We drafted the wrong type receiver for Tony Romo

[Everson24]

Through 9 games this season, one thing that has I've gleaned from the game film is this: Tony Romo generally prefers a different type of receiver than what we have drafted lately. Tony seems to prefers a quick separation type receiver as opposed to a big receiver that he has to trust to battle the smaller DB for the ball.

Think back to some of Tony Romo's best years for a second. In 2006 he had Terry Glenn who he loved to throw to and Terrell Owens who was still in his prime and not only got quick separation off the line short but also on most of his deep passes as well. All was well until Glenn injured his knee and then late in 2007 teams began to finally realize that the best way to slow down T.O. was to play very aggressive bump and run coverage.

Patrick Crayton ran a very slow 40 time but did a great job of getting quick separation due to his knowledge of zones and coverage. He was our version of Hines Ward. Jason Witten has never been a burner like Antonio Gates but until this year was very good a using his quickness off the line and savvy to get quick separation from a linebacker.

I believe it is no coincidence that Tony Romo's best year personally was in 2009 when a young and very quick Miles Austin broke onto the scene. Romo seemed to look to Austin in every crucial situation that year even more-so than Jason Witten. In 2008 we traded for Roy Williams when in realitry would would have been better of keeping Danny Amendola. Anyone who has really studied Romo's game could have told you that Williams he was not the receiver we needed. Tony never felt comfortable throwing to him with a DB draped all over him.

Fast forward to 2013. We have now loaded up our receiving corp with the big targets of Dez Bryant, Terrance Williams, an aging and unexplosive Miles Austin, Jason Witten,Gavin Escobar and James Hanna. And then we have the quick separation guys in Dwayne Harris and Cole Beasly.

The problem carries over to this day. If Dez hasn't separated within the first second or two Tony is looking elsewhere. He just does not feel comfortable throwing to a covered receiver from the pocket no matter how talented that receiver may be. It does not surprise me at all that Tony is having success throwing to with Beasley. He is precisely the type of receiver Tom Brady prefers as well. After watching the Patriots beat the Steelers yesterday it just reinforced what i was seeing in Romo.

Why can't we see what our quarterback is and give him the type of weapon he prefers? Shouldn't the organization be doing everything it can to make our quarterback the most effective? I love Dez Bryant as a receiver but if Tony needs to see him running open before throwing him the ball we will never see the best of Bryant here as long as Romo is our quarterback.

 

[CATCH17]

It goes back to the philosophy of the offense.

Look for the open man and never go to your horses even when they are covered.

I'll never get why we don't take shots to Dez down the sideline 2 or 3 times a game at least.

Letting the defense dictate where the ball goes all the time just sucks and Im sick of watching it.

 

[Galian Beast]

Through 9 games this season, one thing that has I've gleaned from the game film is this: Tony Romo generally prefers a different type of receiver than what we have drafted lately. Tony seems to prefers a quick separation type receiver as opposed to a big receiver that he has to trust to battle the smaller DB for the ball.

Think back to some of Tony Romo's best years for a second. In 2006 he had Terry Glenn who he loved to throw to and Terrell Owens who was still in his prime and not only got quick separation off the line short but also on most of his deep passes as well. All was well until Glenn injured his knee and then late in 2007 teams began to finally realize that the best way to slow down T.O. was to play very aggressive bump and run coverage.

Patrick Crayton ran a very slow 40 time but did a great job of getting quick separation due to his knowledge of zones and coverage. He was our version of Hines Ward. Jason Witten has never been a burner like Antonio Gates but until this year was very good a using his quickness off the line and savvy to get quick separation from a linebacker.

I believe it is no coincidence that Tony Romo's best year personally was in 2009 when a young and very quick Miles Austin broke onto the scene. Romo seemed to look to Austin in every crucial situation that year even more-so than Jason Witten. In 2008 we traded for Roy Williams when in realitry would would have been better of keeping Danny Amendola. Anyone who has really studied Romo's game could have told you that Williams he was not the receiver we needed. Tony never felt comfortable throwing to him with a DB draped all over him.

Fast forward to 2013. We have now loaded up our receiving corp with the big targets of Dez Bryant, Terrance Williams, an aging and unexplosive Miles Austin, Jason Witten,Gavin Escobar and James Hanna. And then we have the quick separation guys in Dwayne Harris and Cole Beasly.

