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: with Nick Eatman, David Hellman, Ambar Garcia, and Derek Eagleton.
Speaker 1: It is a play twenty twenty season sixteen, episode number four.
Speaker 1: Welcome to another edition of The Break. I am live
Speaker 1: from my home along with Dave Hellman and Nick Eatman
Speaker 1: and Amber Garcia. They are all at their own homes
Speaker 1: and we're happy you guys took some time to sit
Speaker 1: down and talk some Cowboys football with us today. We're
Speaker 1: gonna get into our position series again today and talk
Speaker 1: a little bit about the linebacker position as well as
Speaker 1: a tight end position. Of course, Amber has a game
Speaker 1: for us in the second segment, maybe third segment, Not
Speaker 1: sure how that's going to time out. But we will
Speaker 1: also get some of your questions hopefully, so make sure
Speaker 1: you hit me up on Twitter. We'll take whatever questions
Speaker 1: you guys have there as we get into the show.
Speaker 1: How's everybody feeling today? Great? Great there, awesome, Thank you
Speaker 1: for bringing the energy in the enthusiasm. It's good to
Speaker 1: see all you guys. What are you saying? Nick? I
Speaker 1: just said, great, wonderful, awesome, outstanding. Help while we're gonna
Speaker 1: go with this. You're a writer. I'm sure you get
Speaker 1: probably twenty more words at work, right, Not really, though,
Speaker 1: this is this quarantine stuff. I mean, I'm all that
Speaker 1: is kind of out the window at this point. Yeah,
Speaker 1: all right, I got a question for you guys before
Speaker 1: we get into the Cowboys content. I want you to
Speaker 1: just tell me one thing you missed the most about
Speaker 1: being stuck at home, and one thing you've kind of
Speaker 1: gotten used to that you're like, I wish this can
Speaker 1: kind of go on forever. All right, let's start. Let's
Speaker 1: start with you, Dave. I think I said this the
Speaker 1: first time we did this. Is it sounds dumb, but
Speaker 1: I miss driving, Like I actually I just drove to
Speaker 1: go pick up lunch, and like it was so nice
Speaker 1: to drive around with the windows down and listen to
Speaker 1: some music and I don't know, just feel like I'm
Speaker 1: going somewhere. So I definitely miss just being able to
Speaker 1: go around in my car. Honestly, I'm really fortunate obviously,
Speaker 1: like it's affected everybody's job, but like, for the most part,
Speaker 1: I can do my job pretty effectively from home. So
Speaker 1: it's cool to just be able to sit on the
Speaker 1: couch and write stories without having to commute. So that's
Speaker 1: pretty cool. You kind of want to keep that up
Speaker 1: after this is done, maybe on like you know, Mondays
Speaker 1: and Fridays or something like that. Yeah, that would be great.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, miss Amber, what do you what do you
Speaker 1: miss most and what do you what do you want
Speaker 1: to keep after this is done? Well, not to be
Speaker 1: a copy cat, but to be honest, I do miss driving.
Speaker 1: Prior to this whole thing happening, I was on vacations,
Speaker 1: so I haven't driven my car for like over two
Speaker 1: months now, and every time I try to turn it
Speaker 1: on to get it out of the garage, the battery dies.
Speaker 1: So I hope my car can survive this crisis. But
Speaker 1: aside from that, I enjoy not having to get ready,
Speaker 1: you know, just being in the comfort of your own home,
Speaker 1: having to put makeup on you, having to wear certain
Speaker 1: things that women need to wear to go out. So
Speaker 1: just you know, just being comfortable at home. Got it.
