Always the horses, seldom the jockey...
Daily Commentary on the Dallas Sports Scene - By Bob Sturm - Sportsradio 1310, The Ticket - The Athletic Dallas - The Athletic - Bob Sturm
Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett talks to the team after practice during training camp at The Star in Frisco on Monday, August 28, 2017. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)
Sometimes when you write a piece about the Dallas Cowboys, you hope it is something that is relevant enough to be bookmarked for a few weeks. Other times - like this morning - you write something that you know will possibly be outdated by lunchtime.
This is one of those moments. I was given the task to put together my 53-man roster, even though the real one could be out today or early tomorrow.
The Cowboys roster is, as usual in recent years, a bit complex because of suspensions and pending suspensions. But since the Cowboys have to deal with them, so do I.
OK. So, suspensions we know: David Irving and Damontre Moore. Suspensions we might have to deal with: Ezekiel Elliott. Also, Nolan Carroll and Damien Wilson could have earned a suspension that has yet to be issued.
Injuries are also on the table - but, I assume Anthony Hitchens is the only IR candidate. He might miss less than 2 months, but now that you can bring 2 players back, I would imagine he is one of them "designated to return."
It seems like putting this roster together was really easy this year, to be honest. The Cowboys lost some players from their 13-3 season, but they also filled each spot man-for-man in the draft, so to find the 53 players for these jobs wasn't too difficult. Of course, if I have 8 of these names wrong, you can have a laugh at this missed attempt.
So, let's look at my 53-man roster on the morning of September 1st:
Initially, I have gone with 26 on offense and 24 on defense with 3 specialists:
They never go with 26 on offense, but because several of these offensive players are technically "special teams" aces and due to the suspensions, I think they will start 26/24 and then move to 25/25 or even 24/26 by the end of the suspensions.
But, for now, 26 on offense and 24 on defense:
And then here is the chart that demonstrates how many the team has put at each positional group on this day over the last decade:
Position
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
QB
2
2
3
3
3
3
2
3
2
3
RB
5
4
4
5
4
4
4
4
5
6
TE
3
3
3
2
4
3
4
3
4
3
WR
6
5
5
5
5
6
5
5
5
5
OL
10
11
10
10
10
9
9
9
9
8
DL
6
6
6
7
7
7
10
11
10
8
LB
7
8
9
9
7
8
6
7
6
7
DB
11
11
9
9
9
10
10
8
9
10
ST
3
3
4
3
4
3
3
3
3
3
Total
53
53
53
53
53
53
53
53
53
53
Please don't get too concerned about Jaylon Smith starting over Justin Durant. I listed them as I see them when Jaylon is fully fit. He is clearly the better player, but Durant will likely start at first. Either way, they both are safely on the team, of course.
I also assume now that it is virtually assured that Elliott will play in Week 1, so I didn't worry about his spot. If they have to shed a RB for numbers, I think Alfred Morris will be their choice.
When we left for California, I wrote that the Cowboys know about 50 of the 53 spots already. I believe that is true because there are only names - Cooper Rush and Lewis Neal - who I never thought a month ago would make the roster. A fine job by both of them to make this team. Now, it is up to both of them to take advantage of it because when it is time to free up spots when the suspensions end, those will be the most likely names they look at.
Also, we should list the toughest cuts and the most likely candidates for the practice squad.
Andy Jones, Uzoma Nwachukwu, Lance Lenoir, Emmitt Cleary, Nate Theaker, Joey Ivie, Jordan Carroll, Joseph Jones, Lenny Jones, Marquez White, Jameill Showers, and Duke Thomas will be on the list as potential practice squad players if they can clear waivers.
Now, like I said, in just a few hours, this list will not be very relevant, but then we can break down the moves that they have actually made. Most importantly, we should keep in mind that the Cowboys can and will add up to 3 names from other team's cuts. Linebacker seems to be a real position where they can add moving forward.
Let's see what the next 48 hours brings (especially in news from New York City) before we assume the roster on Monday is the final 53 to face Week 1.
ARLINGTON, TX - AUGUST 26: La'el Collins #71 of the Dallas Cowboys tries to protect Dak Prescott #4 of the Dallas Cowboys as he is hit by Shilique Calhoun #91 of the Oakland Raiders in the second quarter of a preseason game at AT&T Stadium on August 26, 2017 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
As our trek through the preseason continues, we take our weekly look at the tape. It was obvious that this week we should look at La'el Collins at right tackle as he tries to tangle with Oakland's Khalil Mack. Unfortunately, this is one of those weeks where we really wanted to see the All-22's to get a complete look at the evening Collins had against the fantastic talent and NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
Mack is a nightmare to deal with and has 30 sacks in his 3 NFL seasons. Last year he also had 5 forced fumbles and a nice interception, as well. He is a handful for everyone, so a player like Collins who has never played right tackle would certainly have quite an evening to see where he stands as they prepare for the season.
