A look at lessons learned during Dak Prescott’s painful 2020, who’s primed for a defensive bounceback, and why a boring Hard Knocks is good. | From @StarConscience and @ToddBrock24f7
Dak Prescott is on the cusp of beginning his real comeback. But Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy doesn’t want to be the person with whom his quarterback has the strongest bond; he’s built his entire system in Dallas from Day One on strengthening Prescott’s relationship with someone else. And as No. 4 looks to put a painful 2020 behind him, he’s made it through unimaginable darkness with unexpected clarity and light. It’s a powerful story well worth reading.
Elsewhere in Cowboys Nation, the team has shuffled the deck with its kickers, and the two-time rushing champ is earmarked as a top red-zone threat once again. But defense dominates the buzz today: Maurice Canady’s surprising (or not surprising camp), Jourdan Lewis’s bounceback season, Reggie Robinson’s disappearing act, and diminishing roles for Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch all make the headlines. Plus, a Friday Night Lights-style showdown to mark the end of Cowboys camp, and why it’s a good thing that Hard Knocks has been so boring thus far. Here’s the News and Notes.
The Cowboys waived the second-year punter; Bryan Anger takes over while newly signed Lirim Hajrullahu assumes preseason kicking duties. | From @ToddBrock24f7
The writing was on the wall in Dallas for punter Hunter Niswander. Now it’s been turned into an official press release.
Former CFL All-Star kicker Lirim Hajrullahu, brought in for a workout on Wednesday and then formally signed by the team on Thursday, will be handling all preseason kicking and field goal duties starting this Saturday night versus Houston.
Punter Hunter Niswander, kicking (for the first time) throughout camp, was placed on the waived/injured list in order to make room on the roster. Niswander has been dealing with a back ailment, according to the Cowboys. If he clears waivers, he reverts to the team’s injured reserve list.
Bryan Anger, the veteran punter signed during the offseason, is expected to take over full-time punting responsibilities.
As for Hajrullahu, his Cowboys tenure figures to be a short one if all goes according to the club’s master plan. The organization maintains that Greg Zuerlein will be ready to go for the season opener September 9th after recovering from his own back injury. He connected on eight of eight warmup field goal attempts before the team’s preseason game in Arizona. Zuerlein remains on the Physically Unable to Perform List for now, with apparently no plans by the coaching staff to put him in a live-fire situation in either of the Cowboys’ final two preseason contests.
Niswander came on last season in relief of Chris Jones. Over eight games, he punted 26 times and ended the 2020 campaign with a 47.2-yard average.
The Cowboys maintain Greg Zuerlein will be fine Week 1, but he remains on the PUP list. Now the team is looking at a former CFL All-Star. | From @ToddBrock24f7
The Cowboys are, to hear them tell it, all set at the kicker position, despite the fact that their presumed specialist remains on the Physically Unable to Perform list. And that last year’s punter- who the team has all but admitted won’t be sticking around long because there’s a different punter waiting in the wings- has been learning how to kick field goals and extra points for the first time this preseason.
Now, just a couple days before the club’s third preseason game, Dallas is reportedly bringing in another kicker.
Yep, all set there.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero explained Tuesday that the Cowboys have scheduled a workout with free agent Lirim Hajrullahu. The 31-year-old is a Canadian Football League veteran, having played for three squads from 2014 to 2020. He was named a CFL All-Star twice.
The Carolina Panthers signed him to a reserve/future contract earlier this year, but waived him soon after. Prior to that, Hajrullahu spent the 2020 offseason with the Rams, where he just missed overlapping with special teams guru John Fassel, now the coordinator in Dallas.
Previously with Rams and Panthers, free agent kicker Lirim Hajrullahu, working out for Dallas Cowboys, per a league source, was a CFL all-star who converted 238 of 287 career field goals with a long field goal of 56 yards and a 44.1 punting average https://t.co/xwLTUMwtiA
Fassel has expressed confidence that kicker Greg Zuerlein will be fully ready for the start of the regular season following offseason back surgery. Hunter Niswander, the young punter who took over for an injured Chris Jones last year- and then kept the job- has been handling all kicking duties during training camp. The club, though, has made it clear that they expect Bryan Anger, signed in April, to be their punter in 2021, and that Niswander was being allowed to learn kicking in camp to help him to build resume tape.
