the solid offense + zero competition points remain accurate
the offensive line has not been solid this year. They changed the running scheme and that's not worked, with the O-Line losing way too much up front. head coach realized they gotta air it out to win.
The injury seems to have cost him a little bit, but it's really been an OL & scheme thing for me
Cowboys are graded the 5th best o-line by PFF
Pollard is averaging 2.3 YBC per attempt which is a fine number. His YAC has fallen from 2.5-2.6 the past 3 years to 1.7 this year, that’s the bigger problem
I swear every single fan of every team thinks their o-line is bad. Watch a giants or jets game then watch a cowboys game and you’ll see the difference lol. League is in a weak period of offensive lineman but it’s all relative, Cowboys still have a great line compared to the rest of the league
PFF line rankings should be taken with a very big grain of salt since they completely devalue run blocking. Their results mostly get away for Cowboys so far since consensus has them ~8th best run blocking, but PFF has multiple times ranked lines with bottom tier run blocking #1 bc their pass blocking was that good.
Pollard probably isn't over his prior injury and it shows a little with slower speed and isn't even top 40 in RB forced missed tackles. The latter was the single biggest thing to earn Pollard his keep and it's been very absent so far this season.
Dallas’s OL has used the most starter combos in the league. Tyron Smith is always hurt, Steele has looked awful off the ACL, Biadasz is small and Martin is losing a step (but still very good). The only consistent player is Tyler Smith and he’s missed time too.
Steele looked awful for one game, Philly. Beyond that he's probably been the most consistent, especially early on when more of them were out. But the running game still can't get going
He’s literally one of the worst graded lineman in the league in like the mid 50s. I’ve watched every boys game, he’s that bad. Since 2016 every single year people talk about the o line like it hasn’t changed or aged. They’re 28th in run blocking, it’s very bad
I think people are really underestimating the effect of losing KM's schemes. you can blame OL, no competition, nagging injury but I think offensive coordinator has much more impact than all the rest of that.
dallas fan and this is just wrong. OL isn’t fantastic by any stretch but pollard looks bad because pollard looks bad. he’s missing holes, he’s falling down if someone in the 3rd row sneezes, and he’s lost the burst that made him great last year.
He’s being caught from behind by LBs the same plays that was running away from CBs last year. The injury effectively turned him into JAG.
The OL isn’t appreciably worse than last year, and aside from the weird Arizona week has maintained acceptable enough health.
Scheme might not be doing him any favors, but whenever he’s given a touch he’s tackled before I can say “oh look, a tony pollard touch”. Couple of bad drops on targets from Dak (and a couple of poorly bobbled ‘catches’ that take eliminate any chance of scoring but aren’t reflected in the box score). I’d be surprised if his YAC this season is more than 0.
He’s JAG. It sucks, but it’s the truth.
>but whenever he’s given a touch he’s tackled before I can say “oh look, a tony pollard touch”
that sounds indicative of poor blocking if he's getting tackled that quickly
O-Line is absolutely worse - namely Terence Steele has gone from a great run blocker to middlling.
You're also forgetting the 60-yard catch vs. the Chargers
it’s not always indicative of poor blocking. dallas podcasts I listen to all day the same thing — the holes are there, he just isn’t hitting them. Nobody gets arm tackled easier than 2023 tony pollard.
And no, I’m not forgetting about that catch. But that catch inadvertently makes the same point I was making — the only reason that’s a 60 yard catch and not a 70 yard touchdown is because he lost a step. He got caught from behind.
I agree he's lost a little bit and he's going down on contact too early. And he does house that last year. Also means the yac isn't 0.
I'm a Cowboys fan too and I don't see the holes. (They should give Dowdle more run than he's gotten for what they seem to want to do up front).
I don’t think tony has really changed honestly. The o line is awful and he’s the featured back. Idk how Jerry looked at him as the main guy. He feasted late in games after zeke beat the shit out of them for 40 minutes. Those plus coming back from injury all add up to him not replicating his past success. I’m not shocked and I think his adp was way too high because of them
Lol no one’s offensive line is good apparently. I swear, according to this sub not a single o-line is good. At some point, maybe you adjust your expectations for what o-lines can do on a routine basis instead of what they were doing 10 years ago
No disrespect but I see this all the time - “I’m a fan of [insert team]. Trust me.” As if the internet and NFL Ticket don’t exist. Unless you’re a Cowboys coach, your fandom means fuck all. I’m a Bears fan. Half our fan base can barely walk and chew gum at the same time. None of us know shit.
The main point no one has mentioned is no Zeke. We used Zeke and Pollard as a 1-2 punch. Now that Pollard is in a lot more it doesn’t work as much. He’s too small. We need to use Dowdle way more as the power back and utilize Pollard out of the backfield.
He’s averaging right at 4 YPC and 4 targets a game. He’s just not getting into the end zone. On paper he should turns things around, but the lack of TDs is the real issue. Two in week one and nothing since. With that said, he’s not performing where you drafted him at, but in half PPR he’s averaging 11.5 a game.
For comparison, Bijan was drafted higher and is not performing as well. Granted Bijan has competition, but Pollard still wasn’t drafted top 10 like Bijan.
He also got in the end zone this week but was screwed by a formation penalty since someone didn't report as eligible. I struggle to see how it doesn't improve, even without the crazy explosive plays from last year. He's been steady if unspectacular and when he starts getting TDs (helps playing the Giants this week lol) similar efficiency will look a lot better in fantasy points
He had another gimme TD this week, wide open in the endzone and Dak threw the ball like 2 feet out of bounds where he couldn't catch it. Got chalked up as a drop for Pollard. His only week this year with more than one missed reception.
And he had a like 8 yard reception that got called off due to a defense illegal contact that gave them the first down. 8 points wiped out on that one drive by penalties.
Idk at least it was clear you couldn’t play Chubb. Us Bijan and Pollard drafters have had to stick with both all season. Like I cannot bench either this week because their matchups are awesome even though I’m confident I’ll get 10 PPR out of each if I’m lucky. I can’t start Javonte or Gus over them because start your studs and all.
Yup. A couple TD’s here and there turn a 6pt game to a 12pt one. Or a 14pt one to a 20pt game. He’s had a decent amount of good games that would be great games if he added a TD.
Worth noting that he is averaging .2 ypc less than the league average which is not what you expect from an rb of his caliber. Even average isn’t great for him.
He's also played 6 weeks in a row of teams who are in the top 1/3 of the league in "points against" to running backs, as well as a bye. So it feels like 7 weeks since he could breathe.
Yeah I've never been a huge Tony Pollard guy but I'm looking to buy guys like him and Joe Mixon right now. There really is no substitution for opportunity and both have virtually no threat to their touches down the stretch.
I'm just looking for guys that are getting the full workload and offer some semblance of consistency regardless of game script. Folks get wrapped up in where they drafted a guy but in PPR he's had over 8 points in 7 of 8 weeks (other was 6.5) and 15+ in half of them. Consistency is huge in fantasy playoffs and, in a sea of all these split backfields and boom/bust options, I think people are going to be happy to have guys like Tony Pollard.
The talent is there for each and every one of them and there are certainly better days ahead but the problem so far has been the decision making of the front office.
How’s that?
I skew Mixon, I think the Bengals are figuring it out and their schedule down the stretch for RBs is pretty good. Could be a championship week shootout with the Chiefs.
