QB Controversy Thread...

Cotton

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1bigfan13

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With Dak out, gone are the read option looks that have given defenses fits, not to mention the mobility Dak has shown that has led to first downs and touchdowns. This has been a huge factor in us having one of the best and most efficient offenses in the league.

As I've said all along, I just wouldn't mess with what is right now a perfect thing. Unless Dak gives us reason to do so, I ride with him from here on out.
There are pros and cons with each but one of the things I'm fairly certain of is we're going to see a significant decrease in our 3rd down efficiency for the reasons that you mentioned. I believe we're at about 50% with Dak. I could see that number dropping to the around 40% with Romo back in the lineup. He may be a better passer but he's going to be easier to defend, IMO. With Romo back in the lineup defenses don't have to worry about that added level of complexity that comes with having to defend a mobile QB.
 

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Roger Staubach, a long-time Tony Romo backer, explains why Cowboys should stick with Dak Prescott
By Brandon George , Staff Writer

ARLINGTON - Even Hall of Famer Roger Staubach, who has long been among the most vocal supporters for Tony Romo, can understand why the Cowboys would choose to stick with rookie Dak Prescott as their starting quarterback.

Staubach said Prescott has been "exceptional" in leading the Cowboys to a 4-1 start while Romo recovers from a fractured back he suffered in the preseason against Seattle.

Staubach knows all about quarterback controversies. For a few seasons, he competed against Craig Morton for the starting job. At one point in the 1971 season, Staubach and Morton actually alternated plays in games.

Coach Tom Landry eventually settled on Staubach as the starter in 1971. Staubach led the Cowboys to a Super Bowl VI win over Miami.

Staubach said the following season, however, an injury led to him losing his starting job and he didn't get it back right away when he was healthy because the Cowboys were winning with Morton under center.

"Tony is a fantastic football player," said Staubach, who was at AT&T Stadium early Friday morning to speak to about 600 Air Force cadets who spent the night on the field ahead of the New Mexico-Air Force football game Saturday at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. "We won the Super Bowl in 1971 and I separated my shoulder in the exhibition season of '72, and Craig Morton was the quarterback and took over and when I came back healthy probably eight or nine games later - that was a 14-game schedule - Craig was winning. We were winning as a team. I understood it. The momentum was there and you don't want to mess around with the quarterback position and Craig was playing very well. I didn't really play very much until the playoff game against the 49ers that year and I understood it. 'I'm still a good player and they're hopefully still going to need me sometime.'

"Tony is going to heal. He's going to be ready to play if they need him if something happens to Dak. I think Tony wants to win and he'll do what it takes to win and if they keep Dak in there to keep the momentum going I think he'll understand that. But he hasn't told me that, by the way."

But how will the quarterback decision affect the Cowboys' locker room? Staubach said the Cowboys coaches know best and must make the right call.

"The second-guessing now if Tony should be back in or not, it really is the coaches, they've got a feel for the team, what the attitude is and what's going on in that locker room," Staubach said. "They don't want to change that if it's really good and I'm sure it's really good now because they're 4-1. You just don't mess around with that. You try to keep it really good and keep the momentum going. So the decisions are going to be made based on that, that momentum and that feeling in the locker room how much is that, besides the quarterback, can help us win the next game. Right now the momentum is great, evidently the attitude is good and we have a great quarterback in this young rookie in Dak Prescott. Not knowing him, but everything you hear about him and watching him on the field, he's a very exceptional football player."

Staubach said he has yet to meet Prescott but has been impressed by what he's seen when watching him play.

"What I have seen and what others have said about him, his work habits they say are phenomenal. That's great," Staubach said. "What I see on the field is exceptional. He has great poise. He can sense what's going on out there and that's what's hard. Going from the college to the professional level, you really don't know for sure what a quarterback can do in those few seconds has to make a decision. Dak is very good at that and he's obviously a great athlete. You can be a great athlete but if you can't sense things that are happening over there as a quarterback it's not going to work. He's got both. He's got that sense of understanding of what's going on with defense and also he's very talented. He has a good arm and can run. Everything else I hear about him is great.