While Niswander is seen as the odd man out, the Hajrullahu workout does raise questions about the team’s kicking specialists heading into the season. They appear to have no kickers they have full confidence in for Saturday’s game.
Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegramtweeted Tuesday that “there has been no setback” with Zuerlein, citing a source.
Zuerlein took warmup kicks prior to last week’s preseason tilt in Arizona; Anger did the holding for those and was active for the game, punting once. Niswander handled kicks, as he did in the Hall of Fame Game. He is 4-of-6 on field goal attempts with one PAT conversion this preseason.
Cowboys K Greg Zuerlein just tried and converted all eight field goals he attempted pregame, his deepest a 43-yarder. One kissed off left post. Believed to be his first full-operation kicks (with snapper and holder) since back surgery. Punter Bryan Anger held for all eight. pic.twitter.com/GB3Eukh2db
With Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy putting more importance on the team’s third exhibition game, perhaps the Niswander Kicking Experiment has reached its end. Or possibly Zuerlein isn’t as close to a return as the team would like. Or maybe Fassel wants to help another promising leg (who has ties to his friends on the Los Angeles staff) build some tape himself. Or perhaps he’s just staying abreast of current options, as he- and special teams coordinators in general- are prone to do.
The workout is tomorrow and you can read into this different ways: 1 Greg Zuerlein (back) might not be ready Week 1. 2. Hunter Niswander needs a break on his leg. 3. Cowboys just want a leg. 4. Just want to see what’s on the market in case something happens.
Or maybe the kicker who fled his native war-torn Kosovo as a boy and has now found his way to America’s Team is just too good a Hard Knocks story to pass up. Even if it is just for a couple weeks.
After a disastrous 2019 on special teams, it took just two off-season’s to rebuild the Dallas Cowboys units under John Fassel.
There was work to do to improve all areas for the Dallas Cowboys when Mike McCarthy arrived in January of last year. The offense was good but needed some fresh insight and the defense was regressing. The area that needed the most work, however, may have been the special teams units. It had been in decline for years and finishing 2019 as one of the worst units in the league, change was absolutely necessary.
In came one of the best teams coaches in the NFL, John Fassel who brought with him a commitment to improving all facets of the unit. Change was needed, both in approach and innovation, which Fassel provided. Under the guru, the Cowboys showed they were on the right path.
In 2019, the #Cowboys special teams finished 30th in DVOA.
In 2020 under John Fassel, they improved all the way to 7th.
I know it's easy to focus on the failed trick plays, but Fassel definitely helped pull DAL's ST out of the NFL's doldrums in 2020.
Dallas wasn’t resting on their laurels and continued to overhaul their special teams. It took just two offseasons to remake the units and the Cowboys now have a drastically different look than they did before McCarthy and Fassel took over.
Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
The process began with bringing in kicker Greg Zuerlein to stabilize that phase after the team released Dan Bailey. Zuerlein came in as a Fassel favorite and he had a lot of success in his first season with the Cowboys. The veteran made 34 of 41 kicks, but six of his seven misses were on kicks from beyond 50-yards out and he nailed every kick shorter than 40 yards. On the flip side, he missed three extra points. Zuerlein needs to be more consistent there, but he was the only major change in the kicking units at the beginning of last year.
Much to team observers’ dismay, Dallas held onto incumbent punter Chris Jones to start the 2020 season. A core muscle injury to Jones changed that proposition and forced the Cowboys to look outside the organization, where they eventually found Hunter Niswander. Dallas got much better results from Niswander and he’ll now compete with recently signed Bryan Anger for punting duties in 2021.
The other major roster shakeup was the franchise choosing to not re-sign their longest-tenured player, long snapper L.P. Ladouceur. It was a shock to see the organization walk away from a player who had never missed a game in his 16 seasons with the Cowboys, nor did he ever have an errant snap.