The problem carries over to this day. If Dez hasn't separated within the first second or two Tony is looking elsewhere. He just does not feel comfortable throwing to a covered receiver from the pocket no matter how talented that receiver may be. It does not surprise me at all that Tony is having success throwing to with Beasley. He is precisely the type of receiver Tom Brady prefers as well. After watching the Patriots beat the Steelers yesterday it just reinforced what i was seeing in Romo.

Why can we see what our quarterback is and give him the type of weapon he prefers? Shouldn't the organization be doing everything it can to make our quarterback the most effective? I love Dez Bryant as a receiver but If Tony needs to see him open before throwing him the ball we will never see the best of Bryant here as long as Romo is our quarterback.

I've been saying it for a while. It is a lot like the receivers Tom Brady has enjoyed. Welker, Amendola, Edelman.... they get separation and they get open quickly.

It's even more important when you don't have a great offensive line.

Which makes me even more frustrated when I don't see Beasley out there. I really feel like this kid should be in there the lions share of plays. Especially if we're going 3 wide.

 

[65fastback2plus2]

im on board for sure.

I think thats why they drafted escobar, though...FAST TE to try and get separation.

 

[Galian Beast]

It goes back to the philosophy of the offense.

Look for the open man and never go to your horses even when they are covered.

I'll never get why we don't take shots to Dez down the sideline 2 or 3 times a game at least.

Letting the defense dictate where the ball goes all the time just sucks and Im sick of watching it.

I don't think coaches understand that plays like that are major game breakers. You score on a couple quick drives, and all of a sudden you're up 14 points, and teams start to get out of the run. This let's defensive line pin their ears back and go for the qb every down. The better the pass rush the worse the QB play. The worse the QB play the better chance you have to win.

We've become a very risk averse team, because Garrett is too obsessed with turnovers. We've won the turnover battle in a quite a few games this year and still managed to lose or almost lose, and that is because our offense has been fairly conservative.

We're 4th in scoring in the NFL, yet we're 5-4... it's because we let teams hang in there, and they expose a lack of pass rush, which exposes our secondary. It's why we can beat teams for 3 quarters but collapse in the 4th.

I think our defensive line should be commended for what it is working with, but it isn't good enough to win games in this scheme all by itself.

New Orleans is going to be a tough game for us.

 

[Doomsday]

We are the only team in the league that can throw the ball 40 times and not one of those pass attempts is a streak down the sideline.

 

[kramskoi]

Through 9 games this season, one thing that has I've gleaned from the game film is this: Tony Romo generally prefers a different type of receiver than what we have drafted lately. Tony seems to prefers a quick separation type receiver as opposed to a big receiver that he has to trust to battle the smaller DB for the ball.

Think back to some of Tony Romo's best years for a second. In 2006 he had Terry Glenn who he loved to throw to and Terrell Owens who was still in his prime and not only got quick separation off the line short but also on most of his deep passes as well. All was well until Glenn injured his knee and then late in 2007 teams began to finally realize that the best way to slow down T.O. was to play very aggressive bump and run coverage.

Patrick Crayton ran a very slow 40 time but did a great job of getting quick separation due to his knowledge of zones and coverage. He was our version of Hines Ward. Jason Witten has never been a burner like Antonio Gates but until this year was very good a using his quickness off the line and savvy to get quick separation from a linebacker.

I believe it is no coincidence that Tony Romo's best year personally was in 2009 when a young and very quick Miles Austin broke onto the scene. Romo seemed to look to Austin in every crucial situation that year even more-so than Jason Witten. In 2008 we traded for Roy Williams when in realitry would would have been better of keeping Danny Amendola. Anyone who has really studied Romo's game could have told you that Williams he was not the receiver we needed. Tony never felt comfortable throwing to him with a DB draped all over him.

Fast forward to 2013. We have now loaded up our receiving corp with the big targets of Dez Bryant, Terrance Williams, an aging and unexplosive Miles Austin, Jason Witten,Gavin Escobar and James Hanna. And then we have the quick separation guys in Dwayne Harris and Cole Beasly.

The problem carries over to this day. If Dez hasn't separated within the first second or two Tony is looking elsewhere. He just does not feel comfortable throwing to a covered receiver from the pocket no matter how talented that receiver may be. It does not surprise me at all that Tony is having success throwing to with Beasley. He is precisely the type of receiver Tom Brady prefers as well. After watching the Patriots beat the Steelers yesterday it just reinforced what i was seeing in Romo.