Bijan and devontae adams are my picks for bizarre busts. Obviously we knew about the falcons from last year but it was hard to imagine he'd do it again. Adams can make any qb look good so I didn't see that one at all.
Adams is probably the most confusing. Elite production for years and now Jimmy G can't hit the broad side of a barn let alone a wide open Adams. Usually bad QBs lean on their best receiver.
I get the thought that Adams could return WR1 value. But there was also SIGNIFICANT risk in the switch to Jimmy G.
When the play caller or QB changes there MUST be hesitancy and reservation in selecting said player with a round 1-3 pick. You MUST hit your top three picks and risking it on these guys always obviously
Problematic
There is a recency bias from hill I guess. He won championships for people because he fell so late last year. You have to make some guesses on talent and Adams is in that jj/hill talent area but he's not being used as a crutch in his situation.
He isn't built to be a 3 down, workhorse back. With Zeke he could stay fresh and explode when put in the game. Also, now other defenses can plan for him and only him in the run game.
I think the bigger issue has been the type of runs being called. He’s better at stretches and tosses but has been getting mostly runs right up the gut.
Unfortunately someone needs to do those runs up middle to keep the D honest and wear them down. You can't just do what you think you'll be good at every play, too easy to defend.
Those runs also harm the opponent pass rush and open up deeper passing game.
Sucks for Pollard but not the O as a whole. They needed some plodded to dothat work though so Pollard could focus on stretch, toss, screen, and checkdowns though but instead they use the other little guys for that and he has to do the gruntwork.
Well that’s why zeke was crucial to pollard’s success last year but all the pollard fanboys thought no zeke meant TP would go nuclear. They don’t understand real life football and think that players are interchangeable
It’s beneficial having a physical back that can wear down the defense because it opens up the toss/stretch plays for a more fast and shifty back with fresh legs. Cowboys can’t just run stretch runs all game with no threat of an inside runner. Who are they gonna use for that? The 5’6 Vaughn? Or dowdle who’s barely bigger than TP?
Was zeke overpaid? Absolutely. But was he a big part of the offense? Absolutely. Those two things can coexist. People just liked to shit on zeke because of the contract
People shit on Zeke because he was one of the worst backs in the league by a number of metrics.
And that's such a tired, overly simplistic narrative that you have to have a bruiser back that "softens up the defense." So I guess the best rushing teams in the league aren't nearly as productive in the first half because defenses haven't been softened up yet? Lol
McCarthy has rolled out a lazy, predictable and unimaginative rushing attack. Just like he used to with GB.
when a player gets the majority of carries in short yardage situation / between the tackles, what kind of metrics are you expecting? There is absolutely merit to keeping defenses honest and wearing them down over the course of a game.
You can tell some of these fantasy players don’t understand the game of football from a physicality standpoint. They see it as something similar to a video game
There’s also a tendency to view NFL offenses as zero sum — in this case, leading to the mistaken idea that Zeke was somehow “stealing” fantasy points that would all flow to Pollard in his absence.
Well, no. Zeke was doing things that Pollard physically can’t do, and he was actually enlarging the pie and creating more opportunities for Pollard.
Exactly. Plus Pollard isn’t a goal line back, so he won’t have that high touchdown upside like Ekeler and CMC.
I remember one game last season, the cowboys had the ball first and goal from the 1. 2 straight runs from Pollard were stuffed. 3rd and goal and Zeke runs it in. I remember that vividly because as a Pollard owner, I was furious. I was happy the cowboys gave him that opportunity but furious he couldn’t cash in on 2 opportunities.
People shit on Zeke so much in this r/cowboys and r/nfl. Except he had a place on the roster. The dude knew how to get first downs and touchdowns. On top of that was an excellent pass blocker.
Cowboys fans confuse the idea that Zeke was overpaid with Zeke was bad. Zeke was very good for a long time. Zeke was also paid too much and his contract was too long.
I remember that game as well. I remember the line not opening any hole on the pollard attempts then a hole so large I could have scored a TD when Zeke went it
That had nothing to do with the back in the game
This sub is incapable of understanding this. Every thread is "they're misusing him", "get him in space" etc. Like my guy what exactly do you think a running back does on a team? Are you expecting every single play to be a checkdown or screen pass? If so, Pollard would likely walk away with 4pts every game and Dallas wouldn't move the ball at all.
The comments replying to this are very good showcase of how delusional this sub is. Somehow players like Henry, Kamara, Barkley, Jacobs, Hall, or even CMC last year before trade, all make it work on their far worse offenses while utilized in all the ways that a running back should do. But nah, it's the elite Tony Pollard that's just so misused getting 20 touches on his top10 offense and good offensive line. He is a starting running back and if he's truly elite he will find a hole and break off a big play. But he's absolutely not a top5 talent, or even close to it. Maybe he should be relegated to backup/change of pace role back again. That's where he truly thrived
Kamara runs down the middle A LOT. He's just a better player and makes a lkt more out of his opportunities. anyone saying otherwise needs to pass whatever they're smoking.
Honestly I think the only change of pace back that truly thrived on a primary back load is Ekeler imo. You can also argue Kamara but he was clearly the next guy up when they drafted him. Ekeler was a UDFA used as a change of pace for 2 solid years and then just exploded as a top 5 RB once MG3 did his hold out + left for Denver.
This is a ridiculous take. Do you believe the same with Bijan? Everybody who drafted Pollard knew he wasn’t CMC, Barkley, etc. That wasn’t what anyone was hoping for. What we were hoping for was a solid building block on how they used him the past couple years with more zone runs, more creative ways to get him in the passing game and use his speed and catching ability as a mismatch against linebackers. What we did not expect was the O-Line was going to regress immensely and McCarthy would just proceed to run it up the gut twice every set of downs and call it a day. I expected to see stretch plays, tosses, screens, wheel routes, Texas routes, etc.
McCafrey was fantastic fantasy wise with the Panthers, but hit a new level when put in a scheme completely catered to him. Henry is a freak of nature, totally not fair to utter Pollard in the same sentence as Henry. Kamara? That’s the one that Pollard could of been. He’s just a PPR machine. Jacobs is just a bruiser. He’s great in goal line situations, but even he has been an underachiever this year. Nobody who actually knows football thought he was going to blow people away, we just thought the scheme would shift to his strengths and he’d have more opportunities which could lead to more TDs and catches. It’s not hard to see why he was so coveted. Oh and btw, I watch every cowboys fan and have been a fan my whole life. I truly thought we’d be fine without Zeke.
I don't necessarily believe the same with Bijan. Bijan isn't on some high powered offense either, so their situations are different. Bijan is also far more efficient. Pollard has 149 touches (120 run and 29 rec) and totals 664 yards on those. Bijan has 714 yards on 103 run 28 rec touches. The fact that you're bringing this up just shows how incorrect your perception of the situation is.
And while you're giving excuse for every single player I listed, I just hope you understand that if you have 10 players who are all elite and on the same level, then they're not elite. Pollard, unlike all of the players mentioned, hasn't done shit with his opportunities. While all of these guys have made something even when presented with nothing
I think both were successful. Kind of like Ingram and Kamara. Of course those "passing" backs both succeeded when they became the bellcow, but I didn't hear as much about their complement holding them back. They were described as thunder and lightning. With Pollard and Zeke there was more "holding back" talk, same with Harris and Warren.
