Speaker 1: The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com
Speaker 1: and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. Are you ready for
Speaker 1: a break? Yes? Are you ready for a break? Absolutely?
Speaker 1: Ready for a break? Yeah, and so much for that.
Speaker 1: It's time for The Break on Dallas Cowboys dot Com.
Speaker 1: Weak It is Tuesday, November tenth, two thousand and twenty,
Speaker 1: Season sixteen, episode number sixty two. Welcome to the latest
Speaker 1: edition of The Break. I'm live from the s WBC
Speaker 1: Mortgage studios at the Star, and I don't have my
Speaker 1: normal crew with me, but I got a good crew
Speaker 1: with me. Y'all joy this this next forty five minutes.
Speaker 1: We're gonna have some fun. We're gonna talk about a
Speaker 1: lot of stuff. We're gonna get some good opinions out
Speaker 1: there and have a good discuss. And I got Isaiah
Speaker 1: stand back with me, four year NFL VET with the Cowboys,
Speaker 1: with the Patriots, with the Jacksonville Jaguars, we got Buried
Speaker 1: Church and nine year vet also with the Cowboys and
Speaker 1: the Jaguars. We got Kurt Daniels who's a twelve year VET.
Speaker 1: Never put on a helmet, but twelve years there. And uh,
Speaker 1: I'll take it. I'll take it. Right, So we got it.
Speaker 1: We got a very very experienced crew here. We're gonna
Speaker 1: have a lot of good, good conversation and what I
Speaker 1: want to do to get started. I know there might
Speaker 1: be people out there listening that may not have, may
Speaker 1: not be asked familiar with with you guys because they
Speaker 1: listen to the break and maybe they don't listen to
Speaker 1: the other shows. So I'm gonna open up by first
Speaker 1: just going around the table, and I want you guys
Speaker 1: to the level set and to tell people what your
Speaker 1: thoughts are, general thoughts are on the status of this
Speaker 1: team right now. I'm gonna start first with you, Isaiah.
Speaker 1: Um right now is this is not a very good
Speaker 1: team right now. Obviously the record records says one thing,
Speaker 1: obviously being two and seven, and that I'll let you know.
Speaker 1: But unfortunately, you know, this team just they play some
Speaker 1: very tough teams, but they also haven't played very good ball. Man.
Speaker 1: You know, if this, if this last game, is any
Speaker 1: indication as to where we're going as an organization from
Speaker 1: this point forward, then you know, I think everybody should
Speaker 1: be encouraged. But you know, I don't aside from dog
Speaker 1: on forty nine ers, I don't think anybody's facing as
Speaker 1: many injuries as if we face, can't use it as
Speaker 1: an excuse. The next man has to stand up and
Speaker 1: step up. And unfortunately guys should have not played up
Speaker 1: to what we feel like they should be doing. Very Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm with Isaiah on this. When the season hasn't been
Speaker 1: what we all thought it would be going into this thing.
Speaker 1: We lost multiple all pros. I mean, we lost our
Speaker 1: two tackles, we lost our QB one out there. Defensively,
Speaker 1: We've been running around kind of days and confused with
Speaker 1: this new system. So overall, things aren't going how we
Speaker 1: thought they would in this season. But like you said,
Speaker 1: these last two games Philadelphia defensively and then Pittsburgh, I
Speaker 1: think all three phases played a lot better. And if
Speaker 1: they can build on this momentum, if they can get
Speaker 1: this going in the right direction, I mean, we're not
Speaker 1: out of the playoffs yet. I mean, you know, if
Speaker 1: you're crazy, it is very crazy. If you watch, if
Speaker 1: you watch the players now, you'll see I'm still drinking
Speaker 1: the kool aid over here. I might be the only one.
Speaker 1: But so far the season hasn't gone. But you know,
Speaker 1: we gotta keep that momentum going and who knows what
Speaker 1: can happen, Kurt, what are your thoughts? Yeah, I agree,
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, they had a shot to make the playoffs.
Speaker 1: But for me, I'm looking towards next year. I want
Speaker 1: to see development. I want to see these young guys
Speaker 1: just better. I want to see some improvement, which I
Speaker 1: think we have seen the last couple of games. I
Speaker 1: kind of wish they'd been bigger sellers at the trade deadline.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just been a disappointing year for a
Speaker 1: number of reasons. For me, I'm looking for next year.
Speaker 1: I want to see development, improvement going forward. Let's get
Speaker 1: into the past tense too. You see, he's a had Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I chugged, Yeah, I chugged the kool aid. At the
Speaker 1: beginning of the year, I was I was super bullbust
Speaker 1: to start out, and now I'm just I'm sorry, I can't.
Speaker 1: I've I've jumped off the bandwagon. Get something. What you
Speaker 1: guys might not know about me, I'm probably the most
Speaker 1: optimistic person you'll ever meet. So for me, I had
Speaker 1: really been kept, I kept the faith, and then it
Speaker 1: just got to a point where it's like I can't
Speaker 1: really even I can't. Yeah, I don't. I don't know
Speaker 1: what else to say. I mean, honestly, I'm kind of
Speaker 1: with Kurt. I just want to see I want to
Speaker 1: see how well these guys develop, because I'm looking at
Speaker 1: next year and I'm thinking, you get because let's let's
Speaker 1: be real, even if they get to the playoffs, the
Speaker 1: teams they match up with, there is not a likelihood
Speaker 1: that it's going to be a long playoff run. So
Speaker 1: so for me, I look at it, I'm like, okay,
Speaker 1: So when you get back all of your your great
Speaker 1: players that you lost this year, then the question becomes
Speaker 1: how much did you get the young guys to develop
Speaker 1: A Gallimore, a Trevon Diggs. You know how much did
Speaker 1: those guys developed to where you add them into these
Speaker 1: great players that you're missing right now, to where you
Speaker 1: might actually have something. So that's what I'm more looking
Speaker 1: forward to, I guess, right, But as as a player, right,
Speaker 1: as a player, you know, when you're saying there's a chance,
Speaker 1: there's a chance, right, always always a chance. So I
Speaker 1: mean you go out there, your check is the same
Speaker 1: no matter what, Right, a seventeen weeks your check comes
Speaker 1: through the same way, right, But those extra checks, right,
Speaker 1: and when along as those things are on the horizon,
Speaker 1: you're gonna do everything you can't go grab those things, right,
Speaker 1: no matter what circumstances. Yeah, no matter what the circumstances.
Speaker 1: And the NFC East is what it is, right, it
Speaker 1: is what it is. And guess what I take? A
Speaker 1: hik can get it right. You know I alluded to
Speaker 1: it in the past or when I was playing with them.
Speaker 1: I'm fortunate with the Giants, right. Um, you know, we
Speaker 1: we snuck in the playoffs. You know, we we beat
Speaker 1: Dallas and we snuck in the playoffs. And guess what
Speaker 1: we got. We we took we got some of that
Speaker 1: cool later, we got some get right, right, and guess
Speaker 1: what we guys who remember once they got that opportunity,
Speaker 1: it was a reset button, right, So regardless of how
Speaker 1: we were playing up to that point, it was a
Speaker 1: reset button that day. Once you recognize you're in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: and it's like, guess what I can ball? Right, we
Speaker 1: can ball as a team, and guess what, We're only
Speaker 1: four games away from walking away with some jewelry. So
Speaker 1: your mindset changes, right as long So as long as
Speaker 1: you have an opportunity to get in that thing, you
Speaker 1: slide up in there like you want, like you on
Speaker 1: the slipping slide. So I kind of I'm kind of
Speaker 1: hearing that you're kind of with me on this. Windows
Speaker 1: were coming and you can be d BO so you
Speaker 1: can do it over the open of the going on
Speaker 1: in and I'm with you on that one. We still
Speaker 1: got a chance. His NFC's is not sewn up at
Speaker 1: all by any stretch of the imagination. We still get
Speaker 1: to play all those guys at least one more time,
Speaker 1: so we can we got a chance at least to
Speaker 1: get back into the division. Um, and I can see
Speaker 1: it happening. Um, we just gotta we just gotta play
Speaker 1: better overall the defense, offense, special teams, which we've seen
Speaker 1: um in that Pittsburgh game. So for me, we still
Speaker 1: got a chance. I'm still drinking the kool aid. I
Speaker 1: might be the only one on the boat, but I'm
Speaker 1: gonna still be Now. You ain't because think about it.