Why can't we see what our quarterback is and give him the type of weapon he prefers? Shouldn't the organization be doing everything it can to make our quarterback the most effective? I love Dez Bryant as a receiver but if Tony needs to see him running open before throwing him the ball we will never see the best of Bryant here as long as Romo is our quarterback.

I think it had more to do with an offense that rushed the ball for over 2100 yards that year...light years away from last years total of about 1265...a rather precipitous drop off to say the least. They are actually on pace, average wise, to finish around 1200 this year, IF they don't continue to give up on the run after one quarter of play. The best weapon for what ails Romo and the Cowboys is a potent running game and a commitment to making it an integral part of the offensive attack. New Orleans is having the EXACT same problem that the Cowboys are having at present.

 

[reddyuta]

Its all on the coaches,Hannah had a great catch and was buried for the Rest of the game. I cannot believe we have no use for a ridiculously fast TE,watch him turn into another Jimmy Graham when he leaves us.

 

[JBell]

im on board for sure.

I think thats why they drafted escobar, though...FAST TE to try and get separation.

I lol'd

 

[Idgit]

I'll give you points for creativity, anyway. I'd wager Tony Romo is pretty happy with the types of receivers he's had, overall.

 

[65fastback2plus2]

I lol'd

I meant James hannah, not escobar. my bad.

 

[texbumthelife]

I can't even remember the number of times that both Dez and Williams ran go routes straight up the field with a simple slant in the middle from the slot WR and a quick out from Witten. We ran it every drive from different formations. The corners simply handcuffed our WR's to the sideline, jumped the slant and played over/under on Witten.

Now, more than ever, I believe our issue on offense is play design and play calling. Not enough combo routes and double moves. We don't run clear outs nor do we flood zones. Just vanilla vanilla vanilla.

 

[TwoCentPlain]

WRs Williams and Bryant were absolutely good draft picks. If those are the "wrong" type of WR for your system or QB, then you need a new system and/or a new QB. The Cowboys have every type of WR needed for the system and QB to be successful. It is up to the HC/OC/QB to use them properly. So far, they aren't. And that is why we need a new HC.

 

[Hook'em#11]

Good lord on a crutch.. Really???

How bout Dallas draft an actual RB and finish fixing the O-line..

Some of these threads.. I swear...

 

[noshame]

We are the only team in the league that can throw the ball 40 times and not one of those pass attempts is a streak down the sideline.

You won't see a deep out, fly, post or any pattern more than 15yds from the LOS, why? We are not accurate enough. More and more folks are realizing this, including all NFL defenses.

 

[Everson24]

WRs Williams and Bryant were absolutely good draft picks. If those are the "wrong" type of WR for your system or QB, then you need a new system and/or a new QB. The Cowboys have every type of WR needed for the system and QB to be successful. It is up to the HC/OC/QB to use them properly. So far, they aren't. And that is why we need a new HC.

They may be good draft picks, but there is a reason that Tom Brady also favors a different type of receiver. I think Tony Romo and Brady are very similar in their thinking. In hindsight Danny Amendola may have been what we were missing in 2008 and not Roy Williams even though many would have agreed with you that Williams was the better draft pick (Yes I know Amendoloa was an UFA).

 

[aikemirv]

It goes back to the philosophy of the offense.

Look for the open man and never go to your horses even when they are covered.

I'll never get why we don't take shots to Dez down the sideline 2 or 3 times a game at least.

Letting the defense dictate where the ball goes all the time just sucks and Im sick of watching it.

I don't think the defense is dictating where the ball goes by coverage. It is dictating where the ball goes by the pressure up front. If pressure is coming Tony does not have time for the deeper routes to develope so he takes his eyes off them and looks for the open man shorter.

 

[KJJ]

im on board for sure.

I think thats why they drafted escobar, though...FAST TE to try and get separation.

I think they drafted Escobar just to waste another #2 pick.

 

[DFWJC]

Terrell Owens and Dez have been the two most successful Wrs with Romo at QB--I'd say he like that style of WR just fine.

I the last 16-17 games, maybe some of you guys need to look up Dez Bryant's stats.
They are near the very top in the league.

 

[VACowboy]

I think the problem is the offense, not the players. The Garrett offense just doesn't do anything to help players make plays, whether you're talking about WRs getting open or RBs finding room to run.