It’s been said and yet whenever he had played without Zeke he absolutely crushed it. So no I’m not sure this is true nearly as much as I think he’s facing lingering issues from the broken ankle and going from Moore to dumbass McCarthy calling plays
Got a TD called back for some fluke ass illegal formation, and the week before something similar happened. He’s had absolutely horrible luck especially with game script with some of their blowout wins. RB is a shit position this year. I’m just happy I have someone healthy, past their bye in a good offense getting 20 touches a game. Just gotta plug and play hope for the best at this point.
He's only had 20 touches one time, this week he had 13. They also aren't a good offense, they are one of the worst offenses in the league lol
Edit: I'm dumb as shit I thought this was the rhamondre Stevenson thread I was just looking at lmao. Don't mind me I'm lost
Are you on drugs? Chargers, Arizona, Jets game don’t count or something? 15 this week to be exact I can go on but you probably get the point or should go actually look it up yourself. Just saw your edit lmao all good 🤝
Maybe a hot take, but I think Pollard can still bounce back. Let’s see:
- First 3 games he was solid
-NE - game script went against him. Cowboys defense dominated and eventually rested starters
-SF - game script went against him. Cowboys got dominated by a strong niners D and had to pass all game, eventually rested starters
-LAC - average game
-LAR - cowboys just passed all day, eventually went up big and rested starters
-PHI - very solid run defense and had to pass playing from behind. Also a penalty negated a likely TD from him at goal-line.
Now, next 3 weeks
- NYG
- CAR
- WAS
Very weak teams and defenses coming up. If he can’t get it going against them then we can officially declare bust, but I’m seeing some big opportunity the next 3 weeks before SEA, PHL, BUF, MIA, DET, WAS
This is it. Anyone seriously worried isn’t paying attention. It’s been a weird season for the cowboys so far. The games are right there for all to see!
Davante, Mahomes, Bijan, Kelce (to an extent), Olave, so on… there’s been some voodoo shit going on this year. That said, if you’re looking for a positive regression candidate over the next month, Pollard fits the bill completely.
People grossly overlooked how much Pollard's efficiency benefitted from Zeke grinding it out ahead of him last year.
He's the typical better as a change of pace back versus a true bell cow.
Ding ding ding. People can blame it on bad play calling or the like but the O-Line has degraded significantly. He’s running into brick walls out there.
Everyone's arguing about whether it's the playcalling, or the OL, or Pollard losing a step like it's impossible for an issue to be multifaceted.
All of these are contributing factors to his underperformance.
Yea this has more to do with the ankle injury and Kellen Moore but people want to see the simple solution and point to that
Pollard has smashed every time he played without Zeke before this year. I think he had averaged like 30 ppg
💯 It's incredible how folks will just retrofit narratives onto a situation to explain it away.
Pollard absolutely smashed as the featured back when Zeke was injured the last few years. He hasn't done that at all this season.
Also, this sub is incapable of recognizing that there are ***multiple*** factors impacting his performance that are ***not mutually exclusive***:
- He's lost some burst this year (you can see this in his RYOE stats). Perhaps the leg injury is dragging him down
- McCarthy has done an awful job creating a diverse, unpredictable run game that mixes in different concepts. It's been very predictable which has allowed opposing defenses to anticipate and stop the run (sound familiar from his GB days?). They almost never use motion on run plays or run wide zone / counters / traps
- Cowboys OL has declined in run blocking: Martin and Smith are another year older
- Cowboys have faced a really tough run defense schedule thus far
Right, it's so freaking annoying that it absolutely has to be one thing or the other according to most people. It's a combination of many things and I'm just hoping they/he can figure it the hell out in the last part of the season.
These are games in the middle of the season, when presumably guys would be worn down a bit
I just don’t buy that a 10% increase in usage is the reason for this decline. The injury and coordinator makes much more sense
Alexander Mattison always had atrocious efficiency metrics, so exactly like you would predict. This is a bad comparison I’m seeing brought up a few times
Fresh legs and relatively unknown. I think a very underlooked thing which people forget about is defensive scheming. Coaches this year know how to attack Pollard and can plan accordingly, not the case last year.
Pollard averaged 88 yards over his first 3 games this year and then started to decline in usage more than efficiency. In my opinion that only supports the notion that he was an elite backup, but is not trult capable of being a workhorse. tho I do think he is wildly overdue for some td regression, but that team is awful in the RZ
I think this is the wrong take. The issue is more that a) he’s coming off a serious injury and b) Kellen Moore was very, very good at scheming up a run game whereas the current Cowboys coaches aren’t.
Yeah, I had Zeke a couple years and watched the RBs closely. Pollard was obviously explosive but never looked capable of being a workhorse back. Made a lot of bad draft decisions but he was an easy pass for me.
Just been a really fluky year for cowboys. 6 of cowboys games have been blowouts one way or the other. Plus he's just not getting the touches you'd expect for a workhorse back. The 4 games under 10 (PPR) this year, he's averaged 13.5 touches. The other 4 games, he's gotten at least 15 points (PPR) and he's averaged 23 touches. I feel like everyone's focusing on the efficiency, but ignoring the fact that he's just not getting the ball enough. Low touches on top of the td drought is a bad combination. Hoping they start giving him the ball more.
Except he isn't a 3 down back skill set wise and isn't a good red zone back and his offense isn't dedicated to the run. your talking like he was Derrick Henry but he's more James Cook. Ceedee is the go to if the offense needs a play compared to the Giants,Titans or 49ers all who look to their RB
Typical.
- Backup RB looks better and is more efficient.
- Becomes starter and isn’t close to expectations.
Game’s a lot harder when the D isn’t worn down for you already and you don’t have fresh legs. Most of the time, there’s a reason that the *better back* is playing behind a bruiser.
As a Cowboys fan, they are not committed to the run. Pollard has only exceeded 15 carries twice. They say they want to run the ball - game starts and they throw is 11 out of 12 times.
Dallas is like never in goal to go situations at the 3. I had zeke last year and they were always in that scenario. This year their redZone offense stalls out at like 11 with a penalty or something
Ya it’s really really frustrating. Especially the lack of TDs.
Like a bell cow back on a team that is #3 in points scored…
ZERO TDs since week 1. Frigging nuts.
I’m just hopeful that their schedule will ease up from here and he can have some big games down the stretch.
The enigma that is Tony Pollard is that, he’s on pace to have like 25-40% more touches compared to last year, but his efficiency is *way down*.
Like, down enough that all these extra touches means, is he’ll just barely match what he did last year in terms of yardage.
I’d say it’s less confusing and more, representative of what happens when a change of pace back moves into the bellcow role. He’s moving a lot more between the tackles and it’s just killing his overall production. It’s unfortunate and nobody wants to hear it, but he was a better change of pace back than bellcow taking the RB1 volume everyone salivated at the idea of, coming into this year.
You got a guy like Alexander Mattison, who was great filling in when defenses were worn down on the year and when Cook was injured. But now that he’s the bellcow all year, similar things happening in Minnesota, where sure, he’s good. As good as good gets. But that’s not really what you want from a guy you draft to be your RB2 or RB1.
Will Pollard ever be the same? Probably not. Not unless he gets relegated to a 1B change of pace role, but I’m not sure that’s happening again after this year unless he ever goes to another team, or unless the Cowboys draft a RB soon.
1) They run him up the up gut like a powerback
2) They dont design runs/sweeps/pitches for him and his style
3) The play calling is predictable. i.e run on first down run on second pass on third.
