Why does Witten fall down as soon as he's touched?

[superpunk]

You really shouldn't be telling other people to educate yourself when you're spouting that much nonsense.

Cooley has been known to break tackles on a consistent basis going back to college. He routinely evades defenders to gain extra yardage after contact. You routinely see him catch passes short of a first down only to break a tackle and gain the extra yardage.

It's part of his game and some players are more adapt at it than others. It helps that he's built relatively low to the ground despite his size, and his awareness and ability to make defenders miss with simple moves is uncanny.

I'm guessing you can prove that Cooley consistently breaks more tackles than Witten, or any other TE.

I'll be waiting...

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I get you, MavsMan. Nothing wrong with asking the question. I've thought the same thing about Witten.

But I think that while he has great speed for how darned big he is, he just isn't quick or nimble. I don't think he's ever going to make many yards after the catch... But of course that's okay. He can block like those more athletic TEs never will.

Cooley has been known to break tackles on a consistent basis going back to college.

Wow, you mean he broke tackles at Utah State? Whotta tough guy.

Witten would break Cooley and his little Naired-up girly legs in half.

 

[Undisputed]

as much as i luv witten he need to work on his speed

"work on his speed"?

Are you guys serious? Maybe we are taking Parcells' "never let good enough..." comment a bit too far. Apparently the #1 receiver (statistically) on our team this year is too slow and also too weak to break out of tackles.

:bang2:

 

[starfrombirth]

as much as i luv witten he need to work on his speed

Let me get this straight. Witten is 6'6" almost 270 lbs and runs as fast as most safeties in the league and you say he should be faster?!!

 

[McCordsville Cowboy]

Let me get this straight. Witten is 6'6" almost 270 lbs and runs as fast as most safeties in the league and you say he should be faster?!!

The only one I can think of is on our team.

 

[ScipioCowboy]

Mavs Man:
Why does Witten fall down as soon as he's touched?

The answer is simple: So we have something to moan and bellyache about.

I guess denigrating Colombo and the seventh ranked rushing attack in the league has lost its luster.

 

[superpunk]

Wow, you mean he broke tackles at Utah State? Whotta tough guy.

Witten would break Cooley and his little Naired-up girly legs in half.

This post is win.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Only Agle Crumpler (128), Kellen Winslow (138), and Antonio Gates (147) have more YAC (Yards after the Catch) than Witten (109) among Tight Ends in the league. Hell, Witten has more YAC than TO! (97)


Crayton has the most of the Cowboys with 167 (Good for being #6 in the league)

2007 YAC Stats

 

[YosemiteSam]

You don't know what your talking about.

Last year Cooley ranked 17th in the league with YAC yards. 17th. You know who ranked 18th? T.O.

I'd say that was some pretty good company to be in.

And thats not exactly a high flying offensive juggernaught in DC they're running over there. Give Cooley his due, he's a YAC monster.

He isn't even in the top 50 in YAC this year.

 

[austintodallas]

It's hard to criticize such an asset on offense, but has anyone else noticed his tendency to fall over upon the first tackle/wrap-up? This was really noticeable watching the Bills game. He catches the ball and boom, he hits the ground. I'm not talking about big hits either, just simple leg wrap-ups. I would expect a guy his size to barrel forward for a few more yards.

I don't know who you're describing but it's not Witten. Was this your first time watching the Cowboys?

 

[Seven]

Cause he's scared. He's a big, fat, hairy wuss who's overrated and Whalen(sp?) should've been our guy. He's got stone hands and runs routes like a mallard in heat. BUST!!!!
Besides all of that.................BP told him to never run after a catch because we don't want to run the score up. You see, Bill kept games close so he'd have a valid reason to draft a kicker because he knew it would piss off Hos. I'm serious...................


/leaps off box..................head first.

 

[hermitkid]

He isn't even in the top 50 in YAC this year.

Teams have made it a point to take Cooley away in the passing game this season. They routinely role coverage his way and often double team him in coverage. As the season goes on I expect his production go up and wouldn't be surprised to see him finishing with over 400 YAC again this season.

