Speaker 1: The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com
Speaker 1: and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. This He's Talking Cowboys
Speaker 1: training live from the Dallas Cowboys World Hours at the
Speaker 1: Star in friscot No. Your hosts Rob Phillips, heck My Harrison,
Speaker 1: Danny Serek, and Kyle Yeomans. It is a chilly Tuesday
Speaker 1: edition of Talking Cowboys as we continue to sift through
Speaker 1: the Dallas Cowboys offseason and get you ready for a
Speaker 1: couple of the monumental milestones of that off season coming up,
Speaker 1: the NFL Draft less than ten days away, and we're
Speaker 1: gonna do our best to get you set up for it.
Speaker 1: Kyle Yeoman's alongside heck My Harrison, the great Rob Phillips,
Speaker 1: and we're now joined by a little bit of football lore.
Speaker 1: It's it's about time that we get a former player
Speaker 1: on Talking Cowboys again, and we've got a former quarterback
Speaker 1: back in college at the University of Washington, a fourth
Speaker 1: round draft pick for the Dallas Cowboys, played professional wide receiver,
Speaker 1: Isaiah stand Back. Welcome to Talking Cowboys. Isaiah Man. I
Speaker 1: appreciate you having me doing it. It's going good, doing great,
Speaker 1: and of course we're we're happy to have you and
Speaker 1: most recently you were with the Dallas Renegades and a
Speaker 1: community outreach manager over there, but we're happy to have
Speaker 1: you here on the NFL side of things and getting
Speaker 1: a breakdown really what this offseason has meant for the
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys and as a former player yourself, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: I'm gonna put you on the spot early. If that's okay,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna I'm gonna go straight after it. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: I'm gonna make sure right off the bat. That's that's
Speaker 1: what we're here for. We're not here to us around.
Speaker 1: But I wanted to get your opinion on this Dallas
Speaker 1: Cowboys offseason and kind of the moves that they've made
Speaker 1: with some of the veterans that they've brought in. And
Speaker 1: as a former player, is this something that is pushing
Speaker 1: them to being a better team than they were in
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen? Yeah, I think so. I think that. You know, obviously,
Speaker 1: a lot of people with tend to focus on the
Speaker 1: talent that's been added, right, A lot of people always
Speaker 1: focus on the players and the veterans and the big
Speaker 1: name recruits that you can that you can pull in
Speaker 1: and you can get the big contracts for and you know,
Speaker 1: as a former player, I recognize that that that's important obviously,
Speaker 1: you know, getting those big time guys in, but I
Speaker 1: recognize that also the development of players is just as important,
Speaker 1: if not more important. So honestly, I mean personally, I
Speaker 1: like the coaches that have come in. I liked that
Speaker 1: coaching change. Obviously Garrett was there for a number of years,
Speaker 1: but now you brought in McCarthy and you know his
Speaker 1: excellence that he brings in and obviously the guys that
Speaker 1: he has underneath him, you know, the Fieldings, the you know,
Speaker 1: the Marcus Pollard's, the you know, the Ryans. All these
Speaker 1: guys are that are coming in. You know, either have
Speaker 1: been to Super Bowls or have been connected to Super
Speaker 1: Bowl organizations as some form of fashion. So I'm really
Speaker 1: excited about the support sism that they put around these
Speaker 1: players because you know, as mentioned before in the show,
Speaker 1: know the cast phases is they're gonna allow for them
Speaker 1: to get all the depth that they really want. So
Speaker 1: they need to be able to develop some young talents.
Speaker 1: And of course with such an experienced coaching staff, it's
Speaker 1: going to add to what has been a wild offseason
Speaker 1: and kind of the craziness that not only COVID nineteen
Speaker 1: it's kind of put around really the last couple of months,
Speaker 1: but also moving forward and some of the uncertainty, and
Speaker 1: we're going to get into a little bit of that
Speaker 1: here in just a moment. And Rob, I know you,
Speaker 1: being a part of Dallas Cowboys dot com, you've heard
Speaker 1: about this as well. And there was a piece written
Speaker 1: last night by Johnny on our website who kind of
Speaker 1: broke down some of these dates that have kind of
Speaker 1: been at least ironed out a little bit whenever it
Speaker 1: comes to the Dallas Cowboys and really the NFL offseason
Speaker 1: in general. But there are some of those dates that
Speaker 1: kind of stick out. What are some things that you've
Speaker 1: seen that kind of intrigue you a little bit? Because
Speaker 1: I know teams with new coaches can start as soon
Speaker 1: as tomorrow, correct, Yeah, and I think all teams, I believe,
Speaker 1: can disperse virtual playbooks and things of that nature to
Speaker 1: try to get a jump start on some of the
Speaker 1: learning part. But there's a virtual period right now that
Speaker 1: the league in the NFLPA have agreed upon for basically
Speaker 1: the next three weeks starting April twentieth, for all teams
Speaker 1: through May fifteenth, where it allows teams to basically do
Speaker 1: a virtual program starting with some offseason work and some
Speaker 1: online instruction, and after that, assuming you can get back
Speaker 1: into your building, which is obviously far from a certainty,
Speaker 1: May fifteenth, that's when you would hope an in person
Speaker 1: offseason program can start for every team and every team
Speaker 1: can hit the ground running. Obviously, we don't know with
Speaker 1: COVID nineteen what's gonna be allowed there. And the other
Speaker 1: caveat with that, Kyle, is that all team teams, no
Speaker 1: matter where they are in the United States, they've got
Speaker 1: to be in a situation where they can open their
Speaker 1: facilities and if they can't, if one team can't, then
Speaker 1: none can. So it's you know, the Cowboys are yet
Speaker 1: with the new coaching staff, can get a little bit
Speaker 1: of a headstart, but you know, there's really no question
Speaker 1: that it's a disappointment. It's a disadvantage for every team
Speaker 1: right now, and I would say the Cowboys in particular,
Speaker 1: just because to what Isaiah said, it's a new coaching staff,
Speaker 1: it's a new group that's trying to lay the foundation
Speaker 1: for their program, and to not have that in person
Speaker 1: contact just to not be able to be in the
Speaker 1: building and get around the guys. It's a difficult situation
Speaker 1: and it kind of seems like there's a lot going
Speaker 1: on whenever it kind of as a player, you're you're
Speaker 1: supposed to be working out, You're supposed to be kind
Speaker 1: of getting into game shape or at least getting into
Speaker 1: offseason shape and building up toward twenty twenty. It's kind
Speaker 1: of tough to do that kind of thing. In Heck,
Speaker 1: Mino you as a former player as well, I've kind
Speaker 1: of had to deal with that and kind of, at
Speaker 1: least not necessarily this kind of scenario where you're forced
Speaker 1: to stay inside. But what are some of the ways
Speaker 1: that some of these players can at least get out
Speaker 1: and get some training done. Well, Kyle, listen, I don't
Speaker 1: want to gloss over the fact that I'm on with
Speaker 1: Isaiah stand back my mom, man, Okay, I just gotta
Speaker 1: say that right out. I'm a big Huskies fan, man,
Speaker 1: so I'm really I don't want to take this show
Speaker 1: off the rails, but I gotta say how excited I
Speaker 1: am to be on with you, man. But you know, look,
Speaker 1: nothing beats football like football. And when you talk about
Speaker 1: what we're doing and I read Johnny's article. It was
Speaker 1: a great article, by the way, just talking about some
Speaker 1: of the hurdles that the Cowboys are gonna have to
Speaker 1: jump in climb in order to get this season going.
Speaker 1: And you're right, Rob, if it doesn't work for one team,
Speaker 1: it's not gonna work for any team, and that handicaps
Speaker 1: the Cowboys the most. I mean, one of the guys
Speaker 1: that really is not enjoying this social distancing is coach
Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy. He has got to be really upset about
Speaker 1: what's going on because he doesn't, you know, for a
Speaker 1: guy like him that already comes in with an enormous
Speaker 1: amount of pressure on him to have a success season.
Speaker 1: He wants to get this playbook going, wants to get everything,
Speaker 1: you know, get these guys acclimated with his rules, his
Speaker 1: playbook and all of that. But again, as far as
Speaker 1: you know, the virtual the virtual workouts and things like that,
Speaker 1: I mean, it just like a bunch of guys gonna
Speaker 1: be doing P ninety x you know the next couple
Speaker 1: of months, if that's what. And that's why I say
Speaker 1: nothing beats football like football. And Isaiah, you know it, man,
Speaker 1: when you come in from the all season, you know,
Speaker 1: most coaches, Man, they give you that coach's handshake. When
Speaker 1: they shake your hand, they put the hand on your trap.
