WEBVTT - Cowboys Break: Has Dak Met Expectations? 0:00:07.640 --> 0:00:10.160 The following. He's a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com 0:00:10.200 --> 0:00:22.360 and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. Are you ready for 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:26.040 a break? Yes? Are you ready for a break? Absolutely? 0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:30.400 Ready for a break? Yeah, And so much for that. 0:00:30.640 --> 0:00:35.760 It's time for The Break on Dallas Cowboys dot Com 0:00:36.560 --> 0:00:42.040 with Nick Eatman, David Hellman, and bar Garcia and Derek Eagleton. 0:00:42.159 --> 0:00:45.800 It is Tuesday, October twenty second, twenty nineteen, Season fifteen, 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:49.080 episode number sixty nine. Welcome to another edition of The Break. 0:00:49.120 --> 0:00:51.800 We're locking s WBC Mortgage Studios at the starts the 0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:54.240 bye week, so we're gonna do some big picture stuff 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:57.000 pretty much all week this week. Today, we're gonna focus 0:00:57.040 --> 0:01:00.320 in on the offense. Um, what I'm gonna do is 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:03.040 we're going to go through every single player that has 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:07.280 a role on this offense that plays decent time. We're 0:01:07.319 --> 0:01:09.720 going to talk about expectations. We're going to talk about 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:13.600 whether they are above expectations, below expectations, or right at 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:16.399 expectations of where you thought they were going into the 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:20.000 season compared to where they are seven games into the season. 0:01:20.560 --> 0:01:25.160 How's everybody doing today? Great? Good? So good? See some 0:01:25.240 --> 0:01:28.160 problems with this? Really great? Do you see some problems 0:01:28.200 --> 0:01:33.560 with what this the premise of your game because my 0:01:33.680 --> 0:01:39.119 expectations and Dave's expectations and your expectations. Yeah, so that's 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:41.240 the point that they can all chime in. Honestly, that's 0:01:41.240 --> 0:01:43.000 the point of the game is because I want to 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:45.360 know not only how they're playing, but how they're playing 0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:47.000 relative to what you thought they would be when we 0:01:47.040 --> 0:01:49.960 went into the season. And this comes It stems all 0:01:49.960 --> 0:01:52.280 the way back to the difference that Dave and I 0:01:52.360 --> 0:01:55.120 have with grading players with Avali grading on a curve 0:01:55.160 --> 0:01:57.280 because it's like whether or not you thought they would 0:01:57.280 --> 0:01:59.560 be great or not, as he's still good, yeah, you know, 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:02.240 is like is a Mark Cooper like still having a 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:04.600 good year or you know. But here's why it's important. 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:06.760 The reason why it's important, in my opinion, is because 0:02:07.760 --> 0:02:09.760 if the if the team went into the season and 0:02:09.800 --> 0:02:12.359 they expected this player to be at the middle level 0:02:12.400 --> 0:02:15.280 and they expected this play player to be great, then 0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:18.400 they factor all that into how they build a team. Right, oh, 0:02:18.480 --> 0:02:21.080 the team. Now that now we're on the team's expectations, 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:23.560 I'm gonna say, yes, yes, but I'm I'm talking about it. 0:02:23.560 --> 0:02:25.600 But you give my point though, and because of that 0:02:25.919 --> 0:02:29.040 then If a player is meeting expectations, then that means 0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:31.120 for the overall team and how they composite, how they 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:33.280 built the team, they feel like, Okay, we're getting what 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:35.320 we need out of the different players were getting. If 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:37.880 you've got too many guys following below expectations, whether those 0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:41.200 