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Alfred Morris, why is he rated so low (1 Viewer)

Well here we are once again. Think I was the only person posting in this thread at the start of the season. Own him for about the 4th time this season and considering starting tomorrow 

 
Full disclosure? Salfino is known for hyperbole and i laughed when I read that tweet. For the record, even 70% of Zeke's weekly production in a standard league this season is this:

WK 1 NYG: 9.8

WK 2 @Den: 1.54

WK 3 @Ari: 10.78

WK 4 LAR: 18.13

WK 5 GB: 9.24

WK 7 @SF: 27.93

WK 8 @Was: 18.48

WK 9 KC: 10.71

He's worked on pass protection with Dallas and supposedly is improved enough that he can not be a liability, but we won't know for sure.
I actually didn't click the link to Salfino's tweet. Just read it and I do think in the very best case scenario he can get 75% of Zeke's production. Expecting more like 50%.

Best case scenario for me is he gets about 18 carries tomorrow and looks good. The team feels like they can use him in that role moving forward.

Worst case Morris looks like crap early, Garrett gets pass happy, and the backfield just becomes a mess from a fantasy perspective with no guy being usable.

 
Well here we are once again. Think I was the only person posting in this thread at the start of the season. Own him for about the 4th time this season and considering starting tomorrow 
I did a ZeroRB strat in my draft and have been posting about a number of backs... Alex Collins, Latavius Murray, Adrian Peterson, Jerick McKinnon, CJ Prosise, you name it I posted in their thread. I realize I really haven't done anything about Alfred Morris and decided to dive into his film and chatter the last 3 days. I am surprised how much burst he has, dropping weight doesn't always mean you gain that.

 
Well here we are once again. Think I was the only person posting in this thread at the start of the season. Own him for about the 4th time this season and considering starting tomorrow 
I have him in over Martin/Lewis but after reading the Smith is out I might change my mind.

 
Alfred Morris had 11 carries for 53 yards in Week 10 against the Falcons.

Morris started with Ezekiel Elliott suspended. He got first six carries of the game, but struggled early. Morris did all of his damage on the Cowboys first drive of second half, where he ran for 45 yards. He wasn't a factor after that, with gameflow forcing Dallas to abandon the run. Morris is the clear lead runner going forward. He's an RB2 for Week 11 against the Eagles.
On that drive where Morris got it going Dallas ran mostly big 3 TEs sets. Nobody got much traction as the Dallas O-line (Chaz Green) got absolutely dominated. One thing that's notable is that although he was in on pass routes and did run routes, Morris is vulnerable to game script.... he didn't play much at all after Dallas went down 2 scores.

 
Eagles doesn't seem like a good game script for him next week either, but the schedule gets a lot better after that 

 
Smith seems like the only one who might salvage some value. I'd avoid the rest in most leagues. 

 
Tyron Smith being out impacted the entire offense bigly. If he's back next week there will be an uptick in their play.

Morris has the most value IMO. When they brought in the all beef formation for a few plays Morris looked ok.

Smith was on the field a lot but they didn't run him, they did throw to him a bit.

It's weird they even kept McFadden. Figured there would be some young player with upside they would have grabbed.

 
Tyron Smith being out impacted the entire offense bigly. If he's back next week there will be an uptick in their play.

Morris has the most value IMO. When they brought in the all beef formation for a few plays Morris looked ok.

Smith was on the field a lot but they didn't run him, they did throw to him a bit.

It's weird they even kept McFadden. Figured there would be some young player with upside they would have grabbed.
McFadden hasn't played a game all season. Seems normal he wouldn't get a big workload today.

That said, I was wrong, I backed up Zeke with McFadden, looks like the wrong move right now

 
Alfred Morris had 17 carries for 91 yards in Week 11 against the Eagles.

