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A Head Start
Josh Ellis
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
IRVING, Texas - File this column into Category No. 5 of lockout stories.
You know, Category No. 1 is the lists. Category No. 2, the baseless free agency speculation, of course. No. 3 is made up of superfluous reviews of 2010/previews of 2011. And No. 4, the ones in which I spend roughly half the words complaining that the lockout is still going on and there is nothing to talk about before ever making a point.
But in Category No. 5 - I know you're familiar with the concept by now - this is where we look ahead to consider "the effect of the lockout" on the Cowboys and the state of the NFL in 2011 and beyond. Just spellbinding.
In truth, though, something occurred to me recently that I hadn't considered in the previous four months. All along, my assumption, and that of most everyone else's, was that the Cowboys' defense might have a tough go of things this year because of all the practice time new coordinator Rob Ryan has missed with the players, and how having to wait until training camp to install his scheme will be a real problem.
Yeah, it's not ideal. But I'm thinking it actually may not be such a big problem. Defenses, we hear, are much easier to teach than offenses. There are only a handful of coverage packages Ryan can call, and while there will be some real differences in what he wants to do in the front seven as compared to Wade Phillips or Paul Pasqualoni, that stuff has more to do with alignment and gap responsibility, which is really pretty simple. All the special blitzes will be installed in each week's game plan.
NFL offenses are much more complex, evidenced by the 10-pound playbook Jason Garrett's guys carry around. Furthermore, the whole system is predicated on timing, which is awfully difficult to implement on the fly. Luckily for the Cowboys, their offense is a stable one. Same coordinator, Garrett. Same position coaches, with the lone exception of Jimmy Robinson replacing Ray Sherman in the wide receivers room. Probably most of the same guys back on the offensive line and at the skill positions. And most importantly, the same quarterback. A lot of other teams aren't so fortunate.
This is why, during the first week or two of training camp, it's cliché to say the defense is ahead of the offense - there's simply much more to process for the offensive players, and that's after a full summer's worth of Organized Team Activities and minicamps.
But with all those offseason practices missed now, and some real concerns about the level of play in the league this year, isn't it very possible that defenses will be ahead of offenses much deeper into the fall than usual? Even defenses like that of the Cowboys, being led by new coaches with new schemes, could have an easier go of things than they probably should in a normal year.
It's not to say every other game will end with a final score of 7-3, but let's really think about the consequences of missing so many practices for an offense, particularly in the passing game. The precision with which teams operate through the air could be disrupted, leading to lower completion rates and, in turn, shorter, more high-percentage passes. The sloppiness could create more turnovers. Problems in the passing game could force teams to lean more on the run, which would lead to fewer points and more predictability, making things easier for coordinators like Ryan.
And because the Cowboys have more stability on their own offense than all but a few other teams, Ryan's job could be even easier.
Asked whether there is more talent on the Cowboys' defense than what he had to work with in Oakland or Cleveland, Ryan wouldn't necessarily agree. In Oakland, he points out, he had a sack leader in Derrick Burgess, plus the great Warren Sapp and Nnamdi Asomugha in his prime. One of the things that excites Ryan most about coming to Dallas is actually the talent on the other side of the ball.
"The simple fact is, wherever I've been as a coordinator, we've always been dead last on offense," Ryan said. "Well, our offense is the best in football, I think. … It's easy to call defenses when you've got a lead. You can pin your ears back. We've got exceptional talent here, and it's going to be fun to play with leads."
I subscribe to the idea that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one, so perhaps having fewer practices and being forced to jam the teaching of his system in right before the season could be tough for Ryan and his defensive staff. It makes sense.
But the theme of this offseason has been that it's impossible to know what to expect, so there really is a case to be made for the other side of that pancake. Maybe Ryan's defense will have a real advantage.
Someday soon, hopefully, we'll begin to find out.
Josh Ellis
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
IRVING, Texas - File this column into Category No. 5 of lockout stories.
You know, Category No. 1 is the lists. Category No. 2, the baseless free agency speculation, of course. No. 3 is made up of superfluous reviews of 2010/previews of 2011. And No. 4, the ones in which I spend roughly half the words complaining that the lockout is still going on and there is nothing to talk about before ever making a point.
But in Category No. 5 - I know you're familiar with the concept by now - this is where we look ahead to consider "the effect of the lockout" on the Cowboys and the state of the NFL in 2011 and beyond. Just spellbinding.
In truth, though, something occurred to me recently that I hadn't considered in the previous four months. All along, my assumption, and that of most everyone else's, was that the Cowboys' defense might have a tough go of things this year because of all the practice time new coordinator Rob Ryan has missed with the players, and how having to wait until training camp to install his scheme will be a real problem.
Yeah, it's not ideal. But I'm thinking it actually may not be such a big problem. Defenses, we hear, are much easier to teach than offenses. There are only a handful of coverage packages Ryan can call, and while there will be some real differences in what he wants to do in the front seven as compared to Wade Phillips or Paul Pasqualoni, that stuff has more to do with alignment and gap responsibility, which is really pretty simple. All the special blitzes will be installed in each week's game plan.
NFL offenses are much more complex, evidenced by the 10-pound playbook Jason Garrett's guys carry around. Furthermore, the whole system is predicated on timing, which is awfully difficult to implement on the fly. Luckily for the Cowboys, their offense is a stable one. Same coordinator, Garrett. Same position coaches, with the lone exception of Jimmy Robinson replacing Ray Sherman in the wide receivers room. Probably most of the same guys back on the offensive line and at the skill positions. And most importantly, the same quarterback. A lot of other teams aren't so fortunate.
This is why, during the first week or two of training camp, it's cliché to say the defense is ahead of the offense - there's simply much more to process for the offensive players, and that's after a full summer's worth of Organized Team Activities and minicamps.
But with all those offseason practices missed now, and some real concerns about the level of play in the league this year, isn't it very possible that defenses will be ahead of offenses much deeper into the fall than usual? Even defenses like that of the Cowboys, being led by new coaches with new schemes, could have an easier go of things than they probably should in a normal year.
It's not to say every other game will end with a final score of 7-3, but let's really think about the consequences of missing so many practices for an offense, particularly in the passing game. The precision with which teams operate through the air could be disrupted, leading to lower completion rates and, in turn, shorter, more high-percentage passes. The sloppiness could create more turnovers. Problems in the passing game could force teams to lean more on the run, which would lead to fewer points and more predictability, making things easier for coordinators like Ryan.
And because the Cowboys have more stability on their own offense than all but a few other teams, Ryan's job could be even easier.
Asked whether there is more talent on the Cowboys' defense than what he had to work with in Oakland or Cleveland, Ryan wouldn't necessarily agree. In Oakland, he points out, he had a sack leader in Derrick Burgess, plus the great Warren Sapp and Nnamdi Asomugha in his prime. One of the things that excites Ryan most about coming to Dallas is actually the talent on the other side of the ball.
"The simple fact is, wherever I've been as a coordinator, we've always been dead last on offense," Ryan said. "Well, our offense is the best in football, I think. … It's easy to call defenses when you've got a lead. You can pin your ears back. We've got exceptional talent here, and it's going to be fun to play with leads."
I subscribe to the idea that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one, so perhaps having fewer practices and being forced to jam the teaching of his system in right before the season could be tough for Ryan and his defensive staff. It makes sense.
But the theme of this offseason has been that it's impossible to know what to expect, so there really is a case to be made for the other side of that pancake. Maybe Ryan's defense will have a real advantage.
Someday soon, hopefully, we'll begin to find out.