expectations were high or middle, middle, or low, then that's 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:43.360 when you run into problems. That's because what you built 0:02:43.600 --> 0:02:45.680 isn't performing as it should. Does that make sense? I 0:02:45.720 --> 0:02:48.360 feel like I'm talking to a lawyer. But yeah, I 0:02:49.639 --> 0:02:51.720 understand what I'm saying. It makes sense. Okay, good. I 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:53.960 just I'm sitting here, I'm doing the math in my 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:57.799 head already, like okay, above, above, maybe below, blah blah blah. 0:02:57.960 --> 0:02:59.720 And I'm like, how does that jive with the fact 0:02:59.760 --> 0:03:01.800 that the team's four and three and lost to the Jets, 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:04.200 because that's not where I thought they'd be. Well, Thursday, 0:03:04.240 --> 0:03:08.440 I'm glad you up will get into the big overall 0:03:08.760 --> 0:03:11.079 where they are as a team that is relative where 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:13.800 they can't like this is this This is a multi 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:16.920 year trend where like I start asking the questions that 0:03:17.000 --> 0:03:19.440 Derek is trying to save that's just what I do. 0:03:19.560 --> 0:03:22.160 He just kills shows. Yeah, I'm sorry. Well let's just 0:03:22.200 --> 0:03:24.959 say this though, that was a really bad loss until 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:30.760 last night. Then it was just loss loss. They beat 0:03:30.800 --> 0:03:32.680 the Eagles. It was great, and that's what I mean. 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:36.120 We talked about it yesterday, is like, how good should 0:03:36.160 --> 0:03:38.680 you feel about that? And you're allowed to feel good 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:40.839 about it. It's a division rival. They beat him really bad. 0:03:40.880 --> 0:03:42.880 They're above five hundred on top of the Vision, all 0:03:42.880 --> 0:03:45.240 that good stuff. But man, it was hard to turn 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:48.160 that on and watch it and not I mean, it's stung. 0:03:48.320 --> 0:03:51.040 You're sitting like this team is trash. They're they're awful, 0:03:51.160 --> 0:03:53.440 and even I mean, oh Sam Darnold's back, maybe they'll 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:55.240 be good. No turns out. All you gotta do is 0:03:55.280 --> 0:03:57.440 blitz him even a little bit and he falls apart 0:03:57.440 --> 0:04:00.320 a terrible How did they lose that game? That's what 0:04:00.640 --> 0:04:02.480 that's the crazy part, because it did. It was a 0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:05.160 buzz kill because you're riding high off Sunday and then 0:04:05.200 --> 0:04:08.880 you watch Dad and you'll like, I've never felt that victory. 0:04:08.920 --> 0:04:13.360 Monday vibe just sucked away so quickly as I did 0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:16.160 when I turned that game on. Literally, Sinica looks over 0:04:16.200 --> 0:04:18.039 at me at one point it's like this is the 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:21.039 team we lost to last week. Yeah, that's the team 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:23.520 we lost to last week. It's been an interesting first 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:26.320 seven weeks. Yeah, all right, So let's jump into this 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:30.600 conversation on expectations we've got. I'm gonna run through this 0:04:30.640 --> 0:04:33.320 list of the different players. We'll also get to some 0:04:33.320 --> 0:04:35.440 some bigger picture stuff around that. I'll talk about the 0:04:35.520 --> 0:04:38.240 running offense, passing offense, the red zone offense. But let's 0:04:38.240 --> 0:04:40.960 start first with some of the players. Let's talk about 0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:44.000 Dak Prescott. Let's start with the big guy. Has he 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:47.680 performed above expectations, at expectations or below expectations? And again, 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:49.839 I want you to factor in all seven games, not 0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:52.000 just the last game, or not just the last the 0:04:52.279 --> 0:04:54.320 three before that where they lost, factor in the entire 0:04:54.400 --> 0:04:57.400 body of work he's been. He's at expectations. For me, 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:01.840 I expected him to have his team above I mean 0:05:01.880 --> 0:05:04.240 you could almost you could almost say below, but his 0:05:04.279 --> 0:05:07.560 stats have been pretty good, So I will say at expectations. 