Speaker 1: I mean I miss a lot of things. I mean
Speaker 1: one of the things that I've always had, Like a
Speaker 1: I always hate is like Thanksgiving night or New Year's
Speaker 1: Eve or whatever, where you can't go and get something
Speaker 1: to eat, Like I always hate that. I just like,
Speaker 1: let's get back to normal, like things aren't open and
Speaker 1: all that, and that A lot of that's been the
Speaker 1: way it is for for a long time. So just
Speaker 1: just the normal sea of you know, going, I mean,
Speaker 1: you can still go get something to eat, but you know,
Speaker 1: just just go. Getting a chance to go and do
Speaker 1: something that's the biggest thing for me. And then what
Speaker 1: do I like. I mean, I mean, I guess, you know,
Speaker 1: not having the shower every day, I guess if you know,
Speaker 1: I mean, you can, but you can't. But I'm just
Speaker 1: saying you don't have to. So well, but you don't
Speaker 1: have life in a family, so maybe it'd be good
Speaker 1: on their behalf with you to You're just saying, I'm
Speaker 1: just saying you don't have to, but yeah, you still
Speaker 1: you still do. But I mean I still find myself
Speaker 1: waking up at the same time. So yeah, I can't
Speaker 1: say that's been much different. I just wish I knew
Speaker 1: what day it is. I know, it's all running together
Speaker 1: It's interesting you brought up food because y'all know how
Speaker 1: much I love food. Like I'm I'm addicted to food,
Speaker 1: and h it's one of those things. Right now, I'm
Speaker 1: dying not being able to just whatever I have to
Speaker 1: take for a run out and grab it like I was,
Speaker 1: Like probably the first week we were here, like I was,
Speaker 1: I convinced my wife that food was considered necessary, so
Speaker 1: I just needed to go out every meal and go
Speaker 1: get something. But she shut that down pretty quick, and
Speaker 1: now I'm just eating whatever we have for the house.
Speaker 1: So that's pretty bad for me. But I will say this,
Speaker 1: I am not missing having to get up in the
Speaker 1: morning and get dressed to go to work, like having
Speaker 1: a sport coda on all day, Like I don't want
Speaker 1: to go back to that. I'm very happy with shorts
Speaker 1: or whatever. I decided to roll into my office to
Speaker 1: be able to work. So but anyway, this is an
Speaker 1: interesting time I'm sure for everybody. I'm sure everybody out
Speaker 1: there listening has some of those similar things that they're
Speaker 1: dealing with. And so we hopefully hopefully this next hour
Speaker 1: that we we're with you guys, we can bring you
Speaker 1: a little bit of levity and you have a little
Speaker 1: fun talking a little Cowboys football. Let's jump into our
Speaker 1: conversation a day around our position series. We talked last week,
Speaker 1: we got this going. This week, we want to move
Speaker 1: on to the linebacker position, also the tight end position.
Speaker 1: Let's start first the linebacker position. It's interesting that this
Speaker 1: is a position where it looks like the Cowboys really
Speaker 1: didn't do a whole lot. They didn't change a whole lot.
Speaker 1: They had a lot of free agents going into the offseason,
Speaker 1: but ironically they kept pretty much all of it the same,
Speaker 1: agreeing to a one year deal with Sean Lee. Justin
Speaker 1: Marx is another guy. They agreed to one year deal with.
Speaker 1: Joe Thomas, another guy they did a one year deal with.
Speaker 1: So just from an overall perspective, how do you think
Speaker 1: they're matching up right now with the personnel? Is it
Speaker 1: pretty much gonna be the same. Is it something that
Speaker 1: you see in what they did in keeping them together
Speaker 1: that may make it better or do you think it's
Speaker 1: it may be worse because they kept all those guys together.
Speaker 1: Let's start first with you, Hamper. You know what's interesting
Speaker 1: is last year we kept talking about whether or not
Speaker 1: this was a talented group you know, that was a
Speaker 1: question are they really talented or are they just really
Speaker 1: not good enough? And to me, I do believe this
Speaker 1: whole group is talented. They just need to combine it
Speaker 1: with the right kind of coaching and just having some
Speaker 1: different kind of mentality in there, which they're going to
Speaker 1: have with the coaching changes. But you know, I'm expecting
Speaker 1: Layton Vander esh to be able to recover fully from
Speaker 1: what I'm hearing, So I do expect for this group
Speaker 1: to kind of go back from start. Hopefully Jalen Smith
Speaker 1: can look at last year and kind of humble himself
Speaker 1: down and watch what he was able to make last
Speaker 1: year and kind of, you know, go back to two
Speaker 1: years ago and spark up the defense once again. Nick,
Speaker 1: I think, you know, they have made a lot or
Speaker 1: made sure that they kept all those guys from the
Speaker 1: top to the bottom, you know, so the continuity is there.