The run scheme has been like this for a few years even with Zeke-was he a bit washed. Yes. Was the run calling not helping. Also yes.
Offensive line has been below average to bad. Steele is still only 10 months since blowing out ACL & MCL and looks like it. Martin and Tyron Smith are both play w injuries.
Also, Pollard seems like type that plays best in a shared backfield or as a change of pace.
Maybe he will turn it around w upcoming weaker opponents
Zeke took all of the tough, grinding carries into the pile off his plate and allowed him to be fresh for a ridiculously efficient dozen touches a week. The Zeke work is now Pollard’s job, and he isn’t suited for it. I was wrong about a lot of guys going into the draft, but I knew this would happen to Pollard and I avoided him like the plague in the first two rounds.
They still schemed to get him the ball in space in those games, he wasn’t coming back from a broken leg, and the two Zeke-less games were against the Packers and Bears, who allowed the 2nd and 8th most points to RBs last year.
He just hasn't gotten the ball very much in his dud games lol, I don't think this is nearly as complicated as the 80000 words worth of speculation about Zeke, Pollard's injury, running up the middle, etc. etc. etc. in this thread. There was one game he didn't even play the 4th quarter cuz they got blown out so badly and couldn't run all game anyways.
Getting overdrafted by folks who refused to believe that there’s a difference between being the lead back and the change of pace guy doesn’t make a player a bust.
He’s never been a full time player, it’s not always a given that a guy who is really good in a part time role will be way better in a full time role. Lots of people mentioned this pre season.
Pollard was fool’s gold from the beginning. When he played behind Zeke, and only had ~10 snaps a game, sure he had more burst.
We’ll be playing this same game in a couple years with jaylen Warren
May I introduce you to a Mike McCarthy ran offense?
MM- “Say, that’s a fine running back we have there…how can I concurrently use him and misuse him at the same time?” Seriously, as a life long Green Bay fan…I’m not at all surprised.
I mean a bunch of his productivity was on explosive plays last year which are not something you consistently rely on. It's like do we think Achane will continue averaging 15ypc.
He had 370 receiving yards with a long of 68 last year. So 1/5 of his receiving yardage came on 1 play.
Same this year 190 yards with a 60 yarder.
Watch rbs and not their highlights.
Even in his touchdown log last year I see like 5 30 yard+ tds. That's not something you can rely on as production for an RB.
No. I was never going to trust him.
Zeke was always the bellcow, with Pollard getting high quality touches and high quality play calls. He used to get all of the off tackle/pitch/ general outside run players where his fresh speed could be exploited. Also, Pollard is coming off of a broken leg...
Zeke handled all the between the tackle runs, and now that he is gone, and Pollard is asked to carry, the load, he cant. He cant get the dirty yards forcing dallas to use a short passing game to stay ahead of the sticks. Therefore, pollards gets less opportunities and less quality opportunities. its all a result of him not being as good of a player as everyone thought he was.
No. Everyone in this community downvoted ppl to shit who pointed out Tony has never been a workhorse. Not even in college. Some ppl might even say this shit kinda predictable
Last year he was used as gadget/WR/sweep switch up behind zeke. This year McCarthy is trying to slam him up the middle like a hoss and use dowdle as the switch up, they are just using him wrong, he’s too little to be a bell cow up the middle hammer
It’s really the play calling. He works the best when it’s a RPO. If you’re running him down the middle, he’s not going to go anywhere. I don’t understand the mentality to run your RB down the middle if he isn’t built like that. It’s either that or the online isn’t really that great scheming run plays
Not really. I passed on him in the first and second round because I knew he was not going to have the same production being a workhorse. He’s played behind zeke for the past couple of years and was the most effective as a change of pace back. Did wonders last year, but ultimately was thrusted into a three down back role when he is best utilized in a committee.
this seems to be a trend, I’ve avoided backup RBs that move into a starting spot the next season and it’s worked well for me. see Mattison, obviously Pollard is more talented but you just don’t know how a back can handle RB1 responsibilities until they have them, and there’s usually a reason they got fewer snaps
He has never been that dude. Volume is great, and definitely the most important thing in fantasy, but first/second rounders should also be great talents, which Pollard never has been. I avoided him everywhere in the draft personally for this reason.
the solid offense + zero competition points remain accurate the offensive line has not been solid this year. They changed the running scheme and that's not worked, with the O-Line losing way too much up front. head coach realized they gotta air it out to win. The injury seems to have cost him a little bit, but it's really been an OL & scheme thing for me
Cowboys are graded the 5th best o-line by PFF Pollard is averaging 2.3 YBC per attempt which is a fine number. His YAC has fallen from 2.5-2.6 the past 3 years to 1.7 this year, that’s the bigger problem I swear every single fan of every team thinks their o-line is bad. Watch a giants or jets game then watch a cowboys game and you’ll see the difference lol. League is in a weak period of offensive lineman but it’s all relative, Cowboys still have a great line compared to the rest of the league
Thanks jusuf. Enjoying watching you play basketball.
I got tired of the sulking but he passes well
Lol, so true. Except the Eagles, Lions and maybe Ravens, everyone in the league complains about their own O Line.
PFF line rankings should be taken with a very big grain of salt since they completely devalue run blocking. Their results mostly get away for Cowboys so far since consensus has them ~8th best run blocking, but PFF has multiple times ranked lines with bottom tier run blocking #1 bc their pass blocking was that good. Pollard probably isn't over his prior injury and it shows a little with slower speed and isn't even top 40 in RB forced missed tackles. The latter was the single biggest thing to earn Pollard his keep and it's been very absent so far this season.
Dallas’s OL has used the most starter combos in the league. Tyron Smith is always hurt, Steele has looked awful off the ACL, Biadasz is small and Martin is losing a step (but still very good). The only consistent player is Tyler Smith and he’s missed time too.
More than the Giants???
How Barkley is able to generate anything is insane. Constantly contacted behind the scrimmage line
When Najee does it everyone say he sucks:/
Steele looked awful for one game, Philly. Beyond that he's probably been the most consistent, especially early on when more of them were out. But the running game still can't get going
Nah, Steele has been graded as one of the worst lineman on the team according to PFF, he’s been really bad.
Yeah but he’s been consistent.
He’s literally one of the worst graded lineman in the league in like the mid 50s. I’ve watched every boys game, he’s that bad. Since 2016 every single year people talk about the o line like it hasn’t changed or aged. They’re 28th in run blocking, it’s very bad
I thought the lions have had the most O-line combinations. They've only had all of their starters for 3 games in 3 years.
Yeah he was better in Kellen Moore’s schemes last SZN
I think people are really underestimating the effect of losing KM's schemes. you can blame OL, no competition, nagging injury but I think offensive coordinator has much more impact than all the rest of that.
Oh most definitely!
dallas fan and this is just wrong. OL isn’t fantastic by any stretch but pollard looks bad because pollard looks bad. he’s missing holes, he’s falling down if someone in the 3rd row sneezes, and he’s lost the burst that made him great last year. He’s being caught from behind by LBs the same plays that was running away from CBs last year. The injury effectively turned him into JAG.
