Heavy on defense and special teams Sturm’s final Cowboys 53-man roster projection

 Thankfully, we have a fun exercise to replace any sort of game recap with here as trying to dignify that preseason game from Sunday with Jacksonville with words is probably a bridge too far. So let's skip it. Late last week, I did a post on how special teams determine rosters. I believe what I wrote for sure, but I also have to admit that the math of this particular roster selection may put my initial thoughts to the test.

https://theathletic.com/2797291/2021/08/30/sturms-final-cowboys-53-man-roster-projection-heavy-on-defense-and-special-teams/

What will the Cowboys do? Special teams decide so much, but usually get so little of the roster attention

 This is the point in the preseason where I do my roster projections - as any good NFL writer should. Look for it as part of my Morning After piece next Monday after the final fake game of the preseason. If you follow my work, you should definitely know that a big part of the final 10 spots on a 53-man roster will always be about two things for me: Contracts and special teams. You know about contracts and guaranteed money and the difficulty the Jones family seems to have with painful goodbyes.

https://theathletic.com/2789142/2021/08/26/what-will-the-cowboys-do-special-teams-decide-so-much-but-usually-get-so-little-of-the-roster-attention/

Can John Fassel save the Cowboys’ special teams?

 https://theathletic.com/1879962/2020/06/18/can-john-fassel-save-the-cowboys-special-teams/

The Morning After – How special teams determine the final cuts

https://theathletic.com/499123/2018/08/31/the-morning-after-how-special-teams-determine-the-final-cuts/

Special Teams Snap Counts 2011-2017

Year	FGA	OppFGA	XPT	OppXPT	Punts	OppPunts	KO	Opp KO	ST Totals
2017	29	25	39	35	66	70	80	73	417
2016	32	32	46	28	58	70	91	75	432
2015	32	36	25	38	69	74	73	83	430
2014	29	18	56	41	58	67	96	75	440
2013	30	29	47	48	77	61	91	89	472
2012	31	33	37	44	69	74	79	88	455
2011	37	33	39	35	71	72	86	86	459
Yr Avg	31.4	29.4	41.3	38.4	66.8	69.7	85.1	81.3	443.6

The Morning After: Cowboys 33, Redskins 19 (4-3)

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-cowboys/cowboys/2017/10/30/sturms-morning-special-teams-turn-game-perfect-moment

We will never know how the game would turn out if the field goal wasn’t blocked.  The Washington Redskins were rolling along pretty well on offense in the driving rain with the ability to sneak Jamison Crowder into the secondary and Chris Thompson out on the flanks in the first half of the divisional showdown in Washington.

If Longhorn kicker Nick Rose can knock it through the uprights and put Washington up, 16-7 with about 3 minutes to go, nobody knows what will happen from there.  Would the Cowboys choose that moment to get their proverbial act together and march back down before halftime?  Or would their drive chart continue to shout that the offense was not going to be hitting on all cylinders in the rain on this day?

The first ended with a fumble, then a touchdown drive, then a missed Field Goal, then a 3-and-out-punt and the last drive of the half was another 3-and-out-punt.  Had the special teams chosen this game to get their finger prints on the season, the outcome could have been a real disappointment in Washington.

Instead, the special teams made 2 game-shifting plays.  Rich Bisaccia and his crew did what you always want - swing a game that needs to be swung. The first was a magnificently timed blocked field goal of Washington’s attempt to go up 2 scores.  On a wet day such as this, the timing of the snap and the hold and the kick will always be walking a tight rope.  After the Redskins had gotten away with one earlier when the holder, Tress Way, was able to get a bobble down properly, the timing on this one was thrown off in a bad way.  That left an opportunity, and if there is starting to be a trait of this defensive line group that the Cowboys have put together, it is that if you give them an opening, they will often charge through it.

So, the replay shows that Tyrone Crawford deserves the credit for getting his paw up in the path of the Nick Rose field goal attempt and David Irving looked like he was right behind him and might have also knocked a piece out of the football flying by.  Anthony Brown was coming around the end and looked like had just missed it.  Regardless, what is clear is that Washington’s first real moment of missing most of their offensive line turned out to be on trying to kick the field goal late in the 2^nd Quarter.  It would rear its head several more times before the game was ended, but that was the moment that they would have liked Trent Williams on that spot instead of TJ Clemmings (who the Cowboys were definitely attacking along with the LG Shawn Lauvao) and maybe Brandon Scherff or Spencer Long inside making sure their line wasn’t over-run by opportunistic Cowboys looking to make a play. 

