Dak: Tony left some big shoes to fill

L.T. Fan said:

I put the loss at the coaches feet because they were too reluctant to turn him loose because he was a rookie.

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I have to agree. The playoffs are all about QB play. This offense can be awesome if they let Dak unleash. I mean, what happened to the team we saw smashing Detroit?

In the playoff game we started conservatively to the point where one bad call set us back horribly.

L.T. Fan said:

No I am not. I am simply saying that he will have a lot more pressure put on him this year than what he experienced last season. I think it will affect him and his game his sophomore year more so than his rookie year.

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So the pressure next season will be worse than in the playoff game? Because if he gives us 300 + yards and 3 TDs a game next year I think we would all be pretty happy. And also the Packers had a full season of "film" to study.

Cowboysrock55 said:

So the pressure next season will be worse than in the playoff game? Because if he gives us 300 + yards and 3 TDs a game next year I think we would all be pretty happy. And also the Packers had a full season of "film" to study.

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Yes I think Dak will see more pressure this season than what he experienced last season. I am not the only one to think so.

L.T. Fan said:

Yes I think Dak will see more pressure this season than what he experienced last season. I am not the only one to think so.

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Wait, see more pressure or feel more pressure?

I don't see how the pressure would be higher for him with a full season and playoff experience under his belt.

How would the pressure be higher than as a fourth round rookie thrown to the wolves in his first year?

Cowboysrock55 said:

Wait, see more pressure or feel more pressure?

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See more pressure.

BipolarFan said:

I don't see how the pressure would be higher for him with a full season and playoff experience under his belt.

How would the pressure be higher than as a fourth round rookie thrown to the wolves in his first year?

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I posted what I was agreeing and that was the quote from the article that coaches have now had a season worth of film to study him. They didn't have that last season. Plus the off season to digest it.

L.T. Fan said:

See more pressure.

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Why would you blitz an experienced QB more than a rookie? That's some backwards logic.

Cowboysrock55 said:

It's a feeling that it's too good to be true. Sort of like when Dak first took over for Romo and played great. The rhetoric from a certain group on this board (Including yourself) was that the wheels will come off any second. That the NFL will catch up to him. That defensive coordinators just needed some film on him and they will figure him out. And since that never happened last year, instead of just admitting that the impulse felt last season was wrong you just move the ball and claim that your gut tells you it will happen in year two. At some point though you'll realize that your gut is just wrong and that Dak isn't too good to be true.

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A good offensive line and running game goes a long way for a young QB.

Cowboysrock55 said:

Why would you blitz an experienced QB more than a rookie? That's some backwards logic.

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For the fifth time because the coaches will have a seasons wiorth of footage and an off season to study it that they didn't have last year. That shouldn't be a difficult thing to digest. The more you are acquainted with a players tendencies and habits the more you can devise schemes to deal with them.

One would think I had issued an order to destroy the first born. It's a simple premise. Opponents will be better prepared to defend Dak this season than they were last season.

skidadl said:

A good offensive line and running game goes a long way for a young QB.

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I have already stated that I hope the coaches devise running plays to help counter pressure schemes.

Are we just assuming that Dak won't improve as a player in year two?

Cowboysrock55 said:

Why would you blitz an experienced QB more than a rookie? That's some backwards logic.

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Dak's done really well to respond to pressure too, the Philly game was the first time he gotta the hell blitzed out of him, and after the struggling during the first half, he figured out how to burn them deep.

This is another reason the "got film on him" concept is flawed. He wasn't running a dumbed down gimmick offense, like RG3. Dak was drinking from the firehose and adjusting his game in real time to beat defenses that confused him initially. Dak had 4 years of college film out there, Garrett's offense had been in place for a decade. A guy who can learn how to exploit an offense after going into the locker room for half time has a lot more to gain in an offseason than a defense that had almost all of Dak and Garrett's habits on tape for several years.

BipolarFan said:

Are we just assuming that Dak won't improve as a player in year two?

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He had a pretty remarkable season. I actually think it is more likely he regresses. That is why losing to the Packers hurt so bad. They were riding a wave, Prescott included.

BipolarFan said:

Are we just assuming that Dak won't improve as a player in year two?

