Seperation Anxiety: Space gaining maybe not as problematic as it seems for Cowboys receivers

The Cowboys can do things to improve their separation and make things easier on their offense. | From @ReidDHanson

A receiver’s ability to separate is a rather important skillset to have in football. Separation opens passing windows, making completions easier and increasing yards after the catch. For very obvious reasons, separation is a quarterback’s best friend at any level in football and the NFL is no exception.

Amidst the Cowboys’ recent two-game losing streak, separation numbers have been a topic of conversation. Passing game numbers are abnormally low this season and to many it’s because Dak Prescott isn’t seeing open WRs running downfield.

Fans don’t need the All-22 game film to see some of the evidence of these claims. Brandon Cooks, one of the fastest WRs on the team, has had trouble gaining separation at multiple levels of the field all season. It partially explains his low target rate (five targets per game) and his modest completion percentage when targeted (53 percent). He isn’t getting open and when he is, windows are dangerously tight.

Advanced stats back up the claims. According to Next Gen Stats CeeDee Lamb is second to last in the NFL in average yards of separation at 1.9 yards, Brandin Cooks’ 2.6 yards ranks him 88th and Jalen Tolbert’s 2.7 ranks him 84th.

But for as valuable as advanced stats can be for drawing worthwhile conclusions, the situation isn’t as bad as some stats will have you believe. Separation data such as this gauge separation at the point of catch and ignores all the other routes run by the WR. As one can imagine, ignoring 95 percent of the data can lead to some irresponsible conclusions. In this case it can lead someone to believe the situation is more dire than it really is.

With a statistic such as this, a more subjective analysis is likely in order to more accurately grade the situation. Grading each route at its break point would probably be the proper way to grade route running and separation ability. Fantasy outlets and organizations such as Pro Football Focus who grade on and off ball player performance are a better resource to grade separation, and they have generally come to a much different verdict.

It’s true the Cowboys WR group could be much better with their separation than they currently are, but majority of their players are still operating in average territory.

CeeDee Lamb isn’t lighting the world on fire with his silky route running but he’s grading better than the likes of Amon-Ra St. Brown, Tyreek Hill, Deebo Samuel and Justin Jefferson, who are all regarded as elite separators in the NFL.

The All-22 doesn’t absolve blame but rather points it in the right direction. For instance, many of the routes themselves lack decent jukes or even wiggle. Cooks specifically can be seen running vanilla routes without any fake stabs or misleading turns attached. Tolbert has looked uninterested in creating any deception with his routes as well. He’s graded as one of the worst WRs in separation score. All this considered, it’s no wonder coverage is tight for the Cowboys at the target and/or catch point.

Secondly, the play design and timing doesn’t seem to be doing the WRs any favors. Alternating WR break points through Prescott’s progressions should be in the play design. Instead, multiple players are breaking open simultaneously, so if Prescott isn’t watching that specific player at the time of the break, he’s missed his window of opportunity.

Finally, McCarthy can do things the old-fashioned way and create separation through bunch formations and rub routes. McCarthy frequently did this in Green Bay making things exceedingly difficult for opponents to defend. Motion at the snap can help a WR get off the line and dictate the leverage of the coverage. It’s just another way a coach can scheme players open for his QB.

Pass protection is an issue for the Cowboys, which is likely why players aren’t spending much time shaking and baking defensive backs every snap, but there has to be a happy medium where pass protectors hang on a micro-second longer and route-runners give their routes just a touch more deception. The rest is really on Prescott with his progressions and the coaching staff for building workable plays.

The issue isn’t separation catastrophic, but it’s real and something that should be addressed. Luckily, it’s also fixable.

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