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:11.000 I agree with that, and I'm I'm the guy that 0:05:11.080 --> 0:05:13.920 grades on a curve. But he's not the fourth He's 0:05:13.920 --> 0:05:15.800 not a fourth round pick anymore. He's a guy that's 0:05:15.839 --> 0:05:18.160 trying to be a franchise quarterback and get the money 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:20.640 that goes along with that. So it's hard for me 0:05:20.680 --> 0:05:23.320 to say above Yeah, they they're four and three. They're 0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:26.600 four and three. At the very least they should have 0:05:26.680 --> 0:05:28.359 beat the Jets, but they should have gone two and 0:05:28.440 --> 0:05:30.600 one against those three teams and they went oh and 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:33.440 three instead. I agree. I think he's at expectations. I 0:05:33.440 --> 0:05:36.840 think we've seen a massive jump and improvements between year 0:05:36.920 --> 0:05:40.040 three and four, and a lot more confidence. He's playing well. 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:42.400 I don't have his stats in front of me, but 0:05:42.480 --> 0:05:44.280 the touchdown to jar Win the other net, so he's 0:05:44.320 --> 0:05:47.160 at twelve touchdowns. I just I'm writing a story about 0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:50.400 the Cooper trade right now. Like he was averaging one 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:53.440 hundred and eighty passing yards and less than a touchdown 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:55.680 per game at this point in the season last year. Obviously, 0:05:55.680 --> 0:05:58.839 he's playing much better than that. He's made a couple 0:05:58.880 --> 0:06:01.679 of you know, the pick against the Eagles was ugly 0:06:01.760 --> 0:06:04.159 and the one against the Dolphins, but I'll take that 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:07.919 because he's playing more aggressive and I think he's playing 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:10.880 really well, but not above expect I say, and we're 0:06:10.920 --> 0:06:13.200 not gonna do this with every player you could every 0:06:13.200 --> 0:06:16.280 player you could say they're four and three, but quarterbacks 0:06:16.279 --> 0:06:20.479 obviously get linked to two records, and so that being said, 0:06:21.120 --> 0:06:23.839 I think it's, you know, right out of expectations. Yeah. 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:26.080 The interesting thing to note though, he is right now 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:30.200 seventy percent completion rate, he has two over two thousand yards, 0:06:30.839 --> 0:06:34.080 he's got twelve touchdowns. I mean, the seven interceptions is 0:06:34.080 --> 0:06:36.520 the part that that certainly would bother you. But when 0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:39.280 you look at that overall, I think then and again 0:06:39.480 --> 0:06:42.000 I'll point out one thing in particular. I think his 0:06:42.080 --> 0:06:46.080 ability to throw the ball down field with more accuracy 0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:49.400 is much better this year than it was last year, 0:06:49.800 --> 0:06:51.560 and that's the part of their game I felt like 0:06:51.600 --> 0:06:53.800 they needed to improve the most, because if you're gonna 0:06:53.839 --> 0:06:56.080 have teams that are gonna suck down and they're gonna 0:06:56.120 --> 0:06:58.400 have eight guys in the box, you're gonna have to 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:00.880 be able to kill him down field them to back up. Now, 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:02.720 they haven't been able to do that consistently across all 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:05.839 seven games, but by and large, I think he's way 0:07:05.880 --> 0:07:08.160 better there, and that's where I would give him. May 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:10.800 I certainly think he's had expectations. Maybe you can get 0:07:10.840 --> 0:07:13.040 him a little bump above, but I get what you guys. Well, 0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:15.880 and I'll let me say this about Dak. Either they 0:07:15.880 --> 0:07:18.559 were three and four last