Scout’s Eye: Seeing New Wrinkles On Offense
Watching these practices every afternoon, it's becoming increasingly obvious to Bryan Broaddus that Kellen Moore has some changes in store for the Cowboys' offense.
Tuesday was the first time we've seen Kellen Moore go with two backs in the backfield at the same time. Both Alfred Morris and Tony Pollard lined up on each side of Dak Prescott. Right before the snap, Prescott sent Pollard in motion, which caught Leighton Vander Esch out of position in coverage. Randall Cobb did a nice job adjusting from blocking Jourdan Lewis to picking up Xavier Woods. Pollard made a nice cut behind his block for some extra yardage.
Nice job by Taco Charlton on Tyron Smith to get home on the rush. It's not often that Smith's hands get broken down, but Charlton was able to pull it off. Charlton was quick enough to the corner, which forced Smith to reach for him. When Smith's left hand went up, Charlton was able to knock it down and then dip his right shoulder underneath. Smith tried to give Charlton one final shove to the ground, but he maintained his balance and ended up right on top of Dak Prescott in the pocket.
I liked the design of the fake swing pass to Tavon Austin going one way, then setting up the screen back to the other side. The pump fake by Prescott allowed the three inside linemen to get out in space while Tony Pollard set up behind them. Not only did Pollard have the convoy of blockers out in front, he got a nice block from Reggie Davis down the field. Kellen Moore continues to get the ball in the hands of Pollard and Cobb with these little wrinkles to the offense.
Something you might see more from Kris Richard is bringing Xavier Woods on the blitz. Woods is not the biggest guy physically, so he looks out of place around the line of scrimmage. In this case, he came unblocked off Prescott's right side and would have had a clean shot. I'm not sure why he was so clean, other than La'el Collins and Xavier Su'A-Filo picked up the men over them, leaving Joe Looney no one to block. Woods just hung back and waited for the blocks to develop then fired through the gap. Something had to be faulty with the protection?
Randall Cobb's eyes had to get really big when saw Jeff Heath sitting on the hash over him and Xavier Woods up tight in coverage on Tony Pollard. Cobb knew that once he cleared the linebackers across the field that no one was going to be there to pick him up. Heath dropped straight back as Cobb became the responsibility of Justin March-Lillard. Cobb had a full head of steam and March-Lillard had to turn and attempt to carry him. It was no match, as Cobb separated from March-Lillard. Prescott delivered a beautiful touch pass over Cobb's left shoulder and he easily hauled it in for the score.
Speaking of Randall Cobb, he tried to get Jaylon Smith on a double-move down in the red zone but Smith smartly held his ground. Smith was in good position as he walled off Cobb driving to the inside. Cobb then tried to break up the field to escape -- but Smith chased him down. Prescott attempted to lob the ball over the top, but Smith was able to get his right hand in between Cobb's hands and knock the ball away. It would have been a super play by Prescott to get the ball to Cobb but Smith was not going to allow it to happen.
It wasn't a great day for Cooper Rush as he was intercepted twice during the practice, once by Donovan Olumba and a second time by Justin Phillips. Rush had Dalton Schultz wide open up the seam, but he just didn't put enough air underneath the pass. The ball needed to be further down the field to get to Schultz but it wasn't. Phillips was reading Rush the entire time and quickly adjusted to work toward Schultz. He was able to high-point the ball and then secure it as he fell to the ground.
It was a freak accident how Robert Quinn fractured his hand during the 1-on-1 drills. Quinn was attempting to get his left hand inside to Tyron Smith's left shoulder. With his arm extended, Smith took his right hand and slapped at Quinn's hand in order to knock it aside to establish inside leverage. It appears that Smith's elbow brace on his right arm came in contact with Quinn's hand. The force of the movement by Smith plus the plastic brace in all likelihood resulted in the injury. It was just bad luck.