But, make a play they did.  And the ball spurted back onto the ground inside the Cowboys 10 where Orlando Scandrick thought about heading to his right sideline for a moment before doubling back to the left sideline where he was able to rumble 86 yards for one of the most influential blocked field goal returns in Cowboys history to set the Cowboys up with a vital 1^st and goal situation at the Washington 2-yard line. 

A few moments later, Ezekiel Elliott is in the end zone again and the Cowboys have somehow, on one moment where the ball and Tyrone Crawford’s right-hand meet, it appears that 10 points changed hands.  What might have been 16-7, Washington, has now become a Dallas lead of 14-13. 

There have certainly been some big blocked field goals in Dallas Cowboys history – both good and bad – but, the only one of the positive fashion that included a long return in recent history was the game in 2007 at Texas Stadium versus Minnesota.  In that game – known by many as Adrian Peterson’s NFL debut in Dallas – Patrick Watkins scooped up a Ryan Longwell field goal and ran 68-yards for a touchdown late in the 3^rd Quarter that was blocked by Chris Canty.  The result of that play was turning a potential 17-14 Vikings lead into a 21-14 Cowboys advantage.  That 10-point play secured the win for Dallas that day like this one did.  We must give Watkins (who I just discovered played 5 additional seasons in Canada – Toronto and Edmonton - after leaving the NFL in 2010 to retire just last winter) the advantage because he made it to the end zone. 

Now, the Cowboys have the lead going into the 2^nd half against the battered Redskins and the feel of the contest is 100% different to how it could have felt.  They take control in the increasing rain of the 2^nd half with a defensive front that cannot be blocked by what is left of Bill Callahan’s offensive line in Washington.  On 3^rd and 9, the Cowboys send 6 rushers and it is too much for Kirk Cousins to have a chance.  Tyrone Crawford breaks in and gets home against TJ Clemmings at left tackle, but he only beat David Irving and Maliek Collins to the QB by a fraction of a second.  The ball comes loose and there is Demarcus Lawrence to recover the ball.  They are finally becoming what the Cowboys have needed most; a relentless group of long and athletic “war daddies”.  There is a group of them now, and after years of fruitless harvests, the crop has all grown together into something remarkable. 

They weren’t done there, of course.  Cousins would be under duress the rest of the day and they would insure that there would be no Washington rally.  By day’s end, it was another 4 sack-performance with Irving getting two, Crawford and Lawrence one each.  From the Cowboys PR staff: “With four sacks in today’s game, the Cowboys defense now has 25 sacks through the first seven games of the season. It is just the fifth time since 1982, when sacks became an official stat, that a Cowboys defense has recorded at least 25 sacks through the first seven games of the season, joining the 1982 (27.0), 1985 (29.0), 1986 (28.0) and 1987 (34.0) teams.” 

Let that soak in for a moment.  This is the first time since 1987 that the Cowboys have been on this sort of sack pace?  Heck, it was so overwhelming again that you were pleased how they made such quick work of what Washington was able to field yesterday.  So much so, that at the end of the game Coach Jay Gruden offered Cousins his appreciation for taking the beating and continuing to fight the whole game.  They knew if the Cowboys brought it yesterday, they would be in trouble. 

To the Cowboys credit, it took them a while to get cooking, but then they brought it.  And it was sparked by their special teams in both that blocked field goal and then early in the 2^nd half, after the Cowboys were kicking off after the Lawrence recovery was only converted into a field goal, they knocked the ball loose when Keith Smith hit little Chris Thompson hard enough to put the ball on the ground and that is where Ben Benwikere was able to make his first real impression in a Cowboys uniform by falling on the ball.

When you combine 3 Takeaways and 4 sacks together, you can afford a slightly less impressive day from your offense.  The Cowboys offensive machine slowed a bit due to some infectious penalties and loose precision in the driving rain.  They turned some touchdowns into field goals in a rather uncharacteristic fashion that they will not want to become a trend.  The penalties put them behind the chains and the Redskins brought a strong defensive effort that caused some frustration as Ryan Kerrigan and Josh Norman showed their quality. 