Speaker 1: But the interesting part about the linebacker position is that
Speaker 1: there's still so many question marks. And so yes, you've
Speaker 1: got you've got all the guys that you had before,
Speaker 1: but you know, you still don't know exactly what you're
Speaker 1: gonna get from Jalen Smith or Layton vanders coming back
Speaker 1: from the injury or And I say that about Jalen
Speaker 1: Smith because I think that they need to figure out
Speaker 1: exactly where they want to play him and where the
Speaker 1: best fit is going to be for him. I think
Speaker 1: that's the biggest priority for Mike Nolan on the defense
Speaker 1: this year is figuring out where to play Jalen but
Speaker 1: Sean Lee Kenny stay healthy. What does he have left
Speaker 1: in the tank? You know, in those in those backups
Speaker 1: as well. So yes, a lot of continuity stays the same,
Speaker 1: but their coach is different, and you know, who knows
Speaker 1: what you're going to get out of these guys. Dave,
Speaker 1: It's really weird how good I feel about the position
Speaker 1: considering how mediocre it was last year. Um, but I
Speaker 1: like the continuity. I mean, you just spent the first
Speaker 1: round pick on Layton vander Esh Jalen Smith. You know,
Speaker 1: definitely not a great season, but he was. He was
Speaker 1: adequate And not only I agree with Nick completely, I
Speaker 1: think figuring out what to do with Jalen should be
Speaker 1: Mike Nolan's number one priority. Guy also has an extensive
Speaker 1: background coaching defense and linebackers, specifically, That's what he was
Speaker 1: doing in New Orleans before Mike McCarthy hired him away,
Speaker 1: So I like Mike Nolan's potential to bring that out
Speaker 1: of Jalen Smith. Then there's the factor of you know,
Speaker 1: what exactly is this defense going to look like? You know,
Speaker 1: if you follow if you follow Dallas Cowboys dot com,
Speaker 1: you're probably aware that the front office made available an
Speaker 1: interview with Zach Bonn yesterday and today it was Kenneth Murray.
Speaker 1: Those are two very different types of linebackers, but they're
Speaker 1: both linebackers. So does it mean they're gonna draft one
Speaker 1: of them? No, But based on those conversations, the Cowboys
Speaker 1: could have a completely different idea of what their linebacker
Speaker 1: corps is gonna look like. I mean, I don't anticipate
Speaker 1: that they would make a move to a three four immediately,
Speaker 1: but it's something that they could do if they added
Speaker 1: the right personnel or at the very least look a
Speaker 1: lot more multiple. So I like the guys that are
Speaker 1: in place. Sean Lee was great as a deaf piece
Speaker 1: last year. I think he can do that again this year.
Speaker 1: But I am intrigued if it's gonna look exactly the same.
Speaker 1: Let's let's dive into some of those topics that you
Speaker 1: all mentioned throughout your your your opening statement, Let's talk
Speaker 1: about the about Layton. He's coming off a neck surgery.
Speaker 1: What we've heard from the organization is that everything appears
Speaker 1: to be fine. He looks like he's gonna be ready
Speaker 1: to go at whatever point this thing gets going. That
Speaker 1: being said, how comfortable do you guys feel if there
Speaker 1: should be, if there should be a setback for him,
Speaker 1: How comfortable do you feel with Sean Lee being your
Speaker 1: primary guy that will be taking those snaps and now
Speaker 1: Pep playing a full load this season, Let's say, if
Speaker 1: if he gets a setback playing that full load for
Speaker 1: it for an extended period of time. So sorry, you
Speaker 1: nick not comfortable really at all with that. And I
Speaker 1: you know, I think that it's important that they signed
Speaker 1: Joe Thomas. I think Joe, but Joe's got to stay
Speaker 1: healthy as well. But I mean, he's a really good
Speaker 1: backup to have in there. I think the combination of
Speaker 1: Sean Lee and Joe Thomas would help. I still think
Speaker 1: that you need to draft someone. I don't know where
Speaker 1: it'll fit, but I don't think that you get too
Speaker 1: far into the second, third, fourth round if there's one
Speaker 1: on the table that you really like I don't see
Speaker 1: how the Cowboys could pass on a linebacker just with
Speaker 1: like I said, all the uncertainty that you have starting
Speaker 1: with Layton and then all the way down Dave. I
Speaker 1: honestly I feel better about it than most and I
Speaker 1: definitely I do not implicitly trust the Cowboys that Layton
Speaker 1: vander esh is fine. But at the same time, I
Speaker 1: don't know to some degree you have to be willing
Speaker 1: to have faith. Like I said, I mean, the guy's
Speaker 1: entering his third season. They just made him a first
Speaker 1: round pick. I haven't seen enough to make me think
Speaker 1: that I need to move on from that or worry
Speaker 1: about it. So I'm comfortable assuming he can start for me.
