Scout’s Eye: LVE, Gallup Among Standouts
As the final week in Oxnard begins, Bryan Broaddus filled up his notebook with observations from Monday evening's practice.
It's still good to see Jason Witten get called out for Compete Period. I do wish these battles were still against Byron Jones, who never backed down from a fight with Witten. In Jones' spot now is Jeff Heath and that hasn't been bad, either. Heath has had his days in the sun when it comes to carrying big-time tight ends. On this particular rep Witten got the best of Heath by using his power and body position to buy himself some space. At the top of the route, Witten was leaning hard on Heath, who had no choice but to fight back. Once Witten felt that, he was able to push away and leave Heath in a position where he had to chase. Dak Prescott threw an easy pass to catch and Witten did just that.
Leighton Vander Esch had two cracks against Tony Pollard during Compete Period. On the first one, he just mauled the rookie to the point that Prescott didn't even attempt to throw the ball. The next one, Pollard took Vander Esch on an out-and-up along the sideline. To Vander Esch's credit, he was able to stay with Pollard, fighting with him the entire time. It took a perfect pass from Prescott in order to beat Vander Esch, who made one final swipe at the ball before it landed in Pollard's waiting hands.
There is such a smoothness to Michael Gallup's routes and I shouldn't act surprised about it. I remember a player that struggled with his escape, which led to problems with his balance but lately that just hasn't been the case. It hasn't been easy for receivers to get away from Jourdan Lewis, but in the first play of two-minute Gallup made Lewis appear as if he was standing still. Gallup never broke stride on the out route and there was a good two yards of separation when he did it. It was such a perfect route that the speedy Xavier Woods had trouble getting over, as well. Prescott put the ball right in the perfect spot to allow Gallup to finish the play.
Two-minute period. Only seven seconds left in the game and his club needing a field goal to tie. Dak Prescott went for the win. After two outstanding plays by Jason Witten to put the offense in position for a touchdown, Prescott threw a strike to Randall Cobb in the flat with no more than a yard to work with. The ball was so tight to the sideline that in one motion he lifted his left foot in the air and then reached the ball over the pylon before stepping out of bounds. I have no idea how he had the body control and field awareness to pull off such a play with just seconds to spare.
Really nice read of the blitz by Cooper Rush to flip the ball to Alfred Morris over the top of Joe Jackson, who had dropped in coverage. The blitz was a "fire zone," where a defensive lineman (generally the end) drops in coverage to replace a blitzing linebacker in coverage. In this case Jackson was in man-to-man coverage on the wheel route with Morris, who didn't look for the ball until he was already 4-5 yards down the field. Jackson did his best to track the ball, but when he took a swipe at it just missed. Morris was able to haul it in and separate before Darian Thompson came over for the tackle.
Clever design by Kellen Moore to use Jason Witten on a little "Y" delay off a read-option fake. The design was to pull the defense in one direction, keeping Witten as a blocker on the backside. As Prescott was making the fake, his eyes were on Witten the whole way. If they get the movement from the front they want, then Witten just works out into the flat where Prescott flips him the ball with no one around him. Witten was a good 6-7 yards up the field before Jeff Heath was able to rally to him.
Maybe it's out of necessity due to injuries, but this is the first practice in which I've noticed Kerry Hyder playing at defensive tackle rather than end. When Hyder was initially signed I thought he was going to play as an under tackle, but throughout this year the staff was using him on the edge. In practice he was working with Maliek Collins and I have to say I feel that tackle is a more natural position for him due to his quickness and ability to attack the line. He wasn't terrible on the edge but I am interested to see him with more work from the inside.
Loved the blitz pickup from Alfred Morris on Treston Decoud off the edge. Decoud was trying to disguise his blitz, but Morris knew exactly what was coming and didn't even look at Decoud until the ball was snapped. Once that happened, Morris quickly turned his body to Decoud's direction and picked him up with a wide base in solid football position and worked him out the play. The pickup gave Cooper Rush plenty of time to hit Devin Smith down the field.
