Who's Laughing at Travis Frederick Now?

[AsthmaField]

This is a nice little Dallas blurb I found in a SI article about the Buffalo Bills. Just goes to show you that you can't judge a draft until the players actually, you know... play.

JUMPING OUT ON FILM
The Cowboys controversial late first-round pick a year ago, Travis Frederick, has been the best center in football this season. He’s the driving force on an offensive line that’s chaperoned DeMarco Murray to 670 yards on the ground. Frederick is tremendous on reach-and-seal blocks, which is where a blocker off the snap must immediately cross the face of a defensive lineman who lined up over him and cheated towards the attack side of a run. Reach-and-seal blocks are the crux of great zone-blocking. And with Frederick and the Cowboys, they’ve also helped set up some man-blocking ploys, allowing guards Ronald Leary and Zack Martin to prosper.

Frederick by himself was clearly worth taking in round 1... and that is without even figuring in Terrance Williams and his rise to a starting WR.

They also mention that Linehan has been impressive and what he might try to do against Seattle:

IMPRESSIVE COACHING
Something Dallas will likely do to distort Seattle’s matchup zone principles is align wideouts Terrance Williams and Dez Bryant on the same side. Washington had success with similar concepts Monday night on DeSean Jackson’s touchdown. The Cowboys’ white-hot running game has really helped their play-action. With so many of those play-action designs incorporating extra pass blockers early in the down, expect on Sunday to see play-caller Scott Linehan dial up plays like this:

Read the whole article here: http://mmqb.si.com/2014/10/08/buffalo-bills-new-england-patriots-week-6-nfl/

 

[Stash]

Awesome stuff! Thanks!

And I was going to ask the question of who's playing center better than Frederick? but this article beat me to it.

Those moves are looking like genius at this point, and a front office that gets it's "fair share of abuse" deserves tons of credit for them.

 

[MonsterD]

Yeah I was definitely wrong about him pre-draft and right after.

 

[big dog cowboy]

10. Dez Bryant has drawn the most double-coverage in the league this season, and without a peep of complaint so far.

I found this little blurb at the bottom of that article.

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

Will be interesting to see Dez and Williams on the same side...and I have no doubt our smaller shifty guys can get open on the other side.

The Broncos, Chargers and Skins have shown some ways to beat their secondary.

 

[JBell]

Martin got away with murder on Watt that play lol, but still a nice concept nonetheless.

 

[cmoney23]

I will still and will always say it was a serious reach...

If you buy a car worth 15k dollars for 25k dollars and it runs great and runs for 10 years... you still paid 10k to much for it.

 

[jobberone]

Martin got away with murder on Watt that play lol, but still a nice concept nonetheless.

Martin seems to be able to do that well. I've yet to see an All22 but I'd like to see how well they are pass blocking. I know it has improved since the opener. Fred's run blocking has never been an issue nor was it predraft. I don't think people thought his run blocking would be this good nor Leary or Martin. Free has improved his run blocking as well.

It's going to continue to be fun to watch this offense.

 

[JBS]

I will still and will always say it was a serious reach...

If you buy a car worth 15k dollars for 25k dollars and it runs great and runs for 10 years... you still paid 10k to much for it.

umm, thats not exactly how this thing works...its a nice try though

if you draft a guy WHERE you had him slotted to be drafted...AND he performs better than that...you got a steal...

Fred was a steal

you and your internet dork scouts who had diff grades on him were clearly wrong...

 

[BoysFan4ever]

He's been great.

 

[DoctorChicken]

I will still and will always say it was a serious reach...

If you buy a car worth 15k dollars for 25k dollars and it runs great and runs for 10 years... you still paid 10k to much for it.

I'd rather guarantee getting the car in the first place and pay a little more than risk losing it.

 

[guag]

I'm thinking a similar situation will arise with Hitchens by this time next year.

