DALLAS — Another day, another Mike Leach story: Back in the day, whenever scouts sneered that the Pirate’s quarterbacks were merely products of a “system,” and thus not to be entrusted with a franchise’s fortunes, he argued that no one should take the NFL seriously on the subject. All you needed to know is that JaMarcus Russell, one of the biggest busts ever, once led a draft, and Tom Brady nearly fell out of the back of the 2000 class.
The reason for bringing this up is because Micah Parsons sounded a lot like the Pirate’s old nemeses on Von Miller’s podcast.
While what he ought to do is ask the Cowboys to make Dak Prescott a little more like Hurts.
As you probably know by now, this all started when Miller, getting a head start on a second career, noted the MVP talk about Hurts and asked Parsons if the Eagles’ success is a result of their quarterback or team.
“It’s system and team,” Parsons said, sending up a mushroom cloud over Philadelphia.
Except in the Eagles’ locker room, of course, where teammates followed the lead of their unflappable QB. They’re thinking about their opponent this week, and they advised that the Cowboys should do the same.
Based on how long it took the Cowboys to wake up against the Texans, it’s a good piece of advice for Sunday’s game against the Jaguars. No matter what else you may think of the Eagles, they take the most direct route to a win. The Cowboys make an expedition out of lunch.
Anyway, Parsons clearly believes that Hurts has benefitted mightily from Nick Sirianni’s offense. He gets no argument here. The Eagles discovered halfway through last season that they were better off running an offense that looks suspiciously like what Hurts ran at Alabama.
The Eagles run more than they pass, with Hurts the fulcrum of their “spread-to-run.” A perfect fit, too. Not so coincidentally, Philly started winning, which is why the concept carried over into this season, where it has worked pretty much flawlessly.
Actually, both the Cowboys and Eagles currently believe running is good for you. The difference is that the Eagles believe in it more than the Cowboys do, and Hurts runs much, much more than Dak does.
Hurts has already run as many times (139) as he did all of last season. As a result of that threat, and with the brilliant addition of A.J. Brown, Hurts’ passing has flourished. His touchdown-to-interceptions ratio of 22-to-3 forms the basis of the best quarterback rating (108.4) in the league.
Meanwhile, as you may have heard a time or two, Dak is winning ugly. His rating (92.2) is the lowest since his second season, and his touchdowns (14) barely outpace interceptions (9).
But here’s the biggest difference between Hurts and Dak, besides an additional two wins:
Hurts has run for 686 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Dak owns 94 yards and one measly TD.
Even if you take into account the fact that Hurts has played five more games, he’s still averaging 10.7 carries to Dak’s 3.1.
Look, Jerry Jones doesn’t fork over $40 million every year to make Dak into Tony Pollard or Zeke Elliott. He wrecked his ankle on a run, right? Maybe you, like the Cowboys, consider the risk too great.
Only I’m not asking Dak to run 10 times a game. Would a half-dozen carries kill the Cowboys? Maybe if defenses figured the Cowboys were serious, it’d give opponents more to worry about on RPOs. Maybe if Dak expended a little more energy running the ball, he wouldn’t be so “aggressive” in tight windows.
In case you hadn’t noticed, numbers are down across the league for quarterbacks. Defenses use more disguises than the entire “Mission Impossible” franchise.
Outside Patrick Mahomes, there’s not another quarterback in the league talented enough to carry a team on his arm alone. And even Mahomes takes off more often than Dak does.
Seven seasons into his career, it seems pretty clear what kind of quarterback Dak is. He’s not a throwback to when quarterbacks hung in the pocket and picked defenses apart with pin-point passes. He’s not that guy. He can rise to the occasion sometimes, but not game in, game out.
Besides, that’s not what the NFL is outside Kansas City. And great quarterbacks are nearly always products of their times and systems.
Would Joe Montana have been an all-time great if Bill Walsh’s West Coast offense hadn’t fit him to a T? Would Roger Staubach still have been Captain Comeback if Tom Landry hadn’t loosened the reins?
Would Archie Manning have been the greatest of his clan if he hadn’t played in New Orleans?
Nothing wrong with a system that takes advantage of what a quarterback does best. Frankly, that’s just good coaching.
Speaking of which, here’s the rest of that Leach story. The reason I’d called him in 2009 was because of something he said after the Cowboys drafted Stephen McGee out of Texas A&M. The Pirate said the Cowboys apparently liked him better than Mike Sherman, who used McGee as a battering ram. One thing led to another, and next thing you know, Leach was on a diatribe about how the NFL prized size and arm strength over all else. Based on that scouting report, he promoted the prospects of Brandon Williams, who went about 6-3, 250 and, according to his head coach, could “throw it a long way.”
He was also a defensive end. Thanks for the memories, Mike.
