Cowboys Nation Mailbag: What will Kellen Moore’s Offense Look Like?

Four more days till the Dallas Cowboys hold their first training camp practice and the work begins to build this team into a Super Bowl contender. It’s been 23 years since the Dallas Cowboys won their last Super Bowl and Cowboys Nation has been restless for Lombardi number six for about 22 of those years. Is this the year that the Cowboys finally breakthrough? Over the next seven months, we’ll find out.

If the Dallas Cowboys are contenders at the end of the season, the biggest reason will be that the offense has turned into an elite unit to match a defensive group that proved to be one of the best in the NFL in 2018.

And if the offense is a top 10 unit in 2019, the biggest reason will be Kellen Moore’s ability as an offensive coordinator. The Cowboys have the talent to be one of the best offenses in the NFL like they were in 2016, they just need an offensive play-caller who can add a bit of unpredictability and intelligence to the offense in 2019.

With that let’s dig into your questions for this week’s Cowboys Nation Mailbag.

What are some plays or ideas from other teams you’d like to see Kellen Moore copy or utilize.

— Stephen Morkel (@StephenSnorkel) July 21, 2019

So much of what the Dallas Cowboys need to add to their offense has less to do with the plays that are called and more to do with when they call plays and how they deploy their personnel.

The Dallas Cowboys need to improve in the red zone. One way to do that is to scheme guys open using crossing route combinations and rub routes. The Dallas Cowboys have some really good route runners in Amari Cooper, Randall Cobb, Michael Gallup, and Jason Witten. The Cowboys need to use those strengths.

The other thing the Dallas Cowboys need to do is to begin throwing more frequently on first down and in run formations to keep defenses off balance. Too many times in the last couple of years, opposing defenses knew what was coming based on the personnel groupings and formations they were deployed in. The Cowboys ran a lot on first downs and opposing defenses were looking run on those first down regardless of formation. If the Cowboys can come out and throw the ball effectively on first down it will open the offense up a lot more and keep defenses off-balance.

What are the biggest noticeable differences to expect in Kellen Moores offense? Why no competition for Maher yet?

— Andrew Barboza (@Dru13oza) June 17, 2019

One of the biggest questions surrounding the offense heading into 2019 focuses on what kind of influence Kellen Moore is going to have on this group. I wrote about this in more detail earlier this offseason when I reviewed Jon Gruden’s Quarterback Camp episode with Kellen Moore.

Here were the biggest themes that I picked up on during his interview.

Kellen Moore Wants to be “multiple.” Meaning Moore wants to be able to run the same plays out of a variety of formations and personnel groupings. Whether he’s running 10 personnel (1 RB, 4 WRs) or 12 personnel (1 RB, 2 TEs), Moore wants to be able to run the same types of plays and route combinations. If the Cowboys are able to do this, it will keep the defense from being able to anticipate what the Cowboys are wanting to do on offense.

Kellen Moore wants to create anticipation in the offense through week-long preparation. We know that Dak Prescott puts in the work to be as good as he can be. Prescott’s work ethic combined with the preparation led by Moore and Quarterback’s Coach Jon Kitna should help Prescott improve his anticipation by seeing where to throw the ball before the play even starts.

Kellen Moore wants to use presnap motion to keep the offense off-balance and create confusion among the defense. Presnap motion forces the defense to adjust and communication during that adjustment could lead to miscommunication. For too much of the 2017 and 2018 seasons, the Dallas Cowboys were a little too predictable on offense, which was a complaint of some of the outgoing players when they left the Cowboys. Kellen Moore’s offensive philosophy was learned under current Washington Huskies Head Coach and former Boise St. Head Coach Chris Petersen who’s long been known for his offensive creativity and play calling.

Kellen Moore wants to get creative in the red zone through gadget plays. Boise St. was known for using gadget plays like the “Statue of Liberty” play they used in the Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma.

If Moore is truly able to increase the level of unpredictability of the Dallas Cowboys offense, it should help the passing game and the running game be able to take advantage of mismatches across the formation.

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Kellen Moore’s football mind has been highly thought since coming out of college. With training camp, the preseason, and the regular season coming, we’re finally going to get to see that big football brain at work. For the Dallas Cowboys to have success in 2019, they need the Kellen Moore mind to be as good as advertised.