4-0 to start his career. Quite a story for a guy who has been around as long as him.

The cowboys have kept Rush and WR Noah Brown for 5 years now and they have really paid dividends this season with Dak and Gallup out (plus Amari Cooper being in Cleveland). Long term backups can really pay off because they know your system and know their teammates.

Now in fairness the cowboys defense is top 3 in the NFL and is playing a massive role in the 3-1 record. Rush is not tearing it up but he is in command of the offense and not making killer mistakes. He plays with confidence and is not scared to attack the defense like most backups.

Plus he has been protected very well by the offensive line and has not been under much pressure at all.

OC Kellen Moore is also forced to keep a 50-50 run pass mix now and not forcing 45-50 pass attempts a game which hurt the cowboys down the stretch the last year. He actually has to commit to the run, even when its not working well like Sunday. It keeps the defense honest and doesn't let them just drop 7+ guys into coverage on every single down like last year.

Its been fun to watch and he may get another game or two. They play the Rams next week so this will be the toughest test yet. He has to lose one eventually.

His QBR is higher than anything Dak has accomplished.
Dak and Zeke take up 17% of the salary cap at $38M.
Imagine the money they could reinvest if they were to hand it over to Cooper and Pollard.

(10-03-2022 09:55 AM)Tiger87 Wrote:  His QBR is higher than anything Dak has accomplished.
Dak and Zeke take up 17% of the salary cap at $38M.
Imagine the money they could reinvest if they were to hand it over to Cooper and Pollard.

That just shows how easy it is to spin stats 4 games in.

Last year the cowboys were #1 in the NFL in scoring and yards. This year they are #28 which is near the bottom of the NFL.

As solid as Cooper is playing their offense is one of the worst in the entire NFL. Their defense is carrying them.

(10-03-2022 09:55 AM)Tiger87 Wrote:  His QBR is higher than anything Dak has accomplished.
Dak and Zeke take up 17% of the salary cap at $38M.
Imagine the money they could reinvest if they were to hand it over to Cooper and Pollard.

Offer Dak to the Vikings for about 10 picks! See if they can make them fall for it again. Throw in Tyron Smith too. That rookie has been solid at LT

right now, Jerry is playing Cooper up in the media.
I see a situation eerily reminiscent of former Cowboy QB Steve Walsh in the early years after Jerruh had bought the Cowboys.
Jimmy Johnson and the Cowboys signed Walsh, who played pretty well when Aikman got hurt.
Walsh played decent enough to bring trade value...and the Cowboys got the most they could for him. (the players Dallas got in exchange for the trades include former Cowboy greats Erik Williams, and Russell Maryland...so a great return on investment)
I see the same thing could be happening here...altho I would advise against it.
Really decent backup QBs aren't easy to find now.

(10-03-2022 10:02 AM)ericsrevenge76 Wrote:  

(10-03-2022 09:55 AM)Tiger87 Wrote:  His QBR is higher than anything Dak has accomplished.
Dak and Zeke take up 17% of the salary cap at $38M.
Imagine the money they could reinvest if they were to hand it over to Cooper and Pollard.

That just shows how easy it is to spin stats 4 games in.

Last year the cowboys were #1 in the NFL in scoring and yards. This year they are #28 which is near the bottom of the NFL.

As solid as Cooper is playing their offense is one of the worst in the entire NFL. Their defense is carrying them.

Not much disagreement here. Point being, does Dak and Zeke make them any better?

(10-03-2022 04:51 PM)Tiger87 Wrote:  

(10-03-2022 10:02 AM)ericsrevenge76 Wrote:  

(10-03-2022 09:55 AM)Tiger87 Wrote:  His QBR is higher than anything Dak has accomplished.
Dak and Zeke take up 17% of the salary cap at $38M.
Imagine the money they could reinvest if they were to hand it over to Cooper and Pollard.

That just shows how easy it is to spin stats 4 games in.

Last year the cowboys were #1 in the NFL in scoring and yards. This year they are #28 which is near the bottom of the NFL.

As solid as Cooper is playing their offense is one of the worst in the entire NFL. Their defense is carrying them.

Not much disagreement here. Point being, does Dak and Zeke make them any better?

Dak is more mobile than Cooper...altho I grimace whenever I see him take off.
The Dallas offense is more explosive with Dak under center than Cooper. To be fair tho, Dallas does have some O Line injuries (same as our Tigers), so that impacts what they are able to do and/or play call.

