‘Where do those touches go?’: Cowboys’ McCarthy focused on ball distribution in new-look offense

The Cowboys offense is currently in the shop. Whether it’s getting a minor tune-up or a massive overhaul remains to be seen. Several staffers are gone. A couple offensive playmakers, too. There are new guys to work into the mix.

Head coach Mike McCarthy maintains that he doesn’t foresee “a huge change” in 2023’s overall scheme or philosophy as compared to 2022’s.

But a deeper dive into the numbers suggest it’s going to have to be a rather significant change, with the team needing to revamp over one-third of all its run and pass plays, no matter how the coach (and now play-caller) chooses to soft-sell it.

“How we play this year will be similar to how we played last year,” McCarthy said Tuesday at the NFL owner meeting in Phoenix.

Maybe.

But without Kellen Moore, without Dalton Schultz, without Ezekiel Elliott… some things will undoubtedly have to be different, as McCarthy is well aware.

“Just look at Zeke’s opportunities,” McCarthy offered. “Where do those touches go? So much of this game is made about how many times you run it or pass it, but it’s really: how do you get the ball distributed to your perimeter players?”

2022’s ball distribution shows just how much the Cowboys leaned on their highly-paid-yet-declining two-time rushing champ.

Dallas logged 531 rushing attempts last regular season, and saw a player officially targeted for a pass attempt on 545 plays. That’s 1,076 legitimate opportunities for someone to have gotten an offensive touch.

Elliott had 254, or 23.6% of them, come his way.

“So you just look at where those touches go,” the coach went on. “Do some of those touches go to receivers? Tight ends? The new backs will definitely absorb some of those opportunities. Maybe Tony’s will go up.”

Pollard’s usage will almost certainly climb… but how much is reasonable to expect? He already nearly matched Elliott’s touch opportunities last season, with 248 total, or 23.0%.

New addition Ronald Jones will obviously hear his number called more than he did in Kansas City; the Chiefs handed him the ball just 17 times and targeted him once in two game appearances in 2022. And Malik Davis stands to see an increase over his 45 touch chances as a rookie.

But 254 possible touches- Elliott’s share last year- is an awful lot of football pie to divvy up. The former first-round pick ranked in the top 20 leaguewide last year in touches, so we’re not talking about just a few handoffs here and there; almost one in every four of the team’s offensive play calls now has to be designed to go to someone else.

And that doesn’t even factor in two key departures in the passing game. Tight end Dalton Schultz accounted for 89 targets in 2022, or 16.3% of the Cowboys’ pass plays that resulted in a targeted throw (8.2% of the total touch chances).

Noah Brown? Another 74 targets, or 13.5% of pass plays (6.8% of the total).

In all, Elliott, Schultz, and Brown had 417 touch opportunities in 2022, equivalent to 38.7% of the Cowboys’ total.

Now we’re up to nearly four out of every ten play calls needing to suddenly end up in someone else’s hands.

Thankfully, the Cowboys appear to be assembling a solid cast of playmakers. Brandin Cooks alone is a clear upgrade in the WR corps to work alongside CeeDee Lamb and a hopefully-fully-recovered Michael Gallup. Drafting another tight end threat to add to an already-promising rotation of Jake Ferguson and Peyton Hendershot feels like the right move. And the team may not be done in free agency, either.

“Ball distribution has always been my focal point,” McCarthy explained, “because when you have 70 plays in a game, if you’re not getting the ball distributed 75 percent of those plays, then you’re playing uphill to the defense.”

But now it’s up to McCarthy and new offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to make the Cowboys’ engine fire on all cylinders to make up for the horsepower that has pulled out of the garage this offseason.

More!

Ezekiel Elliott could still be in Cowboys' future plans

Did the Cowboys just reveal Terence Steele will be the swing tackle?

New Assignments: Cowboys issue storied jersey number to CB Stephon Gilmore

Story originally appeared on Cowboys Wire