That seemed like an obvious opportunity to take a look at some views off the TV copy. Not ideal and only a few replays, but let's make the best of what we have to work with.
Collins played the entire 1st half and most of his work was against Mack - although not all of it. I must confess I watched the game on a 24 hour delay and was subjected to some reviews from others before I jumped in. Trusted football mind Evan Silva's review really caught my eye:
Silva has a very defendable position. If you play half a game and commit 3 penalties there is almost no other way to characterize a performance than "rough go". 3 penalties is an excellent season for some, so you don't want 3 in 26 snaps.
But, I still planned to break down this Collins vs Mack showdown (for better or worse) and see what the tape said. I left it thinking Silva's review was both true and false. Let's grab 12 GIFs and take a look:
Collins (#71 Right Tackle) does an excellent job of forcing Mack wide and then riding him past the QB and beyond danger. Mack has to win on speed and often does. But, this is fine work by Collins to get his feet moving and just use Mack's momentum against him.
Here is another example of the same concept. Get your kick steps to get you into a good spot and posture, and then just allow Mack to choose a route and don't give up the edge.
In run blocking, you might think they found another Tyron on the edge. He moves so well and then walls off the defense. He is a monster and will not struggle in run blocking at all. A very prototypical tackle in a zone scheme. You will continue to be pleased on the ground.
This is Khalil Mack, people. He mirrors him, frustrates him, and then pushes him off with attitude. Right tackle is going to be fine, in my opinion.
Not the same play, but a similar concept. He has a bit of a habit to grab the opponent and therefore will get called for the occasional hold, but love the way he finishes these sequences.
2nd quarter. Look at him stone Shilique Calhoun. The Raiders have a nice rotation, but Collins doesn't even give up a shoulder. Sternum to sternum. Great work.
Now Bruce Irvin with a spin move. La'el has no issue. Good feet and confident technique.
Here we have another run play where they pull him into space. He doesn't really get anyone here, but he gets in the way of the defense and helps cut a path for the ball carrier. Well done and again, this is one of his best attributes.
Now, about those 3 penalties - all in a span of 7 plays and 6 minutes of football.
Here he gets the hands in the face of Calhoun. Both are very tall humans going at it, and it looks like he does get the head with his right hand. Innocent mistake, careless, and needs to be cleaned up. But, when I see penalties I am looking for a man who is getting beat looking for a last resort. I don't see anything here that says Collins had to do this. Big difference for me.
There it is again. The right hand. And he has Mack blocked. He is not getting beat. There is no reason to do this. But, you are right in front of the official. You will get flagged. Clean that up.
Penalty 3 is the one where he is holding because he got beat. James Cowser beats him and Collins gets his arm in that holding position before falling on top of him. Pretty legit holding maneuver there and the only one where it looks like he does it because he was losing for a moment. Perhaps he underestimated the least recognizable of the players he faced, but again, that was the one moment all night where I saw him lose for even a moment.
All in all, I loved what I saw. I saw competence and excellence from a player who is figuring things out but also has already been paid handsomely because the Cowboys know he is going to be something, too.
I did not see a "rough go", but in Silva's defense (and others) 3 penalties is 3 penalties anyway you rationalize it. Clean that up and the Cowboys have another blue-chip potential player at right tackle. Doug Free was very good for a decade, but penalties and athletic mismatches caught up to him. Collins will not face many athletic mismatches. He is going to be very good very soon, in my estimation.
He will need to be, because starting Week 1, most every team attacks the right tackle with speed rushers.
Dallas Cowboys outside linebacker Jaylon Smith (54) celebrates next to Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Stephen Paea (55) after tackling Indianapolis Colts tight end Jack Doyle (84) on a third down play forcing them to punt during the first half of a preseason game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Saturday, August 19, 2017. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)
The object of the exercise on Saturday night was to let Jaylon Smith return to game action and then quickly move on to the next one.
I acknowledge that. So, let me say at the top that it is unfair to then scrutinize his every move. If the threshold of success was to merely participate, then we don't need to look at the 12 snaps more closely and see what we can see.
But, since I love to look at video every week and pick the topic that seems most interesting to you the studious video-watching Cowboys fan, I kept coming back to the idea that I would rather do this than break down Kellen Moore/Cooper Rush again. Rod Smith for RB was another interesting idea, but let's carefully and gently look at Jaylon's night. My hope is we look back at this in November and see how far he has come. Maybe that will be a great problem to have.
OK, I expect more video in this post than words, so let's get started.
