Dallas Cowboys FB Deon Anderson: How Important Was He?

February 19, 2010   ·   Jonathan Bales   ·   Jump to comments

A few days ago I argued that, should Deon Anderson be found guilty on gun charges, the Cowboys should cut him. His on-field production, I thought, was not enough to justify his stay on the team.
Furthermore, the emergence of John Phillips at the fullback position seemed to seal Anderson’s fate. If Phillips’s blocking was at all comparable to Anderson’s, the versatility and pass-catching skill he exhibits would make him a better fit as an H-back type hybrid player. Below is a graph detailing each player's plays-per-game.


As always, I dove into my film study database to determine just how valuable Anderson was this past season in both the running and passing games. The results shocked me.
Anderson’s blocking ability, it appears, was sorely under-appreciated, especially by me.  Meanwhile, Phillips’s youth showed through, as he was quite over-matched in the run game.
Anderson was on the field for 294 plays in 2009, while Phillips was i...

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