"I have some friends at Mississippi State that said, 'You guys hit a home run.' They said, 'You got Dak in the fourth round and he should have been in the first round.' I said, 'I don't know him,' and they said, 'Well, you wait and see.' And man, that was before the exhibition season, so they were right."
 

Texas Ace

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That's all it comes down to.

You can make an argument for both QBs and what we gain and lose with each, but ultimately, it simply comes down to not messing with a great thing.

That's been my stance all along and that line of thinking seems to be increasing even with people associated with the team.
 

Genghis Khan

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I'm personally in favor of leaving Dak in. But I did hear something interesting from a JJT interview. Apparently they shifted to the no huddle after going down 0-14 in San Francisco because Dak was having a tough time identifying the shifting defensive fronts and the no huddle more or less kept the 49ers defense in the same formation.

So Romo still has 10 to 100 times theunderstanding of defenses that Dak does. As the season moves forward we might see the learning curve catch up to Dak. Of course the fact the we don't have to "Kill! Kill! Kill!" Every play and run the clock down to 0 while Romo tries shift the entire offense around, is probably one of the reasons this offense is looking so much more crisp.
That's exactly right, which is why there should be no question who the better QB is and therefore who should be starting. You could tell in those first couple drives against SF that Dak was flummoxed. If it weren't for our good coaching we might have lost.

I get that Dak's the future and I get the health issues but apples to apples on the field Romo is the better option this season.
 

Genghis Khan

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There are pros and cons with each but one of the things I'm fairly certain of is we're going to see a significant decrease in our 3rd down efficiency for the reasons that you mentioned. I believe we're at about 50% with Dak. I could see that number dropping to the around 40% with Romo back in the lineup. He may be a better passer but he's going to be easier to defend, IMO. With Romo back in the lineup defenses don't have to worry about that added level of complexity that comes with having to defend a mobile QB.

50% might actually not be sustainable and you have to factor that in. Besides, Romo's offense in 2014 I believe led the league in that category so it's not like it would be a problem with Romo in there.
 

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That's exactly right, which is why there should be no question who the better QB is and therefore who should be starting. You could tell in those first couple drives against SF that Dak was flummoxed. If it weren't for our good coaching we might have lost.

I get that Dak's the future and I get the health issues but apples to apples on the field Romo is the better option this season.
Yep. It's not complicated. Romo has the game savvy in crunch times. Sure he might get taken out again but then again he may not. There really is no gamble. If Prescott has to come in to take the reins it will still be the same as if he started the game. It will have to be adjusted to conform to his capabilities. There is no down side to having Romo's experience in the game.
 

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Yep. It's not complicated. Romo has the game savvy in crunch times. Sure he might get taken out again but then again he may not. There really is no gamble. If Prescott has to come in to take the reins it will still be the same as if he started the game. It will have to be adjusted to conform to his capabilities. There is no down side to having Romo's experience in the game.
Not completely true. Take Prescott out, the read option goes away. Romo can't do it. The question is how much of our offensive success is due to that.
 

Jiggyfly

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Oh, and to be perfectly clear, I hope Romo can come back and light the league up. I don't agree with the sentiment that it would hurt Dak's development. But, if Romo struggles even in the littlest bit, I think he should be pulled and replaced. Which, as we all know, ain't gonna happen once he is put into the starting role. That's why I hope they just leave Dak in.

Oh, and before anyone says anything the post about actively rooting for an injury, that was stated in the event that he struggles.
 

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Not completely true. Take Prescott out, the read option goes away. Romo can't do it. The question is how much of our offensive success is due to that.
Our running game is going to work with or without the threat of the read option. I think it definitely helps and makes the offense more difficult to defend but it's not going to make or break us.
 

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Not completely true. Take Prescott out, the read option goes away. Romo can't do it. The question is how much of our offensive success is due to that.
That's the point. The game plan is one thing with Romo but a different one with Prescott. Romo's success will come from his style.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Our running game is going to work with or without the threat of the read option. I think it definitely helps and makes the offense more difficult to defend but it's not going to make or break us.
It's not really just that though. The read option is nice but bootlegs have to be defended differently with Dak. Lets face it, you can run Romo on a bootleg all you want but the most that dude is running for is 2 or 3 yards. No one has to really respect the boot portion of it at all. Hell I'm sure defenses sometimes have to leave a spy in with Dak. Again, he just adds a different dimension to the offense that goes far beyond just a read option.
 