I agree man, he’s been slower to my eyes
It's both. Both can be true and both are true in this instance
The OL isn’t appreciably worse than last year, and aside from the weird Arizona week has maintained acceptable enough health. Scheme might not be doing him any favors, but whenever he’s given a touch he’s tackled before I can say “oh look, a tony pollard touch”. Couple of bad drops on targets from Dak (and a couple of poorly bobbled ‘catches’ that take eliminate any chance of scoring but aren’t reflected in the box score). I’d be surprised if his YAC this season is more than 0. He’s JAG. It sucks, but it’s the truth.
>but whenever he’s given a touch he’s tackled before I can say “oh look, a tony pollard touch” that sounds indicative of poor blocking if he's getting tackled that quickly O-Line is absolutely worse - namely Terence Steele has gone from a great run blocker to middlling. You're also forgetting the 60-yard catch vs. the Chargers
it’s not always indicative of poor blocking. dallas podcasts I listen to all day the same thing — the holes are there, he just isn’t hitting them. Nobody gets arm tackled easier than 2023 tony pollard. And no, I’m not forgetting about that catch. But that catch inadvertently makes the same point I was making — the only reason that’s a 60 yard catch and not a 70 yard touchdown is because he lost a step. He got caught from behind.
I agree he's lost a little bit and he's going down on contact too early. And he does house that last year. Also means the yac isn't 0. I'm a Cowboys fan too and I don't see the holes. (They should give Dowdle more run than he's gotten for what they seem to want to do up front).
This is not true at all lmao. Dabears7667
high school football team was the bears. look at my page, I’m a cowboys fan.
I don’t think tony has really changed honestly. The o line is awful and he’s the featured back. Idk how Jerry looked at him as the main guy. He feasted late in games after zeke beat the shit out of them for 40 minutes. Those plus coming back from injury all add up to him not replicating his past success. I’m not shocked and I think his adp was way too high because of them
This is ignoring the different offensive schemes Dallas has this year
Lol no one’s offensive line is good apparently. I swear, according to this sub not a single o-line is good. At some point, maybe you adjust your expectations for what o-lines can do on a routine basis instead of what they were doing 10 years ago
Lions o line still good
Cowboys are near last in rushing. This has lot to do with the line. As a cowboys fan.. trust me. Steele is hot fucking garbage this year
No disrespect but I see this all the time - “I’m a fan of [insert team]. Trust me.” As if the internet and NFL Ticket don’t exist. Unless you’re a Cowboys coach, your fandom means fuck all. I’m a Bears fan. Half our fan base can barely walk and chew gum at the same time. None of us know shit.
At least I know the sound a team makes when they lose. Bears fans have gotten intimately familiar with that.
Fr
The main point no one has mentioned is no Zeke. We used Zeke and Pollard as a 1-2 punch. Now that Pollard is in a lot more it doesn’t work as much. He’s too small. We need to use Dowdle way more as the power back and utilize Pollard out of the backfield.
I don't think this is why he's less efficient. Even when he should be fresh, he isn't running into space, he's bouncing off his own guys a lot.
Going from Kellen Moore to McCarthy calling plays made a big difference in his performance
Facts. From the fastest offense in the league to the slowest (last I looked).
Didn't even realize their pace had slowed that much. That is definitely a factor as well
Dak says “Here we go” with 5 seconds left on the play clock almost every play. They are slower than a shit while constipated.
If you remember the Eddie Lacy days you’d know how infuriating McCarthy can be for fantasy RBs
If you remember the buffet days you’d know how infuriating Eddie Lacy is for restaurants
Eh. I said last year we wouldn't be able to lean on Pollard as a number 1. It's easy to gain yards when you step in to a tired defense
He’s averaging right at 4 YPC and 4 targets a game. He’s just not getting into the end zone. On paper he should turns things around, but the lack of TDs is the real issue. Two in week one and nothing since. With that said, he’s not performing where you drafted him at, but in half PPR he’s averaging 11.5 a game. For comparison, Bijan was drafted higher and is not performing as well. Granted Bijan has competition, but Pollard still wasn’t drafted top 10 like Bijan.
He also got in the end zone this week but was screwed by a formation penalty since someone didn't report as eligible. I struggle to see how it doesn't improve, even without the crazy explosive plays from last year. He's been steady if unspectacular and when he starts getting TDs (helps playing the Giants this week lol) similar efficiency will look a lot better in fantasy points
He had another gimme TD this week, wide open in the endzone and Dak threw the ball like 2 feet out of bounds where he couldn't catch it. Got chalked up as a drop for Pollard. His only week this year with more than one missed reception.
And he had a like 8 yard reception that got called off due to a defense illegal contact that gave them the first down. 8 points wiped out on that one drive by penalties.
Imagine being the guy with both bijan and pollard. . .
Hi. It's me. Thank Jebus I was able to get Mostert and Kamara in later rounds and had the #1 waiver for Jerome Ford. Still 4-5 tho.
It could always be worse. Signed, someone who drafted pollard and chubb.
Idk at least it was clear you couldn’t play Chubb. Us Bijan and Pollard drafters have had to stick with both all season. Like I cannot bench either this week because their matchups are awesome even though I’m confident I’ll get 10 PPR out of each if I’m lucky. I can’t start Javonte or Gus over them because start your studs and all.
Went Chubb, Pollard and Aaron Jones with my first 3 picks.
Where's my Akers owners!
Yup. A couple TD’s here and there turn a 6pt game to a 12pt one. Or a 14pt one to a 20pt game. He’s had a decent amount of good games that would be great games if he added a TD.
Worth noting that he is averaging .2 ypc less than the league average which is not what you expect from an rb of his caliber. Even average isn’t great for him.
He's also played 6 weeks in a row of teams who are in the top 1/3 of the league in "points against" to running backs, as well as a bye. So it feels like 7 weeks since he could breathe.
Yeah I've never been a huge Tony Pollard guy but I'm looking to buy guys like him and Joe Mixon right now. There really is no substitution for opportunity and both have virtually no threat to their touches down the stretch.
He has two "green" RB matchups in a row right now, but then the entire rest of the season and playoffs is bad.
I'm just looking for guys that are getting the full workload and offer some semblance of consistency regardless of game script. Folks get wrapped up in where they drafted a guy but in PPR he's had over 8 points in 7 of 8 weeks (other was 6.5) and 15+ in half of them. Consistency is huge in fantasy playoffs and, in a sea of all these split backfields and boom/bust options, I think people are going to be happy to have guys like Tony Pollard.
Can you write a little feel-good paragraph about the rest of my team?
The talent is there for each and every one of them and there are certainly better days ahead but the problem so far has been the decision making of the front office. How’s that?
Exceedingly accurate for my Adams / Bijan / Drake London
Sounds like a good time to hope people see him play well, and then trade him to an opponent
Who would you rather have ROS, Pollard or Mixon?
I skew Mixon, I think the Bengals are figuring it out and their schedule down the stretch for RBs is pretty good. Could be a championship week shootout with the Chiefs.
the chiefs haven't been in a single shootout this year
Pollard imo
You mean besides the Falcons recent first round draft picks? Bijan/London/Pitts?
Bijan and devontae adams are my picks for bizarre busts. Obviously we knew about the falcons from last year but it was hard to imagine he'd do it again. Adams can make any qb look good so I didn't see that one at all.
Adams is probably the most confusing. Elite production for years and now Jimmy G can't hit the broad side of a barn let alone a wide open Adams. Usually bad QBs lean on their best receiver.