year they traded for a Maori, 0:07:18.960 --> 0:07:21.520 all of a sudden, the offense got better. I think 0:07:21.520 --> 0:07:23.520 you could put that on him. Look at this year 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:28.480 without any of their receivers, you know. I mean, when 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:32.080 he has Gallup and Cooper in the lineup, they're three 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:35.239 and oh whether they or not in the lineup, they're 0:07:35.400 --> 0:07:39.000 they're one in one in three because they were able 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:43.640 to win the Dolphins game without Gallup, But when he 0:07:43.720 --> 0:07:46.120 doesn't have those guys and definitely doesn't have both of them, 0:07:46.120 --> 0:07:49.080 like the Jets game, they don't win. So I don't 0:07:49.280 --> 0:07:50.960 not just comparing him to Aaron Rodgers. No one is 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:53.119 Aaron Rodgers, but you could see a guy that makes 0:07:53.160 --> 0:07:56.320 these other guys around him better, and Dak's not at 0:07:56.320 --> 0:08:01.440 that point yet. So yeah, that's fair. Um, It's so 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:04.480 funny because what I was thinking is, like, if you 0:08:04.520 --> 0:08:07.000 beat the Jets, obviously if they should they should have. 0:08:07.080 --> 0:08:09.080 If they beat the Jets and he finds a way 0:08:09.080 --> 0:08:12.720 to win that New Orleans game, you I mean, he 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:15.000 wouldn't be like the leader in the clubhouse, but like 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:17.600 he would probably be on like the shortlist of like 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:20.080 MVP talk. Yes, you know, like with the way that 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:24.080 he's played, and I mean if ifs were fifth fifth, 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:26.160 we'd all be drunk. I get that. But I mean 0:08:26.800 --> 0:08:30.760 it's a fine line. He's played really well. As what 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:33.360 I'm trying to say, he really has um, but not 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:37.560 above expectation. Yeah, somebody just tweeted at me and said, 0:08:38.040 --> 0:08:40.720 you know what, you're down twelve to ten, why don't 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:43.160 you just let Maha kick a seventy yard at field 0:08:43.200 --> 0:08:45.599 goal instead of doing the hell marriage We kind of 0:08:45.600 --> 0:08:47.640 talk talking about the Saints game, We kind of we 0:08:47.760 --> 0:08:50.360 sort of mold that over in the Superdome. We were 0:08:50.400 --> 0:08:53.480 like what I was saying was it was especially with him, 0:08:53.800 --> 0:08:56.199 you know Russian like that. I would have tried the 0:08:56.920 --> 0:08:59.280 hard count if anyone could hear, but I would try 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:00.959 the hard count. See if you can get a five 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:02.559 yard pilming, if you get a five yard pilny in 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:06.280 the sixty five yard or let's go get some adrenaline 0:09:06.040 --> 0:09:08.200 going the one from Sunday Night would have gone in 0:09:08.240 --> 0:09:11.040 from sixty five. So yeah, I mean that that's where 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:13.000 he is as a weapon, right as you put him 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:15.120 back there, Like he may not make that thirty three yarder, 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:18.559 but he is a weapon you get beyond fifty and sixty, Like, seriously, 0:09:18.600 --> 0:09:21.000 think about no, I get it. It's just he doesn't 0:09:21.000 --> 0:09:24.040 make layoffs, but on half court shot people will kill him. Right, 0:09:24.240 --> 0:09:27.320 And that's the part where it does affect your ability 0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:29.640 to maybe win some games if you're willing to do that, 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:32.760 win some games that maybe you wouldn't win otherwise, right, 0:09:32.800 --> 0:09:34.880 you know, Yeah, all right, Let's me on to the 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:38.160 next player, Zeke Elliott. How's he performed above at or 0:09:38.160 --> 0:09:44.600 below expectations? At again at I mean top five pick 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:48.000 