Speaker 1: Then they grab your shoulder, then they grab your try
Speaker 1: sale they feel you up to make sure you've been
Speaker 1: working out. So it's gonna be it's gonna be a
Speaker 1: lot of that going on. And I just think that
Speaker 1: the condition coach, he man, that guy has his work
Speaker 1: cut out for him trying to monitor these guys and
Speaker 1: get them ready. You know, they're not a lot of
Speaker 1: guys out here that you know, are the terrell Owens
Speaker 1: of the league that slept in Barrick chambers and stuff
Speaker 1: like that. So you're gonna really have to monitor guys
Speaker 1: and make sure that they come into camp OTAs two
Speaker 1: days when they that get started in shape. And to
Speaker 1: you and to your point, man, to be honest with you,
Speaker 1: the staff that they had in the place right now
Speaker 1: for the strength conditioning program is Martin Nunts. It's the
Speaker 1: second and Nne. I mean, yeah, Marcus probably Marcus Paul
Speaker 1: who was actually one of my my assistant strength coach
Speaker 1: when I wanted some bowl with the Giants. And then
Speaker 1: you have Harold Nash, who was my assistant strength coach
Speaker 1: when I was with the New England Patriots. So you
Speaker 1: have guys that have been with two great organizations, guys
Speaker 1: who were very experienced, guys who've been around success one
Speaker 1: super Bowls, who knew exactly what they're doing. So if
Speaker 1: there's anybody who's who can handle this situation as those
Speaker 1: two gentlemen right there, that's interesting and sat down is
Speaker 1: that because Marcus Paul's there around Mike Woisick for years
Speaker 1: different Spots one championships, and he was kind of groomed
Speaker 1: for this opportunity. So I think that is an advantage,
Speaker 1: and that's he's a hire that maybe didn't get as
Speaker 1: much attention to some of the other hires on Mike
Speaker 1: McCarthy's staff. But you brought up a good point earlier.
Speaker 1: And by the way we were talking off air, I
Speaker 1: was around you briefly when you were in with the
Speaker 1: Cowboys in the mid two thousands, and it's amazing out
Speaker 1: of time flies where Tony Tony Romos get his big
Speaker 1: contract a dozen years ago and his elite and all that,
Speaker 1: and now das in the same situation trying to get
Speaker 1: paid too. M But you brought up a good point
Speaker 1: in terms of once this thing does get rolling with
Speaker 1: a new coaching staff, with a new voice, sometimes that
Speaker 1: can lead to extra wins. I mean, we saw it
Speaker 1: when Bill Parcels came in fifteen years ago, and when
Speaker 1: you came in to Dallas, it was the way Philips
Speaker 1: show and I players set players that you were a rookie.
Speaker 1: I believe that season, but players that came in or
Speaker 1: that were already there would would tell you we kind
Speaker 1: of needed a new voice, and at least for a
Speaker 1: year or two. Yeah, I think I think it made
Speaker 1: a difference, and maybe maybe that'll be a you know,
Speaker 1: a good thing for this team here. Yeah, I believe so.
Speaker 1: I think it's a totally different voice. Obviously, I haven't
Speaker 1: had Mike mccraty as as a coach personally, but I'm
Speaker 1: very familiar with his a tenure as as a coach,
Speaker 1: and I did experience Garrett, so I understand how guys
Speaker 1: are going to feel coming off of that regime. So
Speaker 1: I believe that it will be a relief. I do
Speaker 1: believe that with this staff that they have in place,
Speaker 1: with the coaches they have, like Skip Pete, he was
Speaker 1: a random at coach and I was here in Dallas,
Speaker 1: you know, coach of Marian Barbera and Julius Joneses and
Speaker 1: all these guys, and you know, he's all about having fun.
Speaker 1: I think that this coaching staff is going to be
Speaker 1: a lot more lenient in regards to having a personality,
Speaker 1: but strict in regards to expectations and a performance on
Speaker 1: the field. Well. And I think also whenever you talk
Speaker 1: about the coaching staff this year compared to last year,
Speaker 1: I think if any if you ask any or poll
Speaker 1: any Cowboys fan or anybody who covers the Cowboys, I
Speaker 1: think you're going to look at a potential victory for
Speaker 1: this coaching staff over last year's coaching staff on who
Speaker 1: you would rather be dealing with this sort of pandemic
Speaker 1: situation where you are kind of limited in what you're
Speaker 1: able to do. Even though it is a new voice,
Speaker 1: which is a pro and a con at the same time,
Speaker 1: I think you would still rather have this coaching staff
Speaker 1: deal with this type of issue, in this type of
Speaker 1: situation with our world right now, rather than maybe even
Speaker 1: the coaching staff from last year. Yeah, it's a it's
Speaker 1: a crazy it's crazy circumstances for everyone. And that's why
Speaker 1: I think that all NFL teams are having this pandemic
Speaker 1: is going to have an adverse effect on the product
Speaker 1: that's on the field in the fall. And so we
Speaker 1: look at this kind of maybe shortsided right now, but
Speaker 1: just think about the time that's put in in the offseason,
Speaker 1: with quarterback camps and things like that. A lot of
Speaker 1: teams are having to struggle. And again, I think that
Speaker 1: the most important note h there is the fact that
Speaker 1: if there's one facility or one team that isn't ready
Speaker 1: to get started because of the pandemic, that no one
Speaker 1: is going to be able to get started. So there
Speaker 1: aren't going to be any advantages to this at all.
Speaker 1: But you know, look, you bring up a really great,
Speaker 1: you know point that having a new voice in Dallas
Speaker 1: and what Mike McCarthy's effect going to be, Isaiah, when
Speaker 1: you allude to just that championship experience, I think that
Speaker 1: alone is going to set the player's mind at ease
Speaker 1: because these guys have been there, done that, and especially
Speaker 1: I mean you bring up absolutely wonderful point with Skip
Speaker 1: Pete and his experience with running backs, Tyrone Wheatley, marrying
Speaker 1: Barbara Murray, all of that is going to have an
Speaker 1: effect on this team. And maybe again get these guys
Speaker 1: are playing at a high level and having fun again. Yeah, absolutely, man,
Speaker 1: I yeah, I just you know, as being a former player,
Speaker 1: having those coaches that have been there. You know, when
Speaker 1: you're actually, I think anybody right, any profession, right, when
Speaker 1: you have to when you're sitting and you're listening to
Speaker 1: advice from somebody, from somebody as a coach or somebody
Speaker 1: as a leader regarded as a leader, if you want
Speaker 1: to know that they've been there. You want to know
Speaker 1: that they've been through. You want to know that they've
Speaker 1: been through the trials. You don't want somebody who's coaching
Speaker 1: coaching you through something that they just read, right, not
Speaker 1: to say that that you can't do that. There's plenty
Speaker 1: of people who have been very successful doing that. But
Speaker 1: as a mentor, as a mentor and as a you
Speaker 1: know obviously that in this particular profession, you want to
Speaker 1: you want to look at your coach and respect them
Speaker 1: in regards and just know that, hey, they've been there.
Speaker 1: What they're telling me is not something that they heard
Speaker 1: from you know, from two uncles ago, and this is
Speaker 1: something that they've lived. There's something and that they experience
Speaker 1: and that they can really hand down true knowledge too,
Speaker 1: and that they're gonna be calm and confident in the
Speaker 1: stance that they know that, hey, this is where we're
Speaker 1: at right now. I'm telling you where we're gonna go.
Speaker 1: We will get there, but there's gonna be steps to
Speaker 1: get there. Absolutely well, now our fans help go for it.
Speaker 1: Rob Well that it's Isaiah's point. That was the first
Speaker 1: thing out of Dak Prescott's mouth when he was interviewed
Speaker 1: at the Super Bowl about Mike McCarthy coming in. He said,
Speaker 1: he's got a ring and I want one of those.
Speaker 1: And that wasn't a knock on Jason Garrett. Jason Garrett
Speaker 1: won titles, was on Super Bowl teams in the nineties,
Speaker 1: but with a coaching change. You know, he's coach Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1: He's coached Brett Farve, He's coached Joe Montana twenty five
Speaker 1: thirty years ago. However long it was a long time ago.
Speaker 1: But he's been around guys that quarterbacks that have won
Speaker 1: big and he's one big himself, and I think that, yeah,
Speaker 1: that definitely does carry some weight. I think he carries
Speaker 1: some weight. And the fact that now collectively, as talking Cowboys,
Speaker 1: we all have a combined one super Bowl ring. Just
Speaker 1: with Isaiah being on the show, nobody has to nobody
Speaker 1: has to worry about where they're getting an information from
Speaker 1: because we've been there before. Right as a show. I
Speaker 1: mean it's it's automatic though champions, but just by by association.
