Category: Cowboys

Was Cole Beasley Underutilized in the Cowboys Offense?

Cowboys
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Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Cole Beasley is set to become a free agent, and it doesn’t appear as though he’s excited about a potential return to Dallas.

Responding to a fan on Twitter, Beasley pointed blame in the direction of the front office for his seemingly limited role this past season:

Beasley’s claim that Dak Prescott targets him more in the two-minute offense, due to the fact that it is less scripted than other parts of the game is an interesting one. Logically, it makes some sense. Beasley is primarily targeted on shorter throws in the slot, which may be more likely to be open if the defense is dropping into a prevent defense.

Unfortunately for Beasley, the stats don’t support this claim.

Using data from Pro-Football-Reference, we can look up the Cowboys’ target share in the two-minute drill. For the purposes of this study, we’ll expand the definition to include the final three minutes of each half, since the fast-paced two-minute offense isn’t limited strictly to the final two minutes. The final three minutes of the first half were used, regardless of the score. In the second half, the final two minutes were only treated as the two-minute offense if the game was tied or the Cowboys were trailing by up to 10 points.

Based on this definition of the two-minute drill, Beasley’s usage actually dropped significantly:

It’s worth noting this is based on full-season numbers, so Cooper’s stats are skewed lower. If we use data from after the Cooper trade, Beasley’s non-two-minute drill target share was 15.0 percent, while his two-minute drill target share was 8.9 percent.

In fact, after the Cooper trade, Beasley’s two-minute target share was fifth on the team behind Elliott (21.4 percent), Gallup (19.6 percent), Cooper (16.1 percent) and Jarwin (12.5 percent).

Based on this data, it would seem the Cowboys confidence in Beasley—even during the two-minute offense—diminished significantly throughout the year.

Of course this doesn’t mean Cooper is wrong to believe he deserved more targets. It’s possible he would have outperformed his teammates if he were given more opportunities. However, his claim that he saw a higher rate of targets in the two-minute offense, due to Prescott’s trust in him, appears to be false.

Another way to test Beasley’s theory that he has the trust of Prescott and the coaching staff would be to track his usage in clutch third-and-long situations. But once again, this stat isn’t kind to Beasley.

After the Cooper trade, Beasley saw just four targets in third-and-long situations, producing two first downs. Somewhat surprisingly, it was actually Gallup who led the team in third-and-long targets in the second half of the season.

Again, this doesn’t necessarily mean Beasley is wrong to believe he was misused. But his perception that Prescott and the coaching staff trusted him more than the front office does not appear to hold up.

Dallas Cowboys offseason needs

Cowboys, Team Needs
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1. Offensive Line
Tyron Smith and Nate Livings have the left side of the Dallas Cowboys line under control, but the other three positions are up for grabs. Right guard might be the most glaring hole, but there’s been talk of moving Doug Free inside, which would open up the right tackle position. D.J. Fluker could be an option in the first round.

2. Defensive Line
The Cowboys don’t have a glaring hole in the defensive line, but depth is needed and a few upgrades couldn’t hurt. There transitioning to Monte Kiffin’s 4-3 defense, which means personnel changes are definitely coming. Kawann Short could be a first-round possibility.

3. Strong Safety
Neither Danny McCray nor Barry Church have gotten the job done in recent years. They need to add a safety who can step up and play the run. Matt Elam would be a great addition in the second round.

Morris Claiborne is key to Cowboys defense on Wednesday night

Cowboys, Rookie Notes
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Dallas Cowboys 1st-round pick Morris Claiborne could be the key to their performance against Eli Manning and the Giants on Wednesday night.

Eli Manning will look Claiborne's direction early and often

Last season, the Giants picked on Terrence Newman, completing 12 of 19 passes thrown his direction for 240 yards in their two meetings. This year, Newman is gone, replaced by Claiborne and veteran Brandon Carr.

Given the choice, Manning will likely target the rookie Claiborne, and will hope to have the same success he found when picking on Newman last season. If Claiborne can come up some big plays, the Cowboys may be able to pull off the upset. But if Claiborne can’t improve upon Newman’s performance in 2011, it will likely be another long night for the Dallas defense.

Danny Coale taking reps with Cowboys 1st-team offense

Cowboys, Rookie Notes
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Dallas Cowboys 5th-round pick Danny Coale has been recovering from a broken foot which he suffered earlier this year in OTAs. But he’s finally back to full speed and received a significant amount of reps with the first-team offense according to the Dallas Star-Telegram.

Coale is expected to make his preseason debut on Saturday against the Rams, and his performance will have significant implications for the Cowboys offense. The third-receiver job is still up for grabs and the increased reps for Coale with the first-team offense seem to indicate the coaching staff is interested in seeing if he could handle that role.

Coale was a personal favorite of mine during the pre-draft process. Given his limited practice time I’d still have to say he’s a long shot to win the third-receiver job, but I do expect him to make the final 53-man roster, and an increased role as the season wears on is a definite possibility.

Morris Claiborne set to make Cowboys debut on Saturday

Cowboys, Rookie Notes
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Dallas Cowboys 1st-round pick Morris Claiborne is finally healthy and ready to make his preseason debut on Saturday against the Chargers. Claiborne stated that he would be willing to play the entire game if coaches let him, but it’s likely the Cowboys will ease him into action.

Claiborne has battled injuries throughout the offseason (wrist and knee) and is just now completing his first full week of practice.

It’s never ideal to rely on a rookie, but the Cowboys need Claiborne to play a significant role in their secondary. As a result, his return to the field may be the best news the Cowboys have received in training camp thus far, giving him three full games to get up to speed.