Speaker 1: And then I'm very comfortable with Sean Lee as a backup.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's what he did last year and he
Speaker 1: was fantastic. Throw Joe Thomas in there as an additional
Speaker 1: safety blank it. I feel perfectly fine about it. For
Speaker 1: twenty twenty, I do agree. I mean, you could always
Speaker 1: look to improve your depth in the draft, especially for
Speaker 1: guys with injury problems like Sean and Layton, But I
Speaker 1: don't feel as panicky about it as a lot of
Speaker 1: people seem to ever I'm kind of in between, right
Speaker 1: in the middle. You know, obviously, I'm not gonna feel
Speaker 1: super comfortable thinking that everything's gonna be fine and you
Speaker 1: have Shaun Lee as a backup. You know, obviously I
Speaker 1: love Shaun Lee. He's my favorite favorite player on the team,
Speaker 1: and I will be always rooting for him. But we
Speaker 1: do know his injury list and his history there. And
Speaker 1: then with Layton Menderesh, he's been dealing with the next
Speaker 1: thing since forever. Last year it kind of got worse
Speaker 1: and that happened and he was out basically the whole year.
Speaker 1: But I don't know. I think that last year is
Speaker 1: an example of how the Cowboys shoot, like an early
Speaker 1: warning to prepare now, you know, get an extra guy
Speaker 1: in there aside from Joe Thomas, Get somebody else that
Speaker 1: can kind of help you, and you can start training
Speaker 1: early on in case something was to happen and things
Speaker 1: were to get worse and then Sean Lee got forbids
Speaker 1: goes down as well, you know that there is someone there.
Speaker 1: What was the linebacker guy? I like him too from
Speaker 1: last year he got injured. Gifford. Look Gifford. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: we'll talk about him a little bit. Yeah, yeah, but hopefully,
Speaker 1: hopefully he can start, you know, getting healthy again and
Speaker 1: being able to get some reps and develop into something
Speaker 1: that the Cowboys can be able to use this upcoming year.
Speaker 1: All right, let's flip over the conversation to Jaylen Smith.
Speaker 1: I think it's no surprise or I don't think I'm
Speaker 1: speaking out of turn to say that Jayalen struggled sometimes
Speaker 1: last year in coverage. Particularly that being said, do you
Speaker 1: think that's a sign of things to come, or do
Speaker 1: you think that's something that was an aberration? You expect
Speaker 1: him to be much better this year. I'll harken back
Speaker 1: to Roy Williams and Nick you were around and covering
Speaker 1: at that time, and I'm talking about Roy Williams, a safety.
Speaker 1: We started to see this kind of this snowball that
Speaker 1: started to grow where teams were recognizing that he was
Speaker 1: a liability for the Cowboys in pass coverage, and that
Speaker 1: got worse and worse and worse, and to the point
Speaker 1: where it was just it was just something that the
Speaker 1: Cowboys really could protect him from. Do you see it
Speaker 1: as that kind of situation or do you think it
Speaker 1: was just an aberration for him last year? Well, I mean,
Speaker 1: I think linebackers are not You are not supposed to
Speaker 1: be covering wide receivers or tight ends. I mean, there's
Speaker 1: not any linebacker that's probably good enough to do that,
Speaker 1: so or they would probably be a safety if they
Speaker 1: really could. So it's all about the mismatches. It's it's
Speaker 1: figuring out offensive coordinators figuring out the scheme. And I
Speaker 1: remember how many times did we hear that players would
Speaker 1: say Rod Marinelli's scheme it's really easy to learn. Well,
Speaker 1: if it's really easy for someone to learn, it's really
Speaker 1: easy for the offensive coordinator to figure it out too.
