Scout’s Eye: The Pass Rush Is Coming Into Focus
On the first day of the last week of training camp, there was a lot going on at practice. From Connor McGovern's return to the starting pass rush, here are Bryan Broaddus' notes.
What a nifty move by Randall Cobb to escape on the goal line against Jourdan Lewis. Cobb wasn't even the primary receiver, as Dak Prescott was looking to the other side of the field. Cobb faked as if he was running the out, then just as Lewis committed on the break, he shot back up the field finding space. Prescott came back to him firing the ball between Lewis and Xavier Woods for the touchdown.
Dak Prescott learned the hard way that it's difficult to fool DeMarcus Lawrence on the boot leg. The minute Prescott opened to his right on his drop, Lawrence was standing right there waiting for him. The play fake did nothing to affect Lawrence and it forced Prescott to have to throw the ball into the ground.
Just like I thought on the nickel pass rush, DeMarcus Lawrence and Dorance Armstrong were on the edges with Tyrone Crawford and Maliek Collins at the tackles. I never thought Robert Quinn was going to be the full-time starter at right end, but he and Crawford will assuredly move around in different sub packages.
Kellen Moore went back to my favorite Tavon Austin play where they move the pocket with Prescott and throw the ball back across the field. It worked well last week in practice and in the game with Cooper Rush, but this time around Chidobe Awuzie played it perfectly. Awuzie read the route and was in position to grab an interception -- but the ball went right through his hands.
What a beautiful job of slow playing the route by Michael Gallup. Donovan Olumba knows he struggles with speed and Gallup came walking off the line, which made Olumba almost come to a stop. Gallup then took him up the field and hit him with one more move for good measure and it was from there that he was able to separate and haul in a well-thrown ball from Prescott for a touchdown.
Connor McGovern got his first action of training camp at left guard. McGovern fired off well into Trysten Hill, took two good steps and then positioned himself in order to keep himself between Hill and the ball. Next play, he helped Adam Redmond with a twist stunt, passing off his man and searching for the next man to hit. There was a little pop to his game, which the training staff was looking for.
If you want a textbook example of a defensive back tracking the ball, take a look at the interception Chidobe Awuzie made in the two-minute period. Dak Prescott and Michael Gallup had success earlier in the practice throwing a vertical "9" route for a touchdown, so Prescott made the decision to try it again. The problem with his choice was that it was Awuzie in coverage. As the route developed, it was clear that Gallup was not going to get past Awuzie. He had walled him off to the point where Gallup even stopped on the route. With Gallup now out of the play, it came down to Awuzie just finishing -- which he was able to do for the interception.
I love when Kris Richard uses Xavier Woods as a robber in the middle of the field. Richard covers himself by playing Jeff Heath deep, which allows Woods to play underneath. Woods is such an instinctive and reactive player that it's just the perfect fit for the type of scheme that he's capable of playing. Giving Woods just one responsibility doesn't play to his strength at all. Allowing him to be a football player is exactly what coaches talk about in putting players in position to make plays.
