Sturm: The Incredibly Perplexing Case Of David Irving

Cowboysrock55

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Witten is being misused. The alignments have him more as a blocker than a receiver. This is why his reception averages are much lower this past season. He protects first then does his route. His can not get very far into the route this way.
He was literally on the field when we went no RB 5 wide spread bullshit. I'd say he had way too many opportunities to catch passes if anything. Hell there were times last year when he was one of only two guys on offense even running a route on some passing plays.

By the way, I think Witten is a company man. So if Garrett came to him and said hey we need you to take on a reduced role in the offense Witten would do what he is told. It's the kind of guy he is. Very little ego from what I can tell.
 

boozeman

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He was literally on the field when we went no RB 5 wide spread bullshit. I'd say he had way too many opportunities to catch passes if anything. Hell there were times last year when he was one of only two guys on offense even running a route on some passing plays.

By the way, I think Witten is a company man. So if Garrett came to him and said hey we need you to take on a reduced role in the offense Witten would do what he is told. It's the kind of guy he is. Very little ego from what I can tell.
You don't play damn near 100% of the snaps not playing in empty sets. The only misuse is having him on the field in those situations.
 

Cowboysrock55

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You don't play damn near 100% of the snaps not playing in empty sets. The only misuse is having him on the field in those situations.
Yeah, the guy literally was only behind Dak Prescott, La'el Collins and Frederick in terms of snap count. He played in 98.4% of the offensive snaps. Considering Dak was only at 98.59% it sort of tells you that Witten was basically on the field for every meaningful snap.

And I agree, the misuse is no taking him off the field. The dude is old, you'd think the coaches would at least give him some breathers to preserve his energy at that age. It's just crazy to me. Was there another NFL team who used their TE that much? I doubt it. NFL elite TE's were down in the 70% range from what I can see.
 

Chocolate Lab

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I told you I heard Witten on the Ticket saying he doesn't get tired, so why would he come off the field? He genuinely couldn't understand it.

He may seem like he has no ego, but he does. He thinks he's one of the best so the team has the best chance if he's playing and not on the sideline.
 

Cowboysrock55

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I told you I heard Witten on the Ticket saying he doesn't get tired, so why would he come off the field? He genuinely couldn't understand it.

He may seem like he has no ego, but he does. He thinks he's one of the best so the team has the best chance if he's playing and not on the sideline.
I don't know, why did Rob Gronkowski play 79%, Kelce play 84%, Ertz 68%, Jimmy Graham 68%, Delanie Walker 72% even though they are all better/younger TE's than Witten. It's a joke. And I think the problem is less Witten and more Jerry/Garrett making him feel like he is untouchable. We have no one with the balls to walk up to an all timer like Witten and say hey, we need you off the field in obvious passing situations because you literally are fucking our offense.
 

Chocolate Lab

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No doubt. I don't even blame Witten. He should feel that way. It's up to a coach with balls to tell him we're not doing that anymore.
 

midswat

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Dez, Witten, Scandrick, Crawford, and maybe Lee will all be gone by 2020 I'd imagine, those are five of the biggest contracts on the team right now.

Figure out a way to fit him in now and there should be plenty of space by Year 2-4 of the contract.
On the flip side, by 2020, won't both Dak and Zeke be on their second contracts? Dak could be ridiculously overpaid the way the QB market is always growing. Just look at what Garrapolo got in San Fran after 6 games for example.
 

midswat

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If you're going to have large chunks of your cap tied up in individuals, I'm all for those individuals being game changing players at the LOS, in the prime of their careers.
 

L.T. Fan

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He was literally on the field when we went no RB 5 wide spread bullshit. I'd say he had way too many opportunities to catch passes if anything. Hell there were times last year when he was one of only two guys on offense even running a route on some passing plays.

By the way, I think Witten is a company man. So if Garrett came to him and said hey we need you to take on a reduced role in the offense Witten would do what he is told. It's the kind of guy he is. Very little ego from what I can tell.
I am saying he is used too much as a protective player. He isn’t going out on a route at the snap instead he engages a defender before starts a route. It’s not a matter of how much he is on the field it’s the alignment and assignment he deals with now trying to protect the QB. The OL seems to have needed more help this past season with the blocking.
 

mcnuttz

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Witten would have been been much more valuable if Romo was still around. They'd played together so long that Romo knew where he'd be on every play. He didn't have to be ipen, Romo would chuck it.
 

Cowboysrock55

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I am saying he is used too much as a protective player. He isn’t going out on a route at the snap instead he engages a defender before starts a route. It’s not a matter of how much he is on the field it’s the alignment and assignment he deals with now trying to protect the QB. The OL seems to have needed more help this past season with the blocking.
And I'm saying that's not true at all. Which is why Chaz was hung out to dry 1 on 1 and got smoked.
 

L.T. Fan

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And I'm saying that's not true at all. Which is why Chaz was hung out to dry 1 on 1 and got smoked.
That seems to be an admission that part of the OL not being able to protect. I think that is why Witten was used more in the protect mode.
 

Cowboysrock55

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That seems to be an admission that part of the OL not being able to protect. I think that is why Witten was used more in the protect mode.
And 6 sacks in the game to one DE say our stubborn coaches refused to use Witten to give help.
 

Cowboysrock55

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I don know how you can miss Witten and his blocking assignments.
Witten had the second most passes thrown his direction on the team. Pretty impossible to do while blocking. This is a nonsensical argument.
 

boozeman

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I don't see what is so perplexing.
The fact that Stephen Jones is talking tough and the team is posturing to place the 2nd round tender on him in order to bait a team into signing him. This would be in an effect, a trade.
 

boozeman

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Witten had the second most passes thrown his direction on the team. Pretty impossible to do while blocking. This is a nonsensical argument.
Witten blocks quite a bit, but to pretend he is not running routes and is being "misused" as a blocker, robbing us of his pass catching excellence is laughable.
 

L.T. Fan

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Witten had the second most passes thrown his direction on the team. Pretty impossible to do while blocking. This is a nonsensical argument.
My original statement addressed that Witten was having to block before he went into a pattern and this shortened his route. It had nothing to do with how many passes it had to do wth his effectiveness because his average catches are not as long.
 
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