Speaker 1: Think about it from this perspective. Right, if you do
Speaker 1: get it back into the play If you say you
Speaker 1: have a chance to win the playoffs, right and somehow
Speaker 1: you sneak up in there at that point in time,
Speaker 1: think about how healthy you are potentially if you don't
Speaker 1: have any more injuries, right, you get all your guys
Speaker 1: back for the most part. Right, In the conversation of
Speaker 1: Dak coming back even presents itself depending on how how
Speaker 1: well his repart. You're talking to somebody who's at six surgeries, okay, right,
Speaker 1: somebody who's at act seven surgeries. So when you start
Speaker 1: talking about injuries, when were talking about bones, right, there's
Speaker 1: a potential for bones to he'll substantially faster than ligaments
Speaker 1: and and everything else that you face. So I'm saying
Speaker 1: there's a chance. I'm saying that it might be a
Speaker 1: slither of a chance, right, going all in with what
Speaker 1: I'm saying, this sweet in everything every Yeah, it was,
Speaker 1: but but a lot of things start present themselves, right,
Speaker 1: So but you have to give yourself that chance, gather
Speaker 1: yourself that opportunity. Um and if you even if you
Speaker 1: take the decks aspect out of it, if you're putting
Speaker 1: your position yourself to get into the playoffs, then whoever
Speaker 1: you have that quarterback, it's probably probably playing pretty well
Speaker 1: at that time. Well at this point, I mean, I
Speaker 1: certainly want the guys over that other part of the the
Speaker 1: building be thinking like that, right, That's what we expect
Speaker 1: for sure that we want them to play the thing
Speaker 1: lay as hard as you can. I just don't know.
Speaker 1: For me as a as an observer, I hear you
Speaker 1: not necessarily I'm gonna buy it. But if they give
Speaker 1: me reason to like, I always tell give me a
Speaker 1: reason pick you. I want to pick you every single week.
Speaker 1: You got to give me a reason to pick every
Speaker 1: single week. Let's jump into the conversation on trayvun Digs.
Speaker 1: There was a little bit of news that came out
Speaker 1: on him. Looks like he has a broken foot, and
Speaker 1: we were talking about it before the show Isaiah and
Speaker 1: I for me, again, it goes against what I'm really
Speaker 1: trying to accomplish this year at this point, which is
Speaker 1: these young guys getting reps and being able to develop.
Speaker 1: And what we've seen from him to in my opinion,
Speaker 1: as a player who came in, they threw him in
Speaker 1: the fire, and over time we've seen him get a
Speaker 1: little bit better. There was some things he's had some
Speaker 1: misapps that are just like, you don't even know why
Speaker 1: he did what he did. But you've also seen some
Speaker 1: moments where you're like, man, this kid complete wall. And
Speaker 1: so that being said, I'm asking you, guys, particularly as
Speaker 1: two former players, how much does that affect that when
Speaker 1: when is your first year and you're kind of having
Speaker 1: this up and down year, how much does it affect
Speaker 1: you to now have to miss at least half the season.
Speaker 1: It hurts him drastically, I mean, because he was picking
Speaker 1: up he was picking up momentum. And I think early
Speaker 1: on I've been hard on him all year or two.
Speaker 1: I've been tough on him, but he's faced the best
Speaker 1: delete has to throw on him. So we're talking about
Speaker 1: in terms of as a rookie coming in and you know,
Speaker 1: your ability to see things and adjust to the to
Speaker 1: the speed of the game. And he's faced it, right,
Speaker 1: He faced it, and he's got his he's got his tail. Well.
Speaker 1: Acted a couple of times, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: Guys will ram past him. Um, But you know he
Speaker 1: started figuring things out. We saw, you know, obviously in
Speaker 1: the Philly game, he got a couple of interceptions, ball
Speaker 1: came his way, he made the plays. Um last week
Speaker 1: he played a little bit better as well, So I'm
Speaker 1: thinking that his confidence was starting to build. It as
Speaker 1: soon as you get that confidence boom, this happens to
Speaker 1: you right. So now not only does he have to
Speaker 1: overcome being a rookie, he has to overcome injury, and
Speaker 1: now he has overcome trying to get back in it
Speaker 1: before the season's over. Yeah, I think it's going to
Speaker 1: hurt him overall. Go ahead, What was he meeting your expectations? Though?
Speaker 1: I mean I almost feel like, I mean, he had
Speaker 1: no offseason, he had no preseason games. Obviously a rookie
Speaker 1: in some ways, whatever you could get out of him
Speaker 1: this year, it was almost not a free pass. But
Speaker 1: I don't know. This season for him was all about development,
Speaker 1: which is why this injury hurts him so much. But
Speaker 1: did you think he was meeting the expectations of his
Speaker 1: second round pick before this happened? Well, for me overall,
Speaker 1: I thought, um, at the beginning, I mean, let's look
Speaker 1: at the list of receivers he went against. We got
Speaker 1: Robert Woods, Cooper Cup, Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley, you got
Speaker 1: DK Metcalf, you got Tyler Locket. I mean that lineup alone,
Speaker 1: I mean I don't see I don't know any veteran
Speaker 1: cornerback that would be able to, you know, stand up
Speaker 1: against that. So for me, the ups and downs that
Speaker 1: he's had. I mean, you're gonna see those as a rookie.
Speaker 1: I mean, he had a lot of mistakes with his
Speaker 1: eyes and his footwork at the line of scrimmage. But
Speaker 1: those are the things that's gonna hurt him because he
Speaker 1: could have built upon that in this season ming going forward.
Speaker 1: But to me, I love what I see in the guy.
Speaker 1: I mean, the best part about his game that I
Speaker 1: saw so far this year was just his short term memory.
Speaker 1: He was about to go out there and he had
Speaker 1: ups and downs, but he wouldn't let that affect him
Speaker 1: throughout the whole game. He wouldn't hang his head and
Speaker 1: kind of man with what was me type deal. No,
Speaker 1: he kept scrapping and he kept fighting. And those are
Speaker 1: the type of guys you want on your team, those
Speaker 1: type of guys you want to go to war with.
Speaker 1: But this injury, it will affect him a little bit,
Speaker 1: But I think he should I'm not a doctor or anything,
Speaker 1: but he should be ready by OTAs and and mini
Speaker 1: camp and all that good stuff. So hopefully it doesn't
Speaker 1: hamper that at all. But going forward, I think we
Speaker 1: have a start here at thinking about his mentality. And
Speaker 1: we talk about this all the time in a break.
Speaker 1: This guy, he's been he's been used to getting torched
Speaker 1: in the backyard all his life, going up against his
Speaker 1: brother who was an NFL wide receiver, real receiver. So
Speaker 1: he's not gonna get down, like he knows if getting
Speaker 1: beat as a part of it. And he's also gonna
Speaker 1: keep fighting and he's gonna win something on his own.
Speaker 1: And that's just that, that's what you're seeing from him.
