jaws went from being really good to being a clown.

But the guy who is unbelievably good, when ESPN leaves him alone, is Chris Spielman. Unfortunately they have him do the Rice vs. Temple game of the week. I saw him a few times do some Syracuse games and generally he was excellent. Eventually ESPN tried to make him into a caricature of himself and it didn’t take. Idiots.




YR

 

[Randy White]

DC Fan.. I'm glad somebody exposed the myth of Doug Free not being capable of playing in the league. I'm also glad the other myth was exposed too: Kosier should remain a starter.

Kosier has been done for 2 years now. The Cowboys should have replaced him a long time ago as a starter. He could probably be a capable back up, but that's it.

By the way, I know LT is supposed to be the most important position along the OL, but teams that undervalue the inside positions ( guards and center ) do that at their own peril. The quickest way to a QB has always been up the middle, not from the sides, and if teams are not anchored there, it won't matter who you have playing LT or RT.. With that said, if you look at Free's brief body of work, you'll notice his athleticism, quickness, and ability to get to the second level against defenses ( LBs ). Always blocking downfield, able to pull with ease, not giving up on blocks... IMO, he'd make an excellent guard, probably an ALL PRO in the mold of former Patriot and current HOF John Hannah.

I'm not saying they should move him to guard tomorrow, but it's something to keep in mind for future reference.

 

[Alexander]

Kosier has been done for 2 years now. The Cowboys should have replaced him a long time ago as a starter. He could probably be a capable back up, but that's it.

http://i294.***BLOCKED***/albums/mm96/Somsok/PicardNotAgain_anonib.jpg

 

[DC Cowboy]

The reason we lost to the Vikings is we did not score on those early drives and their defense was both fast and well prepared for our offense. On many plays it looked like they knew exactly what we were doing before we even did.

Brett Favre played one of the best games of his career and the Vikings defense was inspired and impressive that day. We just ran into a perfect storm and got beat.

I look at it like this .. we got beat badly to end the 2008 season and we came back the next year and owned that team that beat us. I look forward to doing the same this year with the Vikings

-Reality

Also I think we should ahve ran Felix more in that game.

 

[Established1971]

He won't even mention it. That is how he will explain it. This is a classic example on how mediots can shape the perception of fans and it is a crying shame that this mouth breather gets so much air time.

is he supposed to breath from his nose all the time? That is the single most illogical expression teenagers have ever come up with. Why adults now have begun to use it is beyond me

 

[dcfanatic]

I know people were Tweeting him this video and he responded today about his criticism of Free...

@jamiedukes y u hate Doug free so much dude? He will be good enough for us to win in the playoffs just watch..
12:13 PM Jul 12th via Twitter for iPhone


@lilbigman76 I don't hate anyone. I hope the kid works out. I know that position is tough and we will see. I WISH HIM WELL!
about 13 hours ago via web in reply to lilbigman76
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So he wishes him well.

Funny because every time I hear him talk about Free he seems to dismiss him as a player who should not be given a chance to play LT for the Cowboys.

 

[67CowboysFan]

I know people were Tweeting his this video and he responded today about his criticism of Free...

@jamiedukes y u hate Doug free so much dude? He will be good enough for us to win in the playoffs just watch..
12:13 PM Jul 12th via Twitter for iPhone


@lilbigman76 I don't hate anyone. I hope the kid works out. I know that position is tough and we will see. I WISH HIM WELL!
about 13 hours ago via web in reply to lilbigman76
------------------------------

So he wishes him well.

Funny because every time I hear him talk about Free he seems to dismiss him as a player who should not be given a chance to play LT for the Cowboys.

We had huge problems at LT until the Carpenter trade according to Dukes. This guy almost makes Skippy look intelligent.