Speaker 1: And so I think that they just got to figure
Speaker 1: out ways that they don't put their players in bad situations.
Speaker 1: Every team in the league would want to match up
Speaker 1: their slot receiver or an athletic tight end against a linebacker.
Speaker 1: The Cowboys have to figure out ways that they could
Speaker 1: put Jalen in the right spot and not leave him
Speaker 1: into that situation because no, I don't think he can
Speaker 1: cover very well, especially the really athletic tight ends. Camber,
Speaker 1: what you got, Well, it's so hard for me to
Speaker 1: keep my personal opinions of the guy off the field
Speaker 1: from the guy that's on the field. It's so hard.
Speaker 1: But like I said earlier on, I think one thing
Speaker 1: that plays a big role is how you conduct yourself,
Speaker 1: your behavior, and hopefully this past year he was able
Speaker 1: to take a step back, look at what he did
Speaker 1: last year and get humble, humble yourself down and shoot
Speaker 1: hopefully put him back in the right path into performing
Speaker 1: better on the field. You know, but this one's hard
Speaker 1: for me because it's hard for me to separate my
Speaker 1: emotions from it. Dave, that was so diplomatic. Amber I
Speaker 1: leaned toward what Nick said. Honestly, A big, a big
Speaker 1: talking point that I was going to bring up. I've
Speaker 1: been thinking about it all offseason. Is you know, Jalen
Speaker 1: was not as active in the offseason program last year
Speaker 1: as you would expect because he was finishing his degree
Speaker 1: at Notre Dame. And in my head, I was like, well,
Speaker 1: you know, he'll be back at the facility, he'll have
Speaker 1: a more complete program this year, and you know, hopefully
Speaker 1: that'll make a difference in his level of play. Obviously,
Speaker 1: it doesn't look like that's going to happen. So for me,
Speaker 1: I go back to Mike Nolan. I would I would
Speaker 1: hope that a guy with thirty two years of NFL
Speaker 1: coaching experience can maximize his skill set. I think Jalen's
Speaker 1: great when he's moving toward the line of scrimmage, so
Speaker 1: fine waves to maximize that, use him as a rusher more,
Speaker 1: use him as a blitzer more. Maybe even you know,
Speaker 1: I'm sure he wouldn't like this, but if you have
Speaker 1: to get him off the field on third down, whatever
Speaker 1: you got to do to limit team's abilities to take
Speaker 1: advantage of that, and I trust my going to do that,
Speaker 1: and I trust Jalen to just also be better in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two. So it's kind of like Layton. I'm
Speaker 1: you know, last year was concerning, but I'm not I'm
Speaker 1: not overly worried about it yet because I do think
Speaker 1: there's plenty of room for improvement, you know, and it's
Speaker 1: not just Jalen Smith. As far as you know guys
Speaker 1: you would want the offseason program. I mean, I know
Speaker 1: Amber just mentioned Luke Gifford. There's so many players especially
Speaker 1: we always talk about year one to year two, just
Speaker 1: how important it is to make that jump. Well, usually
Speaker 1: it's because it's the weight room. I would love to
Speaker 1: have seen what Tristan Hill, Jalen jelks Um, you know,
Speaker 1: Luke Gifford, Connor McGovern, those guys what they would look
Speaker 1: like here, and they still can It's not like they
Speaker 1: can't work. I don't know. I don't know where these
Speaker 1: guys are working out, honestly, so um, but that's cowboys. Sorry.
Speaker 1: I just it's interesting because if you're on your second contract.
Speaker 1: I saw Zach Mardin on the radio yesterday said he's
Speaker 1: got a gym at his house. Obviously he's on a
Speaker 1: huge contract. But get a guy on a rookie contract
Speaker 1: afford to build his own gym in his house. I
Speaker 1: don't know. I mean it's probably got like a bowflex
Speaker 1: or something, but it's not quite the same as as
Speaker 1: what the cowboys have at their facility. So I think.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's a really good question about what a
Speaker 1: shaker weight. Yeah, I mean, I'm sure those guys have
Speaker 1: workout equipment at home, but maybe maybe they're doing like
Speaker 1: push ups every ten minutes or something like that. They
Speaker 1: could do that. Yeah, maximize here, Oh baby pulled out
Speaker 1: the weights. Well, let's just keep it up with tradition. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you use whatever you got, right whatever. The good thing
Speaker 1: is is that I used this every time. The good
Speaker 1: thing is it's still wrapped, so it's not like that's
Speaker 1: a good sign. Yeah, yeah, you're not running out anytime too.