Speaker 1: He's a guy's gonna keep fighting. Even when he makes
Speaker 1: a mistake, he comes back. I think the dk Metcalf
Speaker 1: play is to me, the epitome of what his season
Speaker 1: a get beat, come back, make a play. And that's
Speaker 1: quite frankly. You look at the cornerbacks on this team
Speaker 1: for quite a while now, they haven't had that those
Speaker 1: kind of players. They'll get beat, but they never come
Speaker 1: back and make the play. They never come back and
Speaker 1: make that play that can change the game. I think
Speaker 1: from that standpoint, they might have found him a gym
Speaker 1: in this guy. This is true because I mean when
Speaker 1: when I was on the team, we had a guy
Speaker 1: similar and Morris Clayborne who was a high draft pick
Speaker 1: and you know, coming out of LSU man corner. But
Speaker 1: what Tayvron Diggs had that he didn't he had that
Speaker 1: short term memory with MOA was kind of like, man,
Speaker 1: I got beat and then the rest of the game
Speaker 1: was just downhill. And that's what I think I love
Speaker 1: so much about Tavond. It's just his ability to fight
Speaker 1: and keep scratching no matter what. All Right, we're going
Speaker 1: to move on to another topics. Earlier yesterday, I think
Speaker 1: it was Stephen Jones and Mike McCarthy, they were in
Speaker 1: their their separate interviews and they talked about Andy Dalton
Speaker 1: and the quarterback position, and they both agreed that once
Speaker 1: he's healthy, he will resume the role as a starter
Speaker 1: over Garrett Gilbert. My question for you guys is do
Speaker 1: you agree or disagree with this decision. Let's start first
Speaker 1: with you, Kurt Well. I don't know, it's might be
Speaker 1: a cop out, but I want the guy who's going
Speaker 1: to give us the best chance to win, excuse me,
Speaker 1: the best chance to win. I mean, it's not like
Speaker 1: you're developing Gilbert for the future. I don't think. I
Speaker 1: mean he was. He brought a lot of excitement, a
Speaker 1: little bit of energy in that game. But you know,
Speaker 1: in some ways, I think Dalton has as big a
Speaker 1: chance to be your backup next year as as as
Speaker 1: as Gilbert does. I mean, what's the market going to
Speaker 1: be for him to find a number one job somewhere.
Speaker 1: So I'm not against Dalton coming out there if he
Speaker 1: proves he you know, if he's if he's the better quarterback,
Speaker 1: which his experience says it he is. I don't see
Speaker 1: why you don't keep it running him out there if
Speaker 1: he's giving you the best chance to win, because you're
Speaker 1: not trying. I don't think you're trying to develop a
Speaker 1: thirty year old Gilbert to spend in the league. So
Speaker 1: long as he has I'm Andy Dalton fan and I've
Speaker 1: gotten scorched for it. However, you look as as players, right,
Speaker 1: we look at the energy of the team. We look
Speaker 1: at how the team vibed with Gilbert versus how they
Speaker 1: vibe with Dalton. Now, Gilbert had a much more stout
Speaker 1: offensive line than and then and he'd had at the time.
Speaker 1: But regardless of the fact, I feel as if the
Speaker 1: energy and the morale, I know, I heard that in
Speaker 1: the last podcast, the morale of the team was better
Speaker 1: with Gilbert, unfortunately than it was with Dalton because normally
Speaker 1: I'll pick Dalton all day long in terms of experience,
Speaker 1: in terms of skill sets, all that stuff. Right. I
Speaker 1: think he's I think he's he's a dude. But the
Speaker 1: team didn't vibe with him. Um, And that's what sticks
Speaker 1: out the most to me when I look at those
Speaker 1: two performances. And I know it's hard to those two
Speaker 1: up against each other, but one thing you can match
Speaker 1: is how the team responded to him. And I feel
Speaker 1: like there's team responded to Gilbert. Yeah, and I'm gonna
Speaker 1: have to go on this Gilbert train as well. Look ahead, Kirk,
Speaker 1: what about to say? Well, I just how how how
Speaker 1: do you explain that they vibed with them? Like he said,
Speaker 1: Gilbert had a better offensive line, they might have been
Speaker 1: more pumped up to play the Steelers who were undefeated
Speaker 1: coming in, they were at home. I mean, I guess
Speaker 1: it's sort of a you know, how do you describe ye?
Speaker 1: But what made you think that they were in the
Speaker 1: long term, would be better with Gilbert. I'm not saying
Speaker 1: necessarily the long term. I'm talking about just right now. Yeah, yeah, right, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: this right, this seems for sure and I'm not sure
Speaker 1: necessarily put my finger on it. Um to explain it.
Speaker 1: But it's it's a it's a thing that you feel, right.
Speaker 1: I don't know very this thing you feel when just
Speaker 1: the energy of the team when it came out. Um
Speaker 1: with Annie, they were flat, they were flat, and they
Speaker 1: never responded right. And when things went went bad, they
Speaker 1: didn't they didn't come back right. They didn't back nor
Speaker 1: did they show the urgency to come back at any
Speaker 1: any place. When any Dalton got knocked down, they yeah
Speaker 1: right versus you know, versus Gilbert got knocked down, the
Speaker 1: running over there to pick him up right or you know,
Speaker 1: or you know, if he threw an interception, guess what.
Speaker 1: They came back and then you can see that they
Speaker 1: were still ready to go. Let's rollers do this. We
Speaker 1: got a chance. So it's a it's a it's a
Speaker 1: whole vibe thing like that, Um where you how can I?
Speaker 1: How can I say that? Man? Where they you just
Speaker 1: you just feel like they're like there's a chance. You
Speaker 1: felt like you felt like there was a chance the
Speaker 1: whole time with Gilbert versus with Andy, even with Anie Dalton,
Speaker 1: was still any Dalton you felt like the game was
Speaker 1: out of it was out of control for me on
Speaker 1: this one. I'll make it short and sweet. I think
Speaker 1: I gotta go with Gilbert on this one because you're
Speaker 1: you're with a team right now, you're two and seven,
Speaker 1: you got a little bit of momentum going, and you're
Speaker 1: grasping for strings right now. You're grasping for something to
Speaker 1: hold on too. And I think what what Gilbert brought
Speaker 1: into that game last week was just that confidence, that
Speaker 1: that command of the offense. It just seemed like he
Speaker 1: he elevated the players around him um and they were
Speaker 1: going against the number one defense out there in the
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh here, so they weren't going against Washington or Work
Speaker 1: or anything like that. We're going to get the defense,
Speaker 1: you know, with TJ. Wire coming off the edge, Bud
Speaker 1: dupri and his ability to kind of just maneuver in
Speaker 1: that pocket and still look downfield and still get his
Speaker 1: wide receivers involved in the game. I think it was good.
Speaker 1: And to me, I think this team grasping on strings
Speaker 1: right now, they're like, Hey, we got this momentum with him.
Speaker 1: We got a guy that you know, can go out
Speaker 1: there and command the offense. So let's just go ride
Speaker 1: with that. But we'll see what happens. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: I think part of the thing we got to consider here.
Speaker 1: And now I'm not saying this is necessarily the case,
Speaker 1: but I think it's possible. And this was this was
Speaker 1: the Cowboys Super Bowl. And you know, this happens throughout
Speaker 1: every season, every team, even really really bad teams. We
Speaker 1: saw it last night with the Jets and the Patriots,
Speaker 1: where you know you have a team that's really bad
Speaker 1: that they go into a specific game targeting the specific opponents,
Speaker 1: saying for whatever reason, and the Jets that was more
Speaker 1: about getting beat up for so many years. They like,
Speaker 1: we finally found the Patriots at a moment when they're vulnerable.
Speaker 1: Let's go get it right, let's go get them. And
Speaker 1: they went and they still couldn't make it work. But
Speaker 1: I think the Cowboys had a little bit of that
Speaker 1: going on last Sunday. They looked at the stealers, they said, hey,
Speaker 1: we haven't had things going right for us, but if
Speaker 1: we really focus in, let's show what we can do
Speaker 1: with these guys, let's make them the example. And then
Speaker 1: you look at the fact from the standpoint of I
Speaker 1: think the offensive line played a ton better. I think
Speaker 1: that might be because of what Mike McCarthy has been
Speaker 1: talking about, you want your offensive line to play together.
Speaker 1: The most important thing about an offensive line, maybe as
Speaker 1: important as the talent, is how often are they playing
Speaker 1: together so that they're playing as a unit. And maybe
Speaker 1: we're starting to see some of the results of that.
