Now that I've covered my main Shrine Game targets in Pt. 1, I'll now discuss the guys who I just happened to follow or who caught my eye. These notes will generally be short, but there are a few guys I want to give more detail to.
Keith Tandy (CB, West Virginia) had footing issues all day. Even when the team was running drills at half-speed, he'd slip when trying to make his breaks. I don't know if his cleats are extremely poor or what, but I rarely saw slips from other players. He looked very quick in DB drills, but when team drills came around I felt like he really struggled. The slipping was a continual issue, and his man routinely was open, even if not targeted. The one time he made a great break and play on the ball, he dropped the INT. His ball skills in general looked poor to me. Probably the least impressive player I spent time watching.
The QBs were awful. It was a windy day, but the accuracy on passes was just miserable all day. Tons of checkdowns despite having open receivers downfield, no great arm strength, and at times, hesitancy. I couldn't keep track (nor did I care to) of which QB was throwing when, but none of them looked good from what I saw. The 3 QBs on the West team are Tyler Hansen (Colorado), Chandler Harnish (Northern Illinois), and Dan Persa (Northwestern).
Devon Wylie (WR, Fresno State) was maybe the most impressive player I saw all day. I just couldn't keep my eyes off of him. He displayed incredible quickness and fantastic route-running ability. His cuts were blisteringly sharp and he lost almost no speed when executing them. He is very fast in a straight line as well, so when he gets away from a defender, he's not going to be caught. There was one time where he ran a comeback route, and he literally executed his break, caught the ball, and was already turned upfield before the CB covering him reacted. Despite his continued abuse of DBs, he didn't get a ton of targets for some reason. One issue with him is size: he is small (5-10, 185) and doesn't seem to have great "ups" either. He and Jarius Wright (5-10, 180) are listed as almost identical frames, but I just felt like lack of size was more of an issue with Wylie and less so with Wright. Maybe that is just in my mind though. What I know for sure is that QBs overthrew him a couple of times, but they were throws that I felt like Junior Hemingway (6-1) would've come down with. He displayed great toughness on a slant route where the DB broke immediately on it and popped him good. He hung on, but did go down without much of an issue. Overall, I really liked Wylie. I really think he can be a Danny Amendola kind of WR in the NFL. Amendola was undrafted, and Wylie's stock is in that same area currently, but don't count him out. I think this kid could be a real diamond in the rough.
Trevin Wade (CB, Arizona) was impressive in both DB drills and team drills. Very quick, tracks the ball well, and has good hands. Good size (5-11, 192). Stuck to his man pretty well from what I saw. Made an INT. Like him, but I can't help but see Revis when I see a #24 CB.
Rodney McLeod (CB, Virginia) had an awful vertical leap in DB drills. It was the only thing I saw from him all day.
Steven Johnson (LB, Kansas) struggled mightily in coverage today. Routinely got burned by simple RB pass routes and also TE routes.
Kevin Koger (TE, Michigan) looked very Witten-esque today. Not physically impressive and not exactly speedy, but he finds space and gets open. Used his hands very well (and legally) to get open against a jamming LB on one play.
Marc Tyler (RB, University of Southern California) has bad hands from what I saw.
Lennon Creer (RB, Louisiana Tech) couldn't cleanly accept a handoff and the play had to be re-run.
Tyler Shoemaker (WR, Boise State) has a pretty good frame (6-1, 212), showed good extension and catch radius, and has a nice combination of physicality and elusiveness. Not going to run by anybody in a straight line, but made some nice moves to juke defenders after the catch. Seems to have reliable hands.
Brandon Brooks (OG, Miami-Ohio) completely whiffed on DaJohn Harris, then pancaked him on the next play. Guess I should've watched more of him, because those are two dramatically different results.
Cory Harkey (TE, UCLA) had a false start in team drills.
That's it. Hope you enjoyed reading. I look forward to another day in the future when I am able to attend something like this again. Don't forget to watch the Shrine Game this Saturday at 4 PM on NFL Network!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
East-West Shrine Game Practice Notes Pt. 1
Today I had the wonderful experience of observing a Shrine Game practice, specifically, that of the West Team. If you want to peruse the full roster of the West team (and the East team), click here. Obviously I wasn't able to track every player, and honestly it was hard enough to keep up with the few players I was targeting from the get-go. So sample size is certainly an issue. If I watch a player catch 4 passes all day and he drops one, that's a bad drop percentage. Is that indicative of his hands, or just bad luck? I can't really tell you, simply because my sample size is so limited. If I was at every practice and had film experience with these guys, I could give you a better idea of things like that. But I don't, so you'll just have to take that limitation into consideration when reading these notes.
Now that my disclaimer is out of the way, here's the handful of players I came into practice wanting to focus on:
#82 WR Junior Hemingway, Michigan
#4 WR Jarius Wright, Arkansas
#97 DT DaJohn Harris, University of Southern California
#2 SS Duke Ihenacho, San Jose State University
#28 CB Shaun Prater, Iowa
Junior Hemingway (WR, Michigan) was the guy I was most familiar with, and truthfully, he was the only name I had heard of on the entire West roster before today. I expected him to excel today, but he didn't exactly wow me. Hemingway is very average off of the line in my opinion. The defense ran strictly off-coverage, so I don't know how he is at breaking a jam, but he has very average acceleration. His top-end speed isn't much better. He does, however, have a decent frame (6-1, 222) and he was one of the few WRs who were large enough to catch high throws on the run. From my perspective in the stands, Hemingway looked like arguably the tallest WR of the bunch, which says a lot about the size of the WRs on the West team. Overall, I was not very impressed with Hemingway. I'd project him as strictly a possession guy, but he doesn't have the elite frame that you'd want a possession WR to have. Not too impressed with Hemingway overall.