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It's not really just that though. The read option is nice but bootlegs have to be defended differently with Dak. Lets face it, you can run Romo on a bootleg all you want but the most that dude is running for is 2 or 3 yards. No one has to really respect the boot portion of it at all. Hell I'm sure defenses sometimes have to leave a spy in with Dak. Again, he just adds a different dimension to the offense that goes far beyond just a read option.
Romo won a lot of games without the bootleg. He doesn't play that style.
 

Simpleton

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It's not really just that though. The read option is nice but bootlegs have to be defended differently with Dak. Lets face it, you can run Romo on a bootleg all you want but the most that dude is running for is 2 or 3 yards. No one has to really respect the boot portion of it at all. Hell I'm sure defenses sometimes have to leave a spy in with Dak. Again, he just adds a different dimension to the offense that goes far beyond just a read option.
I agree that the bootlegs and the play action are one of the main drivers to our offense right now. I know many of us have bitched and complained about not going play action/bootleg more with how good our running game has been but I think it's because Romo doesn't really like that type of action.

I was mainly just talking about our running game though.
 

Cowboysrock55

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That's exactly right, which is why there should be no question who the better QB is and therefore who should be starting. You could tell in those first couple drives against SF that Dak was flummoxed. If it weren't for our good coaching we might have lost.
Seems like a bit of an exaggeration. Especially since we have all noted that Romo operates best out of a hurried up offense as well. This is hardly unique to Dak. I'm sure Romo can read a defenses better then Dak at this point but I'd hardly say the 49ers game was some massive indicator of anything. Well except maybe that Dak can't be shaken by falling down 14-0.

Oh and by the way Dak led us down the field on the opening drive. So for a guy who was flummoxed, he had us in position for the field goal on the opening drive. A drive by the way that was stalled by a penalty and not Dak.
 

Cowboysrock55

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I agree that the bootlegs and the play action are one of the main drivers to our offense right now. I know many of us have bitched and complained about not going play action/bootleg more with how good our running game has been but I think it's because Romo doesn't really like that type of action.

I was mainly just talking about our running game though.
Zeke is averaging 5.0 ypc right now. I think those bootlegs help Zeke just as much as they help Dak in the passing game. Sure our running game will still be great but I think it would be a bit foolish to think the running game doesn't at least take a slight hit from defenses not having to respect those things. When you run a bootleg successfully with your QB, the next time you run it the defenders can't all crash on the RB. Which creates running lanes. Those plays benefit both sides of the coin.
 

Simpleton

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Zeke is averaging 5.0 ypc right now. I think those bootlegs help Zeke just as much as they help Dak in the passing game. Sure our running game will still be great but I think it would be a bit foolish to think the running game doesn't at least take a slight hit from defenses not having to respect those things.
Considering how well we ran in 2014, and at times last year, I don't think the running game will be impacted much without the bootlegs.
 

L.T. Fan

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Seems like a bit of an exaggeration. Especially since we have all noted that Romo operates best out of a hurried up offense as well. This is hardly unique to Dak. I'm sure Romo can read a defenses better then Dak at this point but I'd hardly say the 49ers game was some massive indicator of anything. Well except maybe that Dak can't be shaken by falling down 14-0.

Oh and by the way Dak led us down the field on the opening drive. So for a guy who was flummoxed, he had us in position for the field goal on the opening drive. A drive by the way that was stalled by a penalty and not Dak.
Just can see no advantage to Romo's experience huh?
 

Cowboysrock55

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Just can see no advantage to Romo's experience huh?
Sure, experience counts for something. So does athletic ability, arm strength, accuracy, intelligence and instincts. You can't just focus in on one thing, Romo has more experience but Dak is stronger then Romo in other areas.
 

Jiggyfly

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That's the point. The game plan is one thing with Romo but a different one with Prescott. Romo's success will come from his style.
So in this scenario the team has to change what has been working to fit a game plan for Romo's style.

How is that a good thing in the middle of the year after having success with the current game plan?
 
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