The Cowboys started Rod Smith, but Morris was the clear lead back. Morris fell out of the gameplan with the Dallas getting blown out in the second half, and he finished behind Smith in snaps for the second straight week. It looks like Morris should continue to dominate carries going forward. Morris will remain an RB2 for Thursday's matchup with the Chargers.
Morris looked much better in this game, developed a nice rhythm in the 2nd half but once Dallas fell behind 2 scores his workload disappeared. Since he is tied Dallas being able to stay in games you can pretty much predict his high-workload games... Also Tryon Smith needs to come back, Dak needs him badly.

Remaining schedule:

12 - Nov 23  LAC  Thu 4:30 pm

13 - Nov 30  Was  Thu 8:25 pm

--------FANTASY PLAYOFFS---------

14 - Dec 10  @NYG  Sun 4:25 pm

15 - Dec 17  @Oak  Sun 8:30 pm

16 - Dec 24  Sea Sun 4:25 pm

 
He looked and in a blowout got touches.

LAC is a solid matchup. They are tough against the pass, but not so tough against the run. Gotta think on a short week, after Dak got beat up, they hit the ground running.

 
Alfred Morris rushed nine times for 36 yards in the Cowboys' Week 12 loss to the Chargers.

He also had 1 catch for 13 yards. Rod Smith also saw nine carries and added two receptions in this backfield timeshare. Morris had a solid Week 11 against the Eagles but took a step back in this one. He gets a #RevengeGame next Thursday night against the Redskins as a TD-dependent RB2/3
Both RBs ran well but the offense (aka Dak and the OC gameplanning) seems broken as they aren't running much read-option to utilize Dak's talent. They seemed to use Dak as a pocket passer more against the Chargers that that's not his game right now. It's also hurting Morris because it doesn't matter if you're the goalline back on an offense that can't get to the goalline, What made it worse is after a nice run by Morris to get it to the 2 (I think?), they used Smith to punch it in. Even with Smith back, I agree with Roto that Morris is more a RB3 unless he gets a great matchup, which is what the Chargers were...

 
I don't think it's the right way to use him.

He needs his 18 carries. I said it last year, this year, and when he was in Washington. There have been a ton of backs like him in NFL history, in this regard. He just needs his.

He's a fine good solid RB when he gets 18ish carries. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/MorrAl00/gamelog/

Years ago, I was not pleased with the Elliott pick. The Boys had spent a lot of money on Morris and then boom he's a backup. Yeah yeah I know how that worked out but I still feel bad for the guy. His career went from big free agent to stagnant.

Ramble....When he is the starter, the Boys always have to do this time share stuff. It's really dopey. They don't do it with Elliot. They've had more than their share of good RBs that needed their carries too. Most of all, it's not working. 

 
Both RBs ran well but the offense (aka Dak and the OC gameplanning) seems broken as they aren't running much read-option to utilize Dak's talent. They seemed to use Dak as a pocket passer more against the Chargers that that's not his game right now. It's also hurting Morris because it doesn't matter if you're the goalline back on an offense that can't get to the goalline, What made it worse is after a nice run by Morris to get it to the 2 (I think?), they used Smith to punch it in. Even with Smith back, I agree with Roto that Morris is more a RB3 unless he gets a great matchup, which is what the Chargers were...
Smith had the carry to the two. 

 
I don't think it's the right way to use him.

He needs his 18 carries. I said it last year, this year, and when he was in Washington. There have been a ton of backs like him in NFL history, in this regard. He just needs his.

He's a fine good solid RB when he gets 18ish carries. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/MorrAl00/gamelog/

Years ago, I was not pleased with the Elliott pick. The Boys had spent a lot of money on Morris and then boom he's a backup. Yeah yeah I know how that worked out but I still feel bad for the guy. His career went from big free agent to stagnant.

Ramble....When he is the starter, the Boys always have to do this time share stuff. It's really dopey. They don't do it with Elliot. They've had more than their share of good RBs that needed their carries too. Most of all, it's not working. 
Big free agent? Come on be serious. He’s a bench rb who’s okay but not starter quality. He had a couple of big seasons when rg3 took all the attention and he was in a Shannahan system. That’s it.

