Darius Jackson more valuable to Cowboys than Lance Dunbar

Cotton

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Darius Jackson more valuable to Cowboys than Lance Dunbar

By John Owning

Imagine the Dallas Cowboys offense in 2016. Tony Romo is slinging the ball all over the field to Dez Bryant, Jason Witten and company. Ezekiel Elliott is gauging defenses behind Dallas’ dominant offensive line, and there is a little jitterbug running back making big plays in many different ways.

The ultimate gadget player, they line him up in the backfield and out wide. Whether it’s a screen, draw, reverse, or a shallow route, his freakish athleticism makes him a nightmare matchup for opposing defenses. While many would guess that his player would be Lance Dunbar, as it has been for the last couple years, it is actually sixth-round pick Darius Jackson.

Dunbar has been a great chess piece for the Cowboys’ offense in recent years, but he has proven that he cannot be relied upon because of his inability to stay healthy. Luckily for the Cowboys, they invested a sixth-round pick in a player that has similar qualities to Dunbar. With some development, he can be what Dunbar was to this offense.

Unlike Dunbar, Jackson has shown the ability to stay healthy throughout his college career. The former Eastern Michigan star missed only five games in his college career, and none in his final two seasons. While this wasn’t in the NFL, he’s at least proven that he’s not fragile.



Jackson is a big ball of clay that is ready for the Cowboys coaching staff to mold. At 6-foot and 221 pounds, Jackson has a great build for position to go along with freakish athletic ability. At his pro day, the sixth-round pick ran a 4.35-second 40-yard dash, a 4.27-second 20-yard shuttle, a 6.82-second three-cone drill. He also jumped a 41-inch vertical and an 11-foot-1-inch broad jump, which put him amongst the 97th percentile among running backs since 1999 per ITPylon.com’s Ethan Young.

Testing well on a football field in shorts and a shirt is one thing; it is another if that athleticism translates to the football field. In Jackson’s case, it does. As you can see, he repeatedly pulls away from defenders with his long speed, blows through holes with his explosiveness and eludes tacklers with his agility.



On the football field, Jackson has the traits necessary to replace Dunbar. The first trait that makes Dunbar so valuable is his ability as a receiver, which Jackson has proven he is capable of doing.

Jackson runs smooth routes, has soft hands, and when he has the ball in his hands, he can make things happen with his elusiveness and game-breaking speed. Furthermore, Jackson can be utilized in a variety of ways as a receiver.

He is great in the screen game, but he can also run the full route tree out of the backfield, and he can line up out wide or in the slot to create mismatches. This play is a great example of Jackson’s ability out of the backfield.



On this play, Jackson runs a nice cut route out of the backfield. Notice that he has the awareness to sit down in the open space against the zone coverage, which makes for an easy pitch and catch from the quarterback. He catches the ball with his hands and seamlessly transitions upfield and makes two defenders miss.

On top of his receiving ability, Jackson is every bit as elusive as Dunbar. In fact, he may be even more elusive than the former North Texas product. Jackson has the flexibility in his lower half to make cuts at insane levels, and he can layer moves together to make defenders miss. Moreover, Jackson doesn’t have to gear down much going into his cuts, and he can accelerate out of them to separate from defenders. This play highlights Jackson’s elusiveness.

 

Carp

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Dunbar has been a great chess piece? He looked really good last year, but he cannot stay healthy. I felt like he fumbled a bunch too, but maybe I am not remembering correctly.

Just move on with Jackson already.
 

boozeman

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Dunbar has been a great chess piece? He looked really good last year, but he cannot stay healthy. I felt like he fumbled a bunch too, but maybe I am not remembering correctly.

Just move on with Jackson already.
He did okay last year as a pass receiver, but it looked very designed and forced, much like how they kept crafting plays for Kevin Ogletree.

I just hope they give Jackson a fair shot. Might be hard, because every time he is asked about the backs on the roster, Jerry drops Dunbar's name.
 

mcnuttz

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Way past time to give up on Dunbar. It's amazing how a small-time player's worth gets magnified on this team.
 

boozeman

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Way past time to give up on Dunbar. It's amazing how a small-time player's worth gets magnified on this team.
Usually when Jones mentions some low quality schlub, it is bad news for the team. He talked up Phil Fuckin' Costa for several years.
 

Jiggyfly

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I have high hopes for Jackson but this guy is going way overboard on the praise.

If he could do everything this guy says he would have been drafted way higher.

From what I understand his football instincts and unknown ability as a receiver were his biggest question marks.

It still seems that with his physical attributes and production he should have went higher.
 

DLK150

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I quit buying into preseason hype years ago. Who was it that had speed to burn but couldn't run between the tackles around ten years ago? Tyson Thompson? There was another but his name escapes me.

Again, I agree with Booze. Jacob Rogers was supposedly one of the next great offensive lineman when Jerrah took a flyer on him years ago. Jerrah talks someone up when he wants to believe he found a steal. I can't remember who Dallas was playing, maybe the Bears...? When Julius Jones had a "breakout" game and Jerrah gave a wink and a nod on the sideline as if to say "See what a steal I found in the draft?" In the end, JJ couldn't get out of running into his blockers' asses.
 

Cotton

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I quit buying into preseason hype years ago. Who was it that had speed to burn but couldn't run between the tackles around ten years ago? Tyson Thompson? There was another but his name escapes me.
You talking about Julius Jones?
 

DLK150

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You talking about Julius Jones?
No, I mentioned Julius Jones but there was someone else around that time and I can't remember his name. He was another project who mostly served as a kick off returner, if I remember right. Maybe Reshard Lee?

Regardless, enough with the projects at skill positions.
 
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