Speaker 1: I actually, maybe over a little later, try to get
Speaker 1: some because we all know it's getting it's getting a
Speaker 1: little bit worsome over here. Not there yet, but we're
Speaker 1: starting to worry a little bit. Yeah, maybe a little
Speaker 1: bit too much. Okay, yeah, right, all right, so we're
Speaker 1: gonna take it. We're gonna take our first break we
Speaker 1: come back. I do want to jump a little bit
Speaker 1: into that conversation on Louke Gifford. He was a guy
Speaker 1: that we all liked a lot during training camp last year,
Speaker 1: and I'll be interested to see what you guys have
Speaker 1: to say about what you think he can become this
Speaker 1: next season. We'll do that when we come right back.
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Speaker 1: welcome back to the show. We appreciate you guys joining us.
Speaker 1: We were at our homes. We're talking some Cowboys football today.
Speaker 1: Were continuing our position series. We're talking about the linebacker position.
Speaker 1: A name that came up a little earlier in the
Speaker 1: show is one I want to target right now. Luke Gifford.
Speaker 1: He was a guy that we all like what we
Speaker 1: were seeing last year from him during training camp, and
Speaker 1: then he gets hurt and we don't get to see
Speaker 1: him again the rest of the season. Talk to me
Speaker 1: about what you saw from him at the time and
Speaker 1: where you think that could possibly go this year. Does
Speaker 1: he have an opportunity maybe to challenge one of the
Speaker 1: guys as the top three linebackers at the position to
Speaker 1: maybe get some playing time during the regular season, or
Speaker 1: is he just going to be more of a special
Speaker 1: teams type guy. Let's start first with you, Dave. Just
Speaker 1: as a general rule, I try to avoid having expectations
Speaker 1: for anybody that was like drafted after like the fourth round,
Speaker 1: Like if you're a fifth, sixth, seventh round pick or
Speaker 1: an undrafted free agent. I mean, anything you can give
Speaker 1: me is great, but I don't have these like crazy
Speaker 1: expectations that Luke Gifford is going to unseat first round
Speaker 1: pick Layton vander Esh sixty five million dollar man Jalen Smith,
Speaker 1: or you know, ten year veteran Shan Lee. I don't
Speaker 1: see that unless there's a crazy rash of injuries. I
Speaker 1: expect that he'll make the team, and I think he's
Speaker 1: got the potential to be a good player. But beyond that,
Speaker 1: I'll just wait and see what he can show me. Camber,
Speaker 1: I think he'll definitely make the team. He's a guy
Speaker 1: that they can develop into something. Again, we didn't get
Speaker 1: to see much from him, but me, what I like
Speaker 1: from him is his built He has that linebacker bill.
Speaker 1: He fits perfectly with that mold that the rest of
Speaker 1: the linebacker group have, so at least he has that
Speaker 1: we Unfortunately, I was hoping to get to see more
Speaker 1: from him last year, but that didn't happen. Now, I
Speaker 1: don't think he'll get much chances to be playing on
Speaker 1: the field to fill in for any of those guys
Speaker 1: unless there are injuries that happen, and then maybe then
Speaker 1: he can get to showcase a little bit of his work.
Speaker 1: And hopefully that's the thing too is unless you get
Speaker 1: playing time. It's very hard for these guys to develop
Speaker 1: into someone that they can use for later on. So
Speaker 1: I would like for them to hopefully get to use
Speaker 1: him a lot during the preseason, give him a ton
Speaker 1: of work just to see what he can do during
Speaker 1: that time, and see if that's someone that they definitely
Speaker 1: should keep for the future. Yeah. I just like his instincts.
Speaker 1: I think that he he you know, like like uh
Speaker 1: Amber said that, you know, he does have the look
Speaker 1: for a linebacker, but he also has has really good instincts.