Speaker 1: So I think when you put all those things together
Speaker 1: and then you say, now let's just change out the quarterback,
Speaker 1: would Dalton have a better team around him at this
Speaker 1: point than what he had earlier when he was playing
Speaker 1: that as Jerry said this morning on the radio, gives
Speaker 1: turns maybe one or two of those field goals that
Speaker 1: they got this last game into a touchdown. If you
Speaker 1: can just turn one of those into a touchdown, maybe
Speaker 1: you win this ball game. And again, I don't know
Speaker 1: if and I get your point, like, maybe they're not.
Speaker 1: Maybe they viable one over the other better. I don't know.
Speaker 1: What I do know is I think Gilbert had the
Speaker 1: advantage of a much better defense, a much better offensive line,
Speaker 1: and a better conditions and the team that was motivated
Speaker 1: and it has been in some of these games earlier
Speaker 1: this season. Give those same things to Dalton, let's see
Speaker 1: what happens. I totally agree, Yeah, I totally agree. I
Speaker 1: think Annie Dalton is clear. He got the short end
Speaker 1: of the stick, no doubt the two situations. And I
Speaker 1: think that Annie Dalton does well. But there's something about it, right,
Speaker 1: They're just something about how guys, you know, look at you,
Speaker 1: how guys you know, treat you. I just got that
Speaker 1: sense that dudes wasn't messing with with any like that.
Speaker 1: I just got actually got that sense, you know when Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was just like I don't think they really care
Speaker 1: for him. And as it sucks to say, but that's
Speaker 1: what I saw. I don't know what you saw, baby, Yeah, man,
Speaker 1: I saw the same thing. I mean, it was all
Speaker 1: about that. You know. The one player I think we're
Speaker 1: all harping back to is when you know, and he
Speaker 1: got his block knocked off a little bit, and it
Speaker 1: kind of nobody came to town his rescue there. And
Speaker 1: you know, there's a lot of young players that they're
Speaker 1: trying to figure out the game themselves. So you know,
Speaker 1: I don't really fault them for not going after them.
Speaker 1: But like you said, it was just a vibe, just
Speaker 1: an energy that we saw in that Pittsburgh game. And
Speaker 1: maybe it was to your point, Derek, how they were
Speaker 1: kind of hyped up, like we got that number one
Speaker 1: team here, show him we can do this, and it
Speaker 1: could also be no Pittsburgh kind of overlooking. They got
Speaker 1: a big win in Baltimore the week before Pittsburgh coming
Speaker 1: down here. We got these cowboys and ended up being
Speaker 1: in the dog fight. So overall, I mean that I
Speaker 1: still gotta rid with my boy Gilbert, though. We'll see
Speaker 1: what goes on this week. We're gonna take our first break.
Speaker 1: When we come back. We got a couple more questions
Speaker 1: for you guys. We're also gonna get into our mid year.
Speaker 1: It's almost mid year, a little over the midyear review
Speaker 1: of the offense. We'll do the offense today to Mark,
Speaker 1: we'll jump into the defense, talk a little bit about them.
Speaker 1: We'll take our break, come right back this Dallas Cowboys
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Speaker 1: your Dallas Cowboys. Here it's nineteen o eight. Don't you
Speaker 1: think we should get electricity and stop using candles to
Speaker 1: see it? Money? It's just electricity lights up the room fast,
Speaker 1: It's more reliable than candles blowing out, and people seem
Speaker 1: to love it nationwide. Candles dare did you just run
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Speaker 1: Back to the break. Looking for something to change up
Speaker 1: your dinner routine? Helps support local Frisco businesses by choosing
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Speaker 1: visit the Star District dot com. Welcome back to the
Speaker 1: second segment of the Break. We're live from the SWBC
Speaker 1: Mortgage studios at the Star. I got Isaiah Berry Kurt
Speaker 1: with me. We're talking some Cowboys football. Let's I got
Speaker 1: another question for you guys before we get into our
Speaker 1: Medier review on the offense. Also yesterday, Mike McCarthy and
Speaker 1: Kellen Moore gave high praise for Joe Looney for stepping
Speaker 1: in after Tyler Riatas tweaked his hamstring in pregame one
Speaker 1: most which oh weird to get him hurt hamame the line, Yeah,
Speaker 1: but I don't want to get too I don't want
Speaker 1: to get to But my question is, my question is
Speaker 1: who should be the starter once they're both healthy. And
Speaker 1: we've talked about this quite a bit on on on
Speaker 1: Cowboys break. I'd love to hear some opinions here, you guys. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's all a big, big Nate dog. We talked about
Speaker 1: this the other evening when we're watching the game, and
Speaker 1: I feel like Bada has earned his earned his opportunity,
Speaker 1: and he did a good job winded with his opportunity.
Speaker 1: I think he should be the starter. And the reason
Speaker 1: why I think he should be the starter, I think
Speaker 1: he's learning. I think he has that that tenacity that
Speaker 1: you really want, obviously coming out of the school he
Speaker 1: came out of Wisconsin. But uh yeah, but I think
Speaker 1: you surround him with veteran guys, right, So I think
Speaker 1: you put Beyadas at center, right, keep building his confidence,
Speaker 1: and then you put Looney at left guard right, and
Speaker 1: then you obviously got a big at right guard. Connor
Speaker 1: Williams has had his opportunities and he's he's he's not,
Speaker 1: as Nate said earlier, he's not making his many mistakes,
Speaker 1: but he's still getting dogged right and still getting thrown
Speaker 1: out the club. Yeah, like Jessie all the time. Right.
Speaker 1: So I think if you put Looney and you put
Speaker 1: Martin on each side of be honest, I think you
Speaker 1: have a chance. So these tackles are definitely playing better.
Speaker 1: Um and Connor just hey, guess what I sit back
Speaker 1: in and learn. Yeah, ahead, Yeah, I agree, be honest
Speaker 1: is your future. I mean, Looney's a great guy. I
Speaker 1: think he's a great locker room guy from everything I've heard.
Speaker 1: But you know, be honest, you know he's he was
Speaker 1: drafted for a reason. They need to give him this
Speaker 1: shot now. And like Asaiah said, he's proved it. He's
Speaker 1: proved he's worthy of that starting position now. I don't
Speaker 1: know if I'm as down on Connor Williams as you
Speaker 1: guys are. I think probably the week he'll be the
Speaker 1: week I think he'll be the weak link probably in
Speaker 1: a perfect world where everybody's healthy, he'd be the weak link.
Speaker 1: But I think he has gotten better and at this point, again,
Speaker 1: he's probably going to be your future, not Joe, So um,
Speaker 1: you know, I would roll with Otis and at this
Speaker 1: point I'd probably keep rolling with Connor too. Yeah for me,
Speaker 1: I'm definitely gonna roll with Beyoadish on this one. This
Speaker 1: is a young guy coming from a Wisconsin school that
Speaker 1: kind of breeds offensive lineman. We saw the center, you know,
Speaker 1: for the past couple of years in Frederick who was
Speaker 1: from Wisconsin as well. Um, kind of be the quarterback
Speaker 1: of this offensive line, and that's something I can see
Speaker 1: Beatish being as he progresses, as he gets more reps
Speaker 1: under his belt, because more reps are you I mean,
Speaker 1: there's gonna equal you know, getting a better opportunity and
Speaker 1: becoming a better player. And I think he can become
Speaker 1: that quarterback of the offensive line. So I gotta stay
Speaker 1: with Beyoda share at the center. And I am kind
Speaker 1: of down. I'm Connor Williams. I just saw too many
Speaker 1: times last week where he was just getting walked back. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's getting walked back to the quarterback. But Kurtchie made
Speaker 1: a great point I mean, he can be the future.
Speaker 1: And I don't think the future is in Joe Looney
Speaker 1: right now, Because before you said that, I was saying
Speaker 1: the same thing. I said, Hey, put Looney at guard.
Speaker 1: But then I got to think it, Man, You're right.
Speaker 1: If we're gonna get this guy, If this guy's gonna
Speaker 1: be the future, Connor Williams is going to be the future,
Speaker 1: we need to get him reps now. So as far
Speaker 1: as the center goes, I'm gonna have to go with
Speaker 1: Beatish and Luney. I'm sorry, but he's gonna have to
Speaker 1: take a back seat on this one. Yeah. I would
Speaker 1: say this though, talking about Connor Williams, I actually don't
Speaker 1: think Connor Williams is your future. I think the Cowboys.