To replace Ladouceur, Dallas signed LS Jake McQuaide, who played for Fassel with the Los Angeles Rams. McQuaide has also never missed a game and has two Pro Bowls on his resume.
The exit of Ladouceur this offseason meant the Cowboys have replaced all three of their main special teams parts, the team replaced its kicker, punter and long snapper in the span of 16 months.
Dallas also made key signings to keep the special teams moving in the right direction. Coverage unit ace C.J. Goodwin was brought back as one of the best players on the unit and the Cowboys added safety Jayron Kearse to give the coverage teams a bump as well. The 2021 draft also brought forth many players who should further boost the overall speed and athleticism of both the coverage and return units. Towering speedster Simi Fehoko (6-foot-4, 227 pounds, 4.44 40-yard time) immediately come to mind.
(AP Photo/Roger Steinman)
Last season, Fassel’s influence helped transform running back Tony Pollard from an unsure, hesitant return man to one of the league’s most electric options as he finally capitalized on the skills that make him a talented change of pace option.
Pollard’s timidity was still present early in the year, but by midseason he was breaking off big gains. From Week 7 on he had three different returns of at least 60 yards and improved his kickoff return average from 17.5 in 2020 to 23.9 in 2021.
Tavon Austin led the club in punt returns in 2019 with 17, averaging just 4.9 per return. Rookie CeeDee Lamb had 24 returns and averaged 7.2 per jaunt.
These are now the baselines for the competitions heading into 2021 training camp and Fassel’s technique coaching along with blocking schemes are to thank for the steps up.
Aside from the turnover in players to improve the units, Fassel has also brought in a new philosophy.
The Cowboys tried several trick plays on special teams, which came with a moderate amount of success. They didn’t all work, the Thanksgiving fake punt debacle is hard to forget, but there were several attempts that did work.
Zuerlein’s watermelon on-sides kick helped the Cowboys beat the Atlanta Falcons and the throwback punt return against the Pittsburgh Steelers was successful and well executed to the tune of a 73-yard explosion.
McCarthy and Fassel’s willingness to be aggressive and to force opponents to prepare for every situation was a different approach from the previous regime.
It only took one year, and two off-seasons, to change the direction of the Cowboys’ special teams. It’s a vastly different group now and the hope is that Dallas continues to improve from year one to year two.
The rebuild on special teams were needed and the Cowboys are in much better shape now than they were before the duo of McCarthy and Fassel arrived.
You can chat with or follow Ben on twitter @BenGrimaldi.
The Dallas Cowboys will go heavy on defense in this way too early 53-man roster prediction for the 2021 season.
The 2021 NFL draft dust is just settling, rookie free agents are in the process of getting signed and the teams are narrowing down their rosters to 90 players. The Dallas Cowboys did a little house cleaning to their roster when they released veteran players recently, most notably DT Antwaun Woods, to reach the threshold.
Now set within the roster rules with their 90-man arsenal, the Cowboys have less than four months to trim the player down to its initial 53-man team. Here’s a way too early guess at what the 2021 edition of the Cowboys might look like when they break training camp and head into the season.
After the release of Chris Jones, Niswander became the expected starter at punter. Now, Dallas adds in veteran Bryan Anger for competition.
Dallas released starting punter Chris Jones back in March, completing the overhaul of the special teams unit starting the year prior. Hunter Niswander became the starter over Jones after an injury and lackluster production led to the change. After special team coordinator John Fassel’s overhaul during the season, Niswander finished the season with an average of 47.2 yards over 26 punts during the 2020 season, much better than Jones’s 42.6 average.
On Wednesday, the Cowboys added more competition in the special teams room by adding nine-year veteran Bryan Anger. This is the ninth free agent signing by Dallas, the most in franchise history.
#Cowboys are signing P Bryan Anger to a one-year deal, sources say. Joins Hunter Niswander on the roster after Chris Jones was released last month.
Anger led the NFL in punting yards in 2013 with 4338 and has been a steady starter for three teams during his career. After being a member of the Jaguars, Buccaneers, and Texans, he enters the fray in competition with Niswander for the starting spot in Dallas.