Speaker 1: But kind of going back to Dak Prescott there a
Speaker 1: little bit, and I'm intrigued to hear both Hack and
Speaker 1: Isaiah's kind of because Rob and I have talked about
Speaker 1: this before, but their mindset around kind of his situation
Speaker 1: right now. Of course, with all of the meetings in
Speaker 1: the virtual kind of offseason that the NFL is having
Speaker 1: right now, where does the leverage live for Dak Prescott
Speaker 1: in terms of trying to get a long term deal
Speaker 1: done before July fifteenth? Isaiah, I'll let you take that man.
Speaker 1: In terms of leverage, that's a intriguing question. It's hard,
Speaker 1: you know, obviously, in the position that he's in right now.
Speaker 1: We know that he's going to get a deal, no
Speaker 1: question about it. You know, you don't you don't franchise
Speaker 1: tag your franchise quarterback. You just you just don't do
Speaker 1: it right. And they're doing it to buy time obviously,
Speaker 1: and he will get his deal. So I don't think
Speaker 1: there's any question there. I don't think there's any stress
Speaker 1: on his part in terms of getting the numbers that
Speaker 1: he wants. He will get that. If things were different
Speaker 1: right now and there was no pandemic going on and
Speaker 1: things were normal, I really don't think. I think if anything,
Speaker 1: it might have happened quicker, right, I think they would have.
Speaker 1: They would have eyes on him, They would be able
Speaker 1: to see exactly what he's doing. There's no secret as
Speaker 1: to why he's posting some workouts and things of that nature,
Speaker 1: and he wants people to see, right. He wants he
Speaker 1: wants some leverage in that regard. So I think that
Speaker 1: the deal probably would have been done by now had
Speaker 1: this not been going on. But it doesn't. It doesn't
Speaker 1: prevent the fact that it's going It's going to happen. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I want. I want Rob to tell me about Dak's party,
Speaker 1: because I know that Rob Phillips was there. Send him
Speaker 1: to get pampers, his wife, send him to get pampers,
Speaker 1: any skinny head to swing by Dax's house to get
Speaker 1: to the party. But I was not there. I would
Speaker 1: should place good baby your wife much. I'm poking you, man,
Speaker 1: I'm poking you when you're I mean, look the leverage.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of that. You know, again, if
Speaker 1: if you know, all things been being considered that there
Speaker 1: isn't a pandemic, and if there was any type of
Speaker 1: holdout for Dak in the offseason where he didn't come in,
Speaker 1: I think the sense of urgency to get the deal
Speaker 1: done would be would have been heightened. I think because
Speaker 1: of that. I mean not just saying I don't want
Speaker 1: to you know, kind of frame this as him losing leverage.
Speaker 1: I just think that leverage kind of changes in a
Speaker 1: way because of these unique circumstances. But you know, I
Speaker 1: think from Dak, even with what he's been showcasing through
Speaker 1: social media and just saying that, look, man, I'm training
Speaker 1: and I got this arm, this gun ready to go
Speaker 1: for you guys as soon as you're ready for me. Um.
Speaker 1: He's got to be excited about McCarthy. He's he's going
Speaker 1: over the film. He knows exactly what he does with quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: That's who he is. He's a quarterback guru. And when
Speaker 1: you start talking about the Montanas of you know, the
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers, that's you know, enough set And so I
Speaker 1: know that Dak is excited. I know this contract part
Speaker 1: of it. It's just a part of the business and
Speaker 1: so and you're right, I said, no one franchises their
Speaker 1: franchise quarterback this way. And so, you know, the waters
Speaker 1: were muddy probably weeks ago when everybody was talking about
Speaker 1: the Dak countdown and all that. Some of that has
Speaker 1: subsided through the media, but it's still got to be
Speaker 1: foremost on the Cowboys mind to get this done because
Speaker 1: we need Dak with McCarthy having the same brain so
Speaker 1: that that can be translated to on field production. And
Speaker 1: so you look at this point, you know, again we
Speaker 1: see this. In my opinion, I think it's just a
Speaker 1: matter of time before we see this deal get done.
Speaker 1: I think that's a great point because you also don't
Speaker 1: know with the ever changing dates and kind of the
Speaker 1: landscape of how this off season is being handled throughout
Speaker 1: the COVID nineteen pandemic, it's kind of uncertain on when
Speaker 1: you should get a deal done. Now July fifteenth seems
Speaker 1: like a pretty set in stone, concrete date, but you
Speaker 1: never know that could be pushed back and kind of
Speaker 1: certain things could play into that. So I think if
Speaker 1: I'm in the front office, I want to get things
Speaker 1: done a little bit sooner rather than later. But we're
Speaker 1: going to talk about Dak Prescott and really this overall
Speaker 1: draft coming up in the later parts of this show.
Speaker 1: But we're gonna step aside here for just a moment.
Speaker 1: Our first break here on Talking Cowboys. When we come back,
Speaker 1: I got a debut of a brand new segment. It's
Speaker 1: a working title, So if you have a title for it,
Speaker 1: go ahead and tweet at us, because I don't know
Speaker 1: what it is and I have come up with nothing good.
Speaker 1: It's called Talking Percentages at the moment. I'll explain it
Speaker 1: when we come back here on Talking Cowboys on Dallas
Speaker 1: Cowboys dot Com. I'm Jay Novachik, former tight end for
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Speaker 1: on GWS one course. September twenty nineteen. Back to Talking
Speaker 1: Cowboys segment number two. Here if Talking Cowboys here on
Speaker 1: a Chili Tuesday morning, Kyle Yeoman's Rob Phillips, heck Ma
Speaker 1: Harrison Isaiah stand back here with you, and do you
Speaker 1: want to remind you? I talked about this a little
Speaker 1: bit last week. But of course the Cowboys celebrating their
Speaker 1: sixtieth birthday in their sixtieth season in twenty twenty, and
Speaker 1: the party doesn't have to stop just because we're all virtual.
Speaker 1: Main event has has been putting together something really special.
Speaker 1: They've had an Instagram every day at two pm called
Speaker 1: Birthday with Me to celebrate all of the birthdays out
Speaker 1: there during this quarantine and shelter in place type of time.
Speaker 1: They've got candles, they've got cakes, they've sing Happy Birthday
Speaker 1: to you. Everything you need so go online follow Main
Speaker 1: Event on Instagram and then tune into their live story
Speaker 1: every day at two o'clock Central time to celebrate with
Speaker 1: the others that have birthdays on those respective days. And
Speaker 1: I got an email this week I told HECMA about this,
Speaker 1: But I'm going to be a special guest on one
Speaker 1: of their one of their main Event birthday days because
Speaker 1: mine's coming up in the next couple of weeks. So
Speaker 1: that'll be a ton of fun with our friends over
Speaker 1: at Main Event. So looking forward to that, but I'm
Speaker 1: also looking forward to this. So this is a new
Speaker 1: segment here on Talking that we're gonna kind of try
Speaker 1: and put together and kind of piece together a name
Speaker 1: for it. Like I said, it's a working work in
Speaker 1: progress name right now. It's called Talking Percentages. And ultimately
Speaker 1: the rules go kind of like buy your cell, you see,
Speaker 1: buy your sell in really every form of media sports
Speaker 1: media out there, I give a statement and each of
Speaker 1: us are going to give our percentage zero to one
Speaker 1: hundred and one hundred being you're one hundred percent certain
Speaker 1: that this is going to happen in twenty twenty or
Speaker 1: whatever the scenario may be. So there's that's kind of
Speaker 1: the premise of the rules. I've got three statements that
Speaker 1: we're going to roll through them pretty quickly here, but
Speaker 1: the first one, and we're gonna start with Rob just
Speaker 1: because Rob is our insider Dallas Cowboys dot Com and
Speaker 1: I just want to hear is Blake jarwin opinion here
Speaker 1: because I know you're a big Blake Jarwin fan down there,
Speaker 1: mister Rob Phillips. Absolutely so I'm gonna go how this
Speaker 1: first statement is Blake Jarwin will be a one thousand
Speaker 1: yard receiver in twenty twenty. Just a reminder he's had
Speaker 1: no more than three hundred and six five yards in
Speaker 1: a season. Well, for such a fan that I am
Speaker 1: of his game, I don't sound like it when I
Speaker 1: put forty percent on that, I go under fifty percent
Speaker 1: because of what you just said. I mean, he hasn't
Speaker 1: had that type of production. Now, a lot of it
Speaker 1: comes down to just simple playing time. He got I believe,
Speaker 1: close to forty percent of the offensive snaps last year
Speaker 1: playing behind Jason Witten. Now he's got a clear path
Speaker 1: as it stands right now before the draft being the
Speaker 1: starter at tied end. So let's just say he doubles
Speaker 1: his playing time and he gets eighty percent of the
Speaker 1: snaps this coming season, then okay, if he doubles his production,
Speaker 1: then he's still you know, he's in the seven hundred
Speaker 1: yard range something like that. There's just so many weapons
Speaker 1: on this Cowboys offense, and they could add more if
Speaker 1: they add a wide receiver in the draft. And it's
Speaker 1: hard for me to see that, but I think he's
Speaker 1: got a chance with more playing time to definitely be
Speaker 1: a more productive player. All right, Ezaiah, I'm gonna come
Speaker 1: underneath the forty. I'm gonna go to thirty percent. I
Speaker 1: just don't see it happening. I think, especially he's still young.
