You might not like what the Dallas Cowboys' coaching search looked like before landing on Brian Schottenheimer but you can't hold that against him when evaluating the staff he's building.
He has my attention.
On Friday, the Cowboys hired Klayton Adams as offensive coordinator, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Adams previously coached offensive line for the Arizona Cardinals.
Klayton Adams: What Cowboys fans can expect
It's a hire Cowboys Nation should be excited about. Schottenheimer, who will call plays next season, wants his offense to focus on running the football and Adams should provide change in that department. Schottenheimer, like the Cowboys, has a major in inside zone.
While such a scheme works, the Cowboys has been guilty over multiple coaching tenures of lacking change ups. Meanwhile, Adams comes from an offense that eats gap schemes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Consider what I wrote in an earlier piece arguing for Adams to be hired:
The 41-year-old coach is part of an offense that used pulling blockers at an NFL-high mark last year, per Sports Info Solutions. The Cowboys were 22nd. The Cardinals ran the second-most counter attempts in the league, the Cowboys were 30th. In other words, Adams could spark true change in the way Dallas runs the football, which has grown significantly stale.
And when I say the Cardinals ran a lot of counter, I mean it: They did so from just about any formation and personnel grouping, as the video below shows some diagrams of Arizona running counter.
Hiring Adams is a loud message from Schottenheimer: Even though he has a preferred running scheme, he's willing to learn from what's working around the league.
Even though the Cardinals do things very differently to every offense Schotty has been involved with, the Cowboys head coach is trying to tap into their success. Running the football, Arizona ranked 2nd in yards per attempt, 6th in EPA/attempt, and were the second-most explosive unit per Sports Info Solutions.
Adams' OL specializes in counter runs, which asks offensive linemen (and tight ends) to be pulling blockers. That means misdirection and violence as blockers gain speed before reaching their assignments.
The best part is the Cowboys have the pieces to execute it at a high level: Tyler Smith, Brock Hoffman, Cooper Beebe, and Terence Steele are all players you don't want to see running at you. Tyler Guyton, though largely unproven in the NFL still, was also good in open space at Oklahoma.
Additional notes to what Klayton Adams could bring to Cowboys offense:
- His offensive line graded fourth best in pass protection, per PFF.
- Not everyone is perfect: The Cardinals finished dead last in offensive holding calls, though they had the third-least false starts.
- Multiple TE sets: The Cardinals like to get multiple tight ends at once on the field and they're used for blocking as well: They ranked 9th in 12 personnel groupings 2nd in 13 personnel groupings.