Ezekiel Elliott was as impressive as ever after his first carry turned into a fumble.  But, once he got that out of his system, he turned in another Emmitt Smith-like effort where the yards are inside the tackles, vicious, and always going forward.  Sometimes, there is a lot to get and sometimes he has to make his own 4 yards, but either way, they want him to be a battering ram in weather games and he touched the ball a career-high 34 times for 154 yards from scrimmage.  That is now 644 yards from scrimmage in the four games in October for 7 touchdowns.  Only one player in football has had a better October, Pittsburgh’s Le’Veon Bell has 743 yards and 4 touchdowns, but it took him five games to get there.  In other words, nobody has been better than Zeke’s 161 yards per game in October.

Now, our attention can’t help but wonder about his availability between now and mid-December, because when you are rolling out the most punishing player in the league and he may need to go away for yet another Dallas Cowboys suspension, that will definitely lessen the likelihood that they could win a game like this where the passing game did very little heavy lifting.  I have attempted to avoid this headache topic in this space for a while, but the gravity of the situation as the Cowboys reach the gauntlet portion of their schedule cannot be lost on anyone who is following this organization.

Elliott is what this whole team has been built on and therefore losing him for six weeks would be like a severe injury to any other MVP candidate on any other team.  This one would surely be more self-inflicted, but the effects would seem similar. 

Regardless, the Cowboys needed two road wins in two weeks and they put both away in convincing fashion.  They took a 2-3 start that disappointed and turned it into a 4-3 spot going to November.  That start may have cost them the division, but they have their full health are 2-0 in the NFC East, and have a chance to play the Eagles a few times moving forward. 

The questions for the Cowboys are still to be answered.  The Chiefs, Falcons, and Eagles in succession will address plenty of the questions that the judge doesn’t handle today.

Your guess is as good as mine on what happens next.    

Special Teams Determine Roster Spots

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-cowboys/cowboys/2017/08/09/sturm-special-teams-answers-camp-roster-questions-every-year

/Staff Photographer

Dallas Cowboys special teams coach Rich Bisaccia directs practice during the morning walkthrough at Dallas Cowboys training camp in Oxnard, California on July 23, 2013. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)

By Bob Sturm, Special contributor Contact Bob Sturmon Twitter:@SportsSturm

We are now in the middle of NFL training camps and, as we speak, teams are meeting about which players they can keep around when they are forced to make roster decisions. Unfortunately, most fans don't know where to look, because when they are trying to figure out who are the fourth and fifth wide receivers, or the sixth-best linebacker, or the fourth-best safety, they are looking in the wrong place.

 

It is reasonable to think that you keep wide receivers for their ability to catch the ball. And it is equally reasonable to believe that if we are going to keep one more edge rusher, it is because we think he can ultimately develop into a guy who may collect a few sacks. It is reasonable, but it is also seldom true.

The truth is that this league doesn't have time to develop players very often. They can hide a few practice-squad projects for a short amount of time, but even those can get picked off by the competition without much notice. So, the NFL quickly becomes a place where we think about the week at hand -- because if we lose too many games this season, none of us will be around to worry about our projects.

So, you have to offer the league something right now. In almost every case, to get a chance to show what you can be, you had better be able to help us now. How? Special teams.

I write about this every August and consider it the most important thing to determine roster spots for the Cowboys, or any team. If you want to know who is going to make the team, once we get by the top 25-30 players on the roster who are making all the money, you simply have to consider the following chart. This is a chart I have been keeping for six seasons now, and it offers valuable information about how often the Cowboys (or any team, really) use their special teams:

As you can see, there are eight times your special teams are needed. Field goals, extra points, punts and kickoffs are four. The other four are when your opponents do those things. Of those eight groupings, you will use them roughly 28 times a game. So, in a sport where your offense and defense each average between 60-65 snaps per game, we should not forget that around 20 percent of all snaps in an NFL game come on special teams.  

This is not interesting to many fans, because odds are that their favorite players are so good they are not asked to do anything on special teams. It is also uninteresting to fans because it almost never affects their fantasy football team and seldom affects the outcome of their real football team's games.