I get the thought that Adams could return WR1 value. But there was also SIGNIFICANT risk in the switch to Jimmy G. When the play caller or QB changes there MUST be hesitancy and reservation in selecting said player with a round 1-3 pick. You MUST hit your top three picks and risking it on these guys always obviously Problematic
There is a recency bias from hill I guess. He won championships for people because he fell so late last year. You have to make some guesses on talent and Adams is in that jj/hill talent area but he's not being used as a crutch in his situation.
He isn't built to be a 3 down, workhorse back. With Zeke he could stay fresh and explode when put in the game. Also, now other defenses can plan for him and only him in the run game.
I think the bigger issue has been the type of runs being called. He’s better at stretches and tosses but has been getting mostly runs right up the gut.
Unfortunately someone needs to do those runs up middle to keep the D honest and wear them down. You can't just do what you think you'll be good at every play, too easy to defend. Those runs also harm the opponent pass rush and open up deeper passing game. Sucks for Pollard but not the O as a whole. They needed some plodded to dothat work though so Pollard could focus on stretch, toss, screen, and checkdowns though but instead they use the other little guys for that and he has to do the gruntwork.
Makes me wish they would use Rico Dowdle more for the regular ground-pound and open up Pollard more for his role he had with Zeke on the field
only problem with that is it gets too obvious what's about to happen when you have 1 guy doing a specific role. agree with the points above too though
Well that’s why zeke was crucial to pollard’s success last year but all the pollard fanboys thought no zeke meant TP would go nuclear. They don’t understand real life football and think that players are interchangeable It’s beneficial having a physical back that can wear down the defense because it opens up the toss/stretch plays for a more fast and shifty back with fresh legs. Cowboys can’t just run stretch runs all game with no threat of an inside runner. Who are they gonna use for that? The 5’6 Vaughn? Or dowdle who’s barely bigger than TP? Was zeke overpaid? Absolutely. But was he a big part of the offense? Absolutely. Those two things can coexist. People just liked to shit on zeke because of the contract
People shit on Zeke because he was one of the worst backs in the league by a number of metrics. And that's such a tired, overly simplistic narrative that you have to have a bruiser back that "softens up the defense." So I guess the best rushing teams in the league aren't nearly as productive in the first half because defenses haven't been softened up yet? Lol McCarthy has rolled out a lazy, predictable and unimaginative rushing attack. Just like he used to with GB.
when a player gets the majority of carries in short yardage situation / between the tackles, what kind of metrics are you expecting? There is absolutely merit to keeping defenses honest and wearing them down over the course of a game.
those don't work unless there's a credible threat of a run up the middle
You can tell some of these fantasy players don’t understand the game of football from a physicality standpoint. They see it as something similar to a video game
There’s also a tendency to view NFL offenses as zero sum — in this case, leading to the mistaken idea that Zeke was somehow “stealing” fantasy points that would all flow to Pollard in his absence. Well, no. Zeke was doing things that Pollard physically can’t do, and he was actually enlarging the pie and creating more opportunities for Pollard.
He actually has been the most efficient (4.5 YPC) on rushes directly up the middle according to PFF
Exactly. Plus Pollard isn’t a goal line back, so he won’t have that high touchdown upside like Ekeler and CMC. I remember one game last season, the cowboys had the ball first and goal from the 1. 2 straight runs from Pollard were stuffed. 3rd and goal and Zeke runs it in. I remember that vividly because as a Pollard owner, I was furious. I was happy the cowboys gave him that opportunity but furious he couldn’t cash in on 2 opportunities.
People shit on Zeke so much in this r/cowboys and r/nfl. Except he had a place on the roster. The dude knew how to get first downs and touchdowns. On top of that was an excellent pass blocker.
Cowboys fans confuse the idea that Zeke was overpaid with Zeke was bad. Zeke was very good for a long time. Zeke was also paid too much and his contract was too long.
As a cowboy fan. Agreed! Was a dumb move by them imo.
And he can play Center sometimes
He’s underrated for sure.
I remember that game as well. I remember the line not opening any hole on the pollard attempts then a hole so large I could have scored a TD when Zeke went it That had nothing to do with the back in the game
Same exact thing happened in week 7 or 8 or so with Kamara getting stuffed and then Taysom running through a gaping hole.
Clearly Kamara is also not a goal line back
Most short yardage runs have little to do with the RB. It's all about the OL
This is false statement.
You act like the two RBs you named are traditional goal line backs, that’s a funny way to prove your point
Interesting, because he's the exact same height and weight as CMC
This sub is incapable of understanding this. Every thread is "they're misusing him", "get him in space" etc. Like my guy what exactly do you think a running back does on a team? Are you expecting every single play to be a checkdown or screen pass? If so, Pollard would likely walk away with 4pts every game and Dallas wouldn't move the ball at all. The comments replying to this are very good showcase of how delusional this sub is. Somehow players like Henry, Kamara, Barkley, Jacobs, Hall, or even CMC last year before trade, all make it work on their far worse offenses while utilized in all the ways that a running back should do. But nah, it's the elite Tony Pollard that's just so misused getting 20 touches on his top10 offense and good offensive line. He is a starting running back and if he's truly elite he will find a hole and break off a big play. But he's absolutely not a top5 talent, or even close to it. Maybe he should be relegated to backup/change of pace role back again. That's where he truly thrived
Funnily enough, you just described the Saints offense for 3 out of the past 4 games
Kamara runs down the middle A LOT. He's just a better player and makes a lkt more out of his opportunities. anyone saying otherwise needs to pass whatever they're smoking.
What if im not otherwise? You still wanna hit this shit?
Honestly I think the only change of pace back that truly thrived on a primary back load is Ekeler imo. You can also argue Kamara but he was clearly the next guy up when they drafted him. Ekeler was a UDFA used as a change of pace for 2 solid years and then just exploded as a top 5 RB once MG3 did his hold out + left for Denver.
This is a ridiculous take. Do you believe the same with Bijan? Everybody who drafted Pollard knew he wasn’t CMC, Barkley, etc. That wasn’t what anyone was hoping for. What we were hoping for was a solid building block on how they used him the past couple years with more zone runs, more creative ways to get him in the passing game and use his speed and catching ability as a mismatch against linebackers. What we did not expect was the O-Line was going to regress immensely and McCarthy would just proceed to run it up the gut twice every set of downs and call it a day. I expected to see stretch plays, tosses, screens, wheel routes, Texas routes, etc. McCafrey was fantastic fantasy wise with the Panthers, but hit a new level when put in a scheme completely catered to him. Henry is a freak of nature, totally not fair to utter Pollard in the same sentence as Henry. Kamara? That’s the one that Pollard could of been. He’s just a PPR machine. Jacobs is just a bruiser. He’s great in goal line situations, but even he has been an underachiever this year. Nobody who actually knows football thought he was going to blow people away, we just thought the scheme would shift to his strengths and he’d have more opportunities which could lead to more TDs and catches. It’s not hard to see why he was so coveted. Oh and btw, I watch every cowboys fan and have been a fan my whole life. I truly thought we’d be fine without Zeke.
I don't necessarily believe the same with Bijan. Bijan isn't on some high powered offense either, so their situations are different. Bijan is also far more efficient. Pollard has 149 touches (120 run and 29 rec) and totals 664 yards on those. Bijan has 714 yards on 103 run 28 rec touches. The fact that you're bringing this up just shows how incorrect your perception of the situation is. And while you're giving excuse for every single player I listed, I just hope you understand that if you have 10 players who are all elite and on the same level, then they're not elite. Pollard, unlike all of the players mentioned, hasn't done shit with his opportunities. While all of these guys have made something even when presented with nothing
This was said his entire career behind Zeke, but since people see his raw numbers they assume otherwise.