Speaker 1: He still has a lot of learning to do. Obviously,
Speaker 1: in this system, I think he'll get the ball a
Speaker 1: lot more than he has. But in this conference is
Speaker 1: pretty physical, so I don't think that they're gonna allow
Speaker 1: somebody to come off the line and run around for
Speaker 1: a thousand yards throughout the season. Wow. Man, So look,
Speaker 1: I don't want to go lower than thirty percent. I
Speaker 1: have When you start talking about, you know, a thousand
Speaker 1: yards tight end, that's putting him in the Shannon Sharp,
Speaker 1: Jason Witten, you know, Tony Gonzalez, stratosphere, the Rob Grunkowski's
Speaker 1: of the league. And look you when you go the
Speaker 1: history of McCarthy's offenses, he hasn't had a tight end
Speaker 1: that is eclipse to a thousand yards in his system.
Speaker 1: And so even with guys like you know, I mean
Speaker 1: Michael Finley in that offense, who really had some really
Speaker 1: from some really pretty good years. And you got to know,
Speaker 1: also with Mike McCarthy's offense, you know, one of the
Speaker 1: the smartest guys, two of the smartest guys on the
Speaker 1: field for him as his quarterbacks in his tight ends
Speaker 1: because of the variations of formation, I think with Cooper
Speaker 1: and Gallop, that's gonna bring a lot for Blake Jarwin.
Speaker 1: I just don't think that that is going to accumulate
Speaker 1: a thousand yards for him. Now, if you ask that
Speaker 1: question a thousand yards for the tight end group, then
Speaker 1: I would say, yeah, one hundred percent, because Jarwin, Bell
Speaker 1: and whomever else they bring in, you know, I think
Speaker 1: collectively as a you know, as a room, these guys
Speaker 1: have a thousand yards together. But I just you know,
Speaker 1: if drawing and I hope I'm wrong, I hope we
Speaker 1: come back to this five months or six months from
Speaker 1: now and he's, you know, there, we come back to
Speaker 1: the end of the season and he's at a thousand yards.
Speaker 1: Because if he does it, if if Jarwin has a
Speaker 1: thousand yards, Cooper has a thousand yards, Ezekiel Ellen has
Speaker 1: a thousand yards super Bowl, you know, I mean, we're
Speaker 1: all stoppable, and so I mean, I just think that
Speaker 1: that's a stretch to say that he'll be that one
Speaker 1: guy that you know, he'll have a thousand yards. Hey
Speaker 1: thing comes out in May, the schedule comes out in May.
Speaker 1: If they get the giant sixteen times on Blake Jarlin
Speaker 1: get a thousand yards because every time he balls out
Speaker 1: against them. But that's not gonna happen. So that's a
Speaker 1: very good point. Now I'm gonna agree, but I'm gonna
Speaker 1: disagree with Hackman at the same time because I'm gonna
Speaker 1: kind of put my I'm gonna put thirty five percent
Speaker 1: on this. I think that's where my pointer, my overall
Speaker 1: is going to be with his percentage. But I also
Speaker 1: you said I hope to see Blake Jarwin get a
Speaker 1: thousand yards. Now, I don't think he's going to be
Speaker 1: in that kind of category just because I think he splits.
Speaker 1: He's gonna split a little bit more time than we
Speaker 1: even see with Blake Bell kind of being in the
Speaker 1: mix as well. And then also you could see a
Speaker 1: tight end drafted by this squad next week as well,
Speaker 1: So I think you might have two other guys kind
Speaker 1: of in that mix at the tight end position. So
Speaker 1: I think if we see Blake Jarwin get to a
Speaker 1: thousand yards, he would have to be absolutely dominant no
Speaker 1: matter what. And I don't want it to take away
Speaker 1: from this offense overall, because we should see maybe another
Speaker 1: receiver being added through the draft. So you're Michael Gallup
Speaker 1: and Amari Cooper. So I'm just saying, I don't know
Speaker 1: if I want Blake Jarwin to be a thousand yard
Speaker 1: tight end. There were only three last year now to
Speaker 1: your credit. Heck, but two of those did end up
Speaker 1: making the Super Bowl, Travis Kelsey and George Kittle. The
Speaker 1: dumbly one was Darren Waller. So I mean, those are
Speaker 1: three tight ends that are legitimate guys, but I don't know,
Speaker 1: I don't necessarily see Blake Jarwin kind of being in
Speaker 1: that realm. I agree. I mean, like I said, if
Speaker 1: he does, I said collectively as a group, but Jarwin,
Speaker 1: think about it, Man and Rob you know, I know
Speaker 1: you're a big fan of him, and you've you know,
Speaker 1: written countless articles articles about his potential. I mean, he's
Speaker 1: a guy that's that has been eating off of that
Speaker 1: potential plate for a long time. And as an organization,
Speaker 1: beat writers and everyone close to the Cowboys have always
Speaker 1: said the kind of player that he is and the
Speaker 1: kind of leadership that he potentially embodied. And so this
Speaker 1: is a I wouldn't say all make a break year,
Speaker 1: but I look for this year to be a breakout
Speaker 1: year for him because you gotta know that defenses are
Speaker 1: still going to roll coverages towards Cooper. You know, Gallup
Speaker 1: can also be that guy. Both Cooper and Gallup are
Speaker 1: gonna take the top off of defenses. And then look
Speaker 1: you go back and you look at everything that's happening
Speaker 1: underneath Blake. Jarwin is that tight end that gets that yack,
Speaker 1: you know, after catch. So look, I'm looking forward to
Speaker 1: him in this offense to having a significant production, but
Speaker 1: I just don't think it will be a thousand yards
Speaker 1: and I think yards after the catch is probably a
Speaker 1: better statistic for Blake Jarwin than total yards whenever the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty season comes to an incause right now. I
Speaker 1: mean in twenty nineteen he had eleven point eight yards
Speaker 1: per catch, eleven point four and twenty eighteen. So if
Speaker 1: he gets up to twelve and he's still giving that
Speaker 1: kind of production with more STAPs than all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: you're talking about him is one of the at least
Speaker 1: top half of the tight ends in the NFL. So
Speaker 1: moving on to our second question, Isaiah is going to
Speaker 1: start things off on this one. All right, So defense,
Speaker 1: I know you weren't a defensive guy, but will or
Speaker 1: the defense will have ten plus interceptions in twenty twenty.
Speaker 1: I get a one hundred percent. Wow, yeah, I get
Speaker 1: that one hundred percent. I think that the move that
Speaker 1: they made UM this this offseason. Obviously they have Xavier
Speaker 1: Woods and obviously they have UM. They brought in Haha,
Speaker 1: Clinton Dix, and I think that, you know, with their
Speaker 1: quarterback coach, right with the secondary coach, Al Harris. Think
Speaker 1: about it, the way that he played right when he
Speaker 1: was with Green Bay. He was like in your face,
Speaker 1: put your hands on you, You're not letting you off
Speaker 1: the line type of guy, I think that along with
Speaker 1: front seven that the Cowboy is going to be bringing
Speaker 1: this year. Obviously, with the additions of bow Uh Poe
Speaker 1: and McCoy and plugging it up and being able to
Speaker 1: really force close in on the pocket, I think that
Speaker 1: there's gonna be some problems for receiving corps and and
Speaker 1: tight ends in this and with this defense. So I
Speaker 1: believe that the Cowboys definitely will have ten interceptions. I
Speaker 1: think just purely off of pressure in cover sex. I
Speaker 1: like that kind of adding to the front side of
Speaker 1: your defense to make the backside of the defense a
Speaker 1: little bit better. And just for a reference, the last
Speaker 1: time the Cowboys did have double digit interceptions twenty seventeen
Speaker 1: and they had ten exactly, and that was tied for
Speaker 1: twenty fourth they had nine, and twenty eighteen they had seven.
Speaker 1: Last year. We've talked about that seven number quite a bit,
Speaker 1: But Rob, what do you kind of think in terms
Speaker 1: of this. So we've got Isaiah saying one hundred percent,
Speaker 1: are you as confident? I'm confident. I'm not one hundred percent.