But if you spend a week at Cowboys training camp, you will find out that "real" football obsesses over special teams. Every few days, they dedicate entire practice or walk-through sessions to special teams. They spend countless hours in meetings in preparation for the importance of dealing with between two or three dozen moments in a game when nearly none of the millionaires are on the field, but games often swing. Imagine that in other sports! Imagine scenarios when games are won and lost while none of the top 20 earners are on the field. It happens all the time in this sport. Almost all special teams players (save for a star kicker, or perhaps a star return man) are at, or slightly above, the league minimum. Almost all  special teams players have little service time in the NFL and are on their first contracts. Almost all of them are pretty anonymous to most fan bases.

But there they are, covering kicks and returning punts. The last 15-20 names on the roster, and the special teams coach is left to make darn sure that they may not win the game -- but for his very own job security, they had better not lose the game, either.

So let's imagine Rich Bisaccia's job on a week-to-week basis. He has to make sure these coverage and return teams are full of competent and talented players who can do their jobs. We all know that, but who are his choices? Well, once you start going down the list of 46 active bodies, you will find that it is not a very big list:

So that was your roster card from Thanksgiving Day of last year. As you can see, I put a red line through all the players who are either off-limits, not dressed, or not candidates to do any sort of coverage or return work. Some of them, of course, can at least be part of the field-goal units (most of the O-line does that), but when it comes to sprinting down the field and trying to collide at high speeds, the teams are smart enough to protect their most valuable assets from this work.

Other body types just don't work. You don't want 300-pounders trying to cover punts (or 180-pounders, usually). Not great fits. So in the end, you have roughly 20 players to handle those four most important units on your special teams that will each be asked to take the field between 4-6 times per game. Punt cover, punt return, kick cover and kick return.

And that is the point to this entire August blog entry -- as you are trying to figure out the roster cuts, it is made much easier if you pay close attention during the next 2-3 preseason games to see who is covering kicks and punts (especially in the first half). This will be Bisaccia's testing of the players -- especially all the young ones -- and if you see anyone who was drafted between rounds 4-7, or undrafted altogether, then you can expect that their best way to make the team is by being excellent at special teams.

Especially the following positions: Running backs, fullbacks, tight ends, wide receivers, linebackers, cornerbacks and safeties. If you are a big enough stud starter at some of those spots, they won't risk you on special teams. Everyone else stays. And as long as I have covered these lists, safeties, even if they are starters, are still on special teams. Why? Because they are your best tacklers in the open field and you will need them to do that on a few kicks and punts each year.

When you go down the roster, you should look at each "non-starter" with the question, "Can this guy help me on special teams?" If not, he had better be a pretty special player -- or a backup quarterback. With 46-man rosters on gameday, we can't have too many passengers.

Grab a legal pad and jot down the numbers on the screen on punts and kickoffs. Each unit will be different, but they will generally have the same guys to choose from (since Bisaccia only gets about 20 names to work with).

Last season, these were the players who played the most on special teams (and their snap counts): Jeff Heath (345), Damien Wilson (340), Kyle Wilber (322), Andrew Gachkar (308), Byron Jones (227), Keith Smith (188), Gavin Escobar (160), Anthony Brown (159), J.J. Wilcox (127), Leon McFadden (124), Lucky Whitehead (114), Anthony Hitchens (111), Jack Crawford (102) and Kavon Frazier (101). Of those 14 players, five are gone. So, you could argue that there are five major special teams jobs up for grabs after the departures of Gachkar, Escobar, Wilcox, Whitehead and Crawford.

Just something to think about as they put their roster together. Rich has a very difficult job because he gets the table scraps and then must get his guys to perform. Also, in mid-game, when someone gets hurt (or several do), he has to adjust on the fly with the leftovers.

But more than anything, this demonstrates why there is no such thing as a bench-warmer in the NFL. Everyone who is active on gameday is going to have to contribute to the cause somehow. One of the many reasons, in my opinion, that this game is so great.

DMN - Mailbag Sept 16 - Special Teams

http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-cowboys/cowboys/2016/09/16/sturms-cowboys-mailbag-special-teams-role-call-dak

On we go to Week 2, where the Cowboys are packing for a Noon kick in Washington.  Divisional games are all around the NFL as they have made it a point to start and end the season with these divisional battles.  It is enjoyable, for sure.  But, wow, if you lose both of them to the Giants and Redskins right off the bat, the stress level will go way up.