Bryan Anger has averaged over 46 yards per punt in each of his last two seasons (both with the Houston Texans).
Chris Jones' highest yards per punt came in 2016 when he was at 45.9.
Needless to say it wasn't going to be hard for the Cowboys to improve from Chris Jones.
Niswander’s average in 2020 was 0.8 yards higher than Anger and training camp will likely decide who overtakes the starting role. After a promising end to the season for the Northwestern product, he will have to prove that he can outperform a veteran in Anger.
Also, the Cowboys connection to Philip Rivers on his retirement, grading the Dallas cornerbacks, and searching for the bright spots of 2020.
The coaching carousel keeps spinning around the league, as Kellen Moore has had his chat with the Eagles brass and Cowboys Nation waits to hear what happened. In Dallas, the club has found its defensive line coach, bringing another of Dan Quinn’s former pupils onto the payroll.
In other news, we’re looking for bright spots in the 2020 season, breaking down the Xs and Os of Quinn’s preferred defensive scheme, sizing up the Cowboys cornerbacks about to hit free agency and talking cap space. There’s also big question marks all of a sudden regarding the draft given that there will be no scouting combine; how will that affect the Cowboys’ big board? With news of Philip Rivers retiring, we’ve also got a Cowboys connection to the prolific passer… as well as how the greatest quarterback in Dallas history is now part of the same trivia answer as newly-inaugurated US president Joe Biden. News and Notes, coming right up.
The Dallas head coach defended his decision to run a fake punt deep in their own territory; the play’s failure was widely mocked afterward.
On a Thanksgiving Day afternoon full of stomach-turning plays, none left as awful a taste in the mouths of Cowboys fans as the fake punt that went horribly sour early in the fourth quarter.
Down by four points, Andy Dalton and the Dallas offense had managed just 12 yards on six plays after starting on their own 12-yard-line. Facing 4th-and-10 on their own 24, most observers were undoubtedly expecting punter Hunter Niswander to boot the ball away in hopes of a defensive stand that would result in better field position on the team’s next possession.
The gadget’s failure was the moment that broke the game wide open for the visitors from DC. But Dallas coach Mike McCarthy defended the play choice after the 41-16 loss.
“It’s definitely a big-play opportunity,” McCarthy told reporters in his postgame press conference. “The way you view it, there’s certain things you look for, tendency-wise, on when and where [to run such a play]. But obviously, we didn’t execute it. As those things go, ultimately, it’s my responsibility, particularly when a play like that doesn’t work. We were trying to generate a big play at that point in the game, the information that you look for going into it, it was a solid call.”
One would be hard-pressed, though, to find anyone else who agrees with that “solid call” assessment. Social media was quick to hang the Cowboys coaching staff out to dry over the doomed play.
I have NO idea what @dallascowboys are doing in this game??? How many coaching mistakes in a close game can u make b4 u can’t get back into it??🙄🤔🙄🤔🙄🤔🙄🤔🙄🤔
The things we got on Jason Garrett about — and there were plenty over 9 1/2 years — I don’t recall them being so flat-out illogical as the mistakes this Cowboys coaching staff makes. 4th-and-9 trick play deep in own territory. NO ONE DOES THAT.
The truly infuriating thing about Mike McCarthy is that he's coaching like they are in last place. But the NFC East is so bad that a win would've put the Cowboys in first. So, down 4 with the entire fourth quarter left, a fake punt inside your 30 is unconscionable.
That Cowboys fake punt call, down 4 in a must win game is like adding raisins in the potato salad.. it doesn’t make sense now, it won’t make sense later.
On the play, Darian Thompson takes the snap and pitches to crossing wideout Cedrick Wilson, who has been at the center of several of the trick plays drawn up this season by special teams coordinator John Fassel. Wilson takes the ball and reverses the action, but retreats all the way back to the 10-yard-line before turning upfield. At that point, he is 24 yards away from the first-down sticks.
