As the Dallas Cowboys head north to square off against the Pittsburgh Steelers on national TV, four-time Pro Bowl running back Dalvin Cook is projected to remain on the practice squad despite the team's run game woes .
Head coach Mike McCarthy discussed the expected decision on Friday when he joined 105.3 The Fan . The Cowboys head coach mentioned Cook continues to progress yet he didn't inspire any confidence on the RB being called up anytime soon.
"But the other part of it, too, is I think Rico (Dowdle) and (Ezekiel Elliott), they haven't been given a lot of opportunities, too," McCarthy said. "So it isn't like they haven't done anything to warrant their opportunities decreasing right now. It's a great place to be. It gives us excellent depth. That's a hell of a situation to be in."
The part that really sticks out to me is the claim that " they haven't done anything to warrant their opportunities decreasing right now." The thing is, I just don't buy it.
Heck, Ezekiel Elliott's opportunities within the offense are already decreasing, as FB Hunter Luepke gets more pass protection snaps and it was his name being called on a crucial fourth and one last game, not Zeke's.
Elliott took part in 51% of the offensive snaps in Week 1. In Week 4, that number was 18%. For the season, both Dowdle and Luepke have more snaps than Zeke (Luepke has also played TE and FB).
So if Zeke's role is already diminishing, what are we really talking about here? Now granted, I'm not necessarily pushing for Cook to be elevated to the gameday roster as I'm convinced that isn't the fix to the Cowboys' struggling rushing offense .
However, McCarthy's comments about Elliott specifically not doing anything to warrant a diminished role make no sense to me. That is unless the Cowboys offensive architect is admitting to a bigger problem: The scheme being bad or the blocking being poor.
Elliott has averaged 3.4 yards per attempt, and that includes performances of 2 yards per attempt in Week 3 and 2.7 in Week 2. He has no rushes of 10 yards or longer through four games this season. There are 57 running backs in the NFL with at least one. Zeke ranks 50th in attempts, so it's tough to blame this one on lack of opportunities.
So if Zeke isn't the issue, something else must be wrong. Hiding behind the excuse of lack of attempts doesn't cut it. By the way, we've been zeroing in on Elliott for this one but Dowdle's explosiveness hasn't been there either, as he has only one 10+ yard rush despite ranking 34th in attempts.
The only way McCarthy's comments could be perceived as true is if the woes are all on the scheme lacking creativity (it does feel like this team rarely spices up its run plays while living and dying by inside zone with a curveball coming once or twice per game). Or, if the O-line simply hasn't been good enough.
From what we've seen on film, however, it's a mix of everything. Linemen are having trouble sustaining blocks and second-level blocks are a rarity for the Cowboys. The scheme rarely does anything special and the running backs have left big opportunities on the table.
But acting like the RB room is perfectly fine and the woes are only happening because of lack of attempts doesn't hold up with what we've seen so far.
Hopefully, a long week was enough for the Cowboys to do what they should've done in the offseason and we get to see a revamped run game. By the way, the Steelers boast the third best rushing defense in the NFL.
Heck, don't even attempt to run it this Sunday, in my opinion.
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