Speaker 1: I would say seventy five percent. That's where I'm at
Speaker 1: right now. If Mike Nolan heard this question right now
Speaker 1: he'd be like, seriously, we can only get ten interceptions.
Speaker 1: That's all I can get my defense and year one,
Speaker 1: because if you look at the NFL stats year after year,
Speaker 1: if you're only getting ten interceptions, you're in the near
Speaker 1: the very bottom of the league. I mean, most teams
Speaker 1: are at double digits, if not twenty seven twenty eight
Speaker 1: of thirty two teams Cowboys. I went a little further back, Kyle,
Speaker 1: and they've they've gotten ten plus picks twelve out of
Speaker 1: the last twenty years, so most of the time they
Speaker 1: get them. And even last year. I know we've talked
Speaker 1: a lot about the lack of takeaways from this Cowboys defense,
Speaker 1: and rightfully so, they have not ranked near the top
Speaker 1: of the league in years and taking the ball away,
Speaker 1: but they still got nine last year. And I think,
Speaker 1: I think what what Isaiah said spot on being a
Speaker 1: little bit more multiple with your defense, maybe being a
Speaker 1: little less straight up with things could create some more turnovers,
Speaker 1: some more takeaways, and I think they'll get there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm I'm right there at one hundred percent as well.
Speaker 1: Like you said, Rob, that was my point. Also, just
Speaker 1: looking over the league and looking at the teams that
Speaker 1: you know that have had more success with less talent
Speaker 1: than we had, you know, with their with their takeaways.
Speaker 1: And again you bring up a really great point as
Speaker 1: far as what they've incorporated into their front front four
Speaker 1: with mc and Poe being able to apply pressure to
Speaker 1: those offenses. So look, I there's no way that the
Speaker 1: Cowboys do worse than they did last year. At least again,
Speaker 1: I'm hopeful and definitely optimistic that they don't. And just
Speaker 1: knowing that again, with the additions of guys like Al Harris,
Speaker 1: you're gonna see those little nuances be incorporated into the
Speaker 1: defensive backfield. Not to say that the dB coach last
Speaker 1: year didn't have that same thing in his wheelhouse. I
Speaker 1: just think that it's going to be a different style
Speaker 1: of play that we that we incorporate this year. I
Speaker 1: think the Cowboys will amongst the league at the bottom
Speaker 1: of the league as far as blitzes, and just again,
Speaker 1: when you apply that pressure, it forces the hand of
Speaker 1: quarterbacks to make quick decisions and that's how those interceptions happen.
Speaker 1: And when you get bigger upfront with guys like McCoy
Speaker 1: and Pole, you know their tip passes. Things that happened
Speaker 1: in that passing game for offenses that allow for guys
Speaker 1: to get those easy picks. And with Clinton Dix again,
Speaker 1: the addition that you know that he's a guy that's
Speaker 1: gonna gamble and take those chances and not play safe.
Speaker 1: And I think Al Harris as a coach is going
Speaker 1: to get that. I mean, and another thing I want
Speaker 1: to point out is that when you know McCarthy won
Speaker 1: a championship in Green Bay, I mean he had free
Speaker 1: agent guys. I mean you Sam Shields, Tremont Williams, guys
Speaker 1: like that that played a really big role in those championship.
Speaker 1: Charles Woodson you know as well. So hopefully we have
Speaker 1: that same kind of combination of our chemistry between these
Speaker 1: guys that can far exceed you know, ten twenty. I'm
Speaker 1: looking for twenty twenty interceptions this year from that group.
Speaker 1: All right, guys, let's settle down a little bit, because
Speaker 1: I have it at thirty percent. I'm taking a page
Speaker 1: out of Mickey Spagnola's notebook, and the fact that you
Speaker 1: don't necessarily know exactly what this team has right now
Speaker 1: at this very moment, as we speak on April fourteenth,
Speaker 1: twenty twenty, we don't know who is gonna be the
Speaker 1: star of the defense. I know you, yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: I guess other than Tank, you can you can write
Speaker 1: Tank Lawrence in there. You don't have a right defensive
Speaker 1: end at the moment. You still got to get Randy
Speaker 1: Gregory and Alden Smith reinstated by the NFL. You've got
Speaker 1: two aging veterans up front. Could they be really good
Speaker 1: and could they be better than last year? Probably? I
Speaker 1: would probably put them in that category, But until we
Speaker 1: see what this draft class is, because right now, with
Speaker 1: the draft class, it's not necessarily shaping up in the
Speaker 1: fact that you're gonna get a top ten player in
Speaker 1: the or a top twenty player in the draft. You
Speaker 1: may have to reach a little bit on a corner,
Speaker 1: you may have to reach a little bit on a safety,
Speaker 1: depending on what happens in the first sixteen picks before
Speaker 1: you get to pick seventeen. I don't I'm not confident
Speaker 1: in this defense right now. You add Haha, Clinton Dix
Speaker 1: at the safety position. Sure, that's a little bit of
Speaker 1: an upgrade from Jeff He maybe. I mean, that's the
Speaker 1: fact that that's a maybe is kind of scary to
Speaker 1: me as well. Whenever it's moving forward. The one thing
Speaker 1: that gives me hope is Mike Nolan. I mean the
Speaker 1: fact that the coaching staff is different from Rob Marionelli's staff,
Speaker 1: and I think overall, I think that's something that could
Speaker 1: push us to double digits. I'm just not super certain
Speaker 1: about it yet. Now ask me in two weeks, let me,
Speaker 1: let me look at what this draft class is, and
Speaker 1: I think maybe then I might be willing to raise
Speaker 1: it up a little bit more. But I'm on the
Speaker 1: opposite end of the one hundred percent. Maybe not the
Speaker 1: full opposite end, but I'm just not one hundred percent
Speaker 1: or as high as you guys are in that category,
Speaker 1: at least at the moment. That's fun. Rob he hit
Speaker 1: us with the Mickey heat. He hit us with that,
Speaker 1: I don't think so brought it back. And you know what,
Speaker 1: if you're going off of Mickey's philosophy, he always says, well,
Speaker 1: why are guys available in free agency? He wasn't that good? Right?
Speaker 1: I don't agree that they're gonna they're gonna miss bid
Speaker 1: me Jones, but but yeah, good. I mean, you're right,
Speaker 1: there are question marks, but there's a ton of question marks.
Speaker 1: I don't think tends tends too much to ask we'll see. Yeah, see,
Speaker 1: it'll be fun to look at. Okay, final question before
Speaker 1: we head to our second break, and this one kind
Speaker 1: of goes back to the first question, but I think
Speaker 1: this one might be I don't know, maybe more likely
Speaker 1: we'll see in just a second. But Tony Pollard, our
Speaker 1: backup running back slash connoisseur of things out of the backfield.
Speaker 1: Mister Tony Pollard has one thousand total yards in twenty twenty. Now,
Speaker 1: that's receiving, that's rushing. Last year he had four hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty five yards rushing on eighty six carries. He
Speaker 1: had fifteen receptions for one hundred and seven yards, so
Speaker 1: just under six hundred yards. Can he get to that
Speaker 1: thousand yard plateau come twenty twenty? Yeah, I'm I'm gonna
Speaker 1: start this off. I'm gonna say I'm eighty percent sure
Speaker 1: that Tony Pollard can get that done. Coming out of Memphis,
Speaker 1: he was touted as a guy that definitely did more
Speaker 1: in the passing game for the Memphis Tigers. I know
Speaker 1: a lot has been made of Cobb going to Houston
Speaker 1: and how we're going to go into the draft and
Speaker 1: find a young, talented guy, which I'm sure we will,
Speaker 1: but we may have the answer to that already on
Speaker 1: our team. And Tony Pollard. I think that when you
Speaker 1: look at the evolution of the running back position with
Speaker 1: you know, with Christian McCaffrey, and you see that there
Speaker 1: are a lot of demands on the running backs to
Speaker 1: do a lot in the passing game. I think that
Speaker 1: you'll see that with Tony Pollard this year. And then look,
Speaker 1: this is not a new phenomenon. Guys like Marshall Faulk,
Speaker 1: Roger Craig you know that played the position and they
Speaker 1: did a lot in the plast and games when especially
Speaker 1: when their teams went to those empty sets. I think
Speaker 1: Tony Pollard is going to present a challenge. Anytime you
Speaker 1: have an off ball linebacker on a guy like Tony Pollard,
Speaker 1: he's going to present a problem. And especially and not
Speaker 1: to diminish our make light of what he is in
Speaker 1: the running game as well. He's very explosive. So I
Speaker 1: think he can do a thousand yards easy this year.
