Scout’s Eye: Secondary Continues To Surge

What a nice job by Jaylon Smith reading Dak Prescott on his drop and positioning himself in order to force the ball wide to Tavon Austin, who had separated from Chidobe Awuize. If Prescott had a clear throwing lane on the play, it was going to be a sizeable gain. I have felt that Smith's best trait in the passing game was rushing the passer, but there will be times where he shows you that he also has a feel for pass coverage.

Anthony Brown continues to play at a high level in these practices. It has been rare that one of the talented receivers has been able to separate from him. Kellen Moore tried to challenge him on a wheel route with Randall Cobb. Not only did Brown beat the pick of Michael Gallup with a slick underneath move, but he also carried Cobb the entire length of the field and knocked the ball away in the process.

Kellen Moore has figured out that sending Tony Pollard out on a route is a smart plan of attack. Pollard might be a running back, but he has wide receiver traits. His route running and separation are outstanding. He has a real feel for how to set up the defender to create space. His quickness in and out of the break help him here, as well. Another impressive trait is his ability to track the ball to finish. His route against Jaylon Smith in Compete Period was not easy to execute. He made the catch falling down backwards all while keeping his feet in bounds for the touchdown.

It's a good idea to get the ball to Tavon Austin in space, but poor execution resulted in a Chidobe Awuzie interception. The design was to run Austin on a drag underneath through the trash in hopes of picking Awuzie off. The problem was that Awuzie never broke stride and was in perfect position to undercut the route. Another problem for Prescott was that he never took his eyes off Austin. Awuzie was locked on and knew that the ball was going his direction.

Donovan Wilson got a handful of Jason Witten during the Compete Period. Wilson did the best he could to stay underneath Witten in coverage and attempted to wall him off in route. Witten, feeling how Wilson was playing him, took his left hand and pushed him aside to create separation. To Wilson's credit, he was able to rally back in order to defend, but Witten was just too far away to get to the ball.

Mitch Hyatt has played his share of outstanding players during his college career, but I'm not sure he has faced many like DeMarcus Lawrence. Hyatt generally lines up at left tackle but was forced to move over to the right side with La'el Collins dealing with a groin injury. Hyatt received a lesson on how a big-time pass rusher can break down your blocking technique. Lawrence is one of the best in the league when it comes to using a wide variety of pass rush moves and he demonstrated several of them on the rookie.

The jet sweep is not an easy play to defend, especially when the ball is handed to Tavon Austin or Randall Cobb. Those guys get to the corner so quickly it makes it hard to stop. The idea is to try and trick the defensive end to come down hard to the inside so the ball can get to the outside. Generally, the end is left in no man's land as the ball goes past him. In this case the offense tried to fool Tyrone Crawford, but the veteran was going to have none of it. Just as Prescott handed the ball to Cobb, he was standing right there in position to make the tackle for a loss. Both Crawford and DeMarcus Lawrence have shown up well in these practices since returning.

I'm starting to notice more pass rush moves from rookie Joe Jackson. Young guys tend to get stuck in a rut and struggle, but Jackson is trying different techniques. He's playing better with his hands while also working on moves to go inside and out. He's not just trying to work the edge to win on the corner. He's doing a better job of setting up blockers and then redirecting on them in order to free himself. His one-on-one moves have been mostly productive in what he's attempting to accomplish.