Do Cowboys need to consider firing OL coach Paul Alexander?
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p1_
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Q: Paul Alexander - Hot or Not?
PW: I mentioned concerns surrounding this hire the moment it occurred, the Cowboys opting to pass on promoting assistant offensive line coach Marc Colombo to bring in Alexander from the Cincinnati Bengals. Humorous and weird ketchup bottle anecdotes aside, although I'm still floored by how that actually became a national headline, my issue with Alexander is his scheme didn't marry well to what had already been a proven formula in Dallas. The Cowboys have operated under a Zone Blocking Scheme (ZBS) for years, and it's produced an offensive line full of All-Pro's and two record-setting running backs.
Alexander mostly ran a Power Blocking Scheme (PBS) in Cincinnati for 23 years, and the Bengals rushing attack was ranked in the bottom half of the league 12 times and middle-of-the-pack another four. That's a total of 16 unimpressive seasons out of 23 (69.5%), and he was handed the keys to the vaunted Cowboys' ZBS supercar in 2018 having such a resume in tandem with the aforementioned scheme clash.
Blame the absence of Travis Frederick if you will, and yes that's had an impact, but the bigger issue are those that were ignored when the Cowboys waved off a return of Frank Pollack and then shrugged off Colombo to transplant a below-average Alexander into their system.
You get what you pay for.
PW: I mentioned concerns surrounding this hire the moment it occurred, the Cowboys opting to pass on promoting assistant offensive line coach Marc Colombo to bring in Alexander from the Cincinnati Bengals. Humorous and weird ketchup bottle anecdotes aside, although I'm still floored by how that actually became a national headline, my issue with Alexander is his scheme didn't marry well to what had already been a proven formula in Dallas. The Cowboys have operated under a Zone Blocking Scheme (ZBS) for years, and it's produced an offensive line full of All-Pro's and two record-setting running backs.
Alexander mostly ran a Power Blocking Scheme (PBS) in Cincinnati for 23 years, and the Bengals rushing attack was ranked in the bottom half of the league 12 times and middle-of-the-pack another four. That's a total of 16 unimpressive seasons out of 23 (69.5%), and he was handed the keys to the vaunted Cowboys' ZBS supercar in 2018 having such a resume in tandem with the aforementioned scheme clash.
Blame the absence of Travis Frederick if you will, and yes that's had an impact, but the bigger issue are those that were ignored when the Cowboys waved off a return of Frank Pollack and then shrugged off Colombo to transplant a below-average Alexander into their system.
You get what you pay for.
Simpleton
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I think Smith has generally been solid but his mistakes have been very visible. He's not what we was a few years ago but I think he's still a high-level OT, probably a borderline Pro Bowl type whereas he used to be a sure-fire, All Pro/Pro Bowler.
Collins on the other hand is the real problem as far as the OT's go, he's extremely inconsistent and I feel like he's making mistakes constantly, big ones that are noticed and small ones that kind of get glossed over because people aren't sitting down and analyzing every snap.
Collins on the other hand is the real problem as far as the OT's go, he's extremely inconsistent and I feel like he's making mistakes constantly, big ones that are noticed and small ones that kind of get glossed over because people aren't sitting down and analyzing every snap.
Smitty
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I would have guessed it. We're being unreasonably hard on him just cause he's not the "absolutely never lose" player he was two years ago. He's still really fucking good.
And also you can't tell me those numbers have nothing to do with the QB getting the ball out either. The Rams having both their tackles on top probably speaks to Goff being able to get rid of the ball before a "loss" is taken by the OT.
P_T
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Yeah, Nate Newton (not so subtlety) "hinted" that "someone" messed with his technique.
p1_
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Some have suggested Collins has been unfairly judged.
p1_
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this is probably a workable solution to me. Lets see what happens now.
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I'm going to need Booze to write a fire Garrett article asap.
p1_
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Im thinking a change might come now that Colombo has the reins. Collins comes inside, Fleming to RT. Conor to the gym.
p1_
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Five things:
1) Fleming started last year's Superbowl at RT
2) Collins can and has played guard at a high level
3) Collins has struggled mightily this year at RT under Alexander
4) Williams has struggled mightily as an undeveloped rookie, also under Alexander (welcome to the NFL Connor).... and...
5) Alexander is out, Colombo is in.
Smitty
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I don't really see any evidence that Cam Fleming at RT is better than Connor Williams at LG. You'll have to qualify that somehow besides saying he has "struggled mightily." They haven't been great, but just because Fleming started in the super bowl doesn't mean he's any better than average either. He's insurance against losing a starter and having the Chaz Green effect, but I don't think he's great either.