Drive 1
1st and 10:
Not much to see here. Middle zone in a pass drop. Drops 5 yards to cover No. 85 in the middle.
2nd and 3:
Same job as last, but this time he gets near the action on the right. This is generally the job of the Mike LB, to patrol the underneath and then rally to the ball. You often hear sideline to sideline. We also use the numbers and the hash marks as landmarks to measure range. The best are said to be able to cover sideline to sideline. Incredibly rare to actually have that ability.
3rd and 3:
Here, on 3rd down, you will often see the LBs up closer to the line as they "sugar the A-Gaps" which is a fancy way of saying they are faking a blitz-look on either shoulder of the center and then will quickly peel out (most of the time, sometimes they really are blitzing those A-Gaps). This time, Jaylon is the "rat in the hole" which means the Cowboys are in man coverage elsewhere and he is able to rove the shallow area (the free safety is doing the same in the deep area) in a form of the Cover 1 which we see so much on 3rd down. The Colts know this and have a half-hearted rub-route which the Cowboys stop short of the sticks and bring on the punt team.
Drive 2
1st and 10:
Look at all the LBs fly downhill as they are sitting on run on 1st and 10. You may notice this posture on most 1st and 10 plays which is why this is the down where 90% of play-action passes happen. Here, he has 75-Mewhort on him as guards get to the 2nd level to take on dive-bombing LBs and Smith circles around him to force the cutback.
Here we get another view and you can see if you circle toward the sideline, you are leaving a hole inside that needs to be filled as well. Smith goes to the outside of the right guard and has play-side pursuit in the B-Gap that Gore sees rather quickly. But, DeMarcus Lawrence defeats his block so soundly that the LBs actually didn't really factor in much until Hitchens is in on the play after the cutback.
2nd and 9:
Here #54 is on the run fake. Orlando Scandrick's blitz ends the play off the edge when it turns into a pass.
3rd and 9:
Here is a 3rd down where the Cowboys want to stop the play before the sticks and the TE is in Jaylon's zone underneath. It is a crosser so the target needs to be headed off by the outside corner and Scandrick is doing his job nicely which allows Jaylon to close the deal. Outside the numbers and several changes of direction for Smith after starting tight with the A-Gap. If there is any moment to suggest that he is headed back in the right direction, this is a real good sign.
Drive 3
1st and 10:
Into the second quarter we go. Here is a 1st down pass where Jaylon has middle/shallow and deals with an underneath play with solid movement again. I was hoping to see a little man-coverage with 54, but the Cowboys clearly weren't worried about that in Game 1.
2nd and 4:
On this play, they put Jaylon into action as he is dive-bombing the outside lane with 90-Lawrence opening up space for him with a slant of his own. Jaylon is right on the play and 23-Frank Gore does a fine job of diverting his direction to at least keep the play alive for a quick moment. Once this happens, Smith turns into backside pursuit and you can see 96-Maliek Collins making this run a short one as well. This is what we want to see.
I really like watching Jaylon on this play, with a small qualifier. We should remember that straight line speed is the smallest issue for a guy returning from a major injury. It is cutting and changing direction that are the real hurdles. He certainly looks stiff there. This is the flash that he is known for and although he comes close to over-running the ball and that first lateral step is the issue, overall I liked this quite a bit.
3rd and 1:
If there was a poor play from Smith, this would likely be it. As the Mike, you can't get beat inside on 3rd and 1. I wish we had the end zone view, but I don't believe he can allow himself sealed off by #67 there.
1st and 10:
This is demonstrating that the Colts had almost no success on the ground against the Cowboys. Jaylon is coming downhill and flashes at the snap and then stalls a bit trying to get off his block, but 96 and 93 are there quickly and it is over before the LBs can get home.
2nd and 13:
Without my beloved All-22's, we can only wonder what took Smith so deep here, but he is off the screen the entire snap, so let's save our commentary here a bit.
3rd and 5:
Once again, he is the rat in the hole (rover for the shallow area) and you see some reluctance from his legs to smoothly move him to the ball as his turn seems a bit wide, but all in all no big deal.
So, there you have it. 12 snaps and we looked at each of them.
I would say that there was some good. He definitely knows where to be. He now knows a little more about trusting that leg. Can he move like he once did? Not yet. Did they play him too early? I would have to say now after several more looks that I am not as concerned as I was on Saturday night.
He did labor and run a bit differently than I remember at Notre Dame, but given that we are watching with no intimate knowledge of the medical situation, let's continue to be patient.
I would say overall that 54 in a Cowboys uniform is no longer a fictional idea. It has happened. Whether he plays more next week or they slow-play things is anyone's guess. But, I am pretty interested in what happens next.