Speaker 1: If I'm the Cowboys, I've been somewhere between the third
Speaker 1: and fifth round of this draft. I'm looking to get
Speaker 1: a guard, and I look at it as I want
Speaker 1: a guard who can also play center, maybe play tackle
Speaker 1: like I want. I want position flex. I actually think again,
Speaker 1: we talked a little bit in the break about Garrett
Speaker 1: Gilbert as a Texas guy, as a Texas alum that's
Speaker 1: watched it all the games. I'll tell you this about
Speaker 1: Connor Williams. The last time I saw Connor Williams play well,
Speaker 1: he was playing a tackle, not playing a guard. You're
Speaker 1: trying to yeah, exactly in my opinion, And he's still
Speaker 1: And what do we say, what is the biggest thing
Speaker 1: we see from Connor Williams all the time? We're like, man,
Speaker 1: that's why he's not good. It is because he gets overpowered.
Speaker 1: And I think that's a part of playing guard. You
Speaker 1: gotta be sturdy playing guard. You talk to Big Nate,
Speaker 1: He'll tell you you gotta be sturdy. You gotta be
Speaker 1: able to hold up. And I think Connor's greatest assets,
Speaker 1: greatest asset is his feet. Put him at tackle. I
Speaker 1: think this team needs a good a good um, a
Speaker 1: swing tackle. They haven't been able to find a good
Speaker 1: swing tackle. I think maybe this offseason you make that transition.
Speaker 1: You invest a pick and let's see what you can
Speaker 1: do at guard and make him your swing tackle if
Speaker 1: that's something that he can do well. But I'm not
Speaker 1: I'm not convinced he's your future at guard. I'm really not.
Speaker 1: So what are we saying? I would rather see? Go
Speaker 1: go ahead, Kirka, Well, I don't, I don't you know,
Speaker 1: I could maybe see that, you know, moving out Connor ways,
Speaker 1: but I almost rather see what McGovern can get in there,
Speaker 1: which I'm good Yeah, No, I'm good with that too.
Speaker 1: I'm good with seeing what McGovern can do. Again, all
Speaker 1: I care about at this point is how well do
Speaker 1: you develop these young guys? Right, That's that's my focus
Speaker 1: for the rest of the season. If I'm Jerry, if
Speaker 1: I'm Steven, if I'm Will, like the coaches and the players,
Speaker 1: they're gonna be trying to win. Yeah, if I'm those
Speaker 1: three guys, though, if I'm those three, no, I'm like,
Speaker 1: I'm like, I just want to know can I develop
Speaker 1: these young guys? So I have a who I need
Speaker 1: to go and get this off already? Yeah yeah, thinking
Speaker 1: about yeah, go ahead budget that. Jerry said a sorry
Speaker 1: for the ring. He already unmoved that over to gonna
Speaker 1: win it over there, We got it. Yeah, you're gonna win.
Speaker 1: Yeah you know yeah, yeah, y'all you're doing a great job.
Speaker 1: Keep going. But you're back in your mind, you're like,
Speaker 1: I gotta give him some lessons, like he's not very
Speaker 1: good at this, you know. That's all. I just think
Speaker 1: that's that's the way they got to focus right now,
Speaker 1: and I'm all good with McGovern being the guy that
Speaker 1: takes those reps and guard Oh man, man, I just can't.
Speaker 1: I can't. I can't buy into it, man, I can't
Speaker 1: buy into just we only a game and a half out. Yeah,
Speaker 1: wait is a game and half. He has a game
Speaker 1: and a half game and a half out. I just
Speaker 1: know from a fact those players in that locker room
Speaker 1: would not buy into that. We gotta, we got a
Speaker 1: chance to We still gotta to be honest with you,
Speaker 1: I don't think I think the way this thing is
Speaker 1: gonna end. I think the Cowboys are actually gonna be
Speaker 1: the worst team in the division because I could see
Speaker 1: scenarios where I can see scenarios where the Giants can
Speaker 1: be better than the Cowboys. I look at the Giants
Speaker 1: right now, They're getting better as the season goes on,
Speaker 1: the getting better and better and better. And by the way,
Speaker 1: they still got their quarterback. And I know they don't
Speaker 1: have their running back, but they still they still got
Speaker 1: their quarterback. And difference, it makes difference. It makes a
Speaker 1: difference when you still got your daughter out there. I
Speaker 1: really do. He does do some some weird things at times,
Speaker 1: like he just got some smod just tak his skittles
Speaker 1: out of his podcast. That's the way, though, you know
Speaker 1: the dude before him did the same thing looking like that.
Speaker 1: So I'm just saying, all right, let's move into this
Speaker 1: mid year review. Actually, before we do that, we're gonna
Speaker 1: go and take our final break. When we'll come back,
Speaker 1: I got some questions for you guys who are gonna
Speaker 1: roll through some of these and give a good overview
Speaker 1: of what we think of this offense after about a
Speaker 1: little over half the seasons. Don't tell when we come
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Speaker 1: it's nineteen oh eight. Don't you think we should get
Speaker 1: electricity and stop using candles to see at night? It's
Speaker 1: just electricity lights up the room fast, it's more reliable
Speaker 1: than candles blowing out, and people seem to love it nationwide.
Speaker 1: Well candles, God dare did you just run into the wall?
Speaker 1: I have a new candle. Please. Historically, switching to new
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Speaker 1: to the Break. The two twenty PBR Unleashed the Beast
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Speaker 1: dot com. Welcome back to final segment of the Break.
Speaker 1: Life in the SWBC Mortgage studios at the Star. Let's
Speaker 1: do a little midyear review and Kim, all right, So
Speaker 1: what I'm gonna do is and we might have to
Speaker 1: spend some of this into next week. We'll slay out
Speaker 1: see how it goes. But because some of these questions,
Speaker 1: we might we might dig in a little bit. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we're gonna talk about this offense. I got some questions
Speaker 1: for you guys, just as a big picture look of
Speaker 1: this team. Let's start first with the wide receivers. If
Speaker 1: you had to trade I know the trade deadline is gone,
Speaker 1: but if you had to trade one of these wide
Speaker 1: receivers to get extra draft capital to fix another area
Speaker 1: of the team, which we can probably all agree, there
Speaker 1: are a lot of areas they can fix. Who would
Speaker 1: it be? And why you got a Marie Cooper, Ceedee
Speaker 1: Lamb or Michael Gallop. Let's start with your church. For me,
Speaker 1: this is a tough one, man, because these all these
Speaker 1: guys bring value. But I'm gonna have to go to
Speaker 1: Mari Cooper on this one. And for the simple facts,
Speaker 1: I believe he can get you more draft capital or
Speaker 1: he can get you more in return for the trade
Speaker 1: than a CD Lamb or a Knichael Galla can give you.
Speaker 1: So that's the reason I'm going with for a trade.
Speaker 1: If I'm going with Maria Cooper. Plus, I mean, I
Speaker 1: feel like Ceedee Lamb has already kind of developed almost
Speaker 1: into that you know, one option either one a one
Speaker 1: B option, and we all know what Michael Gallup brings
Speaker 1: to the table. So for me, I'm gonna have to
Speaker 1: go with a Maria Cooper on this one. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it's just choose your poison on that one. But
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go with to Mara Cooper. Kurt, Yeah, I
Speaker 1: agree that Cooper would probably bring you the much in return,
Speaker 1: but I just don't think his contracts tradeable and I
Speaker 1: just don't think there's any way they can move him
Speaker 1: without with that size of the deal and the dead
Speaker 1: money that'd be involved. And I do agree that, Lamb.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's looking like a number one already and
Speaker 1: you've already, you know, being a rookie's on a perfect contract.
Speaker 1: So to me, Gallup was the guy that you'd probably
Speaker 1: have the best chance of moving and getting something in return.