I really like Cooper. I think if he had more time as a starter under his belt...he could be a starter somewhere. He is a 'game manager' type of QB that wins games for you.
Those are QBs surrounded with talent... to the point that the QB doesn't have to be a hero and make something happen. He has playmakers around him who can take on that role.

(10-03-2022 04:51 PM)Tiger87 Wrote:  

(10-03-2022 10:02 AM)ericsrevenge76 Wrote:  

(10-03-2022 09:55 AM)Tiger87 Wrote:  His QBR is higher than anything Dak has accomplished.
Dak and Zeke take up 17% of the salary cap at $38M.
Imagine the money they could reinvest if they were to hand it over to Cooper and Pollard.

That just shows how easy it is to spin stats 4 games in.

Last year the cowboys were #1 in the NFL in scoring and yards. This year they are #28 which is near the bottom of the NFL.

As solid as Cooper is playing their offense is one of the worst in the entire NFL. Their defense is carrying them.

Not much disagreement here. Point being, does Dak and Zeke make them any better?

Well they were #1 in the NFL in points and yards last year and near the bottom this year so that's not really a serious question.

Pollard is already heavily involved in the offense and has been for a while. Not sure what you even mean there.

(10-03-2022 11:53 AM)MemTigers1998 Wrote:  

(10-03-2022 09:55 AM)Tiger87 Wrote:  His QBR is higher than anything Dak has accomplished.
Dak and Zeke take up 17% of the salary cap at $38M.
Imagine the money they could reinvest if they were to hand it over to Cooper and Pollard.

Offer Dak to the Vikings for about 10 picks! See if they can make them fall for it again. Throw in Tyron Smith too. That rookie has been solid at LT

He's been more than just solid. He is one of the most physically dominate and brutal OL I have seen in many years.

He doesn't just block, he destroys people.

(10-03-2022 06:29 PM)ericsrevenge76 Wrote:  

(10-03-2022 04:51 PM)Tiger87 Wrote:  

(10-03-2022 10:02 AM)ericsrevenge76 Wrote:  

(10-03-2022 09:55 AM)Tiger87 Wrote:  His QBR is higher than anything Dak has accomplished.
Dak and Zeke take up 17% of the salary cap at $38M.
Imagine the money they could reinvest if they were to hand it over to Cooper and Pollard.

That just shows how easy it is to spin stats 4 games in.

Last year the cowboys were #1 in the NFL in scoring and yards. This year they are #28 which is near the bottom of the NFL.

As solid as Cooper is playing their offense is one of the worst in the entire NFL. Their defense is carrying them.

Not much disagreement here. Point being, does Dak and Zeke make them any better?

Well they were #1 in the NFL in points and yards last year and near the bottom this year so that's not really a serious question.

Pollard is already heavily involved in the offense and has been for a while. Not sure what you even mean there.

It is a serious question, because are you saying Dak is the only change on the offense last year to this? His injury alone moves them from 1st to worst?

My point goes back to this - Dak and Zeke are consuming a YUGE chunk of the cap space for Dallas. Dak seems very inconsistent and injury prone. Pollard seems as effective as Zeke over time, without the price tag. They are different styles, I know. But you can get a bruiser RB for much less. What if they took that space and reinvested in a couple of OL?

I'm not a big Cowboys fan, so I take your word for it. I also hear a lot of rumblings from friends who are fans.

(10-04-2022 09:29 AM)Tiger87 Wrote:  It is a serious question, because are you saying Dak is the only change on the offense last year to this? His injury alone moves them from 1st to worst?

My point goes back to this - Dak and Zeke are consuming a YUGE chunk of the cap space for Dallas. Dak seems very inconsistent and injury prone. Pollard seems as effective as Zeke over time, without the price tag. They are different styles, I know. But you can get a bruiser RB for much less. What if they took that space and reinvested in a couple of OL?

I'm not a big Cowboys fan, so I take your word for it. I also hear a lot of rumblings from friends who are fans.

I understand what you're getting at but none of those things are going to happen this year so its really makes no never mind on how Cooper Rush is doing or how this season is going to play out.

Other than about 5-6 teams, almost everyone in the NFL usually wishes they had a different QB. If wishes were fishes.....

There are always about 5-6 super elite QB's in the NFL and the next 10-15 are all bunched up. Sometimes they look like world beaters, other times they look woefully inept. That's Dak.