The Cowboys have slim margins throughout as they have to do many things right to emerge victorious.  I am not sure this is a team that can win too many weeks when they don't play very well.  They need, as their coach will say, to be solid in "all three phases."  Of all of the things he says, most don't shed much light on anything.  But, his acknowledgement about the special teams phase is vital is something I have always appreciated.  

Special teams are not that important - until they are.  And while that sounds silly, it is the margin for so many teams.  A few years ago, a mediocre 2014 Eagles team was able to disguise their mediocrity because their special teams were getting them so many points.  In the end, they were found out, but they rode that all the way into December that year.  Meanwhile, the 2010 San Diego Chargers were just the opposite:  A playoff team on offense and defense, but a few blocks here and there and the Chargers did not make the playoffs because their special teams unit cost them a few games.  In this league, you cannot spare a few games.  

That is why on certain mailbag days, I will supplement your content with a look at the various elements of the Cowboys Special Teams under their ST coach Rich Bisaccia.  Unlike college football, this requires all sorts of mental gymnastics, because NFL teams only have 46 available on game day.  When you deduct almost every starter from the choices, then deduct almost all of the linemen from the options, all of the QBs, and then all of the players that just aren't very good at running and tackling, Bisaccia has a list of about 15 players with which to build his 4 kick and cover teams.  Field Goal and Field Goal block teams can use linemen and it is easier, but covering and returning kicks require the end of your roster.  

The object of special teams is simple:  Don't be a catastrophe.  Every coach would accept league average.  Just don't get us beat.  Now, if you can find a great special teams, then your team might erase a lot of other weaknesses.  It could be a beautiful thing.

The Cowboys haven't really been particularly special on special teams since I have been tracking them, but they also have gone several years since they have been a real problem.

Today, I wanted to share a look at the kick teams.  Soon, I will do the same with the punt teams, but not today.

Here first, is the coverage team:

Safeties on the perimeter, Church has the position called "L1" and Wilcox is over on "R1".  Jones and Brown are L2 and R2 to keep speed on the edges, and then you start stacking linebackers and tight ends on the inside for L3, L4, L5 and R3, R4, R5.  Sometimes, they put safeties inside next to the kicker, too.  This time, Jeff Heath has L5.  Usually, the L5/R5 and L2/R2 are the first to arrive, with L1/R1 playing safety, and the 2nd wave behind the 1st, is L4/R4 and L3/R3.

Now, the return team:

Here is the kick return team.  We should point out that the NFL is slowly taking out the kickoff with rules that limit how often you actually need these teams, but for now, we proceed.  

The first line is often going to be linebackers/tight ends/full backs/safeties.  Then, the Cowboys like having a diamond behind the first line of five.  Behind the diamond are the last two, #45 Rod Smith will be the lead blocker for #13 Lucky Whitehead who is barely in the picture.  

These teams change constantly, due to injuries.  I imagine when the bullets are flying, Bisaccia is trying to keep his group intact, given that any injury on offense or defense could have immediate implications to the punt team he has to run out.  Everyone has to know every scenario to keep from catastrophes during the game.  In college, you have a huge roster to account for this, but on Sundays, he has no roster and little time to come up with quick solutions.

For now, the spine of his special teams appears to be:  Kyle Wilber (21 special teams snaps in week 1), Andrew Gachkar (18), Jeff Heath (18), Rod Smith (18), Damien Wilson (18), Byron Jones (15), and Keith Smith (13).  

How is this useful information for you?  Well, of course, you want to know who to credit or debit for big special teams moments, but you also want to know which names down the roster provide added value on gameday and thus keep from being scratched or even released when they need roster room. It is very basic job security for a lot of those names above - provided they do a great job.

Now, on to your emails:

Do you think this new guy, Ryan Davis will bring a spark to the pass rush?

I sure hope so.  I am sure you have seen how this guy - who I am guessing most had never heard of - is instantly the Cowboys career sack leader on the roster with his 11.5 career sacks.  Wow.  He is 27 years old and has played plenty in this league.  The Cowboys do a decent job of targeting names and jumping on them on the waiver wire when they come available at this position.  George Selvie and David Irving both come to mind as guys they see fit their profile (high motor, active players) who can cause commotion.  I have been asked if he is a player this weekend, and while I have no idea, I suggest that he is only here to help in September for now.  So, I would not be surprised if they run solution possibilities right out there in these first four games.  

