The Dallas Cowboys went 10-6 in 2018, good enough for first place in the NFC East. However, after losing in the divisional round of the playoffs, it's safe to say the team probably wasn't thrilled with how its season ended.
If the Cowboys want to improve on their 2018 season, a focus should be put on their passing offense. They received a big boost when Amari Cooper joined the team last year, but should still be looking for ways to get better.
According to an article by Calvin Watkins on “The Athletic”, that's exactly what they are doing — by looking at drops.
“If it hits your hand but it’s not necessarily the best ball, yeah, that’s a drop,” Cooper agreed.
The Cowboys have a more nuanced way of viewing things. They chart how a receiver uses his hands in catching the ball. Did he catch the ball at its tip? Did the receiver use both hands? Did the receiver use his body to shield the defender in catching the ball? Did the receiver take a pass away from a defender?
“It is complicated, so in different phases of the year, a drop is different things,” Cowboys wide receivers coach Sanjay Lal said. “We just went through phase two (of offseason program) which is no defense, so a drop there is a bobble, and you catch it. You don’t catch the front half of the ball; you catch the meat of it or the back half of it. You don’t go ice the tuck, so the catch is not complete until I see it into my elbow versus no defense. You don’t do all those three, that’s a drop. In real life, a drop is a drop. If you don’t catch it, it’s a drop.”
Drops will always be a shaky subject. They're subjective.
However, the Dallas Cowboys have been studying their receivers. They're talking about drills when there's no defense. So if you aren't catching it cleanly with no one around, they're probably assuming you'd drop it if you were hit.
In a real game, the stat is still shaky. There are plenty of times when a ball hits the receiver's hands but he doesn't catch it, and it's somehow still not a drop. With that in mind, you've got to love how harsh the Cowboys are with this.
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