Niswander is out in wide-open space after making no attempt whatsoever to block the Washington linebacker bearing down on Wilson, and Wilson never seems to seriously consider passing to Niswander. The linebacker, rookie Khaleke Hudson, wraps Wilson up for a one-yard loss.
As designed, the fake seemed to have very little chance of picking up ten yards. As executed, it had no shot at gaining 24. When it, in fact, didn’t, Washington took over on the doorstep of the red zone. They scored on their very next snap, the first of a three-touchdown onslaught in the fourth quarter.
But after the game, McCarthy justified the call, despite a low likelihood of success in a dangerous part of the field and at a critical time in the game.
“You won’t get anywhere if you’re thinking about negatives all the time,” he said. “Obviously, it was a solid play call, good play design, their gunner made a good play; came off and put us in a high-low read for Cedrick. It’s a play that if we hit it, obviously, we’re sitting here applauding it. That’s the nature of those plays. You can never convert them, obviously, if you don’t call them and if you don’t believe in them. I clearly understood the situation when it was called.”
The only thing more baffling than the play call in that situation was McCarthy’s insistence afterward that it was the right choice. When asked later in the Q-and-A session to clarify that he truly thought the fake punt was “a solid play call” and believed that factoring in the obvious risk would really be considered “negative thinking,” McCarthy took a long pause.
He seemed to be taken aback by the question. Incredulous. Offended, even.
“I’m fine with my answer before. There’s obviously film study that goes into the call, when to call it. But yeah, when you call it, you’re obviously looking to convert it. You obviously understand on fourth-down calls what your options are. You either convert it, or you don’t convert it. You always know that going in. There’s flow of the game. All those things are factored in that decision. I’m very confident in our players; I’ll put them in position to make big plays.”
But by greenlighting the fake punt so deep in their own territory, McCarthy and his staff ended up putting the Cowboys in an unwinnable position.
Jerry Jones talks about the player acquisition business, specifically cornerback Deandre Baker and punter Marquette King.
It’s often said that player evaluation is a year-round business. In the past, the Dallas Cowboys have been content to agree with that sentiment only in terms of street free agents. The oft-used refrain is “We like the guys we have here.” But in a year like 2020 where nothing is normal, is the front office ready to make a change?
It’s unlikely. The two players brought up in owner Jerry Jones’ weekly interview on 105.3 the Fan were Deandre Baker and Marquette King. Jones was non-committal on one and gave a definitive no on the other. The two players come with their own baggage that has left them out in the NFL cold for the entirety of the 2020 season.
Jerry Jones when asked this morning on @1053thefan about the Cowboys potentially having interest in former Giants CB DeAndre Baker: “We’re always looking to improve. That’s all I’ll say there.”
The Baker story requires a law degree to understand what fully took place. But after a wild series of malpractice, the charges against him in a robbery case were dropped on Tuesday morning. He was a first-round pick by the New York Giants just a year ago and has the kind of pedigree that teams covet so badly.
The Cowboys brass has rarely shied away from troubled players, but his play through one season might not match up with the headache and publicity he might bring. Still, it’s worth at least kicking the tires as the defense will enter 2021 with a dearth of talent at the corner position.
When it comes to King, he’s out of the picture for now despite a work-out of the mercurial punter. He’s certainly more talented than what the team had been trotting out for years in Chris Jones, but his flamboyant personality has clearly turned teams off.
"I think long term, we have a punter."
Jerry Jones on @1053thefan when asked about the Marquette King workout. Adds he "won't rule anything out", but doesn't sound like the #Cowboys will swap out Niswander — based on Jones' comments.
The Oakland Raiders moved on from him despite his solid kicking through five years and he only made it through four games with the Denver Broncos before being given a pink slip. On the bright side for Dallas, the long-term answer at punter could be Hunter Niswander, not the left-footed nightmare that had been seen submarining the punting game for years.
Dallas is reportedly looking at punters, to replace or backup rookie Hunter Niswander, who filled in for the injured Chris Jones on Sunday.
