Archer: Dallas Cowboys' best move of offseason was keeping coaches

boozeman

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Dallas Cowboys' best move of offseason was keeping coaches

10h

Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer


With offseason workouts and minicamps in the rearview mirror and training camps just a few weeks away, we assess the Dallas Cowboys' offseason moves and assign a letter grade in the video above.

Best move: Defensive end Greg Hardy was the highest-profile signing in free agency and fills a big need, but he will not play a full season because of a suspension. The Cowboys added three first-round talents even though they had just one first-round pick in the draft with Byron Jones, Randy Gregory and La'el Collins. They will fill some holes, but that’s not the best move. The best move the Cowboys made came immediately after the season ended. They kept their coaches: Jason Garrett, Scott Linehan and Rod Marinelli. Garrett signed a five-year, $30 million deal. Linehan and Marinelli have deals that make them among the highest-paid coordinators in the NFL. By keeping the coaches, the Cowboys kept the message for a team that believes it is close to a Super Bowl, and that was a must.

Riskiest move: It’s not that the Cowboys allowed last year’s Offensive Player of the Year, DeMarco Murray, to leave for the Philadelphia Eagles via free agency. It’s how they are choosing to replace Murray’s 1,845 yards. The biggest free-agent play they made was for Darren McFadden, who had a disappointing seven-year run with the Oakland Raiders, and they did not select a runner in a draft that was heavy on running backs. The Cowboys will go with a combination of McFadden, Joseph Randle, Lance Dunbar and/or Ryan Williams to replace Murray. They had fewer rushing yards as a group last year than what Murray had in seven games. The Cowboys believe in their line and believe -- to a degree -- in their runners, but they will look at running backs in the preseason if they don’t like what they’re seeing in training camp.

Whither Dez Bryant: The Cowboys’ best playmaker has not signed his franchise-tag tender and did not participate in the minicamp, though he did make a surprise showing on the final day even if he didn’t practice. But now the Cowboys aren’t sure whether Bryant will show up to training camp on time if they do not come to an agreement on a long-term deal. Bryant is scheduled to make $12.823 million this year, which is more than he made in his first five years in the league, but he wants a long-term deal that gives him more guaranteed money. It’s hard to say he hasn’t earned it with his production: 361 catches, 5,424 yards, 56 touchdowns. The Cowboys want to keep him, but want certain conditions in the deal for protection. The likelihood of a deal seems a little far-fetched right now. Without Bryant, the Cowboys offense is not the same. He changes the dynamic for everything. Defenses have to pay extra attention to him. Without Bryant, running the ball will be more difficult. Without Bryant, Tony Romo's job becomes more difficult.

Training camp outlook: A year ago, some people wondered whether the Cowboys would win five games in 2014, and they clearly surpassed that low bar with a 12-4 record and NFC East title. This year, the Cowboys enter the season with much higher expectations. There is a whiff of confidence surrounding this team, but not the whiff of arrogance that surrounded it in 2008 following a 13-3 season. That 2008 team believed it could show up and win, suffered from internal strife and missed the playoffs. These Cowboys have a number of questions they still need to answer (running back, defense), but they know they are not a finished product.
 

Simpleton

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Definitely one of our best moves, a relative novice like Garrett needs strong, experienced coordinators who can take care of the minute details of strategy on either side of the ball. He's definitely best as a walk around HC who deals with macro-level issues.
 

Chocolate Lab

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No doubt about it. Never thought there was much chance Linehan would leave, but losing Marinelli and doing something like promoting Eberflus could have been disastrous.
 

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No doubt about it. Never thought there was much chance Linehan would leave, but losing Marinelli and doing something like promoting Eberflus could have been disastrous.
Yeah everyone here was convinced Marinelli was long gone. I would have liked to keep Callahan as the offensive line coach but I understand why he left. It's hard sticking around a place where you were basically demoted. Still I think he did a tremendous job developing the talent on this offensive line. I know we poured some real resources into it but look at all the first round NFL lineman who don't develop into shit. Frederick is becoming one of the best centers if not the best center in football. Smith might be the best O-lineman in football period. And Martin as a rookie was one of the best guards if not the best.
 

Chocolate Lab

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Totally agree on Callahan. I think he did a tremendous job here, and he was key in drafting Frederick. Even though Pollack will probably do fine, I'm not sure we don't see a little slippage with Callahan gone.

I'm not too thrilled that he ended up in Washington.
 

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Totally agree on Callahan. I think he did a tremendous job here, and he was key in drafting Frederick. Even though Pollack will probably do fine, I'm not sure we don't see a little slippage with Callahan gone.

I'm not too thrilled that he ended up in Washington.
I think Pollack will be able to maintain and basically copy what Callahan was doing. I don't know if we started from scratch if Pollack would be able to do what Callahan has done.
 