 
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Morris is a product of bad coaching right now. They are not committed to same game script that wins them games sans Ezekial.

Give the RB the ball and play action pass off of it. This team is not built to do anything else and yet they try and fail miserably.

 
Morris is a product of bad coaching right now. They are not committed to same game script that wins them games sans Ezekial.

Give the RB the ball and play action pass off of it. This team is not built to do anything else and yet they try and fail miserably.
I think they convinced themselves they aren't good without Zeke and went to Dak to carry them, but Dak has never shown that ability to carry a team strictly as a pocket passer. It's odd that they aren't committing going run-heavy with read-option and and play action. I think Morris has the ability to be a starting back in this league, and at the least he's auditioning for a team next year. I'll say this if he improves in pass protection I wouldn't mind seeing him in a Giants uniform next season.

 
I think they convinced themselves they aren't good without Zeke and went to Dak to carry them, but Dak has never shown that ability to carry a team strictly as a pocket passer. It's odd that they aren't committing going run-heavy with read-option and and play action. I think Morris has the ability to be a starting back in this league, and at the least he's auditioning for a team next year. I'll say this if he improves in pass protection I wouldn't mind seeing him in a Giants uniform next season.
Agree.

Smith and Morris went for 4.6 and 4.0 yards per carry yesterday. Nothing to hold your nose at.

But every time I looked Dallas was pass happy on early downs and trying to turn themselves into a team they are not.

 
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Smith had the carry to the two. 
Yeah, that was the frustrating possession. Morris looked good on a 13-yard screen pass, then it's the end of the third quarter and when they come back for the fourth Smith is in for the rest of the drive that ended in his two-yard plunge. In the first half, Morris was the lead back on the first two possessions with Smith playing third downs and getting mixed in. Morris had four carries between 4 and 6 yards and one carry for 1 yard (total 5 for 21). Morris obviously doesn't need any rest from this, but third possession they decide to make it a Smith possession. Then, with the Chargers dominating the clock, by the time the Cowboys get the ball back for a fourth possession there's two minutes left in the half and Smith is in for the two-minute drill. Morris has four carries for 15 yards and the catch for 13 yards in the third quarter, but they apparently decide mid-drive that being behind in the fourth quarter means Smith gets all the playing time. From everything I've seen, Smith isn't even any better than Morris in pass blocking or catching balls out of the backfield.

 
Big free agent? Come on be serious. He’s a bench rb who’s okay but not starter quality. He had a couple of big seasons when rg3 took all the attention and he was in a Shannahan system. That’s it.
It's this kind of junk that always kills this board. Let's nitpick three words and jump on them, then ignore the rest of the post including where the RB was called fine and solid.

There were not many RBs in free agency then. Forte was old possibly washed up. It was about he and Lamar Miller, one more maybe. 1600 yards as a rookie is nothing to sneeze at. During an awful awful market that has been discussed oh so often, he got 2 years 5.5 mil to be the Cowboys starter. Then they drafted Elliott and that changed. I felt bad for him. The market collapses like a punch in the gut, then oh BTW we're gonna draft someone and make you a backup. That was brutal.

 
So how are we all feeling about Morris tomorrow night? Trying to decide whether to start him and am leaning against it. Anyone want to talk me into it?

 
So how are we all feeling about Morris tomorrow night? Trying to decide whether to start him and am leaning against it. Anyone want to talk me into it?
Im finally smart enough to bench him for Crowell.  So he is going to go off...go ahead and start him.

 
Wondering the same thing myself ... I think I'm going to be stuck starting one of the Dallas RBs.  I'm just wondering if Morris or Smith is the better play against Washington.