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I have assumed nothing except opponents will be better prepared to put pressure on him. It is a common occurance in the NFL. The More you know about a player the better opportunity you have to plan and script for them. Why is that such a blasphemous statement. By most opinions it will be hard for Prescott performance to get better than what he posted . I take nothing away from that and think he will be better but the fact remains opponents will be better prepared to defend him this season.

townsend said:

Dak's done really well to respond to pressure too, the Philly game was the first time he gotta the hell blitzed out of him, and after the struggling during the first half, he figured out how to burn them deep.

This is another reason the "got film on him" concept is flawed. He wasn't running a dumbed down gimmick offense, like RG3. Dak was drinking from the firehose and adjusting his game in real time to beat defenses that confused him initially. Dak had 4 years of college film out there, Garrett's offense had been in place for a decade. A guy who can learn how to exploit an offense after going into the locker room for half time has a lot more to gain in an offseason than a defense that had almost all of Dak and Garrett's habits on tape for several years.

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Don't be absurd. Getting more information on a player is flawed? Adjusting to try to neutralize his strengths is flawed? The opponents will be viewing the same system this season that the Cowboys used last season. The only variable will be how much slack they allow Dak to use.

L.T. Fan said:

For the fifth time because the coaches will have a seasons worth of footage and an off season to study it that they didn't have last year. That shouldn't be a difficult thing to digest. The more you are acquainted with a players tendencies and habits the more you can devise schemes to deal with them.

One would think I had issued an order to destroy the first born. It's a simple premise. Opponents will be better prepared to defend Dak this season than they were last season.

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No but what you're saying doesn't make any sense which is why people are questioning it. Like teams didn't watch film on him last year and were like "well shit, better not blitz a rookie, we don't have enough film on him" but than during the off season they are going to determine that a rookie is susceptible to blitzing and start once they aren't a rookie? And by the way, Dak was really good against the blitz last year. Against the Lions for example he was 5 of 7 for 75 yards and a QB rating of 106 against the blitz.

L.T. Fan said:

Don't be absurd. Getting more information on a player is flawed? Adjusting to try to neutralize his strengths is flawed? The opponents will be viewing the same system this season that the Cowboys used last season. The only variable will be how much slack they allow Dak to use.

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Quick question how many pass-first QBs have regressed from year 1 to year 2?

Because I know for a fact that Russell Wilson, Andrew Luck, Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Ryan, and almost every starting rookie qb in this league has made a big step forward in their sophomore year. So no, apparently having that offseason to watch tape on a guy doesn't help, unless it's an RG 3 type, who's running a gimmick offense.

boozeman said:

He had a pretty remarkable season. I actually think it is more likely he regresses. That is why losing to the Packers hurt so bad. They were riding a wave, Prescott included.

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I think he could get better as a QB -- and have that be a positive reflection on his long term viability here -- but still put up worse numbers. I mean, 23 TDs to 4 INTs is just not a sustainable ratio. What, is he gonna throw 35 TDs and 6 INTs next year? Unlikely.

I would expect in a full season from him this year to see upticks in passing yardage and touchdowns -- maybe 3800-4200 yards as opposed to 3600, and 25-28 TDs instead of 23. But I also expect his completion percentage to fall and his INTs to jump to over 10.

I also expect our record to slide. I would expect a team that is just as good as last year's to finish more like 10-6. We caught a lot of breaks last year and it won't run all our way again. We also have a harder schedule.

Depending on what happens with the defense -- if Jaylon Smith is a Pro Bowl caliber player, if we can find a stud pass rusher and patch secondary holes with starting caliber rookies in the draft, if we see second year improvement from Anthony Brown and Malik Collins, if we get similar or improved production from Sean Lee, Tyrone Crawford, Byron Jones, etc, we could be significantly better on defense, and thus we could be a significantly better team. Dez Bryant being fully healthy all year would go a long way too.

So we could be a better team than last year. As it stands right now, we probably are not.

BipolarFan said:

Are we just assuming that Dak won't improve as a player in year two?

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He's absolutely going to improve.

Unfortunately the cast around him was nearly as good as it gets offensively, so there's nowhere to go for that cast but down.

Our best shots might have been 2014 and 2016, and we blew it both times.