Cowboys Film Room: Rod Smith’s breakout

Smith has a tendency to bounce things outside, a common theme from inexperienced running backs. But unlike most backs, his athleticism allows him to make defenders miss and then his size and power to fall forward. Again, he just doesn’t have a ton of experience playing the position. In his last seven years of playing football, Smith has a total of 152 carries in college and in the NFL.

You can often see that inexperience on the field. On the play below, the Cowboys ran a wide zone play to the weak side of the field. Smith didn’t like what he saw from the defense and cutback. He was able to make the backside safety miss in the hole and stumble forward for five yards. The play wasn’t designed to be run to the backside, but Smith was able to find space and make a play.

Wide-zone runs aren’t Smith’s specialty, partly due to the fact that he just doesn’t have a ton of experience running it. He’s at his best as a runner when the Cowboys use him on tosses and sweeps; plays that get him into space. On Smith’s 15-yard touchdown run, he showed excellent patience, allowing his fullback to clear a path before exploding upfield. You couldn’t have drawn this play up any better.

But where Smith makes his money is as a receiver. He’s at his best when he is being used in the passing game. It doesn’t matter if it’s out of the backfield, in the slot or out wide, Smith’s best football comes as a receiver.

On Sunday, we saw a new wrinkle in the Cowboys’ offense. Dallas found a matchup that they loved and exploited it. The Giants are primarily a man-to-man defense and the Cowboys used that to their advantage.

On the play below, the Cowboys motioned Smith out to the slot and a safety followed. At the snap, Dak Prescott had a simple read. If the safety (on the right side of the field) goes to help on Smith, the ball should go to Dez Bryant on the slant. But that’s not what happened. The safety stayed with Bryant and it allowed Prescott to hit Smith in stride in one-on-one coverage. An easy 81-yard touchdown for Smith.