ninety million dollar contract. He's been. He's been really good. 0:09:48.040 --> 0:09:51.760 But when you're talking about the amount of money involved, 0:09:51.800 --> 0:09:55.520 like I don't begrudge fans for wondering where the long 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:59.240 runs are and the you know, the jaw dropping stuff 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:02.079 that makes Red Zone channel cut in and like, oh 0:10:02.120 --> 0:10:04.360 my god, you have to see what Zeke did. I mean, 0:10:04.800 --> 0:10:06.640 he's been really good, and there's no doubt that he 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:09.760 sets the tone for this team, But I can't say 0:10:09.760 --> 0:10:17.040 he's playing above expectations. The greatness from him in the consistency. Yeah, 0:10:17.080 --> 0:10:22.000 and he's been he's borderline being below expectations, really really 0:10:22.080 --> 0:10:24.120 he'd be he'd be closer to that than he would 0:10:24.160 --> 0:10:28.040 be above. Yes, because because of fumble in New Orleans. Yeah, 0:10:28.080 --> 0:10:31.240 I mean he had and when he got here, you know, 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:34.400 now he he got here without a training camp and 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:36.960 he's been when you factor that part, and I know 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:39.360 you always think that guys are going to have, you know, 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:41.959 have a huge drop off, so he hasn't really had that, right, 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:45.800 But I think it's just add expectations. You expected him 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:47.960 to be one of, you know, probably be the best 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:50.320 running back in the league, and he's just he's right there. 0:10:50.840 --> 0:10:54.320 I wish and not necessarily on him, like I wish 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:57.000 he was more involved in the passing game. I mean, 0:10:57.040 --> 0:10:58.760 how many times are we going to say that? But 0:10:59.520 --> 0:11:02.280 you know, other than like the no I actually I 0:11:02.320 --> 0:11:06.480 thought quietly, six catches for thirty six yards against the Eagles, 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:10.040 like I'd like to see that on a weekly basis even. 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:11.520 I mean, it doesn't sound like a lot, but it 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:14.160 really does help. It moves the chains, you know, when 0:11:14.160 --> 0:11:16.560 he was just running into a brick wall time after 0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:19.920 time against the Saints. There's other ways to use him 0:11:19.920 --> 0:11:22.760 that could maybe help you with that. And it's ridiculous 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:24.920 that you go a year between seeing him run a 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:27.360 wheel route. He did it against Detroit in eighteen in 0:11:27.400 --> 0:11:30.320 Green Bay in nineteen, Like, maybe he could do that 0:11:31.040 --> 0:11:33.679 more often than once per season, just stuff like that. 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:36.440 Right now, he is sixth in the league in yards 0:11:36.480 --> 0:11:39.160 per attempt, which is not a bad thing to be obviously, 0:11:39.520 --> 0:11:42.640 expectations might be higher than that, but he's also fifth 0:11:42.640 --> 0:11:44.439 in the league and attempts per game, so he's getting 0:11:44.440 --> 0:11:47.280 the bass, it's in a significant amount of times, and 0:11:47.360 --> 0:11:49.760 again maybe getting him more involved in the passing game 0:11:49.800 --> 0:11:52.160 would help. Really. I think, as you guys said, the 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:54.800 big challenged there as he's not getting the big, big 0:11:54.880 --> 0:11:57.400 chunk yard plays that you'd expect from him. But you know, 0:11:57.480 --> 0:11:59.840 still that's a pretty good number to be, what fifth 0:11:59.920 --> 0:12:02.400 or six with the yards per attempt because he is 0:12:02.400 --> 0:12:04.959 a short yardage back pack. He's gonna get third and one, 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:07.160 he's gonna get the one yard or two yards here, 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:10.600 So that kills your average there. What helps is getting 0:12:10.600 --> 0:12:12.880 those thirty and forty yard runs, which he