Airing it out, YACking it up, Tapping the Brakes, and Measuring Success.

Airing it out, YACking it up, Tapping the Brakes, and Measuring Success.

The Dallas Cowboys have the unique pleasure of having one of the most diverse fan bases in the nation. From California to New Jersey, while I was in the military I met Dallas Cowboy fans from every part of the country. Some of them were born around them and had moved, others had parents that breathed the blue and silver, and then there were a few that just made the wise decision to like them because of having no local team.

With that diversity comes a wide variety of opinions, some of which I would love to take the time to offer my own on.

It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s….

Not too many passes downfield. With a nod to 5Blings Fanpost http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2010/6/17/1523789/the-tony-romo-paradox , this was a bigger issue that people didn’t talk about it. While Dallas had 17 pass plays of 40+ yards(which was tied for 2nd), they only had a staggering 12 attempts of 31 plus yards. Now to their credit they completed 4 of them, so they succeeded 33% of the time but Blings was right, you need more attempts down field.  I don’t think that the Cowboys have to throw it down the field 35 times, but they should never finish last in that category (which they did.). I do think that throwing it downfield around 20-25 times, like the Saints, would at least make the defense think about it more. I would be surprised if the total doesn’t rise this year, and I’m sure looking back on it Jason Garrett and Tony Romo will want to fit more downfield passes in. Good thing that Dallas was…

YACking it up.

Dallas’s pass catchers lead the league in YAC last year, with a 6.7 YAC average.  The main question pouring out of the fan base this time last year was “who is going to replicate TO’s production?”. The answer?  Miles freaking Austin. With a coming out party that would set the record for a Cowboys receiver in yards in a single game, Miles Austin never looked back. Patrick Crayton and even Roy Williams both had over 15 Averages. Tony even got some unexpected help sparingly from 3rd TE John Phillips and bubble screen demon Kevin Ogletree. Speaking of….

SCREEEECH

That’s the sound of me slamming on the brakes. Let me be clear, I love Kevin Ogletree and John Phillips. They had limited roles and when they were in the game, they made the most of their opportunities, but there has been some major overreaction in these cases. A combined 16 catches between the two of them isn’t enough for me to proclaim them starters. Ogletree has tremendous upside, and caught everything thrown his way last year, but most of the packages that he was in were one read schemes. In other words they spoon fed him plays. John Phillips on the other hand, made some damned good plays in big games, but I remember a guy named Tony Curtis getting 3 TDs in a regular season. In those regards I’m also softer on Dez than most. I love the pick and I think he’s going to have a tremendous impact, but I don’t think that he’s going to be Randy Moss this year and he really doesn’t need to be. Which brings me to my next question…

Who is measured by what?

Four guys come to my mind. Roy Williams, Martellus Bennett, Dez Bryant, and Marion Barber.  Let us start with the Arlington whipping boy, Roy E. Williams.  Second wide out, and third receiving option, what is going to be considered a successful year for him? Personally I don’t think that statistics tell the story for Roy Williams. If you took away all the money and all the trade stuff and just looked at stats, you’d probably be like… this guy had a pretty good year. Against Green Bay, he had 105 yards and TD, but if you watched the game, you’d know he was horrible. A fumble in the middle of the field? Are you freaking kidding me? Now watch the playoff game against the Eagles. He was where he was supposed to be, and he was moving the chains. 3 first downs on 5 catches is the EXACT role he can play for this team. The yardage was low, but it didn’t need to be high, because he was keeping drives alive. I think Martellus Bennett is somewhat in the same boat. The same people who are praising John Phillips and were ready to boot Bennett, should really look back at the 2008 tape. He has ability, but now the question is was last year a sophomore slump or is this guy a head case? Like Roy, I just think he needs to make the plays when the ball come in his direction. He isn’t going to have a ton of yards, but using his superior size, he should help move the chains. I will measure Dez Bryant by the way that the defenses play him. I hope he gets some stats too, but if he can flash some of the things that made him such a freak of nature in college, it will create some difficult decision from opposing defenses. As for Marion Barber, I’m in the camp that thinks that he can have a role on this team. Whether it is the 2007 workload or even a little bit less, I don’t care. Was he worth the money? No, but he can contribute.

That’s my spill, discuss BTBers!!!