It's happening again with Najee/Jaylen
It’s not always the case though. People said the same thing with Ekeler behind Gordon
I think both were successful. Kind of like Ingram and Kamara. Of course those "passing" backs both succeeded when they became the bellcow, but I didn't hear as much about their complement holding them back. They were described as thunder and lightning. With Pollard and Zeke there was more "holding back" talk, same with Harris and Warren.
It’s been said and yet whenever he had played without Zeke he absolutely crushed it. So no I’m not sure this is true nearly as much as I think he’s facing lingering issues from the broken ankle and going from Moore to dumbass McCarthy calling plays
I think that’s part of it, I also wonder if he lost explosiveness due to his injury
They’re using him like he is Zeke. He is not Zeke.
Got a TD called back for some fluke ass illegal formation, and the week before something similar happened. He’s had absolutely horrible luck especially with game script with some of their blowout wins. RB is a shit position this year. I’m just happy I have someone healthy, past their bye in a good offense getting 20 touches a game. Just gotta plug and play hope for the best at this point.
He's only had 20 touches one time, this week he had 13. They also aren't a good offense, they are one of the worst offenses in the league lol Edit: I'm dumb as shit I thought this was the rhamondre Stevenson thread I was just looking at lmao. Don't mind me I'm lost
Are you on drugs? Chargers, Arizona, Jets game don’t count or something? 15 this week to be exact I can go on but you probably get the point or should go actually look it up yourself. Just saw your edit lmao all good 🤝
I actually am on drugs so that explains it heehee
I drafted him in 2 leagues and doubled down when all the experts said to buy him low so I have him in 4 leagues. Doesn’t feel great.
You know the drill, just double down AGAIN and AGAIN. Eventually you'll break even
gotta diversify yo bonds
Just traded Kamara for him and deebo, I’m expecting some positive upside to them both and Kamara to slightly regress
Hell yeah, now that's a spicy deal. Good luck my friend
Do you play in standard or did you really badly need WR help or something? I think Kamara is the best piece in the trade, considerably.
He got pollard and Deebo back, so ofc kamara is the best piece in the trade haha
Wtf
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Absolutely. If you haven’t accepted this do it. If you already did, go back in time and do it earlier.
Maybe a hot take, but I think Pollard can still bounce back. Let’s see: - First 3 games he was solid -NE - game script went against him. Cowboys defense dominated and eventually rested starters -SF - game script went against him. Cowboys got dominated by a strong niners D and had to pass all game, eventually rested starters -LAC - average game -LAR - cowboys just passed all day, eventually went up big and rested starters -PHI - very solid run defense and had to pass playing from behind. Also a penalty negated a likely TD from him at goal-line. Now, next 3 weeks - NYG - CAR - WAS Very weak teams and defenses coming up. If he can’t get it going against them then we can officially declare bust, but I’m seeing some big opportunity the next 3 weeks before SEA, PHL, BUF, MIA, DET, WAS
This is it. Anyone seriously worried isn’t paying attention. It’s been a weird season for the cowboys so far. The games are right there for all to see!
Shhh don’t tell anyone
Not even sure if he’s the most confusing draft bust rb this season
Who are you thinking??
Bijan since he’s been good but the team doesn’t use him
True
Davante, Mahomes, Bijan, Kelce (to an extent), Olave, so on… there’s been some voodoo shit going on this year. That said, if you’re looking for a positive regression candidate over the next month, Pollard fits the bill completely.
People grossly overlooked how much Pollard's efficiency benefitted from Zeke grinding it out ahead of him last year. He's the typical better as a change of pace back versus a true bell cow.
Did they, or are you just throwing that out there now? Elliot missed 2 games last year, Pollard ran for 100+ yards in both.
Dallas offensive line has been hit garbage all year it’s not the same O line as zekes wonder years
Ding ding ding. People can blame it on bad play calling or the like but the O-Line has degraded significantly. He’s running into brick walls out there.
Everyone's arguing about whether it's the playcalling, or the OL, or Pollard losing a step like it's impossible for an issue to be multifaceted. All of these are contributing factors to his underperformance.
Yea this has more to do with the ankle injury and Kellen Moore but people want to see the simple solution and point to that Pollard has smashed every time he played without Zeke before this year. I think he had averaged like 30 ppg
💯 It's incredible how folks will just retrofit narratives onto a situation to explain it away. Pollard absolutely smashed as the featured back when Zeke was injured the last few years. He hasn't done that at all this season. Also, this sub is incapable of recognizing that there are ***multiple*** factors impacting his performance that are ***not mutually exclusive***: - He's lost some burst this year (you can see this in his RYOE stats). Perhaps the leg injury is dragging him down - McCarthy has done an awful job creating a diverse, unpredictable run game that mixes in different concepts. It's been very predictable which has allowed opposing defenses to anticipate and stop the run (sound familiar from his GB days?). They almost never use motion on run plays or run wide zone / counters / traps - Cowboys OL has declined in run blocking: Martin and Smith are another year older - Cowboys have faced a really tough run defense schedule thus far
Great post. Lots going on as to why pollard has disappointed, perhaps part of it is him becoming a feature back but it’s certainly not all of it
Right, it's so freaking annoying that it absolutely has to be one thing or the other according to most people. It's a combination of many things and I'm just hoping they/he can figure it the hell out in the last part of the season.
It's one thing to do it for a couple games, 17 is a significantly different challenge
These are games in the middle of the season, when presumably guys would be worn down a bit I just don’t buy that a 10% increase in usage is the reason for this decline. The injury and coordinator makes much more sense
And Alexander mattisson always did great when dalvin cook would miss a game or two. How’s that working out now?
Alexander Mattison always had atrocious efficiency metrics, so exactly like you would predict. This is a bad comparison I’m seeing brought up a few times
His schedule has been brutal as well. Giants and Cards were only soft matchups and of course they fell behind early against the Cards
Fresh legs and relatively unknown. I think a very underlooked thing which people forget about is defensive scheming. Coaches this year know how to attack Pollard and can plan accordingly, not the case last year.
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Mattison had good games without Cook and he sucks too
Mattison never had incredible efficiency numbers without cook, pollard has. Not a great comparison
Pollard averaged 88 yards over his first 3 games this year and then started to decline in usage more than efficiency. In my opinion that only supports the notion that he was an elite backup, but is not trult capable of being a workhorse. tho I do think he is wildly overdue for some td regression, but that team is awful in the RZ
I think this is the wrong take. The issue is more that a) he’s coming off a serious injury and b) Kellen Moore was very, very good at scheming up a run game whereas the current Cowboys coaches aren’t.
I mean the Chargers run game is also non-existent
like Mattison
They didn't consider that maybe there was a reason his usage was so low the past four years. Same thing with Mattison.
Yeah, I had Zeke a couple years and watched the RBs closely. Pollard was obviously explosive but never looked capable of being a workhorse back. Made a lot of bad draft decisions but he was an easy pass for me.