doesn't have, 0:12:13.080 --> 0:12:15.360 so that means he's getting a healthy amount of ten 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:18.520 and eleven yard runs. Yeah, they're not going to cut 0:12:18.559 --> 0:12:21.080 into the red zone channel with that, but if you 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:23.559 keep doing it. Obviously, I haven't checked on it since 0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:25.360 the Eagles game, but again, I mean, I think he 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:29.120 leads the league in terms of explosive runs if you 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:31.559 consider that an explosive run is only twelve yard and 0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:34.720 changing the word on that explosive to me, I think 0:12:34.720 --> 0:12:38.680 it's it speaks to how hard it is to get 0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:41.280 running room in the NFL. I think that's fine. Twelve 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:43.440 yards if you get a first down on one touch, 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:46.000 that's explosive to me. I agree, Yeah, I think that's 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:49.280 But he definitely doesn't lead the league in terms of 0:12:49.400 --> 0:12:54.160 you know, twenty thirty forty plus, and you'd like to 0:12:54.160 --> 0:12:55.959 see more of that. I'm not going to kill that's 0:12:56.000 --> 0:13:00.640 an explosive pass play sixteen ye eighteen. The parameters are 0:13:00.640 --> 0:13:04.640 a lot lower than you would says Witten gets I mean, 0:13:05.120 --> 0:13:07.880 how often does Jason get that? Say? He has maybe 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:13.160 a few in the career. Yeah, like an eighteen yard fumble. 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:15.600 It's true, he doesn't do it often. All right, let's 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:17.720 take our first break when we come back. I'm gonna 0:13:17.720 --> 0:13:19.520 ask you about Tony Pollard. Then we'll move into this 0:13:19.600 --> 0:13:21.720 offensive line. We're gonna move move quickly, all right. Then 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:23.160 we'll come back back. This is the Dallas Cowboys dot 0:13:23.200 --> 0:13:26.280 Com Radio. Well, a player could look good on paper, 0:13:26.559 --> 0:13:28.520 it's one he's out on the field that you really 0:13:28.559 --> 0:13:31.640 find out what he's made of. That's why the Cowboys 0:13:31.679 --> 0:13:34.719 rely on more than just stats and scouting reports when 0:13:34.800 --> 0:13:38.080 building their team. When picking a tractor, it's why you 0:13:38.120 --> 0:13:40.960 should rely on more than just specs and features. You've 0:13:40.960 --> 0:13:43.199 got to take it out and put it to the test. 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:46.480 The Cowboys did when they named John Dear their official 0:13:46.559 --> 0:13:50.440 tractor experience one for yourself. If this at my John 0:13:50.480 --> 0:13:53.600 Dear Dealer dot com slash football. Do you want the 0:13:53.679 --> 0:13:57.000 most interesting, up to the minute Dallas Cowboys news straight 0:13:57.040 --> 0:14:00.439 from the star in Frisco. How about exclusive and on command. 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:03.640 That's right, news and nuggets you can't find anywhere else. 0:14:03.800 --> 0:14:07.079 With our exclusive Cowboys content on Alexa, you can have 0:14:07.120 --> 0:14:11.200 all the answers, secrets, stories and more. What's Stephen Jones 0:14:11.240 --> 0:14:14.680 thinking during a game? What's Joe Looney's favorite pregame? Neal. 0:14:14.920 --> 0:14:18.080 We take your questions to Cowboys players and coaches and 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:20.720 you can hear the answers directly back to you. Just 0:14:20.760 --> 0:14:24.000 say Alexa Open, Dallas Cowboys want to use what the 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:27.240 pros use. How about the official men's skincare brand of 0:14:27.320 --> 0:14:30.440 the Dallas Cowboys, Jack Black. Right now you can get 0:14:30.440 --> 0:14:33.600 the Jack Black Starter, a curated collection of Cowboys locker 0:14:33.680 --> 0:14:36.560 room favorites, for just ten bucks with free shipping. The 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:39.880 starter includes four Jack Black skincare favorites plus a full 0:14:39.960 --> 0:14:42.720 sized and tense therapy lip bomb. Go to get Jack 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:45.600 Black dot com slash Cowboys and use the code word 0:14:45.720 --> 0:14:49.560 team JB. That's get Jack Black dot com slash Cowboys 0:14:49.680 --> 0:14:53.760 The Jack Black Starter ten bucks, free shipping. The excitement 0:14:53.760 --> 0:14:57.360 of Dallas Cowboys football. It's back at at and T Stadium. 