He always seems to be around the ball during important plays, especially around the goal line. I can think of at least 3 instances where he stopped the ball carrier short of the goal line for short/no gain so far this season and preseason. Once he gets through this season and another camp, he'll be more consistent and possibly starting material.

But anyway, I'll end my thread hijack now

 

[jobberone]

I will still and will always say it was a serious reach...

If you buy a car worth 15k dollars for 25k dollars and it runs great and runs for 10 years... you still paid 10k to much for it.

This is a very illogical and erroneous post. You buy something to do a job. If it performs at a high level for many years you amortize the cost over the entire life cycle of the part/whatever. If you get a bargain and it works poorly and not for long you wasted your money. You didn't save anything.

 

[Rob Mexico]

Jerry is doing some laughing at the doubters lately it seems.

 

[jazzcat22]

I will still and will always say it was a serious reach...

If you buy a car worth 15k dollars for 25k dollars and it runs great and runs for 10 years... you still paid 10k to much for it.

Guess when they got Tony Romo as an UDFA...so bought what most people thought was a lemon, but turned into a Ferrari....

 

[BBQ101]

I will still and will always say it was a serious reach...

If you buy a car worth 15k dollars for 25k dollars and it runs great and runs for 10 years... you still paid 10k to much for it.

What? Geeze, how can you write this. You think we got taken in the trade that got us Fredricks and Williams? You even have the benifit of 20/20 hindsight and you still write this?

I just don't get some people. Maybe this was just a troll post and I fell for it.

BBQ

 

[Joe Realist]

I remember the criticism last year. I will still go with my prediction this year for him - Pro Bowl alternate.

 

[tyke1doe]

I think some posters miss the criticism regarding Frederick and the draft. It's not that he was taken, but whether he was taken too high with respect to his value, or whether other teams ranked him.

Now, none of us knows for sure. But if Frederick could have been had in a lower round, then his value was not worth taking in the first round. Even if he becomes a Hall of Famer. If, however, we wouldn't have gotten him in a lower round, then to take him in the first round was a good move.

It's the same argument I make with regards to Tom Brady. Now that we know Tom Brady will be a Hall of Famer, many think he should have been taken in the first round. No, he shouldn't have, not based on how he was rated at the time of the draft. Let's assume, only the Patriots knew that Brady would be a multiple Super Bowl-winning quarterback and no other franchise did. Would the Patriots have drafted him in the first round with this knowledge? No. Why? Because his value wasn't first round value at the time he was picked. The draft is all about selecting a player where you think he should be taken. The Cowboys took Jason Witten in the third round. Witten has proven that he was worthy of a first-round pick. But because of his value, he went lower. And if everyone else thought Witten wasn't worth a second or third, the Cowboys did the wise thing in drafting him where his value was worth.

Having said that, I'm glad the Cowboys have invested in the offensive line. That's where the game is won, particularly in this offensive-minded league.

 

[gimmesix]

I will still and will always say it was a serious reach...

If you buy a car worth 15k dollars for 25k dollars and it runs great and runs for 10 years... you still paid 10k to much for it.

Only if the car wasn't worth 25k to you, which Frederick clearly was to Dallas.

It would have been different if Dallas had not traded down and instead took Frederick with that pick when his draft value on their board was in the early 20s. That would have been a reach that still would have turned out to be a good one.

Instead, Dallas took Frederick around the point it had him slotted, so credit should be given to the scouting department for slotting him there instead of in the 40s like those who think "it was a serious reach" did.

The only valid knock on the pick was not taking Shariff Floyd when the scouts had him slotted much higher than Frederick, but then everyone would be complaining now about Floyd not being worth the pick and how we should have taken someone like Frederick.

 

[casmith07]

I remember the criticism last year. I will still go with my prediction this year for him - Pro Bowl alternate.

I think that's probably accurate. For some reason he doesn't get the admiration that he deserves, but probably because he's not a big name or on the popular bandwagon team of the year (Seattle, etc.)