Jarius Wright (WR, Arkansas) was quite a noticeable contrast from Hemingway. He is significantly smaller (5-10, 180) and dramatically quicker. His acceleration is very good, and he is a natural route runner. He pops off the line quickly and runs with purpose. Even though his top-end speed is noticeably impressive, he generally gets open with technique. His cuts are sudden and precise, and as a result he is able to create space. DBs can be on his hip one second, and then the next they look completely lost and Wright is catching a ball and turning upfield 3 or 4 yards in front of them. My new Twitter idol, @JoshNorris, was apparently on the field and close enough to hear the coaches, and he Tweeted that coaches were praising Wright on his routes every time he took the field. I read this early on in the day and kept a closer eye from that point on, and the praise was absolutely deserved. The more I watched Wright, the more I liked him. His small stature is an issue, for sure. But he is an ideal slot guy who can work underneath with short routes while also having the ability to turn on the burners and get downfield. Good hands too, he caught everything thrown his way all day. Eddie Royal is a natural comparison here. Almost identical size and speed.
DaJohn Harris (DT, University of Southern California) looks the part for sure. His frame (6-4, 310) is similar to Kevin Williams, but his speed is more like that of B.J. Raji. Obviously not a great size/speed combination there, but he flashed at times today. He was generally good in run support, and at times he is able to "make a mess" as I like to call it. He is inconsistent though. On one play, he'll be driving a double team into the backfield and destroying the running lane, and on another play, he'll be getting pancaked by a single man. In desperate need of a coach who can instill consistent use of proper technique. Very strong, but is not able to always take advantage of it. All of that said, there was one play where he absolutely whipped the OG at the line and made quick contact with the QB. So like I said, he shows flashes at times, but then he disappears other times. Unfortunately for him, starting OGs in the NFL won't get whipped like some of these Shrine Game were today. Unless he gets his technique down, he will be a non-factor in the NFL. Closest comparison I can think of is Marcus Spears.
Duke Ihenacho (SS, San Jose State University) is a guy who I didn't watch as much as I would've liked. I watched him for a little bit in DB drills but lost track of him in the team drills. Safety is hard to evaluate already, but in a limited-contact practice, it's even harder. All of the Safeties played CB at times, but like I said I kind of dropped the ball on my evaluation of him in team drills. From what I saw though, he wasn't great in coverage. In the DB drills, he didn't show very good hands but had a great-looking vertical leap. For a guy without great size (6-0, 205), he sure isn't very fast. Wish I could see how he does in run defense, because that's his only real hope in my opinion. No NFL comparison because I just don't know Safeties well enough, but his size and speed combo is similar to guys like Abram Elam and Roman Harper.
Shaun Prater (CB, Iowa) was impressive from what I saw of him. He was a very disciplined cover man who displayed great route-reading ability. There was one play in particular where the WR ran a hook-and-go, and Prater read it perfectly. He didn't jump whatsoever, and he immediately began tracking the ball in the air to attempt an INT. The QB smartly overthrew it in a throw-away fashion, but if he hadn't, Prater would've had a very easy INT. In team drills, he lined up in the slot on one play and executed zone coverage really well. He read the QB's eyes and made a very quick break on the ball for a whap. From what I saw today, he is a smart and instinctive player. He also isn't afraid to get physical, either. His frame (5-10, 185) isn't imposing, but is solid and he uses it well. This is not a great comp but he kind of gives me a Cortland Finnegan vibe. I'm not saying he'll be that good or that much of a jerk, but for some reason Finnegan pops into my mind when trying to think of an NFL comp. Liked what I saw of Prater for sure.
The rest of my observations will be covered in Pt. 2.
Now that my disclaimer is out of the way, here's the handful of players I came into practice wanting to focus on:
#82 WR Junior Hemingway, Michigan
#4 WR Jarius Wright, Arkansas
#97 DT DaJohn Harris, University of Southern California
#2 SS Duke Ihenacho, San Jose State University
#28 CB Shaun Prater, Iowa
Junior Hemingway (WR, Michigan) was the guy I was most familiar with, and truthfully, he was the only name I had heard of on the entire West roster before today. I expected him to excel today, but he didn't exactly wow me. Hemingway is very average off of the line in my opinion. The defense ran strictly off-coverage, so I don't know how he is at breaking a jam, but he has very average acceleration. His top-end speed isn't much better. He does, however, have a decent frame (6-1, 222) and he was one of the few WRs who were large enough to catch high throws on the run. From my perspective in the stands, Hemingway looked like arguably the tallest WR of the bunch, which says a lot about the size of the WRs on the West team. Overall, I was not very impressed with Hemingway. I'd project him as strictly a possession guy, but he doesn't have the elite frame that you'd want a possession WR to have. Not too impressed with Hemingway overall.