Dak is going to be their starter for 2022 and 2023. Zeke will at least be there for the rest of this season. Zeke does not look half as bad as people make out, he just has a big contract and splits time now with Pollard. And too much of the time the cowboys offense gets way too pass happy and does not commit to the run.

The cowboys unloaded Amair Cooper and his 20 million dollar contract this off season so they really are in pretty good shape salary cap wise at the moment. That may change going into 2023 and 2024 but as far at this year they were well under the cap. And they no longer sign big name free agents anyway, they build through the draft.

The last 3 years they have drafted CeeDee Lamb, Trevon Diggs, Micah Parsons and Tyler Smith. That is likely the most productive 3 drafts of anyone in the NFL the last 3 years. And that list does not even include multiple other starters they got in those classes and another impressive rookie this year in DE Sam Williams. The cowboys draft as well as anyone in the NFL, they just can't cash it into deep playoff runs yet.

I think most fans feel like they never will as long as Jerry is picking the HC. That seems to be the consistent mistake for most of the last 30 years. Outside of Bill Parcells and Jimmie Johnson, I have not liked any of the hires at HC.

Cooper now 4-0 on the year, 5-0 in his career.

He did less than ever in this game, just AGAIN did not turn the ball over and let his defense win the game.

This is the first time in Kellen Moore's career as OC he is really committing to the run, and for multiple weeks now. And the coaches are all saying the plan is to stick with this formula when Dak returns. 50-50 run mix and let the defense win games whenever possible.

This is the type of offense Dak can THRIVE in when they get into November and December when its get cold, rainy and harder to pass on every down.

I was screaming for this most of last year, they got WAYYYY too pass happy because they were scoring so many points early and it killed them down the stretch and in the playoffs. During the game, the announcers said the coaches admitted that hurt them last year and it was a mistake.

When the defense can carry you and win games, you simplify your offense and RUN THE BALL, even if its not getting much. You stick with it and make the other teams defense adjust to it. Then your QB does not have to force the ball into 7-8 man coverages most of the game.

Then suddenly recievers are much more open and easy to hit instead of being surrounded by 2 and 3 defenders on every play.

Would’ve had more yards passing had CDL and Gallup each not dropped a 3rd down pass. Wish they’d keep playing him even when Dak is healthy, at least until he loses a couple. They’re in a groove now and I am just afraid that gets messed up when Dak returns. Sunday night in Philthy gonna be fun

(10-10-2022 08:17 AM)MemTigers1998 Wrote:  Would’ve had more yards passing had CDL and Gallup each not dropped a 3rd down pass. Wish they’d keep playing him even when Dak is healthy, at least until he loses a couple. They’re in a groove now and I am just afraid that gets messed up when Dak returns. Sunday night in Philthy gonna be fun

They still would not have even 150 yards passing. Maybe about 120.

They're not in much of an offensive groove at all, they're winning because of defense and turnovers.

I would agree if the offense was playing really well but they aren't. They are just not turning it over, staying ultra conservative and getting a couple of key plays a game. And Rush is not scared to rifle some balls downfield when he has to. Its perfection as far as a backup QB goes.

If Dak is ready you have to get him back in there. The team is not going anywhere long term with a 27th ranked offense. The key is when Dak returns you don't start throwing it all over the field 40+ times a game, you stick with the run and throw just enough to win.

Michael Irvin sermon to Stephan A Smith.

I think we can put this whole "debate" to bed now.

Cooper Rush is a really good 2nd string QB. He's not even a weak and way too shaky 1st string QB (which the NFL is filled with), he's a pure 2nd string guy who is ideal for a team in the modern era. If your backup is too good someone will want to start him full time and come after him in free agency. You want a guy who is good enough but not too good.

Dak broke his thumb, Rush miraculously led the team to a 4-1 record while he was out and no one on earth thought that possible. His numbers were pretty average but he protected the ball and managed the game really well 90% of the time. And he made some clutch plays in key moments. He led them to wins over both SB teams from last year and the 5-1 NY Giants.

And perhaps best of all he may have helped show the winning formula on offense from here on out. Keep the pass attempts for Dak between 30-35 per game and run the ball on 50% of the plays. Stick with the run, even during tough stretches, force the defend to defend it. Let the defense make plays, and let Dak make big plays in the play action, also with RPO's and let him create in selected situations.

But keep it simple, let your defense set the tone, and don't abandon the run for spread formations in 3-4 WR sets 3/4ths of the game.

Dak and the staff claim this is the plan, let see if they actually do and stick with it down the stretch. I'll believe it when I see it.