Speaker 1: In some ways, I wish they'd been a little bit
Speaker 1: more aggressive and trying to get him moved at the
Speaker 1: trade doneline this year, because I mean, not many teams
Speaker 1: have three potential Pro Bowl wide receivers on their roster,
Speaker 1: and there's a lot of really good teams out there
Speaker 1: that don't have that kind of talent they could have used.
Speaker 1: Cowboys could have used more talent on the defense. In
Speaker 1: this regard, I think maybe maybe they should have been
Speaker 1: a little bit more there so Gallup would be my
Speaker 1: guy Aziah without taking the contracts into consideration, I would
Speaker 1: say Coop just because you would get the most of
Speaker 1: the draft cab out of him. But I think he's
Speaker 1: reached his peak. I don't think he's I don't think
Speaker 1: he's gonna keep climbing. So I think you get rid
Speaker 1: of him and you try to get as much as
Speaker 1: you can, but obviously taking into the contracts into into consideration,
Speaker 1: obviously Gallup, that's the last person I would want to
Speaker 1: get rid of, just because I think Gallup is going
Speaker 1: to be He's gonna be a B Sens league and
Speaker 1: he's he's He's shown it a number of times. But
Speaker 1: you would hate to get rid of somebody with that
Speaker 1: much talent, you know, untapped talent already, and he's pretty
Speaker 1: amazing already based on what you've seen so far. Do
Speaker 1: you guys think that Ceedee Lamb can end up being
Speaker 1: better by when he ever he reaches the peak of
Speaker 1: his career, when the being better than Mariy Cooper. Yes,
Speaker 1: I think he can be better than a Mariy Cooper.
Speaker 1: He's already so quarterback friendly in that slot position. He
Speaker 1: knows how to work the zones, he knows how to
Speaker 1: work man coverage, and he seems to always be open
Speaker 1: no matter what the coverage is on him. So I
Speaker 1: think he'll only continue to grow and I think he'll
Speaker 1: reach the ceiling far past Amari Coopers. Was nothing agains
Speaker 1: him Mark because he's a great wide receiver. But I
Speaker 1: just think Ceedee Lamb, I think he's the truth, and
Speaker 1: I think he's ceiling is extremely high. I agree. I agree,
Speaker 1: CD is really good. Does a team need this many
Speaker 1: Does a team need this many Pro Bowl wide receivers? Though, Nah,
Speaker 1: they don't. Well, I'll tell you this, if Zekiel Elliott
Speaker 1: keeps playing like he's playing, I think you may because
Speaker 1: I think this team has has transitioned from being a
Speaker 1: run first team. When you have a healthy deck and
Speaker 1: you got the three wide receivers and you got an
Speaker 1: offensive line that can protect them. We saw it earlier
Speaker 1: this season. I'm looking at this team and saying, this
Speaker 1: is a team that's gonna be putting up thirty plus
Speaker 1: a game. So if you're doing that, then then yeah,
Speaker 1: I think you do need those three wide receivers. Now,
Speaker 1: don't get me wrong. At whatever point Cooper's contract is up,
Speaker 1: I think the Cowboys are gonna say goodbye and thank
Speaker 1: you for your services, and they'll move on with those
Speaker 1: other two. And that doesn't mean they gotta rush out
Speaker 1: and try to find another Pro Bowl receiver, but it
Speaker 1: doesn't mean for the time that you have them for
Speaker 1: that year two years. I think the Cowboys taking advantage
Speaker 1: of it, absolutely take advantage of it. Right, You gotta
Speaker 1: you gotta have somebody to stop the ball too. That's
Speaker 1: the problem. Well, that's why, and we go full circle
Speaker 1: back to the original question. They need draft Calbun because
Speaker 1: they got to rebuild this defense. There's no doubt about that.
Speaker 1: Let's move on to the next question I have for
Speaker 1: you guys, Compared to the preseason expectations you had for
Speaker 1: Blake Jarwin, Dalton Schultz has been as good, better or worse?
Speaker 1: M worse? You think it's been worse expectations, Yeah, expectations
Speaker 1: of what you had for Blake Jarwin. Dalton Schultz has
Speaker 1: been as good as that, better than that, or worse,
Speaker 1: oh worse. For me, my expectations of Jarwin was to
Speaker 1: come in and take the top off this thing. Obviously
Speaker 1: with the offensive line wols, I mean, he would have
Speaker 1: had to sit in and block a little bit more.
Speaker 1: But that's why you brought you know, the Belldozer in here.
Speaker 1: You know, he brought him into block. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: shouts should have been I mean, not shots, but you know,
Speaker 1: I might not just blaking a. Jarwine should have been
Speaker 1: in the hip pocket and he should have been taking
Speaker 1: the top of He would have been another accessory, especially
Speaker 1: in the situations we're facing now when we need to
Speaker 1: go a lot more too tight. He would have still
Speaker 1: had a deep threat down the middle, which we really
Speaker 1: don't have right now because we have to be able
Speaker 1: to sit back and block. Okay, go ahead, Kurt, Well,
Speaker 1: I wonder I mean Dalton right now, it's on pace
Speaker 1: for sixty two catches and six hundred and eighty yards,
Speaker 1: which I think was would that that'd be what you've
Speaker 1: expected from Jarwin. To me, I think he's probably been
Speaker 1: just as good. Now, You're right, he probably doesn't take
Speaker 1: the top off as well, but I think he's been
Speaker 1: a pretty good you know, what you'd need from that
Speaker 1: tight end. I mean, if Dak was in the quarterback,
Speaker 1: he might even have, you know, more catches, more yards,
Speaker 1: that sort of thing. So yes, i'd probably like to
Speaker 1: have drawn in there more. But as far as expectations,
Speaker 1: I think Dalton's held up well. I think he's giving
Speaker 1: you about what you'd want. Yeah, I'm gonna have to
Speaker 1: sad with you on this one, Kurt Um. You know,
Speaker 1: I feel like, you know, the expectations for Jarwin coming
Speaker 1: into this season, they were lovely. I mean I thought,
Speaker 1: for sure, you know, he was gonna come in here
Speaker 1: and he's gonna be zach Ertz esque and he's going
Speaker 1: to be able to stretch the field in the middle
Speaker 1: of the field. You know, he went down with that injury,
Speaker 1: so that's you know, that's that was that And to me,
Speaker 1: Dalton short stuff, he's come in here, he's blocked well,
Speaker 1: he's been a quarterback friendly tight end. He's always seems
Speaker 1: to be where he needs to be. He hasn't dropped
Speaker 1: a lot of passes, and like you said, Kurt, he's
Speaker 1: on pace for sixty two catches. And for me, for
Speaker 1: a guy that you know that was coming in here
Speaker 1: that was just supposed to be another guy, another tight end,
Speaker 1: I think he's played extremely well. Um, you know, with
Speaker 1: all the reports through training camp that he was having
Speaker 1: a good year, I kind of just kind of went
Speaker 1: those to the side out he'll he'll be a forgotten guy.
Speaker 1: But he came in here and he's proven that, you know,
Speaker 1: he put in the work during training camp. So for me,
Speaker 1: I think he's been as good as advertised. You know,
Speaker 1: although I agree with you guys from the standpoint of
Speaker 1: Schultz being better than what I expected because I was
Speaker 1: coming into this into training camp I was like, I
Speaker 1: don't even know Schultz makes his team, but the fact
Speaker 1: that he has put up the numbers he's put up
Speaker 1: makes me think he certainly has done much better than
Speaker 1: I thought he could do. Now here's the flip side
Speaker 1: of that. I agree with you from the standpoint Isaiah
Speaker 1: that I do think this this offense takes on a
Speaker 1: different dimension if you've got that deep threat in the
Speaker 1: middle of the field, because defenses have to play. Yes,
Speaker 1: you guys know, defense has got to play you different
Speaker 1: when you got that tight end, why would you have
Speaker 1: to play very night and day. Exactly. You couldn't run
Speaker 1: like two high show because he can split the middle.