Jarius Wright (WR, Arkansas) was quite a noticeable contrast from Hemingway. He is significantly smaller (5-10, 180) and dramatically quicker. His acceleration is very good, and he is a natural route runner. He pops off the line quickly and runs with purpose. Even though his top-end speed is noticeably impressive, he generally gets open with technique. His cuts are sudden and precise, and as a result he is able to create space. DBs can be on his hip one second, and then the next they look completely lost and Wright is catching a ball and turning upfield 3 or 4 yards in front of them. My new Twitter idol, @JoshNorris, was apparently on the field and close enough to hear the coaches, and he Tweeted that coaches were praising Wright on his routes every time he took the field. I read this early on in the day and kept a closer eye from that point on, and the praise was absolutely deserved. The more I watched Wright, the more I liked him. His small stature is an issue, for sure. But he is an ideal slot guy who can work underneath with short routes while also having the ability to turn on the burners and get downfield. Good hands too, he caught everything thrown his way all day. Eddie Royal is a natural comparison here. Almost identical size and speed.
DaJohn Harris (DT, University of Southern California) looks the part for sure. His frame (6-4, 310) is similar to Kevin Williams, but his speed is more like that of B.J. Raji. Obviously not a great size/speed combination there, but he flashed at times today. He was generally good in run support, and at times he is able to "make a mess" as I like to call it. He is inconsistent though. On one play, he'll be driving a double team into the backfield and destroying the running lane, and on another play, he'll be getting pancaked by a single man. In desperate need of a coach who can instill consistent use of proper technique. Very strong, but is not able to always take advantage of it. All of that said, there was one play where he absolutely whipped the OG at the line and made quick contact with the QB. So like I said, he shows flashes at times, but then he disappears other times. Unfortunately for him, starting OGs in the NFL won't get whipped like some of these Shrine Game were today. Unless he gets his technique down, he will be a non-factor in the NFL. Closest comparison I can think of is Marcus Spears.
Duke Ihenacho (SS, San Jose State University) is a guy who I didn't watch as much as I would've liked. I watched him for a little bit in DB drills but lost track of him in the team drills. Safety is hard to evaluate already, but in a limited-contact practice, it's even harder. All of the Safeties played CB at times, but like I said I kind of dropped the ball on my evaluation of him in team drills. From what I saw though, he wasn't great in coverage. In the DB drills, he didn't show very good hands but had a great-looking vertical leap. For a guy without great size (6-0, 205), he sure isn't very fast. Wish I could see how he does in run defense, because that's his only real hope in my opinion. No NFL comparison because I just don't know Safeties well enough, but his size and speed combo is similar to guys like Abram Elam and Roman Harper.
Shaun Prater (CB, Iowa) was impressive from what I saw of him. He was a very disciplined cover man who displayed great route-reading ability. There was one play in particular where the WR ran a hook-and-go, and Prater read it perfectly. He didn't jump whatsoever, and he immediately began tracking the ball in the air to attempt an INT. The QB smartly overthrew it in a throw-away fashion, but if he hadn't, Prater would've had a very easy INT. In team drills, he lined up in the slot on one play and executed zone coverage really well. He read the QB's eyes and made a very quick break on the ball for a whap. From what I saw today, he is a smart and instinctive player. He also isn't afraid to get physical, either. His frame (5-10, 185) isn't imposing, but is solid and he uses it well. This is not a great comp but he kind of gives me a Cortland Finnegan vibe. I'm not saying he'll be that good or that much of a jerk, but for some reason Finnegan pops into my mind when trying to think of an NFL comp. Liked what I saw of Prater for sure.
The rest of my observations will be covered in Pt. 2.
Friday, December 16, 2011
What is Wrong With the Cowboys Defense?
There has been a lot of discussion lately about the Cowboys Defense, Rob Ryan, and late Cowboys collapses. The defense has steadily eroded over the course of the season, and many are saying that Rob Ryan is "overrated and overmatched" lately. Is that true? The short answer is no, but it's more complicated than that. Let me give you my perspective on the issues that are dragging the Cowboys Defense (and by extension, the entire team) down.
Rob Ryan is a great defensive coordinator. I believe that as strongly today as I did early in the season when I was shocked by the abrupt turnaround of the Cowboys defense. In case anyone has forgotten, the Cowboys defense of 2010 was the worst in franchise history and ranked in the bottom 5 of the NFL. Only the abysmal Houston Texans Defense of 2010 was noticeably worse.
The Cowboys' offseason didn't help matters much, either. Out went Stephen Bowen, their best DE, and he was replaced by Kenyon Coleman who came over from the Browns. Coleman has been solid this year, but Bowen was among the tops at his position in PFF's 2010 grades. Meanwhile, Alan Ball was replaced at FS by Abram Elam. Ball was arguably the worst Safety in the NFL last year, so anybody would've been better than him. Elam hasn't played all that well this year, but he has been mainly valuable from organization and knowledge standpoints. That's the full extent of starter turnover from the worst defense in Cowboys history. I don't care how good a coach is, there's no one out there that can magically make bad players into good players. Can coaches come in a utilize players in a more effective way? Sure. And that's what Ryan has done this year. The Cowboys defense looked like an entire new unit early in the season. The run defense was elite, the secondary was in the upper-half of the NFL, and their stinginess was complimented by an ability to force turnovers. Lately, they are nothing like that. So what has gone wrong?
Many writers are catching onto the fact that Ryan cannot be blamed entirely for the defense's struggles of late. They realize that the defense is basically no different from what it was in 2010, and so why should we expect it to be good? However, no one has addressed the reason why the defense has faded over the duration of the season. So what is the reason for the decline?
Let's talk hypothetically for a minute. Let's say that you are some po-dunk little WAC school and you have a Bowl Game against a national powerhouse. In fact, Boise State-Oklahoma from a few years back is a perfect example. No one thought that Boise State was a better team than Oklahoma, and they probably weren't. But they were able to hang with Oklahoma and ended up winning the game. How? They pulled out every single one of their tricks, and they were able to outweigh their talent deficiencies by out-scheming and confusing their opponent. And that's a sensible strategy. If you're overmatched, what's your best chance of winning? By doing tricky things that the opponent is not ready for.