Speaker 1: All right, Rob, I'm my question is is he going
Speaker 1: to play enough? And because I think he was at
Speaker 1: less than twenty percent of the offensive snaps last year
Speaker 1: and with a new coaching staff, maybe that changes, But
Speaker 1: because we haven't seen that, I'm I'm less bullish on that. Heck,
Speaker 1: I'm at like thirty percent. And I think he's got
Speaker 1: the capability to do it, because, like you said, even
Speaker 1: though he didn't he wasn't that high of a playing
Speaker 1: time last year. I think he's still almost got six
Speaker 1: hundred total all purpose yards. But with Zeke there, and
Speaker 1: if Zeke indeed is going to be this huge still
Speaker 1: focus of the running game, like like McCarthy says he
Speaker 1: will be, and I have no reason to believe he
Speaker 1: wouldn't be, I think it's still gonna cap Pollard's role
Speaker 1: a little bit. In addition, kind of like what we
Speaker 1: said about Jarwin, just so many other weapons on offense.
Speaker 1: I think that's a tough task. Although you know, if
Speaker 1: you factor in what he could do in the return
Speaker 1: game as well, maybe that bumps that total up a
Speaker 1: little bit. Even though he hasn't been a punt returner
Speaker 1: and the people you know, when I've talked to people
Speaker 1: in the organization, it's not something you just throw somebody
Speaker 1: out there to return punts. It's not something he's done.
Speaker 1: But even with the kickoff returns, maybe he could he
Speaker 1: could check that total up a little bit, but I
Speaker 1: don't know. I think that this one made me make
Speaker 1: the most. Kyle, this is a good one. But I'm
Speaker 1: thirty percent or so, all right as am. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go right down the middle. I'm gonna go at fifty percent.
Speaker 1: And the reason, man is, you don't know how coach
Speaker 1: McCarthy plans on utilizing how how are your plans on
Speaker 1: utilizing his weapons? Right? And if you're in the NFL, right,
Speaker 1: And I think this kind of gets overlooked in terms
Speaker 1: because you have so many big names, you have so
Speaker 1: many superstars that kind of kind of take the take
Speaker 1: the rein. But if you're in the NFL, you're you.
Speaker 1: You deserve to be there, and you have a huge
Speaker 1: skill set. And obviously there's no question you've ever heard
Speaker 1: everybody's opinion already, Paula. He there's no question whether or
Speaker 1: not he can run the ball. There's no question run
Speaker 1: that he can take the ball and receive return. He
Speaker 1: has all those skills. But if we don't know how
Speaker 1: McCarthy plans on utilizing him, we don't know how he
Speaker 1: plans on splitting time with Zeke. We don't know if
Speaker 1: he's gonna go do a lot more two back in
Speaker 1: terms of utilizing the full back like he's done in
Speaker 1: the past. So just from the standpoint if we don't
Speaker 1: know how they're going to utilize their personnel, I can't
Speaker 1: go either way on it. I'm gonn going right down
Speaker 1: the middle, because if they utilize them, well, he'll get
Speaker 1: a thousand. You know, If they don't utilize them in
Speaker 1: the way in which we know he can be used
Speaker 1: and how a lot of coaches choose not to use
Speaker 1: their talent that they have on the rosters, then then
Speaker 1: he won't get there. So it's really all in the
Speaker 1: hands of the coaches. I think as a player, I
Speaker 1: think he'll he'll take care of business whatever opportunities are
Speaker 1: presented to him. And I think some of the reasons
Speaker 1: that you have in terms of keeping it fifty fifty
Speaker 1: or some of the reasons why I have it a
Speaker 1: little bit higher, I think I like the fact that
Speaker 1: you have a new coaching staff, a new set of
Speaker 1: eyes that come in and kind of evaluate that talent. Now,
Speaker 1: they haven't had a chance to really evaluate that talent yet.
Speaker 1: So of course, with the situation that we're in, it's
Speaker 1: going to have to kind of rely on maybe training
Speaker 1: camp and some of the other workouts that are going
Speaker 1: to happen throughout the course of the off season before
Speaker 1: they really get a feel for who Tony Pollard is.
Speaker 1: But you talked about the six hundred total yards last
Speaker 1: year all purposes, You've got four hundred and fifty for
Speaker 1: fifty five yards rushing. I don't see that really taking
Speaker 1: a huge jump. I mean, you can maybe get to
Speaker 1: five hundred, six hundred, but he had eighty six total carries.
Speaker 1: If he gets one hundred, you're knocking on the door
Speaker 1: of six hundred. But I think he could double or
Speaker 1: get even more than double of his receptions. He had
Speaker 1: only fifteen receptions last year. This is a guy who
Speaker 1: a lot of people when he was being drafted out
Speaker 1: of Memphis had listed as a wide receiver. I think
Speaker 1: he's going to be utilized in the passing game a
Speaker 1: little bit more. So I'm gonna say seventy percent. I
Speaker 1: think he's going to add some more receiving yards. He
Speaker 1: only had one hundred and seven last year. I think
Speaker 1: he could bump that up close to three hundred and then.
Speaker 1: I also think, depending on if he can get fifteen
Speaker 1: twenty more carries, he could maybe start to find a
Speaker 1: little bit of a rhythm as a backup running back
Speaker 1: and be utilized in that offense and maybe a dual backfield.
Speaker 1: We were kind of clamoring for that last year as well.
Speaker 1: So at least at the moment, Rob believes that it's
Speaker 1: more likely that Blake Jarlin gets one hundred yards or
Speaker 1: a thousand yards in the season, then we've got Tony
Speaker 1: Pollard getting a thousand yards. I didn't expect that one, Rob. Well,
Speaker 1: to your point, Kyle, Well, Kellen Moore is still the OC,
Speaker 1: so there is some carry over to last season. But
Speaker 1: Kellen Moore may very well looked back and say we
Speaker 1: didn't use him enough, and maybe Jason Garrett had had
Speaker 1: a hand in that as well and how he was used.
Speaker 1: But you go back and look at his usage, his
Speaker 1: touches game to game is kind of puzzling at times.
Speaker 1: I mean, he would have a big game and then
Speaker 1: he might have two or three touches the following week.
Speaker 1: It was like he was in a lot of times.
Speaker 1: He was used when they had a lead and they
Speaker 1: were able to salt away games in the fourth quarter
Speaker 1: and gives he could break. That was when he was
Speaker 1: really used, but you're right. I mean he was practically
Speaker 1: a wide receiver at Memphis. He does have those type
Speaker 1: of skills, and I think he'll be utilized a little
Speaker 1: bit more and hopefully they'll be running the ball a
Speaker 1: little bit more with him at the end of games
Speaker 1: this year because they'll be winning and trying to choose
Speaker 1: some clock, so hopefully that that'll move forward that number
Speaker 1: as well. So that's going to do it for our
Speaker 1: first edition of Talking Percentages. I've got all of the
Speaker 1: percentages that were said written down. We're going to keep
Speaker 1: each other account on exactly what we say throughout the
Speaker 1: course of a season, so that way we can go
Speaker 1: back and laugh at our mistakes and celebrate our victories
Speaker 1: as well. But go ahead and tweet us questions if
Speaker 1: you've got questions out there for the fans that you
Speaker 1: want to be kind of discussed and given percentages over.
Speaker 1: Tweet us at Talking Cowboys, and we'll get through some
Speaker 1: of those as well. But when we come back, we're
Speaker 1: gonna talk about that NFL Draft less than ten days away.
Speaker 1: We'll talk about some of the pressure that's on this
Speaker 1: front office and this coaching staff as we roll along
Speaker 1: here on this edition, of Talking Cowboys since eighteen sixty five.
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Speaker 1: so nice to treat you? To talk in Cowboys final
Speaker 1: segment here of talking Cowboys here on this Tuesday morning,
Speaker 1: And do you want to remind you about the Dallas
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Speaker 1: slash star Rob Phillips has some riding in it. David Hellman, myself,
Speaker 1: Nick Eatman, Mickey spag Noah, we've got it all covered
Speaker 1: whenever it comes to the NFL Draft, and we'll continue
Speaker 1: to get you ready for that as well. So with
Speaker 1: the draft kind of being talked about really solely in
Speaker 1: the world of sports, it's one of the few things
Speaker 1: that you can talk about at the moment. It kind
Speaker 1: of puts that pressure on us to kind of put
Speaker 1: out some of that top notch media content for all
Speaker 1: of the fans out there. But also I think the
Speaker 1: pressure solely lies on what is needed to be one
Speaker 1: of the best Cowboys draft classes that you've seen in
Speaker 1: recent memory. With kind of the holes that there are
Speaker 1: on defense, with the money that's invested on offense, there's
Speaker 1: kind of that teeter totter back and forth between unique
Speaker 1: young contracts, talented contracts to be able to compete at
Speaker 1: a high level and try and get to that super
Speaker 1: Bowl that you've been eluded from over the past twenty
Speaker 1: five years. So that kind of brings the question too,
Speaker 1: who has more pressure at this moment? Guys, whenever you're
Speaker 1: talking about the NFL Draft, Mike McCarthy and his coaching staff,
Speaker 1: the scouting department, or the front office or the three
Speaker 1: that I've kind of want to talked about or talk
Speaker 1: about here in the next twelve minutes or so. But
Speaker 1: let's start with Mike McCarthy. This is a guy who
Speaker 1: wasn't necessarily involved in the Green Bay's draft process, but
Speaker 1: now he comes and he's now the coach of the
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys, one of the most polarizing figures in sports.