Speaker 1: I mean absolutely, it's rough. I mean especially if we
Speaker 1: go ahead, go ahead. So I was saying, like, who
Speaker 1: would you match up on him? Because he can out
Speaker 1: run linebackers, he can out physical safeties. I mean you
Speaker 1: would have to bring in an extra corner in there,
Speaker 1: and that would take another linebacker out, So then I
Speaker 1: would open it up for your running games. So changes.
Speaker 1: And then the part I think about it is if
Speaker 1: you got situations where you guys with Ceedee Lamb now
Speaker 1: working in the work in the slot, that complicates things
Speaker 1: even more because that really puts a lot of stress
Speaker 1: on the middle of your defense being able to cover,
Speaker 1: and you got Gallo just running down the middle down
Speaker 1: the outside of you. Right, So I just think that
Speaker 1: the whole thing changes. It's not that Shots hasn't done
Speaker 1: a good job. He's that the whole offense changes. When
Speaker 1: you got a guy like like like Blake draw why
Speaker 1: you paid him what you paid him because you were
Speaker 1: playing him based off the expectation of the ability that
Speaker 1: he opened up for you on offense. Right, this is true?
Speaker 1: All right, So we might spend the rest of the
Speaker 1: show on this next question. So I'm just giving y'all
Speaker 1: fair warning. So here we go. That's happened this season
Speaker 1: with Dak Prescott when he played and since the injury,
Speaker 1: and how the team before when he was then there
Speaker 1: versus when he was not. The price you'd be willing
Speaker 1: to pay him has either increased, decreased, or stayed exactly
Speaker 1: the same. Churt, Let's let you go first. Well, I
Speaker 1: always thought that he was a forty million dollar quarterback,
Speaker 1: just not so much maybe that he ranked in talent
Speaker 1: with the Russell Wilsons of the world, but in the
Speaker 1: fact that was the market and I think today you're
Speaker 1: looking at a forty million dollars quarterback there, which I
Speaker 1: think this Cowboys were closer to thirty five maybe, so
Speaker 1: just in that regard, plus the obvious struggles they've had
Speaker 1: without him, Yeah, I think the price for him is
Speaker 1: going up, and I think the Cowboys kind of missed
Speaker 1: the boat and not already signing him. Now that the
Speaker 1: real question or the real hangout before was the number
Speaker 1: of years it sound like where it was. I think
Speaker 1: the difference between three and four years even that in
Speaker 1: some ways, I think Cowboys are gonna have to bite
Speaker 1: the bullet and pay this guy. I mean, it's he's
Speaker 1: proven that he's he's a quality quarterback that can carry
Speaker 1: this team. Ye uh yeah. For me, I'm gonna have
Speaker 1: to say that it's increased. Um if we're not even
Speaker 1: we're not even talking about on the field stuff, we're
Speaker 1: talking about off the field, just leadership alone. I mean,
Speaker 1: I think if he was in the locker room, I
Speaker 1: don't think you have and even if it was going
Speaker 1: as bad as it is, I don't think you have
Speaker 1: these anonymous quotes coming out saying, you know, coaches don't
Speaker 1: know what they're doing or or the pointing of fingers
Speaker 1: here and there. I think if he's in that locker room,
Speaker 1: he's your bona fide, unquestioned leader. So I think off
Speaker 1: the field he would. I mean, his price has got
Speaker 1: to go up now. On the field, we can see
Speaker 1: it with our own eyes. I mean, he elevates so
Speaker 1: many people out there, it's ridiculous. So I gotta think
Speaker 1: he's been elevated from that thirty five thirty six million
Speaker 1: dollars that he was offered. He's got to be up
Speaker 1: in the forties. Like Kurt was saying, yeah, Beta man,
Speaker 1: Pata man. I mean, it's been pretty tough on back
Speaker 1: and some of the things, you know, especially when Andy
Speaker 1: came in, I thought felt I felt like there are
Speaker 1: some things that Andy did better than him. But um,
Speaker 1: you know, Dak has proven himself with his absence. With
Speaker 1: his absence, he's proven himself. Um. And as the question
Speaker 1: is in terms of has his has his stock went
Speaker 1: up in terms of what the Cowboys are willing to
Speaker 1: pay him, yes, yes, um no, all the rest of
Speaker 1: the league that's a different question. I'm not sure if
Speaker 1: the league would pay him any differently, But what he
Speaker 1: means to this Cowboys organization. They definitely have to pay
Speaker 1: him more than what they were intention intending to do.
Speaker 1: Do you guys think he stepped into that elite status
Speaker 1: at this point with what he did early in the season. No,
Speaker 1: not after what I've seen from you know, the homes,
Speaker 1: the Aaron Rodgers of the world, just just arm talent alone,
Speaker 1: I don't think he's stepped into that upper echelon. But
Speaker 1: he's not too far behind. He's not too far behind.
Speaker 1: And and I think, um, we have the quarterback, we
Speaker 1: have the future a quarterback here, and the franchise without
Speaker 1: Dak Prescott, I can't even speak, right. Can they win
Speaker 1: a championship with him? They have? It's not it's not
Speaker 1: just his shoulders. Yeah, it's not just his shoulders. Yes,
Speaker 1: he's a he's a very capable quarterback, but as we've
Speaker 1: this year, is so much more than Jess than just
Speaker 1: quarterback play. And so if they fix all the other areas,
Speaker 1: absolutely that's the guy that you want. You know, you
Speaker 1: aren't coordinating things on that side of the ball um.
Speaker 1: But you know, when we start making comparisons to russing
Speaker 1: on him, cast he's not He's not in that category yet. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And to be honest with you, I've always thought his
Speaker 1: trajectory is Russ's trajectory, Like where where he is in
Speaker 1: his career is where Russ was at that point. He
Speaker 1: is going and I think he's still he Every year
Speaker 1: he gets better, it's better and better, and so I
Speaker 1: think at some point, I think we will be talking
Speaker 1: about Dak Prescott the same way we talked about Russ.
Speaker 1: He will be the guy getting By the way, once
Speaker 1: you pay that quarterback, he has to become the guy.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, Like that's why I saw about earlier when
Speaker 1: I said they're transitioning from a running team to a
Speaker 1: passing team. Well, when you pay that quarterback, Because, by
Speaker 1: the way, when you pay that quarterback, the likelihood that
Speaker 1: you're gonna have Zeke on another deal, or that you're
Speaker 1: gonna have another running back that's paid his amount of money,
Speaker 1: but next time he's up ain't gonna happen. Right, So
Speaker 1: over time that should tends to change, and it's gonna
Speaker 1: turn more into a situation where Dak's gonna have to
Speaker 1: be the man. And what I saw this year in
Speaker 1: those games, he played the numbers they were putting up,
Speaker 1: and I mean just the way they were in those
Speaker 1: situations and people can say it was you know it was,
Speaker 1: it was garbage signed. It's never garbage sign in the
Speaker 1: NFL because if you get your team back in position
Speaker 1: to win, then that means you did what you're supposed
Speaker 1: to do right, no matter how it started off. So
Speaker 1: all that being said, I think Dak Prescott's putting himself
Speaker 1: right in place for the kind of quarterback that that
Speaker 1: you need in today's NFL, and I think he will
Speaker 1: be among those elite guys at some point. All right,
Speaker 1: let's move on to one final question here before we
Speaker 1: end the show. Who has the bigger problem? Who's been
Speaker 1: the bigger problem or disappointment for this team this season? Uh?
Speaker 1: And this one's gonna span between offense and defense and
Speaker 1: special teams. Actually the names are Jalen Smith, Chris Jones
Speaker 1: or Zeke Elliott. Who's been a bigger disappointment based on
Speaker 1: the expectations of what you had for them and what
Speaker 1: how they've performed. Who's been a bigger out? Nobody cares
Speaker 1: about punters thirty yards and then you care about it's
Speaker 1: Zeke for me, Zi for me? And it sucks. I mean,
Speaker 1: what's happened to him? Well? He he's had bad luck
Speaker 1: in terms of the offensive line. He's spoiled here. Spoiled.