For the record, Fantasypros composite rankings for this week have these guys absolutely buried, with Morris at RB 33 and Smith at RB 42 for half PPR.  Seems a bit harsh when Morris is averaging 5.1 YPC post Elliot suspension and Washington is a middle of the road run defense (22nd in yards / attempt; 15th in yards / game).

If Dallas would commit to giving Morris 15-20 carries, I think he'd be just fine in this game ... but Dallas has looked completely out of sorts lately, and the playcalling extremely pass happy.  So ... now I don't know what to do.

 
Totally split on how to feel about this. Dropped Morris outright for Marvin Jones, which I don't think was the worst idea, but I'm feeling pretty loose butthole about it right now. Morris only has two games left before Zeke comes back, which makes me feel okay about the move, but they are against floundering teams which Dallas will likely have decent (i.e., A-Mo positive) game scripts against, which makes me feel idiotic about the move.

Why is this game so soul crushing sometimes?

 
Alfred Morris rushed 27 times for 127 yards and a touchdown in the Cowboys' Week 13 win over the Redskins.

The 100-yard game was Morris' first since 2015, while the 127 yards were his most since Week 10 2013. The Cowboys' offensive line was clearing gaping holes. 14 of Morris' 27 carries gained at least four yards, and eight gained eight or more. It's what the Cowboys have desperately needed during Ezekiel Elliott's absence, though it might not have been possible had an avalanche of first half Redskins turnovers not staked the Cowboys to an early lead. Morris will be a solid RB2 for Week 14 against the Giants.

 
Stuck faith with him more through a lack of choice. Now wishing that Zeke suspension went just one more week further ! 

 
Totally split on how to feel about this. Dropped Morris outright for Marvin Jones, which I don't think was the worst idea, but I'm feeling pretty loose butthole about it right now. Morris only has two games left before Zeke comes back, which makes me feel okay about the move, but they are against floundering teams which Dallas will likely have decent (i.e., A-Mo positive) game scripts against, which makes me feel idiotic about the move.

Why is this game so soul crushing sometimes?
Nice phrase.

Started him, out of necessity not any real skill. 

I'm out of the playoffs there anyway but we do have a toilet bowl. So pretty loose butthole it is :towelwave:

 
Didn't watch the end of the game, but could somebody tell me why Rod Smith is getting one yard plunges? He also stole one on turkey day. 

 
Didn't watch the end of the game, but could somebody tell me why Rod Smith is getting one yard plunges? He also stole one on turkey day. 
Redskins turned it over on 4th and 10 from their own 20 plus got a penalty. So Dallas basically had 1st and goal to go from the ten with 3-4 minutes to go and the score out of hand at 31-14. Alf and many others sat that series as they just ran ran ran. For what it’s worth, He didn’t look good scoring. He tends to fall down and run into people’s backs and kind of sort of only made it in on third because he landed on someone’s back and reached the ball in. If anything, I think it’s a good sign for Alf owners to see Smith in their as the “backup” to finish the game. Granted he also got a few series.

 
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Redskins turned it over on 4th and 10 from their own 20 plus got a penalty. So Dallas basically had 1st and goal to go from the ten with 3-4 minutes to go and the score out of hand at 31-14. Alf and many others sat that series as they just ran ran ran. For what it’s worth, He didn’t look good scoring. He tends to fall down and run into people’s backs and kind of sort of only made it in on third because he landed on someone’s back and reached the ball in. If anything, I think it’s a good sign for Alf owners to see Smith in their as the “backup” to finish the game. Granted he also got a few series.
He looks terrible scoring lol. Agree it did nothing but help almo moving forward

 
Nice phrase.

Started him, out of necessity not any real skill. 

I'm out of the playoffs there anyway but we do have a toilet bowl. So pretty loose butthole it is :towelwave:
Pretty sure Workaholics deserves the credit, no?

 
Feels like we’re  about to find out a lot about whether he’s still got it or not in half an hour. 

Very quiet in here. 

 

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