Sturm: Breaking down the “Zeke decision,” which will determine Cowboys’ direction for years to come

Smitty

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Just look at that. From 2011 through 2013, the Cowboys ran the ball 31st-most in the NFL. Then, on a dime, they shifted to first in the NFL from 2014 through 2017. Before you credit Scott Linehan for changing that philosophy around here, you should know that the only reason the Cowboys weren’t 32nd in rushing from 2011-2013 is because Detroit was, and that is where Linehan was, too. So, they sure didn’t bring in “Mr. Running Game” to fix it. They literally hired the only OC who seemed to value the running game less than Garrett and the Cowboys.
Huh.

How about that.
 

Smitty

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I am starting to lean towards the churn and burn approach used with Demarco Murray.

I get that we have become a drink that is stirred by the straw that is Elliott. He is very talented but also another fuck up from being suspended again.

I would just ride out his contract and get another guy in a year or two.
Hence why I have said, I would trade Elliott and Prescott for Wentz. Back in the day when such a thing was even debatable.

You get a QB, you have him for 12-14 years if you are lucky. And he can function as the staw that stirs the drink in a modern offense.

A star RB, you might get half of that time. And it's less efficient.
 

Cotton

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Hence why I have said, I would trade Elliott and Prescott for Wentz. Back in the day when such a thing was even debatable.

You get a QB, you have him for 12-14 years if you are lucky. And he can function as the staw that stirs the drink in a modern offense.

A star RB, you might get half of that time. And it's less efficient.
As it stands right now I wouldn't trade Wentz for Dak straight up. Too many injuries being a big part of that opinion.
 

Smitty

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That opinion would be ridiculed mercilessly on anywhere but a Cowboys forum, just so you know.
 

Cotton

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boozeman

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Hence why I have said, I would trade Elliott and Prescott for Wentz.

Asinine. So you trade two durable starters, one of which is the best in the game, for a guy that has yet to have a complete top echelon season?
 

deadrise

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I would trade our entire offensive line, plus Jason Garrett, even up, for Tom Brady and and Bill Belichick.
 

boozeman

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This dummy chiming in is comical at this stage.
 

Smitty

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Asinine. So you trade two durable starters, one of which is the best in the game, for a guy that has yet to have a complete top echelon season?
You literally just said you'd let him walk.

Wentz is better than Prescott hands down. We have the line to protect him. And QB is the most important position on the field, bar none, and it's not even close.

I'd probably throw in picks if I had to.
 

NoDak

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As it stands right now I wouldn't trade Wentz for Dak straight up. Too many injuries being a big part of that opinion.
People are over stating his injury concerns because of the color of his uniform.

I'd trade him for Dak so fucking fast all of our heads would spin.
 

ravidubey

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Wentz would not be my first or even tenth choice.

He’s an injury prone pocket passer who’s never had poor pass protection and always had great running and great defense.

Dak is flawed but he’s tougher both physically and for having played through adversity.

Daks game keeps improving, too
 

Cowboysrock55

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Wentz would not be my first or even tenth choice.

He’s an injury prone pocket passer who’s never had poor pass protection and always had great running and great defense.

Dak is flawed but he’s tougher both physically and for having played through adversity.

Daks game keeps improving, too
I would take either but I prefer the guy I know can do great in our offense over the guy I don't know. The Eagles have a system that made Foles look like a stud and I'm confident Foles is not that good. I'm sure Wentz benefits from the same system.
 

Smitty

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People are over stating his injury concerns because of the color of his uniform.

I'd trade him for Dak so fucking fast all of our heads would spin.
There is not a single rational analysis that would conclude otherwise.

Dak has had periods of time in this league where he has been straight up bad. Starting with the beginning of last year. His stats were Quincy Carter level bad, and that is not hyperbole, it's fact. He was on par with a tier that includes Colin Kaepernick, who has been laughed out of the league.

Yes, once we improved his passing game weapons last year, he looked significantly better, but even that "significantly better" still had some glaring problems. The offense still sputtered, especially in the redzone. He still took too many sacks. He still was too conservative with the passing attack. Let's hope some of that is on the coaching game plan, and let's hope the coaching game plan was due to not fully trusting Dak due to his youth, and let's hope that this approach will be ending with Moore on board.

But none of us really know that at all; all we can say is, Dak himself needs to be better. Not just the playcalling. Not just calling more QB scrambles. Dak needs to be better himself, even better than he was the last 9 games or so of last season.... especially if he’s about to be sucking up $25m-$30m a year or more.

Of course, that last half season was certainly promising and a step in the right direction, but it increased his passing output to "acceptable" -- or maybe even "solid" when you take into account his running yardage and touchdown production. But projecting him out, you'd certainly have to conclude that a best case, absolute best case scenario for Prescott is probably Russell Wilson. Which is a top 10 QB, but not a top 5 QB.

Wentz has already posted two straight vastly superior statistical seasons and it looks to be trending that way permanently. As you say, the injury concerns are overblown, and when he's on the field, he's just better.
 
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L.T. Fan

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I would take either but I prefer the guy I know can do great in our offense over the guy I don't know. The Eagles have a system that made Foles look like a stud and I'm confident Foles is not that good. I'm sure Wentz benefits from the same system.
Foles has gotten teams to the playoffs in the past couple of years and has fared pretty darn good. I don’t think Dak could match his performance and Wentz hasn’t been able to play so who what he would do. Give Foles a reasonable time and his vertical game is among the leaders in the NFL. This is overthe span of the last two years.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Wentz has already posted two straight vastly superior statistical seasons and it looks to be trending that way permanently. As you say, the injury concerns are overblown, and when he's on the field, he's just better.
That's a pretty bold statement for a QB who went 5-6 as a starter last year.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Foles has gotten teams to the playoffs in the past couple of years and has fared pretty darn good. I don’t think Dak could match his performance and Wentz hasn’t been able to play so who what he would do. Give Foles a reasonable time and his vertical game is among the leaders in the NFL. This is overthe span of the last two years.
And outside of those two years Foles has been one of the worst QBs in the NFL. That's kind of the point. The Eagles system makes things easy for a QB. (Not just coaching but great offensive line play and receivers)
 
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