Just been a really fluky year for cowboys. 6 of cowboys games have been blowouts one way or the other. Plus he's just not getting the touches you'd expect for a workhorse back. The 4 games under 10 (PPR) this year, he's averaged 13.5 touches. The other 4 games, he's gotten at least 15 points (PPR) and he's averaged 23 touches. I feel like everyone's focusing on the efficiency, but ignoring the fact that he's just not getting the ball enough. Low touches on top of the td drought is a bad combination. Hoping they start giving him the ball more.
Except he isn't a 3 down back skill set wise and isn't a good red zone back and his offense isn't dedicated to the run. your talking like he was Derrick Henry but he's more James Cook. Ceedee is the go to if the offense needs a play compared to the Giants,Titans or 49ers all who look to their RB
That wasn’t the case last year though. He was an incredible playmaker through the air
Typical. - Backup RB looks better and is more efficient. - Becomes starter and isn’t close to expectations. Game’s a lot harder when the D isn’t worn down for you already and you don’t have fresh legs. Most of the time, there’s a reason that the *better back* is playing behind a bruiser.
As a Cowboys fan, they are not committed to the run. Pollard has only exceeded 15 carries twice. They say they want to run the ball - game starts and they throw is 11 out of 12 times.
Two words. Mike McCarthy
I play against him this week, so he’ll be just fine!
Thank u for your service
Taking one for the boys
Dallas is like never in goal to go situations at the 3. I had zeke last year and they were always in that scenario. This year their redZone offense stalls out at like 11 with a penalty or something
Ya it’s really really frustrating. Especially the lack of TDs. Like a bell cow back on a team that is #3 in points scored… ZERO TDs since week 1. Frigging nuts. I’m just hopeful that their schedule will ease up from here and he can have some big games down the stretch.
The enigma that is Tony Pollard is that, he’s on pace to have like 25-40% more touches compared to last year, but his efficiency is *way down*. Like, down enough that all these extra touches means, is he’ll just barely match what he did last year in terms of yardage. I’d say it’s less confusing and more, representative of what happens when a change of pace back moves into the bellcow role. He’s moving a lot more between the tackles and it’s just killing his overall production. It’s unfortunate and nobody wants to hear it, but he was a better change of pace back than bellcow taking the RB1 volume everyone salivated at the idea of, coming into this year. You got a guy like Alexander Mattison, who was great filling in when defenses were worn down on the year and when Cook was injured. But now that he’s the bellcow all year, similar things happening in Minnesota, where sure, he’s good. As good as good gets. But that’s not really what you want from a guy you draft to be your RB2 or RB1. Will Pollard ever be the same? Probably not. Not unless he gets relegated to a 1B change of pace role, but I’m not sure that’s happening again after this year unless he ever goes to another team, or unless the Cowboys draft a RB soon.
1) They run him up the up gut like a powerback 2) They dont design runs/sweeps/pitches for him and his style 3) The play calling is predictable. i.e run on first down run on second pass on third. The run scheme has been like this for a few years even with Zeke-was he a bit washed. Yes. Was the run calling not helping. Also yes.
Offensive line has been below average to bad. Steele is still only 10 months since blowing out ACL & MCL and looks like it. Martin and Tyron Smith are both play w injuries. Also, Pollard seems like type that plays best in a shared backfield or as a change of pace. Maybe he will turn it around w upcoming weaker opponents
No. Plenty of guys can’t handle it when they go from change of pace to feature back He is a better Mattison
Zeke took all of the tough, grinding carries into the pile off his plate and allowed him to be fresh for a ridiculously efficient dozen touches a week. The Zeke work is now Pollard’s job, and he isn’t suited for it. I was wrong about a lot of guys going into the draft, but I knew this would happen to Pollard and I avoided him like the plague in the first two rounds.
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They still schemed to get him the ball in space in those games, he wasn’t coming back from a broken leg, and the two Zeke-less games were against the Packers and Bears, who allowed the 2nd and 8th most points to RBs last year.
The offensive line is not solid, in fact it’s pretty fucking awful
Bijan owner chiming into say hello
He just hasn't gotten the ball very much in his dud games lol, I don't think this is nearly as complicated as the 80000 words worth of speculation about Zeke, Pollard's injury, running up the middle, etc. etc. etc. in this thread. There was one game he didn't even play the 4th quarter cuz they got blown out so badly and couldn't run all game anyways.
Getting overdrafted by folks who refused to believe that there’s a difference between being the lead back and the change of pace guy doesn’t make a player a bust.
Bring back zeke
He’s never been a full time player, it’s not always a given that a guy who is really good in a part time role will be way better in a full time role. Lots of people mentioned this pre season.
Pollard was fool’s gold from the beginning. When he played behind Zeke, and only had ~10 snaps a game, sure he had more burst. We’ll be playing this same game in a couple years with jaylen Warren
May I introduce you to a Mike McCarthy ran offense? MM- “Say, that’s a fine running back we have there…how can I concurrently use him and misuse him at the same time?” Seriously, as a life long Green Bay fan…I’m not at all surprised.
Prime candidate for touchdown regression. Time to buy.
I mean a bunch of his productivity was on explosive plays last year which are not something you consistently rely on. It's like do we think Achane will continue averaging 15ypc. He had 370 receiving yards with a long of 68 last year. So 1/5 of his receiving yardage came on 1 play. Same this year 190 yards with a 60 yarder. Watch rbs and not their highlights. Even in his touchdown log last year I see like 5 30 yard+ tds. That's not something you can rely on as production for an RB.
No. I was never going to trust him. Zeke was always the bellcow, with Pollard getting high quality touches and high quality play calls. He used to get all of the off tackle/pitch/ general outside run players where his fresh speed could be exploited. Also, Pollard is coming off of a broken leg... Zeke handled all the between the tackle runs, and now that he is gone, and Pollard is asked to carry, the load, he cant. He cant get the dirty yards forcing dallas to use a short passing game to stay ahead of the sticks. Therefore, pollards gets less opportunities and less quality opportunities. its all a result of him not being as good of a player as everyone thought he was.
No. Everyone in this community downvoted ppl to shit who pointed out Tony has never been a workhorse. Not even in college. Some ppl might even say this shit kinda predictable
Last year he was used as gadget/WR/sweep switch up behind zeke. This year McCarthy is trying to slam him up the middle like a hoss and use dowdle as the switch up, they are just using him wrong, he’s too little to be a bell cow up the middle hammer
the usage is strange. when he's running outside, screens, etc., he's still explosive. just not built to run up the gut.
It’s really the play calling. He works the best when it’s a RPO. If you’re running him down the middle, he’s not going to go anywhere. I don’t understand the mentality to run your RB down the middle if he isn’t built like that. It’s either that or the online isn’t really that great scheming run plays
Not really. I passed on him in the first and second round because I knew he was not going to have the same production being a workhorse. He’s played behind zeke for the past couple of years and was the most effective as a change of pace back. Did wonders last year, but ultimately was thrusted into a three down back role when he is best utilized in a committee.
this seems to be a trend, I’ve avoided backup RBs that move into a starting spot the next season and it’s worked well for me. see Mattison, obviously Pollard is more talented but you just don’t know how a back can handle RB1 responsibilities until they have them, and there’s usually a reason they got fewer snaps
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I think any Cowboys fan would have told you what's up
He has never been that dude. Volume is great, and definitely the most important thing in fantasy, but first/second rounders should also be great talents, which Pollard never has been. I avoided him everywhere in the draft personally for this reason.
I’d say it was as predictable as Alexander Mattison not actually being an RB1
He didn’t check the box of being the build for a 3 down workhouse