0:14:57.360 --> 0:15:00.600 Plashas going crazy at our Leyton, Texas your chance to 0:15:00.640 --> 0:15:04.240 see the Cowboys lot when they host their NFC East riot, 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:09.960 the Eagles Giants in redskins plus the Green Bay Packers, 0:15:08.680 --> 0:15:11.880 and watch his way through a Watch the Door single 0:15:11.960 --> 0:15:14.560 game tickets You're on sale down get there before they're 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:18.680 going first to go quarterbacks Prescott pushes up the middle touchdown. 0:15:18.840 --> 0:15:22.600 Visit Dallas Cowboys dot com to get your tickets today. 0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:26.480 Back to the Break Welcome back to the second segment 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:28.760 of the Break. Lock Nest WVC Morgy Studios at the 0:15:28.760 --> 0:15:31.760 Star We're talking about expectations for this team. We talked 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:33.680 about the quarterback in the running back. Tell me about 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:37.359 Tony Pollits. He's been above expectations, below er at expectations, 0:15:37.360 --> 0:15:40.840 below expectations. That is that entirely his fault. None of 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:43.920 it's his fault, but it's below expectations. I expected him 0:15:43.920 --> 0:15:46.520 to be the gadget player that would be, that would 0:15:46.520 --> 0:15:48.800 be similar to Alvin Kamara. Okay, so let me ask 0:15:48.800 --> 0:15:50.640 you this. Does it change your answer? If I tell 0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:54.120 you a little later we're gonna actually talk about expectations 0:15:54.880 --> 0:15:59.920 for Kellen Moore and the offensive, it doesn't change my answer. 0:16:00.160 --> 0:16:03.520 But because what I'm saying is that sept To me, 0:16:03.600 --> 0:16:06.960 that separates out what For me, it separates out Tony 0:16:07.000 --> 0:16:10.000 Pollard from how he's being used for what I've seen 0:16:10.080 --> 0:16:13.240 in the plays that I've seen. That is a different 0:16:13.600 --> 0:16:15.880 like when you're talking about met expectations. To me, he's 0:16:15.920 --> 0:16:19.360 been above expectations the plays I've seen him play. He's 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:22.480 actually played above what I thought he would play. He's okay, 0:16:22.520 --> 0:16:24.760 but he's not being utilized enough. That's on Kellen Moore. 0:16:26.120 --> 0:16:27.720 If he can't what if he doesn't know where to 0:16:27.760 --> 0:16:29.560 line up? What if he doesn't. What if he's not 0:16:29.680 --> 0:16:31.560 get Well, that's an assumption. I'm not making an assumption. 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:33.240 I'm saying based on what I've seen, I don't know 0:16:33.240 --> 0:16:36.400 if I buy that. Because he blocked the hell out 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:39.160 of that guy on the first snap of the second night. 0:16:39.440 --> 0:16:42.240 I just wonder why they're not using that. Okay, Well, 0:16:42.240 --> 0:16:44.080 we have a history with this team of seeing a 0:16:44.080 --> 0:16:46.760 lot of players alf talent that not that are underutilized, 0:16:46.800 --> 0:16:49.600 and I would say he's at the expectation of the 0:16:49.640 --> 0:16:52.840 talent that I expect him to have and we're not 0:16:52.960 --> 0:16:55.760 seeing it. I don't put that on him. So fine, Okay, yeah, 0:16:55.880 --> 0:16:59.080 Tony Pollard's at expectation, But I say at not above 0:16:59.520 --> 0:17:02.440 because spent the whole offseason telling me how awesome he 0:17:02.560 --> 0:17:05.600 is and like basically intimating that you might not need Zeke. 0:17:05.760 --> 0:17:08.720 I mean, they basically did that, and obviously it was posturing, 0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:11.159 but you believed it enough to even say it to 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:14.440 begin with. So, but what we saw in training camp 0:17:14.480 --> 0:17:16.800 for him to come out and have you know, this 0:17:17.160 --> 0:17:20.919 kind of numbers, it is below the expectations that I 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:24.200 thought they'd have for him. Put it on him, Kellen Moore, whatever, 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:26.119 I'm not sawing him a bad player. I'm just saying 0:17:26.320 --> 0:17:29.199 I've expected more. I get lead back at camp. I 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:31.560 just look at it as some of the things I've 0:17:31.560 --> 0:17:34.280 seen him do on the field are better than where 0:17:34.320 --> 0:17:36.280 I expected him to be at this point in his career. 