Would you change the offense at all to take advantage of more Dak skills, like maybe running the read option?

Oh, yes.  And I expect that is already their plan.  They are trying to get him prepared for so many scenarios that they are likely trying to keep things simple, but I expect that will be a real weapon this year before it is all over.  His one "keep" on Sunday was pretty effective.  But, more than anything, it is the threat that he will keep it that is most valuable.  It should keep defenses honest.

At what point would you hit the panic button on Zeke? Is it not alarming that he couldn't produce behind this offensive line?

It surely wasn't a great debut by any stretch and you already know my consternation on the idea of investing so heavily in him.  But, let's slow before we get too carried away on the debuts of Elliott or even Dez Bryant.  It was one game.  Let's chat when it gets to four or five games.  By then, either they have demonstrated their quality or we are panicking.  

People scoff at Week 2 being a "must-win" but isn't it when you consider not just starting 0-2 but being two back in the division?

All along, I was thinking 2-2 in the first four was vital.  I was planning on splitting the first two divisional games and then splitting the next two with the Bears and 49ers.  0-2 would not be ideal, but it also would not be the end of the year.  So, yeah, winning on Sunday would be a real great plan.  But, it will also be a very angry Redskins team that was humiliated on Monday Night in that same stadium.  That should make one optimistic, but it always makes me nervous when you have to play a humiliated opponent.  

Alfred Morris has been the ideal teammate and is producing in limited action. You think he's earned the right to more carries, especially against his former team?

I think Morris is quite an impressive man.  He really says all the right things and then just plays his tail off.  I would be quick to give him a heavy workload on Sunday as it will mean a lot to him to show his old team that they definitely made a poor choice.  The odd thing is, I kind of think they did the right thing.  You see, Morris as a #2 is great.  Morris as a #1 is probably not great.  I think Washington realized that, too.  The real mystery is why Washington really didn't do anything at RB and now they look like they have nothing there.

Is Dak being too safe right now? Seemed like in the preseason when he had nothing to lose he would let it rip to Dez but now he seems a little scared...

I really don't have much concern about this.  His job is to lead drives down the field and then make throws for points.  If Beasley holds his touchdown and Dez holds his, Dak fever is off the charts and the Cowboys scored 27 or so in their opener.  From what I have seen from Prescott, I would not call him "captain check-down" at all.  He did his part.  Now, as he gets more comfortable and as the coaches make adjustments (please, please), getting the ball to Dez in better spots is the goal.

Do you think the Cowboys have enough depth in the secondary? Seemed like once Scandrick went out for a bit last week things fell apart. Is Anthony Brown any good?

I like what I have seen from Brown, but I will grant you that I haven't seen much in a Cowboys uniform yet. I think they have decent depth, but they desperately need Scandrick to be Scandrick again for this to work.  He was victimized badly by Odell Beckham on Sunday and that was quite distressing.  Let's see how he is able to rally from what we are hearing is a small hamstring issue.  If he isn't special this year, things might start to fall apart in that secondary.  Brown seems capable, but they need better than that right now. 

The Cowboys have made a habit of restructuring contracts (and drafting them with an eye toward that possibility). Is this an advisable/sustainable way to allocate resources or does it risk too much dead money if players break down or underperform?

No.  It is not advisable or sustainable.  I don't like it and no team does more of it than Dallas.  In fact, I have even heard them admit that they write contracts knowing they are going to restructure the deal.  Other teams try to go the other way and find ways to do a deal where they pay a ton in Year 1 to make the end of the deal nothing.   But, the Cowboys always have this giant boulder rolling at them - take Tony Romo's deal - and they run to stay ahead of it, like Indiana Jones.  

I don't think that anyone keeps record of this, but I would love to see the league's restructuring standings in the last decade.  It would be a real shock to me if anyone did it more than Dallas does.  This type of business cost them DeMarcus Ware and it always keeps them in a financially tight spot where they never seem to catch up.

Ok, that is the mailbag this week.  Enjoy the game.  The Cowboys can definitely win it, but this one should be another tight game with 5 minutes to go.  Let's hope they make a few plays down the stretch this time.