The point of that little story is that it is a perfect representation of the Cowboys defense this year. They started off the year by having success largely due to their ability to confuse opponents with a "smoke and mirrors" scheme. Opponents were often very confused and were unable to figure out how to attack the defense. However, scheming your way to success can only last for so long. At some point, you run out of new tricks and everyone has seen your full arsenal. At that point, the jig is up and you're going to get burned.
The sneaky blitz that befuddled Matt Stafford early in the season isn't going to work against Eli Manning, because Eli noticed when watching film that one WR was minimally covered. The first time around, the QB is forced to read, react, and solve the problem extremely quickly. He is less aware of things and more focused on not being decapitated by DeMarcus Ware. But down the road, the OL knows what's coming, they can block Ware for an extra half-second, and the QB knows to look for the WR who will be wide open. They hit that play and people say "man, the defense sucks! Rob Ryan is an idiot!" But really, it's the same exact play that forced a turnover a few weeks prior.
So now what do you do? You have no more tricks up your sleeve, because you used them to get to this point. If you hadn't used them, you'd already be out of the Playoff picture. But now, you're screwed because your players are generally below-average and there's no more scheming you can do to help them. Other coaches get paid to. You can't outsmart everyone 19 times in a row. At some point, players have to win their individual battles, and the Cowboys defenders are unable to do that. And that brings us to the heart of the issue: poor talent on defense. You can cover it up with smoke and mirrors for a little while, but that strategy can't work forever. It's a mirage. Unfortunately for Rob Ryan and the rest of the Cowboys organization, until the defense gets upgraded, the Cowboys defense will continue to struggle, because that's what kind of a defense they really are. Ryan did a magnificent job early in the year, but at this point, he's just bailing water out of the boat, much like Wade Phillips was near the end of his tenure in Dallas.
Speaking of Wade, let's look at Wade. He was the constructor of the 2010 Cowboys defense. It was awful, as we know. Did he magically get smarter overnight when he moved to Houston? Because the Texans' defense is one of the best in the league this year after being even worse than the Cowboys last year. The answer is no, he's the same guy he was when he was in Dallas. The difference is that the Texans spent their entire offseason focused on improving their defense. They drafted J.J. Watt, Brooks Reed, Brandon Harris, Rashad Carmichael, and Shiloh Keo with their first 5 picks. They also signed Jonathan Joseph, who Greg Cosell calls the 2nd-best CB in football right now. Daniel Manning also was signed from Chicago, and he was very highly-graded by PFF in 2010. Add those guys to people like Mario Williams, Connor Barwin, DeMeco Ryans, and Brian Cushing, and you've MASSIVELY upgraded your talent. Has Wade helped? Sure, he's a good defensive coordinator. But the main difference is a major disparity in defensive talent. The Texans now have it, and the Cowboys still don't.
Here's my bottom line: don't blame Rob when you haven't given him anything to work with. The Cowboys went extremely offense-heavy in the draft and didn't have any cap room to get premier defenders in free agency. They are stuck in this boat no matter who is the coach. Can Rob Ryan evaluate talent and draft a great crop of defenders in 2012? We'll see. But to this point, Rob Ryan has done nothing but make this defense as good as it possibly can be, so there's no reason to criticize him as a coach. I'm thrilled to have him and I know he'll maximize whatever we have. It's up to the front office to give him a higher starting talent level to maximize though. So if you want to complain about the Cowboys defense, don't talk to Rob. Talk to Garrett, Jerry, and the scouting department. They are in charge of personnel, so they have to take the blame for having bad defensive personnel. That said, I trust that Garrett will continue to build this team and move it in the right direction. It just won't be a finished product this year, or maybe even next year, and fans need to understand that. It's a "process" as Garrett says, and we have to follow the process to its conclusion. In Year 1 of Garrett, I am very encouraged by the team, and I look forward to many more years of Garrett-led enjoyment.
Rob Ryan is a great defensive coordinator. I believe that as strongly today as I did early in the season when I was shocked by the abrupt turnaround of the Cowboys defense. In case anyone has forgotten, the Cowboys defense of 2010 was the worst in franchise history and ranked in the bottom 5 of the NFL. Only the abysmal Houston Texans Defense of 2010 was noticeably worse.
The Cowboys' offseason didn't help matters much, either. Out went Stephen Bowen, their best DE, and he was replaced by Kenyon Coleman who came over from the Browns. Coleman has been solid this year, but Bowen was among the tops at his position in PFF's 2010 grades. Meanwhile, Alan Ball was replaced at FS by Abram Elam. Ball was arguably the worst Safety in the NFL last year, so anybody would've been better than him. Elam hasn't played all that well this year, but he has been mainly valuable from organization and knowledge standpoints. That's the full extent of starter turnover from the worst defense in Cowboys history. I don't care how good a coach is, there's no one out there that can magically make bad players into good players. Can coaches come in a utilize players in a more effective way? Sure. And that's what Ryan has done this year. The Cowboys defense looked like an entire new unit early in the season. The run defense was elite, the secondary was in the upper-half of the NFL, and their stinginess was complimented by an ability to force turnovers. Lately, they are nothing like that. So what has gone wrong?
