Joe’s Average Takes is a new weekly column where I will go through some of the opinions thrown out by the mainstream media or on Twitter. Are these takes enlightened or just average? I’ll go through that on each edition of Joe’s Average Takes. (Yes there is some irony with Joe’s average take calling out other average takes)
“Dak Prescott sucks, period.”- Donte Whitner
Following the Cowboys’ loss to the 49ers, there were plenty of takes about Dak Prescott on Twitter. The most notable one circulating was from former safety Donte Whitner. While fans appreciate getting people in media to speak their mind, it is a little weird for a former player to say what Whitner did about a current player. Below is a Tweet that captured all of Whitner’s comments.
First, let’s dig into the game against the 49ers. It wasn’t a good one for Prescott. He finished 14/24 passing for 153 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. Just looking at his statline, it is easy to see how the Cowboys were blown out on Sunday Night Football. And if Whitner had kept it to Sunday Night Football, he would be at least somewhat right. Dak didn’t play his best game.
But then he mentioned the Cowboys covering up for Prescott’s deficiencies and that he was a “tier four” quarterback. That’s where this take is average and lacks context. The offense has been a mess from the coaching staff down. Mike McCarthy doesn’t seem to have a real plan, Dak isn’t playing his best and on top of that receivers aren’t separating. CeeDee Lamb is reportedly frustrated in the offense, while new acquisition Brandin Cooks has just 73 receiving yards on the season.
What happened in the 49ers Game?
Taking a look at the Cowboys game against the 49ers will show how much is wrong and a lot of it isn’t on Dak.
This was the first third down of the game for the Cowboys. Dak is at the back of his drop. Three receivers have gone out for routes and there is no separation. The blitz is coming and the tight end, Jake Ferguson, is the only one open. If he does hold it an extra second and throw to Ferguson, he will be criticized for throwing a pass 10 yards short of the sticks on a third down. Ferguson is also likely going to be tackled before getting a first down. He ended up trying to force a throw to Michael Gallup at the bottom of the screen and it was incomplete.
This was the very next throw for Dak on the Cowboys’ next possession. He reads man coverage, sees other receivers are covered, then throws it out to the flat for Tony Pollard. Pollard is open, as 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw has to chase him down from the middle of the field. He catches the pass and Greenlaw, a very good linebacker is able to get through traffic and make the tackle right after the catch. Dak made the right read, so how about crediting Greenlaw on this play.
The next pass Dak makes a good read and throws it to Lamb. He created separation at the 25-yard line. Now, the ball should’ve come out with more anticipation, but Dak made the read and completed the pass.
Dak made a good throw to Kavonte Turpin in the second quarter for a touchdown.
But there were some interceptions. The first was in the third quarter when the Cowboys were down 28-10 when Dak airmailed a deep ball to Cooks. His second interception hit Michael Gallup in the hands before being intercepted on a play where he should’ve been able to fight for better leverage (it was the second play of the drive and the second play that featured a pass hitting a receiver’s hands but not being caught.) The third was a bad read by Dak, but at that point the damage had been done.
Does Dak suck?
So taking into account how many things that went wrong in this game that weren’t fully Dak’s fault, it is irresponsible to say Dak sucks and is a “tier four” quarterback. The receivers aren’t accustomed to playing in a timing-based offense. Receivers were dropping passes and had limited separation. McCarthy hasn’t set up the players to succeed.
It’s fair to say Dak isn’t an elite quarterback. But talking about him like he isn’t even an above-average quarterback in the league is downright irresponsible. Especially when he operated the league’s highest-scoring offense just two seasons ago.
When players in the league like Tyreek Hill called him out on his take, Whitner didn’t reply with any analysis. He just told them that they were lucky because he would’ve killed them on the field.
Yeah instead of showing everyone what he means by what he says with analysis, he talked about how hard he would hit the players if they played in the same era as him. That’s an average fan take if I’ve ever seen one.
Verdict: Average Fan Take
No Kentucky in Preseason Top 25- John Fanta
John Fanta has recently released his top 25 for foxsports.com. Kentucky was not included in the top 25 or even on the team’s considered section.
Now, Kentucky has not succeeded by its standards in the last few years. Two years ago they got a two seed and had hopes of winning a national championship. They lost to a 15 seed. Last season, they had a six seed in the tournament and lost in the second round to Kansas State, who ended up being in the Final Four.
It is important to note that Kentucky head coach John Calipari saw plenty of backlash over the last few years. Some of it is deserved and some of it isn’t. A bad loss in the NCAA Tournament happens. Luckily for Kentucky, it doesn’t happen as often as it does in other programs like Purdue, who have lost to a 16, 15 and 14 seed in the last three NCAA Tournaments.
Getting a six seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament wasn’t ideal last season for Kentucky, but it is important to remember the amount of injuries they had last season. Sharpshooter C.J. Fredrick was plagued by injuries during his time at Kentucky. He played in 27 games, starting 15 of them, but didn’t look like himself. Sahvir Wheeler, who unfairly took a ton of criticism over the last few seasons, could only play in 21 games. Even star freshman Cason Wallace missed some time with injury and played through them.
Adding all those injuries up, made it challenging for the team to gel together. It is honestly impressive that they were able to get a six seed considering they had to play Adou Thiero, a three-star freshman with limited experience at point guard in that spot for a lot of minutes.
Regardless though, the results are not up to Kentucky’s expectations, even if they have performed like a top-25 team over the last two years of college basketball if you look at both years put together.
The team this season is pretty new and has the talent to be ranked in the top 25. Guard Antonio Reeves returns after dropping 14.4 points per game last season. Transfer forward Tre Mitchell has bounced around college basketball, but averaged 11.7 points and 5.5 rebounds for West Virginia last season. Thiero is back and able to play a more natural off-ball position.
Having those guys on the roster is critical to Kentucky’s success. What should have them ranked in about every preseason top 25 is their incoming freshman class. It ranked first nationally by 247sports.com. They have D.J. Wagner who showed he can run the point guard spot well in an exhibition tournament in Canada this summer. Rob Dillingham is a shifty guard who can play on or off the ball. Reed Sheppard, the son of Kentucky legend Jeff Sheppard, can shoot and get to the basket. Justin Edwards is an elite wing prospect who showed he can stretch the floor himself. Aaron Bradshaw was the top center recruit in the country, but is currently injured.
Now some things could hold Kentucky back, at least early in the season. They are a young team in an era of college basketball where teams are fully taking advantage of the transfer portal. This freshman class has been seen as not being great. On top of that, they have Bradshaw and another rim-protector in Ugo Onyenso who will likely be out for five to six weeks (although some will say that going small will help Kentucky).
With the returnees and the incoming freshman class, Kentucky is a top-25 roster in college basketball. This means people are doubting Calipari’s coaching abilities if they are leaving them out of the top 25. As mentioned things haven’t been up to Kentucky’s standards the last few years, but now Calipari has the young team with a dynamic point guard that he likes using. Something he hasn’t had in quite some time.
I’m not saying Kentucky should be ranked in the top 10. Most national pundits have ranked Kentucky anywhere from 15-21 in their preseason rankings. This accounts for the young roster, the changing college basketball landscape with transfers and any doubts they have about Calipari.
For reference, Fanta lists his top 25 and then five other teams he considered putting in his top 25 for a total of 30. With there being 36 at-large bids for the NCAA Tournament, that means Fanta thinks that they are squarely on the bubble. I’m not saying that couldn’t happen. It’s college basketball so anything can happen. But with the information that we have right now, Kentucky should be ranked in the 15-21 range that most other websites have them ranked.
Verdict: Average Fan Take
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