0:17:36.560 --> 0:17:38.920 Now they're not utilizing him enough, and you're right, it 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:41.640 could be that there's something he's doing to make them 0:17:41.680 --> 0:17:43.560 not when you I don't know that. What I know 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:45.919 is in the opportunities they've given him. That run he 0:17:46.000 --> 0:17:49.800 made last week, that that level of balance I didn't 0:17:49.800 --> 0:17:52.280 expect that he had, Like that is that is an 0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:54.960 extraordinary run that I didn't necessarily think this guy would 0:17:55.000 --> 0:17:57.280 necessarily be able to provide. Me. I'm not gonna let 0:17:57.400 --> 0:17:59.080 I'm not gonna let them off the hook for that. 0:17:59.160 --> 0:18:02.320 And now I mean no, no, no, but it's it's no. 0:18:02.400 --> 0:18:04.280 I'm gonna go as far as to say, like none 0:18:04.280 --> 0:18:07.240 of it is Tony Pollard's fault, because at every step 0:18:07.320 --> 0:18:09.960 of the way, like all through training camp, like do 0:18:10.040 --> 0:18:11.960 you trust him to block? Do you try? Like really, 0:18:12.000 --> 0:18:15.280 he's your number one guy. Where's Darius Jackson and Alfred 0:18:15.320 --> 0:18:17.840 Morris And they're like no, Like every step of the way, 0:18:17.880 --> 0:18:20.000 he just impresses us, like, every time we put more 0:18:20.040 --> 0:18:21.679 on his plate, he can do this, he can do that. 0:18:21.960 --> 0:18:24.280 We totally trust him way more than we thought we would. Like, 0:18:24.320 --> 0:18:26.280 these are all things that they said, Could this also 0:18:26.359 --> 0:18:28.240 be a situation where because I do think in this 0:18:28.359 --> 0:18:30.920 last game we saw Tony Pollard out there with Zeke 0:18:31.320 --> 0:18:34.640 more frequently. Could this be a situation where up until 0:18:34.640 --> 0:18:36.760 this point, the reason why he hasn't been utilized as 0:18:36.840 --> 0:18:38.920 much as because they don't want to take Zeke off 0:18:38.920 --> 0:18:40.560 the field. And we know how important Zeke is, we 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:42.960 know how good Zeke is is. That could that be 0:18:43.040 --> 0:18:44.720 part of it? And now they're starting to realize, hey, 0:18:44.760 --> 0:18:46.680 we could put them out there together more frequently. That's 0:18:46.680 --> 0:18:49.160 how you get it more involved rather than necessarily having 0:18:49.160 --> 0:18:51.440 to take Zeke off the field. Yes, I'd be okay 0:18:51.440 --> 0:18:55.399 with that. I don't like I mean, the guy played 0:18:55.440 --> 0:18:58.000 receiver in college. Like, there's so many different ways you 0:18:58.000 --> 0:18:59.840 can do this, and that's I keep I like this 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:03.600 analogy is like that, it's so paint by numbers. They're like, well, 0:19:04.160 --> 0:19:07.119 we have Zeke. We can't take Zeke off field. Nobody 0:19:07.119 --> 0:19:10.320 said you had to do something different. Fun you think 0:19:10.359 --> 0:19:13.080 that would have been different if during training camp you 0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:15.280 had Zeke there, which meant you could have Zeke in 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:17.920 the backfield and now you could actually practice him out 0:19:17.920 --> 0:19:22.440 of very fair assessment that he wasn't able to do 0:19:22.520 --> 0:19:25.760 those kind of things because he was the number one 0:19:25.840 --> 0:19:29.760 running back. Okay, I didn't even really think about that 0:19:29.840 --> 0:19:31.959 until you just said it. But yeah, that's probably one 0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:34.080 of the reasons. What that kind of hurt him with that, 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:36.800 And I wonder if that's a I wonder if that's 0:19:36.800 --> 0:19:40.159 something he can pick up in season with a limited 0:19:40.160 --> 0:19:41.640 amount of reps. Like you know how it goes during 0:19:41.640 --> 0:19:43.879 the season. Everything this week might be a week, but 0:19:44.040 --> 0:19:46.040