Many writers are catching onto the fact that Ryan cannot be blamed entirely for the defense's struggles of late. They realize that the defense is basically no different from what it was in 2010, and so why should we expect it to be good? However, no one has addressed the reason why the defense has faded over the duration of the season. So what is the reason for the decline?
Let's talk hypothetically for a minute. Let's say that you are some po-dunk little WAC school and you have a Bowl Game against a national powerhouse. In fact, Boise State-Oklahoma from a few years back is a perfect example. No one thought that Boise State was a better team than Oklahoma, and they probably weren't. But they were able to hang with Oklahoma and ended up winning the game. How? They pulled out every single one of their tricks, and they were able to outweigh their talent deficiencies by out-scheming and confusing their opponent. And that's a sensible strategy. If you're overmatched, what's your best chance of winning? By doing tricky things that the opponent is not ready for.
The point of that little story is that it is a perfect representation of the Cowboys defense this year. They started off the year by having success largely due to their ability to confuse opponents with a "smoke and mirrors" scheme. Opponents were often very confused and were unable to figure out how to attack the defense. However, scheming your way to success can only last for so long. At some point, you run out of new tricks and everyone has seen your full arsenal. At that point, the jig is up and you're going to get burned.
The sneaky blitz that befuddled Matt Stafford early in the season isn't going to work against Eli Manning, because Eli noticed when watching film that one WR was minimally covered. The first time around, the QB is forced to read, react, and solve the problem extremely quickly. He is less aware of things and more focused on not being decapitated by DeMarcus Ware. But down the road, the OL knows what's coming, they can block Ware for an extra half-second, and the QB knows to look for the WR who will be wide open. They hit that play and people say "man, the defense sucks! Rob Ryan is an idiot!" But really, it's the same exact play that forced a turnover a few weeks prior.
So now what do you do? You have no more tricks up your sleeve, because you used them to get to this point. If you hadn't used them, you'd already be out of the Playoff picture. But now, you're screwed because your players are generally below-average and there's no more scheming you can do to help them. Other coaches get paid to. You can't outsmart everyone 19 times in a row. At some point, players have to win their individual battles, and the Cowboys defenders are unable to do that. And that brings us to the heart of the issue: poor talent on defense. You can cover it up with smoke and mirrors for a little while, but that strategy can't work forever. It's a mirage. Unfortunately for Rob Ryan and the rest of the Cowboys organization, until the defense gets upgraded, the Cowboys defense will continue to struggle, because that's what kind of a defense they really are. Ryan did a magnificent job early in the year, but at this point, he's just bailing water out of the boat, much like Wade Phillips was near the end of his tenure in Dallas.
Speaking of Wade, let's look at Wade. He was the constructor of the 2010 Cowboys defense. It was awful, as we know. Did he magically get smarter overnight when he moved to Houston? Because the Texans' defense is one of the best in the league this year after being even worse than the Cowboys last year. The answer is no, he's the same guy he was when he was in Dallas. The difference is that the Texans spent their entire offseason focused on improving their defense. They drafted J.J. Watt, Brooks Reed, Brandon Harris, Rashad Carmichael, and Shiloh Keo with their first 5 picks. They also signed Jonathan Joseph, who Greg Cosell calls the 2nd-best CB in football right now. Daniel Manning also was signed from Chicago, and he was very highly-graded by PFF in 2010. Add those guys to people like Mario Williams, Connor Barwin, DeMeco Ryans, and Brian Cushing, and you've MASSIVELY upgraded your talent. Has Wade helped? Sure, he's a good defensive coordinator. But the main difference is a major disparity in defensive talent. The Texans now have it, and the Cowboys still don't.
Here's my bottom line: don't blame Rob when you haven't given him anything to work with. The Cowboys went extremely offense-heavy in the draft and didn't have any cap room to get premier defenders in free agency. They are stuck in this boat no matter who is the coach. Can Rob Ryan evaluate talent and draft a great crop of defenders in 2012? We'll see. But to this point, Rob Ryan has done nothing but make this defense as good as it possibly can be, so there's no reason to criticize him as a coach. I'm thrilled to have him and I know he'll maximize whatever we have. It's up to the front office to give him a higher starting talent level to maximize though. So if you want to complain about the Cowboys defense, don't talk to Rob. Talk to Garrett, Jerry, and the scouting department. They are in charge of personnel, so they have to take the blame for having bad defensive personnel. That said, I trust that Garrett will continue to build this team and move it in the right direction. It just won't be a finished product this year, or maybe even next year, and fans need to understand that. It's a "process" as Garrett says, and we have to follow the process to its conclusion. In Year 1 of Garrett, I am very encouraged by the team, and I look forward to many more years of Garrett-led enjoyment.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Shutdown Corner Week 15 Preview Podcast with Greg Cosell
Here are the things that really interested me. If you want the full story, listen for yourself here:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/The-Shutdown-Corner-Week-15-Preview-Podcast-with?urn=nfl-wp13946
Cosell says that the Cowboys have been playing a lot of many lately, and "at some point, you have to win your matchups." I agree. Only so much Rob Ryan can do. Problem is the secondary just being flat-out beat.''
Cosell LOVES Sean Lee. Says he's basically carrying the Cowboys' ILBs and that Bradie James and Keith Brooking are really struggling (never heard that before... sigh...).
Greg says that right now, Jonathan Joseph is the 2nd-best man CB in the NFL, only behind Revis. I agree.