Jiggyfly

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I think Pollack will be able to maintain and basically copy what Callahan was doing. I don't know if we started from scratch if Pollack would be able to do what Callahan has done.
Pollack already has hands-on experience, he did a lot of the coaching when Callahan was calling plays.
 

p1_

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Yeah everyone here was convinced Marinelli was long gone. I would have liked to keep Callahan as the offensive line coach but I understand why he left. It's hard sticking around a place where you were basically demoted. Still I think he did a tremendous job developing the talent on this offensive line. I know we poured some real resources into it but look at all the first round NFL lineman who don't develop into shit. Frederick is becoming one of the best centers if not the best center in football. Smith might be the best O-lineman in football period. And Martin as a rookie was one of the best guards if not the best.
It looks to me like we've managed to somehow re-create the line from Emmitt's heyday.
Hell, this current group might even be better.
 

boozeman

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It looks to me like we've managed to somehow re-create the line from Emmitt's heyday.
Hell, this current group might even be better.
In terms of technical skill, absolutely. Martin is already better technically than any of the guards we had in that era, same goes for Tyron Smith.
 

boozeman

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Pollack already has hands-on experience, he did a lot of the coaching when Callahan was calling plays.
And it was the hodge podge we saw in 2013.

It bears watching this season. If the line takes a step back (and I am not expecting it), we will have our answer.
 

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And it was the hodge podge we saw in 2013.

It bears watching this season. If the line takes a step back (and I am not expecting it), we will have our answer.
The line was actually pretty good in 2013 contrary to what many claimed at the time.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Murray had a YPC over 5 in 2013 so the OL was still very good as a run blocking unit, we just didn't stick with it enough.
This is exactly right. As a team in 2013 our rushing was at 4.5 yards per attempt.

In 2014 as a team our rush was at 4.6 yards per attempt. We just never stuck with the run in 2013 the way that we did in 2014. We definitely got better last year but that probably has something to do with the addition of an All-Pro RG.
 

boozeman

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This is exactly right. As a team in 2013 our rushing was at 4.5 yards per attempt.

In 2014 as a team our rush was at 4.6 yards per attempt. We just never stuck with the run in 2013 the way that we did in 2014. We definitely got better last year but that probably has something to do with the addition of an All-Pro RG.
Last year was about confidence. Garrett/Linehan were confident in the line and Murray with them. I just fear it takes McFadden and Randle experiencing issues to see them abandon it in a hurry.
 

ravidubey

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This is exactly right. As a team in 2013 our rushing was at 4.5 yards per attempt.

In 2014 as a team our rush was at 4.6 yards per attempt.
That stat doesn't stand on its own. In 2014 every team knew Murray was getting the football and still couldn't stop it. That's power running and a team identity that builds confidence and flat out punishes defenses.

In 2013 any kind of rush was almost a surprise. Averaging 4.5 ypc in those circumstances isn't special.
 

p1_

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That stat doesn't stand on its own. In 2014 every team knew Murray was getting the football and still couldn't stop it. That's power running and a team identity that builds confidence and flat out punishes defenses.

In 2013 any kind of rush was almost a surprise. Averaging 4.5 ypc in those circumstances isn't special.
In keeping with this, it's more telling to see also that the higher average was sustained over a lot more carries.
 

Cowboysrock55

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That stat doesn't stand on its own. In 2014 every team knew Murray was getting the football and still couldn't stop it. That's power running and a team identity that builds confidence and flat out punishes defenses.

In 2013 any kind of rush was almost a surprise. Averaging 4.5 ypc in those circumstances isn't special.
Sure, but 4.5 yards is good. In fact it's good enough to warrant carrying the ball more often. Just like 4.6 last year made it worthwhile to carry the ball as much as we did. We were a better run blocking offensive line in 2014 then 2013. That's something everyone agree's with. The thing is we were pretty good on the offensive line in 2013 as well. Our 4.5 ypc still put us like 7th best in the NFL.
 

ravidubey

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Sure, but 4.5 yards is good. In fact it's good enough to warrant carrying the ball more often. Just like 4.6 last year made it worthwhile to carry the ball as much as we did. We were a better run blocking offensive line in 2014 then 2013. That's something everyone agree's with. The thing is we were pretty good on the offensive line in 2013 as well. Our 4.5 ypc still put us like 7th best in the NFL.
They were hugely improved from 2012, that's for sure, and YPC stats don't measure that improvement properly.

For example, the improvement from 2013 to 2014 was far greater than .1 yards per carry.

Dallas was 3rd overall in run-pass ratio in 2014 and 3rd from the bottom in 2013.

In 2013 by not calling many runs, we made each run more successful because the defense was playing pass-first more often. In 2014 by calling so many runs, we made it harder to run for the opposite reason.
 

Cowboysrock55

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They were hugely improved from 2012, that's for sure, and YPC stats don't measure that improvement properly.

For example, the improvement from 2013 to 2014 was far greater than .1 yards per carry.

Dallas was 3rd overall in run-pass ratio in 2014 and 3rd from the bottom in 2013.

In 2013 by not calling many runs, we made each run more successful because the defense was playing pass-first more often. In 2014 by calling so many runs, we made it harder to run for the opposite reason.
Sure, and when you run the ball less, Romo's 20 carries for 1 ypc has a much bigger impact on that overall average. I mean Murray did average 5.2 ypc in 2013 which is a pretty important statistic. Of course his average dropped in 2014 but that was largely due to the heavy workload and teams putting 8 in the box.
 
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