The Cowboys’ special teams squad was supposed to be one of the areas of biggest improvement in 2020. The hiring of coordinator John “Bones” Fassel signaled a dramatic shift in philosophy, to be sure. Taking more chances and being more aggressive in in-game situations looked to be the path that Dallas would take in the game’s so-called “third phase.”
Some rolls of the dice have come up embarrassingly empty, such as the ill-advised and horribly-executed fake-punt pass attempt against Atlanta in Week 2. Some managed to work thanks to sheer dumb luck; see the “watermelon” onside kick to win that same game. Other examples of special teams trickery have come off looking like pure genius, like last Sunday’s punt return that saw Cedrick Wilson lob a lateral pass across the field to C.J. Goodwin, who had broken away from the Steelers’ kick coverage… by faking a hamstring pull.
It’s clearly a new day in Dallas as far as special teams goes. To that end, the team reportedly worked out two free agent punters on Wednesday as they explore every advantage.
Cowboys worked out free agent punters Marquette King and Colton Schmidt this morning, sources said. Both impressed. One could be signed, perhaps as early as next week when team returns from its bye. Punter Chris Jones (core-muscle surgery) is out for season.
According to Michael Gehlken of The Dallas Morning News, the coaching staff brought in veterans Marquette King and Colton Schmidt as the club looks at the rest of the season without starter Chris Jones.
Jones underwent core muscle surgery last week to repair a nagging sports hernia and could miss the remainder of the 2020 campaign. If he does, he will finish the season with a 42.6-yard average, a total that ties the second-lowest output of his ten seasons with the Cowboys.
Rookie punter Hunter Niswander took over for Jones this past week; his two punts against Pittsburgh were of 39 and 40 yards. While that’s an admittedly small sample size, his 39.5-yard average places him dead last in the league in punting yardage in 2020.
But Fassel cautioned against reading too much into the possible addition of another punter. The edge that the Cowboys gain by potentially signing Schmidt or King (or another punter else entirely) may simply be peace-of-mind depth in this unpredictable season.
“I was really happy with Hunter,” Fassel told reporters during a virtual press conference this week. “I think most people [in] the second half of the season are going to have two punters, or at least a backup option at the kicker or punter, at least on the practice squad. In case something happens, you have a next guy who is available who’s already gone through the COVID testing protocol. I believe what we’re going to do is just make sure, with Hunter as our guy, just have somebody else just in case for COVID reasons more so than for performance reasons.”
Still, Niswander’s 39.5-yard average has to get better in a sport where a few yards of field position can mean the difference between a much-needed win… and another tough loss.
“Hunter knows he’s got to perform, and I really believe he will. But I think the extra guy we’ll bring in to be on our practice squad will be purely for just having an emergency option, should something happen.”
Out of UC-Davis, Schmidt started his NFL career in 2013. He did training camp stints in San Francisco, Cleveland, and San Francisco a second time before landing in Buffalo in 2014. Over 67 games with the Bills, Schmidt punted 338 times and logged a 44-yard average. Released in 2018, Schmidt moved on to the AAF’s Birmingham Iron and earned a special teams player of the week award before the league folded. Schmidt had been selected by the XFL’s Los Angeles team before that endeavor went under in April.
King’s name is perhaps more recognizable to NFL fans. The Fort Valley State product spent six seasons with the Raiders starting in 2012, led the league in punting yards in 2014, and was a second-team All-Pro in 2016. In 2018, he played with Denver, but appeared in just four games before a thigh injury led to his release. He, too, sought refuge in the XFL and was to play for the St. Louis Battlehawks. King has a 46.7-yard punting average over his career, a number that would place him 17th among current active NFL punters in 2020.
Perhaps most intriguing for Fassel’s creative side, King was originally recruited to college as a wide receiver. Unable to find playing time catching passes, he switched to punting only when his coach offered it as a last-ditch way to salvage his scholarship there.
Johnny Hekker practically made a career passing the ball on fake punt plays during Fassel’s time with the Rams. Could Bones now have an eye toward maybe drawing up some new gadgetry that would involve a punter like King catching passes from someone like Cedrick Wilson?