Poise is the name of the game for T.J. Yates, Greg says. He's already doing a lot of the little things right, and it allows him to be successful already in his young NFL career. Cosell says Yates' 4th Quarter performance was the most impressive of Week 14. Eat your hearts out, Eli and Tebow.
Greg says he is continually impressed with Cedric Benson. Views him as a foundation back who can carry a big load and succeed.
Jennings is the one receiver on the Packers who can win vertically against man coverage when left in isolation, Cosell thinks. Says other WRs generally make their deep plays as a result of playing in combination with other receivers. That's a nice way of saying "system guys" in my opinion.
Part of the Raiders' unraveling lately is Palmer's fault, and Greg says the issue is that he is a very rhythm-based passer who hasn't been able to get into his rhythm lately.
Cosell says that young QBs always look better when they have mobility. Says the real test for Tebow will be down the road. In Year 4, will Tebow still be as effective as he is today? Good question.
Greg Cosell cannot speak highly enough about Patrick Peterson. Says he's being trusted like Deion was, and similar to how Revis is trusted nowadays. Daryl Washington gets big praise for his play as a LB.
Rob Gronkowski is 275 pounds. Just think about that.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/The-Shutdown-Corner-Week-15-Preview-Podcast-with?urn=nfl-wp13946
Cosell says that the Cowboys have been playing a lot of many lately, and "at some point, you have to win your matchups." I agree. Only so much Rob Ryan can do. Problem is the secondary just being flat-out beat.''
Cosell LOVES Sean Lee. Says he's basically carrying the Cowboys' ILBs and that Bradie James and Keith Brooking are really struggling (never heard that before... sigh...).
Greg says that right now, Jonathan Joseph is the 2nd-best man CB in the NFL, only behind Revis. I agree.
Poise is the name of the game for T.J. Yates, Greg says. He's already doing a lot of the little things right, and it allows him to be successful already in his young NFL career. Cosell says Yates' 4th Quarter performance was the most impressive of Week 14. Eat your hearts out, Eli and Tebow.
Greg says he is continually impressed with Cedric Benson. Views him as a foundation back who can carry a big load and succeed.
Jennings is the one receiver on the Packers who can win vertically against man coverage when left in isolation, Cosell thinks. Says other WRs generally make their deep plays as a result of playing in combination with other receivers. That's a nice way of saying "system guys" in my opinion.
Part of the Raiders' unraveling lately is Palmer's fault, and Greg says the issue is that he is a very rhythm-based passer who hasn't been able to get into his rhythm lately.
Cosell says that young QBs always look better when they have mobility. Says the real test for Tebow will be down the road. In Year 4, will Tebow still be as effective as he is today? Good question.
Greg Cosell cannot speak highly enough about Patrick Peterson. Says he's being trusted like Deion was, and similar to how Revis is trusted nowadays. Daryl Washington gets big praise for his play as a LB.
Rob Gronkowski is 275 pounds. Just think about that.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Tim Tebow vs. KC Week 10 2011
Pass-by-pass breakdown of Tim Tebow:
Pass #1: Deep ball to Eric Decker, out of I-Form. PA. A little underthrown, but very catchable ball. Decker drops it.
Pass #2: Deep ball to Eddie Royal, out of I-Form. PA. Ugly ball, but hit Royal. Right on the very edge of his reach, would've been a tough grab, and CB had one of his arms held. No chance with one hand, but with two he may have been able to snag it (would've been a great catch though, for sure).
Pass #3: Deep ball to Eric Decker, out of I-Form. PA. Underthrown or it's a TD. Instead, whap.
Pass #4: Option shuffle pass to Eddie Royal, behind the LOS. Royal didn't seem ready for it, hit him in the chest and fell to the ground.
Pass #5: Checkdown to Lance Ball in the flat. RB drops it upon defender contact. Not a hard hit, either.
Pass #6: WR Screen, thrown behind LOS. Caught, 12 yard gain.
Pass #7: Awful, awful throw. landed 5 yards in front of WR on short out. Just abysmal.
Pass #8: Beautiful deep ball to Decker. Long TD.
Final Tally:
1 WR Screen completion
1 Deep Ball TD
3 drops
1 borderline overthrow, borderline DPI
1 Underthrow
1 LOL Rec Center throw
Not as bad as the stat sheet would indicate, but not good, either.
Pass #1: Deep ball to Eric Decker, out of I-Form. PA. A little underthrown, but very catchable ball. Decker drops it.
Pass #2: Deep ball to Eddie Royal, out of I-Form. PA. Ugly ball, but hit Royal. Right on the very edge of his reach, would've been a tough grab, and CB had one of his arms held. No chance with one hand, but with two he may have been able to snag it (would've been a great catch though, for sure).
Pass #3: Deep ball to Eric Decker, out of I-Form. PA. Underthrown or it's a TD. Instead, whap.
Pass #4: Option shuffle pass to Eddie Royal, behind the LOS. Royal didn't seem ready for it, hit him in the chest and fell to the ground.
Pass #5: Checkdown to Lance Ball in the flat. RB drops it upon defender contact. Not a hard hit, either.
Pass #6: WR Screen, thrown behind LOS. Caught, 12 yard gain.
Pass #7: Awful, awful throw. landed 5 yards in front of WR on short out. Just abysmal.
Pass #8: Beautiful deep ball to Decker. Long TD.