Speaker 1: What kind of pressure is he dealing with heading into
Speaker 1: next Thursday. Personally, I can take that woman. I personally
Speaker 1: think that he's gonna be good. I think that he's prepared.
Speaker 1: I think he's probably more prepared than any other coach
Speaker 1: in the league, honestly. I mean, you think about what
Speaker 1: he's been doing over the past year. He's been sitting
Speaker 1: in preparing. He's literally less all he's been into it.
Speaker 1: He's preparing. You know, he's been sitting in there. He
Speaker 1: has been well documented that he's been sitting and with
Speaker 1: his staff and you know, just just taking notes man
Speaker 1: watching film a lot more watching film on the future
Speaker 1: versus watching film on the current. Um. You know, he's
Speaker 1: he's had that luxury over the past year. So I
Speaker 1: think that he's probably more prepared than any other coach
Speaker 1: in this league to go out and have a great draft.
Speaker 1: And I'll say my other points for your for your
Speaker 1: other questions. All right, that's a great point, Isaiah, because
Speaker 1: not only has he been I mean, he's spent a
Speaker 1: lot of time looking at the NFL and trends and
Speaker 1: analytics and things of that nature, but he probably could
Speaker 1: could have gotten a peek at the college game too,
Speaker 1: more so than a coaching staff that's having to spend
Speaker 1: fifteen twenty hours a day coaching a week to week
Speaker 1: in the NFL. So yeah, I don't worry about that
Speaker 1: so much. And he did say when he got hired
Speaker 1: that you know, there's a there's a knock on Jerry
Speaker 1: Jones from people that really aren't even know that he's
Speaker 1: he's too involved. He doesn't he doesn't involve as many
Speaker 1: people in in draft decisions. But that's really not the case.
Speaker 1: And he said, from what he's seen already, it's more
Speaker 1: of a voice that he's going to have than he
Speaker 1: had in Green Bay. To what you said, Kyle earlier
Speaker 1: about about how that structure was with the Packers. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so we're shopping for players online this year. I love it.
Speaker 1: And you know the thing is is that what you
Speaker 1: know Mike McCarthy in the whole you know, the specials
Speaker 1: that they did on him conduct conducting the largest Fantasy
Speaker 1: league draft last year in Green Bay with his think
Speaker 1: tank and going over analytics there in his barn in
Speaker 1: Green Bay. He has a lot uh invested in this
Speaker 1: and he knows well better than anyone that's who's available
Speaker 1: and what's going to be there for the Cowboys. And
Speaker 1: and you make a great point, Kyle about you know,
Speaker 1: his past drafts with Ted Thompson, and it's you know,
Speaker 1: these things have been you know, everyone knows about how
Speaker 1: private Ted Thompson was, and anytime there was you know,
Speaker 1: any part of that that happened where guys failed or
Speaker 1: in the draft, McCarthy was the guy that was always
Speaker 1: out front taking the pressure for those things. But here
Speaker 1: in Dallas he won't have to deal with that. And
Speaker 1: so it kind of you can't have one without the other.
Speaker 1: But the pressure is definitely on for Mike McCarthy because
Speaker 1: he has to hit the ground running with this team,
Speaker 1: and it's this draft is more pivotal for him than
Speaker 1: any coach really because with what he already has and
Speaker 1: with the pressure that he's going to have with this
Speaker 1: polarizing team in the Dallas Cowboys, you know that he's
Speaker 1: again he's going to have to have some success early.
Speaker 1: I think that success could potentially come, but it's not
Speaker 1: just him. That's the thing is a lot of people
Speaker 1: are looking at this as Mike McCarthy led draft, but
Speaker 1: there's so many different parties that are involved. And we
Speaker 1: talked about kind of the virtuality of the NFL Draft
Speaker 1: and kind of the way things are gonna work, and
Speaker 1: there are some updates. Whenever it comes to the all
Speaker 1: virtual draft, every coach, every GM will have a camera
Speaker 1: inside of the room. That's kind of what we expected,
Speaker 1: not only for fairness concerns, but also just for media
Speaker 1: and kind of keeping up with the draft, and apparently
Speaker 1: those have already been set up by it professionals around
Speaker 1: the league. We talked last week about some of the
Speaker 1: problems that could arise. Some of the issues in terms
Speaker 1: of hackers or just malfunctions and communication without communications apparently
Speaker 1: been solved because there's a dedicated draft line where you
Speaker 1: could get multiple parties from the same team. So you've
Speaker 1: got the GM, you've got the coaching staff on the
Speaker 1: line with other gms and coaching staffs on a secure
Speaker 1: network that you can kind of draft and have those
Speaker 1: trades back and forth. So maybe it's going to be
Speaker 1: just as easy as ever to be able to find
Speaker 1: a way to make a trade happen. But also there's
Speaker 1: a mock draft expected this upcoming week, which is kind
Speaker 1: of interesting to me, and I want to talk about
Speaker 1: that here in just a couple of moments. But with
Speaker 1: all of these moving parts, I feel like the pressure
Speaker 1: is on also the coaching staff, or as well as
Speaker 1: the coaching staff, but it's also on the scouting department,
Speaker 1: because that scouting department is kind of the only part
Speaker 1: of this whole thing that has really gotten a chance
Speaker 1: to look at all of these prospects at a next
Speaker 1: level or even in person type of meeting. Right that's
Speaker 1: I just want to say, guys that for Mike McCarthy,
Speaker 1: he's got to be really confident in the infrastructure that's
Speaker 1: already there for him with Will McClay and Stephen Jones,
Speaker 1: and that's the one thing that has to give him,
Speaker 1: you know, help him sleep at night. I mean, when
Speaker 1: you talk about the difference between Green Bay, where he
Speaker 1: had player development guys like Reggie mackenzie, he walks right
Speaker 1: into a similar situation here in Dallas with Will McClay,
Speaker 1: and so I just think that if you look over
Speaker 1: the draft, the quality draft picks that we've had, and
Speaker 1: you know that going into this draft, we're gonna have
Speaker 1: to get the most of you have to squeeze that
Speaker 1: vine and get all the juice out of it that
Speaker 1: we can because we're gonna need for our fifth and
Speaker 1: six round draft picks to actually make the fifty three. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I agree. I'm curious. I'm curious what Isaiah. I'm curious
Speaker 1: what Isaiah thinks about it. Because we've talked at length
Speaker 1: about this roster, and while they've done some good job,
Speaker 1: a good job plugging holes, there's I still think you
Speaker 1: can look at pretty much any position or most positions
Speaker 1: and say, well, they could still use an impact player here,
Speaker 1: especially maybe a corner or a pass rusher and to
Speaker 1: actmos point. They didn't you know, without a first round pick.