Speaker 1: It's called how it is. No. I mean, how many
Speaker 1: running backs come in and they just have almost you know,
Speaker 1: three all pro you know line in front of him.
Speaker 1: It's not something that happened. So he was spoiled. And
Speaker 1: then you know, adversity hit in that regard, and then
Speaker 1: he didn't take care of his business in terms of, um,
Speaker 1: you know, securing the ball um, and I think the
Speaker 1: combination of those two things have obviously lowered his his trajectory. Um,
Speaker 1: he's he's well under underperforming where anybody in this league
Speaker 1: expecting not only just account boys, but anybody I'm expected
Speaker 1: him to be doing it. I'm sure he's looking forward
Speaker 1: to a better second half. Yeah, I gotta agree. I
Speaker 1: think it's Zeke on this one, um. And I think
Speaker 1: a lot of the expectations had to had to go
Speaker 1: into that as well. When you're coming in here, you're
Speaker 1: getting paid ninety million dollars, your QB one goes down.
Speaker 1: Everybody's kind of looking at you. This is the guy
Speaker 1: we kind of gotta lean on. He has to carry
Speaker 1: us throughout this year, and for him not to be
Speaker 1: able to do that, and the fumbles that have occurred
Speaker 1: and him being a part of a lot of turnovers,
Speaker 1: it's just not it's just not what we're accustomed to
Speaker 1: see him and accustomed to what we thought we were
Speaker 1: going to see coming out of Zeke coming out of
Speaker 1: this year. So for me, I gotta say Zeke has
Speaker 1: been the disappointment. We have a couple of games left,
Speaker 1: so hopefully he can get out of this rut. But overall,
Speaker 1: when you got you know, Tony Pollard out there kind
Speaker 1: of looking better than you, especially last week when it
Speaker 1: comes to the running game, I think you've fallen off
Speaker 1: a little bit. So hopefully he can stick his game up.
Speaker 1: But to me, the disappointment has got to be Zeke's
Speaker 1: got Kurt Hey Barry. Barry is a defensive guy. You know,
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh went into that game saying, we're shutting down Zeke.
Speaker 1: That was the whole We're shutting down Zeke. I agree
Speaker 1: that Zeke doesn't have the same burst anymore, but does
Speaker 1: he seeing different defensive looks than a guy like Pollard
Speaker 1: who maybe he's getting in there when it's a little
Speaker 1: more spread out. That's true. Well, I agree, though I
Speaker 1: think Zeke Um. Mainly he's going to be saddled with
Speaker 1: that contract now. He's just not living up to what
Speaker 1: they paid him. And he's obviously you know, yes he said,
Speaker 1: the banged up offensive line, some other factors, but he
Speaker 1: just doesn't have the same burst, it looks like, any
Speaker 1: more than he used to. So and Jalen Jalen gets
Speaker 1: a lot of criticism, but yeah, he's he's you know,
Speaker 1: maybe we can coverage, but I kind of wonder where
Speaker 1: this team would be without him. I mean, he's he's
Speaker 1: second in the league and tackles. I'll tell you this,
Speaker 1: We're going to We're gonna we're gonna defer that conversation
Speaker 1: to tomorrow we talk about defense because Smith. But that
Speaker 1: all said, I agree with you guys though on Zeke.
Speaker 1: The disappointment to me is not even so much about
Speaker 1: like I know a lot of people talk about the
Speaker 1: fact he didn't have the big long runs, Like that's
Speaker 1: not the part I worry about, because this average was
Speaker 1: at one point the see was actually pretty good. My
Speaker 1: My issue though with Zeke is the fumbles, Like you
Speaker 1: can if you are and I think he is. I
Speaker 1: think he is the leader of this team right now.
Speaker 1: With dak Out. He's the guy that stands up there,
Speaker 1: and you guys know how important this is. When things
Speaker 1: aren't going right, somebody's got to go stand in front
Speaker 1: of media and take the brunt of that. And he
Speaker 1: is the first one to step up and be like,
Speaker 1: I got it, let's do this right. And that's a
Speaker 1: part of being a leader. And so I give him
Speaker 1: all credit for that, But I think when you just
Speaker 1: look at it, I don't think that I think that
Speaker 1: you can't have your leader being as big a part
Speaker 1: of the problem from the standpoint of the turnovers as
Speaker 1: he's been. That to me is just a matter of
Speaker 1: you got to be more focused than that and if
Speaker 1: nothing else, you gotta run in there like I'm just
Speaker 1: I don't care what happens. I might only get two yards,
Speaker 1: but you're not getting this ball from me. And and
Speaker 1: I just think he was setting the wrong example with
Speaker 1: the turnovers, and that was their biggest problem in my opinion.
Speaker 1: Early on in the season. They probably get but for
Speaker 1: all those turnovers, I would say they probably have two
Speaker 1: more wins this season than they have right now, and
Speaker 1: you'd be sitting even prettier in the NFCA now we're talking,
Speaker 1: I'll say what we're gonna win like I'm drinking. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they might get in the playoffs, you know, I mean,
Speaker 1: And then to me, that's that's you. You expect your
Speaker 1: leader to be able to handle those kinds of things.
Speaker 1: Those are the basics team in what way? You mean?
Speaker 1: I think? So? No, not not not saying what we
Speaker 1: perceive it to be. My question would be if he's
Speaker 1: If he's not, who else, like I don't I don't
Speaker 1: know that there's another guy like Mary ain't that those
Speaker 1: offensive linements? Maybe Martin Mick, But I don't know. I
Speaker 1: don't know if Martin is. I don't know if he's
Speaker 1: as vocal as you might need. And and certainly he's
Speaker 1: not the guy that everybody's looking at to say, hey man,
Speaker 1: what's going on? You know, Martin? I don't know who else?
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean, really is that? Honestly, I don't
Speaker 1: know who you're gonna point to. I mean, maybe it's
Speaker 1: de Marcus. But we talked about this a lot on
Speaker 1: the break. There's there's good leadership and it's bad leadership.
Speaker 1: It's still leadership. You might be leading guys the wrong
Speaker 1: way sometimes, right, So so is DeMarcus always doing the
Speaker 1: things he should be doing if he's going to be
Speaker 1: the leader to where everybody's following the right way and
Speaker 1: not following the wrong way. All right, So from the
Speaker 1: outside looking in goes back to what sorry, That goes
Speaker 1: back to what Barry was saying about missing dak Man.
Speaker 1: He was such a leader in this year and he
Speaker 1: was the guy that could round of guys to come back. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think everybody's just looking around right now. I don't Again,
Speaker 1: I'm not in the locker room. None of us are
Speaker 1: in the locker room to tell you probably have better
Speaker 1: beat than any of us, But I don't feel like
Speaker 1: anybody has a voice right now. I feel like when
Speaker 1: things go wrong, I think everybody's kind of looking around
Speaker 1: like yeah, And you can't really lean on a guy
Speaker 1: like Sean Lee because he hasn't been out there. He's
Speaker 1: been on the r so he can't really go out
Speaker 1: there and address the team and tell him what direction
Speaker 1: to go. When Sean was the one, he was, he
Speaker 1: was the hype man before the game. We saw that
Speaker 1: he's the one the circle. And I know, even though
Speaker 1: you are had a good career, everybody's probably looking at
Speaker 1: him like it's kind of when we looked at with like,
Speaker 1: all right, all right, you got it. All right, We're
Speaker 1: gonna finish this conversation tomorrow because I do actually, I
Speaker 1: think that's a conversation worth having talked a little bit
Speaker 1: about the leadership. What is there a leadership void on
Speaker 1: this team and how much does that matter, particularly from
Speaker 1: two guys that have been in the locker rooms and
Speaker 1: seeing how that all plays out when you got fifty
Speaker 1: three guys kind of looking around trying to figure out
Speaker 1: what's going on. We'll do that tomorrow. We appreciate you
Speaker 1: guys joining us today, fri Zaiah Berry and Kurt. We
Speaker 1: will be back tomorrow. This has been Dallas Cowboys dot
Speaker 1: Com Radio. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys
Speaker 1: dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.