Final Tally:
1 WR Screen completion
1 Deep Ball TD
3 drops
1 borderline overthrow, borderline DPI
1 Underthrow
1 LOL Rec Center throw
Not as bad as the stat sheet would indicate, but not good, either.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Shutdown Corner Week 10 Preview Podcast with Greg Cosell
Cosell discussed the Raiders' defensive performance against the Broncos with Ron Jaworski this week, and Jaws asked him "did the Raiders practice last week?" Both were appalled by how poorly they played against the Option. Cosell also note that Tebow attempted 6 passes in the second half. What a "winner."
Greg says that the Texans are flat-out a running team now, and they look just as dominant as the legendary running teams that Mike Shanahan had in Denver. Lots of credit to the dominant OL.
Nnamdi Asomugha plays three positions according to Cosell, but only one of them well, and that's press man. Not a slot guy, not a zone guy. Greg not really impressed with Nnamdi overall. Great corner, but only in one aspect of the position.
Cosell is not sold on Haynesworth. Says he's recently looked worse than ever before in his career.
The Titans defense is playing baaaad football right now. They started pretty hot this year, but have just collapsed lately.
Cosell heaps praise on Reggie Bush's recent performances, saying "he looks like the player we expected coming out of USC."
On Roy Helu's performance last week, Cosell says "when have you ever seen a 14 catch game in which the guy really had zero impact on the game?" Says Helu is a straight-line runner who isn't that great of a talent, but he's better than a one-kneed Hightower (obviously) and better than Ryan Torain. Says his success will be scheme-driven.
Greg doesn't think Blaine Gabbert has an NFL future. Says he's not sure discomfort in the pocket and reacting to pressure than isn't there on a consistent basis can be overcome, and unless it is, Gabbert will never be better than he is now. Says Gabbert has a great arm, but he falls away from throws unnecessarily and is struggling because of it.
Cosell notes that certain teams, such as the Steelers, Giants, Jets, and Eagles have made philosophical decisions that they will do everything that they can to take away the pass, and if you want to run, go ahead. Says that unlike the first three teams, the Eagles just can't execute well enough against the run for that idea to be successful. You can't take away the pass and get gashed in the run, or the idea doesn't work. But if you can contain the run enough to not have it kill you, it's a really effective strategy in today's NFL.
In regards to Tebow, Greg basically says expect a poor man's Michael Vick, both in running and passing. I know there are some Vick critics out there who aren't fans of his at all, and if you don't like Vick, you REALLY won't like Tim Tebow. Inferior runner and passer, so imagine the Broncos as being less successful than Vick's Falcons were. That's not exactly the kind of success you want to have.
Greg loves Leon Hall, but doesn't consider him to be a shutdown corner. He loves Bengals DC Mike Zimmer too. Says he does a fantastic job of disguising pressure.
Praise for Bears' DL Idonije. Peppers and he are a great combo.
Greg says that the Texans are flat-out a running team now, and they look just as dominant as the legendary running teams that Mike Shanahan had in Denver. Lots of credit to the dominant OL.
Nnamdi Asomugha plays three positions according to Cosell, but only one of them well, and that's press man. Not a slot guy, not a zone guy. Greg not really impressed with Nnamdi overall. Great corner, but only in one aspect of the position.
Cosell is not sold on Haynesworth. Says he's recently looked worse than ever before in his career.
The Titans defense is playing baaaad football right now. They started pretty hot this year, but have just collapsed lately.
Cosell heaps praise on Reggie Bush's recent performances, saying "he looks like the player we expected coming out of USC."
On Roy Helu's performance last week, Cosell says "when have you ever seen a 14 catch game in which the guy really had zero impact on the game?" Says Helu is a straight-line runner who isn't that great of a talent, but he's better than a one-kneed Hightower (obviously) and better than Ryan Torain. Says his success will be scheme-driven.
Greg doesn't think Blaine Gabbert has an NFL future. Says he's not sure discomfort in the pocket and reacting to pressure than isn't there on a consistent basis can be overcome, and unless it is, Gabbert will never be better than he is now. Says Gabbert has a great arm, but he falls away from throws unnecessarily and is struggling because of it.
Cosell notes that certain teams, such as the Steelers, Giants, Jets, and Eagles have made philosophical decisions that they will do everything that they can to take away the pass, and if you want to run, go ahead. Says that unlike the first three teams, the Eagles just can't execute well enough against the run for that idea to be successful. You can't take away the pass and get gashed in the run, or the idea doesn't work. But if you can contain the run enough to not have it kill you, it's a really effective strategy in today's NFL.
In regards to Tebow, Greg basically says expect a poor man's Michael Vick, both in running and passing. I know there are some Vick critics out there who aren't fans of his at all, and if you don't like Vick, you REALLY won't like Tim Tebow. Inferior runner and passer, so imagine the Broncos as being less successful than Vick's Falcons were. That's not exactly the kind of success you want to have.
Greg loves Leon Hall, but doesn't consider him to be a shutdown corner. He loves Bengals DC Mike Zimmer too. Says he does a fantastic job of disguising pressure.
Praise for Bears' DL Idonije. Peppers and he are a great combo.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Tyron Smith vs. NYJ Week 1 2011
Here's my breakdown of Tyron Smith's Week 1 performance against the Jets.
First snap, Tyron Smith needs to finish better. Had great position against his man who was rushing left as Tony was rolling right, but let him pull a spin move and get behind him. Didn't matter in the play, but you have got to play to the whistle and anticipate the moves of the DL. Obviously he's going to want to stop going left and start going right to follow Tony, so know that and prevent it.
I said this in my preseason Film Studies of Tyron Smith, but when he gets his hands on you in the run game, he WILL move you. And this guy is still growing into his body. Scary.