Speaker 1: They didn't have an impact guy really last year consistently,
Speaker 1: and they need at least a couple of those. I
Speaker 1: think this year possible, Isaiah, which isn't always easy to
Speaker 1: do in the draft. Par Yeah, it's definitely not easy
Speaker 1: to do, and it's not easy to do with the
Speaker 1: picks that the Cowboys have a lot of to them
Speaker 1: right now, unless they plan on doing some trading in
Speaker 1: the future. But you know, one thing I want to
Speaker 1: continue to drive home is the strength of the coaching staff,
Speaker 1: And the strength of the coaching staff is gonna put
Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy, Steven Jones, Jerry, Everybody's gonna put them at
Speaker 1: ease simply from the effect that they don't have to
Speaker 1: knock something out the park. They don't have to have
Speaker 1: a knockout draft pick every single time. So this is
Speaker 1: gonna allow for them to relax. It's gonna allow you know,
Speaker 1: you know that the the staff there, the Scoutons department,
Speaker 1: to do what they do. You know, they've been working
Speaker 1: on this for the past year. They've been keeping eyes
Speaker 1: on guys for the last few years, you know, and
Speaker 1: they've been so They know these guys very well. They
Speaker 1: know their Upsy knows that, they know their downs, they
Speaker 1: know their their mental toughness, Right, that's gonna be another
Speaker 1: thing that's gonna be um that's gonna be attributed to
Speaker 1: to this roster that that are going to really identify
Speaker 1: as a guy who's mentally tough, who's going to be
Speaker 1: able to come into the Dallas Cowboys. First of all,
Speaker 1: you know the hightened media coverage, the scrutiny that they're
Speaker 1: going to be under underneath the pressures of a new coach. Right,
Speaker 1: So the mental toughness is more important than just a
Speaker 1: physical talent to me at this point, because you can
Speaker 1: develop physical talent, mental toughness takes substantially more time. Absolutely, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I agree with that. Go ahead. I'm sorry, Kyle, oh No,
Speaker 1: I was just going to kind of go off of
Speaker 1: what you were saying. Also, you talk about with the
Speaker 1: trades that are going to potentially have to happen in
Speaker 1: order to try and kind of maneuver your draft capital
Speaker 1: to fit those holes and to kind of find maybe
Speaker 1: some of those impact players that Rob was just talking about,
Speaker 1: And I think that does add pressure to really anything
Speaker 1: that all three of you guys said, I think it
Speaker 1: adds pressure to the front office because even Heckmo a
Speaker 1: moment ago you said that you kind of have to
Speaker 1: rely if you're the scouting department and Mike McCarthy, you
Speaker 1: got to rely on the foundation and kind of the
Speaker 1: infrastructure that's been set for this Cowboys front office, and
Speaker 1: they're the ones that ultimately end up making the picks.
Speaker 1: They're gonna be the ones that are on that that
Speaker 1: draft line potentially trading with other teams. What kind of
Speaker 1: pressure is this some of the most pressure that we've
Speaker 1: seen on Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones moving into draft weekend,
Speaker 1: just with the scenarios that are kind of at Hyand
Speaker 1: I don't I don't really think so, Kyle, just because
Speaker 1: I think it's it's the it's the hand dealt to
Speaker 1: all thirty two teams. It's it's okay. It's not an
Speaker 1: ideal situation for anybody. And well, we talked about with
Speaker 1: the coaching staff, and Isaiah makes some great points about
Speaker 1: the confidence in that group. They're a little bit at
Speaker 1: a disadvantage because of this seasons uncertainty in terms of
Speaker 1: getting players on the field, But from the front office, standpoint.
Speaker 1: You mentioned scouts in front office separately. I put them
Speaker 1: in lockstep because Will McClay is in lockstep with Jerry
Speaker 1: Jones and Steven Jones. They know what they're each other's
Speaker 1: looking for. And I think that's an advantage over other
Speaker 1: teams who have changed front office personnel in the off season.
Speaker 1: They've they've got the bulk of their their core front
Speaker 1: office in place, and I think for a situation like this,
Speaker 1: they're in pretty good shape. Absolutely, And that's that's exactly
Speaker 1: the point, you know, having that that solid foundation of
Speaker 1: you know, scouting department that's not gonna reach on a
Speaker 1: draft pick. And so you look at seventeen and we've
Speaker 1: talked about this as far as the draft, that those
Speaker 1: players that they've had earmarked are are gone. You know
Speaker 1: what do they do as seventeen? Do they trade back
Speaker 1: and do they you know go to the you know,
Speaker 1: BPA philosophy and if the best player available is a
Speaker 1: center from you know, LSU or from Michigan, they go there.
Speaker 1: I mean, I just think that, like you said, Isaiah,
Speaker 1: they don't have to knock it out of the park
Speaker 1: with each draft pick. What they do is they have
Speaker 1: to have guys that are mentally tough and ready to
Speaker 1: come in and contribute immediately. Absolutely, and to that point.
Speaker 1: You know, I always think about whenever I hear everybody's
Speaker 1: speaking about the draft and all, we gotta get these
Speaker 1: big name players and we gotta get these guys gonna
Speaker 1: come in and have a big impact. I think about
Speaker 1: back to Seattle. You know, think about what Seattle did
Speaker 1: back in the day. You know, they're they're starting to
Speaker 1: get back to the roots and there in regards to
Speaker 1: the draft. But Seattle, they never felt the pressure to
Speaker 1: have to have a big name guy. They just didn't.
Speaker 1: I mean, you think about the biggest name guy they
Speaker 1: having their roster right now. They didn't have to do
Speaker 1: anything crazy to attain him, right They trusted in their system.
Speaker 1: They knew exactly what it is that they weren't they
Speaker 1: were looking for where their day to identify the mental toughness,
Speaker 1: They identify the personality, and they identify the work ethic
Speaker 1: of the person and then they waited for them at
Speaker 1: their at their proper positioning, and then they grab them.
Speaker 1: So I think that the only position that the Cowboys
Speaker 1: necessarily have to grab in terms of talent wise, is
Speaker 1: that corner. I think they have to go out and
Speaker 1: get a corner. I think you can't miss on that
Speaker 1: because you just it's hard to develop corners. It just
Speaker 1: is just too many, too many intangible as that are required,
Speaker 1: and it takes too much time for a corner to
Speaker 1: go from good to great. So I think if you
Speaker 1: have somebody that you can go out and grab, that's
Speaker 1: awesome already. I think you have to go out and
Speaker 1: grab that person. But in terms of everything else, every
Speaker 1: other position, you have people in place already. You think
Speaker 1: about the old line, old line has been good for
Speaker 1: a while. D line, You got a lot of talent
Speaker 1: on a D line. Linebackers, you have great leadership there
Speaker 1: and some young talent that's already been coming up. At safety,
Speaker 1: you have a veteran in there, you have a young
Speaker 1: talent in there, you have great coaching there. Right, So
Speaker 1: you start looking at all these different positions. All the
Speaker 1: positions are set for corner really have a superstar in regards,
Speaker 1: so you don't have to go out and get anything
Speaker 1: a set for. You have to mandate mandatory. You have
Speaker 1: to get a corner. You hear that Cowboys Nation, you
Speaker 1: can't be mad if aj Terrell from Clemson or Trayvon
Speaker 1: Digs from Alabama as your first overall pick at seventeen.
Speaker 1: You can't be mad about it because you got to
Speaker 1: trust the system, right Isaiah and spitting the fire immediately.
Speaker 1: I love it now really quickly, just before we get
Speaker 1: out of here. We got about a minute and a
Speaker 1: half left. I mentioned the mock draft a little bit earlier,
Speaker 1: and I just think this could be the I wish
Speaker 1: I was a fly on the wall. Let's just say that,
Speaker 1: because with a mock draft the week before an actual draft,
Speaker 1: it's not like your fantasy draft where you do mock
Speaker 1: drafts with other people. These are gonna be the same
Speaker 1: people that you're drafting with and then you're gonna turn around.
Speaker 1: You're gonna have a mock draft. And this is all
Speaker 1: for technicalities and trying to figure out the it what
Speaker 1: kind of bluffing is going gonna be made in this
Speaker 1: mock draft, and then also what picks are going to
Speaker 1: be made there that are not made whenever actually next
Speaker 1: Thursday comes around. Because I think that's one of the
Speaker 1: most intriguing things out of this whole testing process of
Speaker 1: trying to get the virtual draft ready. A lot of
Speaker 1: bluffing a mock draft is gonna be a lot of bluffing, man. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean I think it gonna make can make actual
Speaker 1: pick mock picks. Are they just gonna say, hey, pick X,
Speaker 1: you know, or something like that. I hope they would.
Speaker 1: I'd bluff the hell out of it if I'm just see,
Speaker 1: I think that'd be so funny just to bluff everything up. Oh,
Speaker 1: the Bengals are taking two a first and then the
Speaker 1: second pick the Redskins are gonna take Joe Burrow, and
Speaker 1: then all of a sudden it's all thrown off and
Speaker 1: it's all crazy and kind of crazy from then on out.
Speaker 1: But I just was wondering if they were actually gonna
Speaker 1: make picks. But Rob, you make a good point. I
Speaker 1: bet they're just gonna go with X and Y and
Speaker 1: just different values here and there. But that is gonna
Speaker 1: do it here for Talking Cowboys special thanks to Isaiah
Speaker 1: stand Back joining the crew for the first time today.
Speaker 1: Glad to have you, man, and can't wait to talk
Speaker 1: to you again soon down the line. I appreciate it, man,
Speaker 1: I'm glad to be a partner crew. Absolutely so for
Speaker 1: Isaiah stand Back. For Rob Phillips four. Heck my Harrison.
Speaker 1: I'm Kyle Yeoman saying so long here for talking Cowboys.
Speaker 1: We'll see you next week. This has been a pretty
Speaker 1: of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.