2005 ranked 6th 487 yards
2006 ranked 17th 419 yards

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/stats/2005/receiving/0_byRECPT_YAC.html
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/stats/2006/receiving/0_byRECPT_YAC.html

 

[CowboyWay]

There are only a few posts like that. The rest offered opinions on why he may go down on first contact...which is what he asked in the thread title.

Quick question, tho. Where do you find the YAC stat? I'm not real good at stat finding. I looked and I just found Yd/Rec

Witten 2006 - 11.8
Cooley 2006 - 12.9

Witten 2007 - 14.0
Cooley 2007 - 8.0

Oh sorry, I should have included a link.

http://snap.stats.com/stats/nflinfo/leaders.asp?year=Q&type=NFL+Receiving&rank=231&Submit=Go

Make sure you hit the "return to full menu" button. There's lots of great info on there you just have to experiment and play around. A Great resource though.

 

[joseephuss]

I don't think Witten is that great at running with the ball and breaking tackles. That opinion has been expressed and discussed several times over the past few years. Even with that, he is better than what the Buffalo game showed. He often had defenders wrapped around his legs as soon as he caught the ball. He barely got a chance to even turn upfield on a few passes. That game was more a product of really good tackling on Witten rather than his lack of ball carrier skills. Saying he was falling down as soon as he was touched is an overstatement, but he is not a great ball carrier, either.

 

[CowboyWay]

He isn't even in the top 50 in YAC this year.

He's not getting the ball AT ALL this year. I don't know what the deal is in DC, but he hasn't had many opportunities. I have him in fantasy so I watch him alot.

 

[joseephuss]

Teams have made it a point to take Cooley away in the passing game this season. They routinely role coverage his way and often double team him in coverage. As the season goes on I expect his production go up and wouldn't be surprised to see him finishing with over 400 YAC again this season.

2005 ranked 6th 487 yards
2006 ranked 17th 419 yards

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/stats/2005/receiving/0_byRECPT_YAC.html
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/stats/2006/receiving/0_byRECPT_YAC.html

He might. He has 36 YAC right now, so he has a long way to go to get back over 400.

 

[hermitkid]

He might. He has 36 YAC right now, so he has a long way to go to get back over 400.

The key will be whether Moss and Randle El can stay healthy. The way it's been looking so far this season I'm a bit concerned because they both have been plagued with nagging injuries early on and at least in Moss's case there's a history of injuries that have limitted or kept him out of games altogether.

 

[CowboyWay]

Either way, your YAC factoid doesn't mean Cooley is breaking many tackles. He's not. Not more than any other TE.

All I can do is show you the stats. I've seen the stats and I watch the skins whenever I can (cause I hate them), and I'm telling you, Cooley will flat out beat people who try to tackle him.

If you choose not to see or believe it because he wears Burgandy and Gold, I can't help you.

You are the type of fan that people laugh at. Incapable of giving credit to other teams or thier players. But anyone who wears silver and blue is a HOF'er.

I bet you think Julius is a top 5 back in the league too right?

 

[Pokes12]

This is exactly my thought. He usually has both arms wrapped around the ball after he catches it, and that will hurt your balance a bit.

The issue is not that he falls at first hit it is that he takes about twenty minutes to turn and run. He typically has his back to the goal line when he catches a hook route. Then he takes forever to turn his body around. He would do better just running backwards for a few.
It is a minor point however since he is definitely one of the best TEs in the league. And the catch he made for the touchdown was outstanding. The pass was really over thrown and he made a finger tip grab.
It is really hard to criticize this guy, he does so many things well.

 

[superpunk]

You are the type of fan that people laugh at. Incapable of giving credit to other teams or thier players. But anyone who wears silver and blue is a HOF'er.

I bet you think Julius is a top 5 back in the league too right?

Boy, you got me pegged.

Maybe you should spend more time on Cowboyszone than Extremeskins.

If you can find where I said that Cooley wasn't a good player, or a fantastic TE, I'll gladly entertain your feeble musings. Again, I'll be waiting. He's simply not what you think he is, not anymore so than any other TE. You don't understand why his YAC in previous years is inflated, I can't help you.