When pulling and in space, needs to have better concept of who to block. Tried to block the same guy as another blocker, and by the time he adapted and looked elsewhere, the play was over and he had blocked no one.
That said, Tyron gets to the second level very well. Has the mobility needed to get there and a knack for finding a way to shuffle through the trash.
Smith moves DL successfully, and LBs are absolutely no match for him.
Read the blitz better, man. Looked like he did what the scheme called for to focus inside the pocket, but he literally has his back turned to the blitzing CB who comes late and disrupts Tony's throw.
"Smarts" is Smith's main problem from what I can see. Another example of looking inside and letting the edge rusher come free. Jets are a tough task to handle, for sure, but that doesn't preclude you from playing smart.
Random thought: Kevin Ogletree ran a great route against Darrelle Revis to create space on 3rd and 6. Caught the slant for the first down. He must be doing a lot of this on plays when he's not targeted to still be on the roster.
Another random thought: DeMarco Murray caught a screen pass, and he was extremely slow in terms of turning upfield. Like a 50 acceleration in Madden. This is what I think Greg Cosell was talking about.
Bryan Broaddus, former Cowboys scout who now is part of the media, has noted that when Tyron Smith gets beat, it tends to be when he overextends wide and the rusher gets inside. That just happened on the Murray screen pass I was talking about. Not an issue on this play, but definitely something that has caused problems in other spots.
Random thought: John Phillips just did more as a receiving TE on one play than Martellus Bennett has done all year. Caught a pass in the flat, plowed over a LB, and got a first down. Should've been stopped for no gain. Give Phillips more chances!
Another play where Smith blocks inside and lets the edge guy come free. Caused incompletion.
Great body positioning by Smith in run blocking. As he is blocking, he rotates so that he is always directly between the defender and the runner. Really nice play.
Nice job of locating the edge rusher, Tyron. See, you can get the hang of this!
Tyron needs to finish the play better. He shoves his man instead of engaging him and his man goes on to force the Romo goal line fumble. Finish the block, win the game, Tyron!
Overall, I was impressed with Tyron Smith. The mental side of his game needs work, but it improved as the game progressed, which is good to see. He needs to work on short yardage blocking. I noticed that he didn't get the same push in the run game when it was short yardage as when it was a regular run play. Obviously that's a technique issue, because the strength is clearly there. He handles wide rushes very well, but needs work on stopping inside rushers. At worst, he is a solid RT who shows flashes of dominance in certain areas, and for a rookie starter who didn't have any real offseason programs, I'll take that for sure.
First snap, Tyron Smith needs to finish better. Had great position against his man who was rushing left as Tony was rolling right, but let him pull a spin move and get behind him. Didn't matter in the play, but you have got to play to the whistle and anticipate the moves of the DL. Obviously he's going to want to stop going left and start going right to follow Tony, so know that and prevent it.
I said this in my preseason Film Studies of Tyron Smith, but when he gets his hands on you in the run game, he WILL move you. And this guy is still growing into his body. Scary.
When pulling and in space, needs to have better concept of who to block. Tried to block the same guy as another blocker, and by the time he adapted and looked elsewhere, the play was over and he had blocked no one.
That said, Tyron gets to the second level very well. Has the mobility needed to get there and a knack for finding a way to shuffle through the trash.
Smith moves DL successfully, and LBs are absolutely no match for him.
Read the blitz better, man. Looked like he did what the scheme called for to focus inside the pocket, but he literally has his back turned to the blitzing CB who comes late and disrupts Tony's throw.
"Smarts" is Smith's main problem from what I can see. Another example of looking inside and letting the edge rusher come free. Jets are a tough task to handle, for sure, but that doesn't preclude you from playing smart.
Random thought: Kevin Ogletree ran a great route against Darrelle Revis to create space on 3rd and 6. Caught the slant for the first down. He must be doing a lot of this on plays when he's not targeted to still be on the roster.
Another random thought: DeMarco Murray caught a screen pass, and he was extremely slow in terms of turning upfield. Like a 50 acceleration in Madden. This is what I think Greg Cosell was talking about.
Bryan Broaddus, former Cowboys scout who now is part of the media, has noted that when Tyron Smith gets beat, it tends to be when he overextends wide and the rusher gets inside. That just happened on the Murray screen pass I was talking about. Not an issue on this play, but definitely something that has caused problems in other spots.
Random thought: John Phillips just did more as a receiving TE on one play than Martellus Bennett has done all year. Caught a pass in the flat, plowed over a LB, and got a first down. Should've been stopped for no gain. Give Phillips more chances!
Another play where Smith blocks inside and lets the edge guy come free. Caused incompletion.
Great body positioning by Smith in run blocking. As he is blocking, he rotates so that he is always directly between the defender and the runner. Really nice play.
Nice job of locating the edge rusher, Tyron. See, you can get the hang of this!
Tyron needs to finish the play better. He shoves his man instead of engaging him and his man goes on to force the Romo goal line fumble. Finish the block, win the game, Tyron!
Overall, I was impressed with Tyron Smith. The mental side of his game needs work, but it improved as the game progressed, which is good to see. He needs to work on short yardage blocking. I noticed that he didn't get the same push in the run game when it was short yardage as when it was a regular run play. Obviously that's a technique issue, because the strength is clearly there. He handles wide rushes very well, but needs work on stopping inside rushers. At worst, he is a solid RT who shows flashes of dominance in certain areas, and for a rookie starter who didn't have any real offseason programs, I'll take that for sure.
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