Speaker 1: We saw that he did just enough before he got
Speaker 1: hurt to to show that he was making progress, and
Speaker 1: then he did just enough in that game that he played,
Speaker 1: gets the interception, makes another tackle, and then that was
Speaker 1: enough for him to make the team. So, uh you know,
Speaker 1: he does take advantage of the opportunity. He was pretty
Speaker 1: good at times on um when he came back from
Speaker 1: injury on special teams. But you know, I just think
Speaker 1: that he needs a good offseason here, and you know
Speaker 1: it's gonna be hard for that to happen. But um,
Speaker 1: you know, I think that he's he's got a spot,
Speaker 1: I don't know about competing for a starting job. But
Speaker 1: then then again, like it's hard to tell what the
Speaker 1: scheme and and what you know this coaching staff likes
Speaker 1: from these linebackers, so um, there could be something we
Speaker 1: don't even know about with him. And and that's assuming
Speaker 1: that they stay in a four three. I mean, if
Speaker 1: they do move to a three four, which I don't
Speaker 1: think that's going to happen, but if they do it
Speaker 1: at times, you know, there could be a different fit
Speaker 1: for him as well. It's interesting you look at this
Speaker 1: quart this group. You've got Sean Lee on a one
Speaker 1: year deal, you got justin March on a one year deal,
Speaker 1: you got Joe Thomas on a one year deal. I
Speaker 1: think it's pretty pretty safe to say that the Cowboys
Speaker 1: should be looking at a draft pick because they may
Speaker 1: meet them after this year. Luke Gifford becomes another guy
Speaker 1: that has an opportunity because again, all these guys are
Speaker 1: on one year deals. That being said, let's talk about
Speaker 1: some names. Dave, you do the draft show here every week.
Speaker 1: Give us a couple names of some linebackers in the draft.
Speaker 1: You mentioned a couple already, but some linebackers that might
Speaker 1: make sense at areas where the Cowboys would be drafting
Speaker 1: and would realistically look at a linebacker. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: that's that's an interesting question. To Nick's point is like,
Speaker 1: what do you what do you want this linebacker cord
Speaker 1: to look like? Because like, if you're gonna trot out
Speaker 1: the regular old four or three or four two for Nickel,
Speaker 1: now we've gotten used to like if you're gonna use
Speaker 1: a big pick on a linebacker in that scheme, that
Speaker 1: to me says something troublesome about Layton vander esh which
Speaker 1: is why I leaned toward thinking like day three picks.
Speaker 1: But then you think about being multiple, maybe not transitioning
Speaker 1: to a three four, but just being as multiple as possible.
Speaker 1: You could draft more of a rush linebacker like Wisconsin
Speaker 1: Zach Bond, who they just talked to. Kenneth Murray is intriguing.
Speaker 1: If they were going to draft him, I would assume
Speaker 1: it would be to play on the inside. He could
Speaker 1: pair with somebody as your middle two linebackers in a
Speaker 1: three four. So it's interesting to think what they would
Speaker 1: want to do with that first round picks. You could
Speaker 1: draft Kenneth Murray out of Oklahoma or Patrick Queen out
Speaker 1: of LSU. I don't think it's particularly necessary, but if
Speaker 1: they wanted to run three four personnel, they could. A
Speaker 1: guy that I really liked that you could get like
Speaker 1: second or third round is Jordan Brooks out of Texas Tech.
Speaker 1: Who else we got here? I know a lot of
Speaker 1: people talk about Willie Gay out of Mississippi State. That again,
Speaker 1: that's that's a guy you'd probably have to draft with
Speaker 1: the fifty first overall pick, second round just seems awfully
Speaker 1: rich for me. Um, But I'm curious to see how
Speaker 1: they would want to do it. I mean, if they
Speaker 1: were going to draft Kenneth Murray, I'd be interested to
Speaker 1: see what their game plan is and how they would
Speaker 1: want to do that. Yeah, I mean, there has been
Speaker 1: a little bit of a talk, you know, more and
Speaker 1: more about the three four, mainly because nobody's telling us,
Speaker 1: you know that that's not the case. I mean, and
Speaker 1: you know, all people are doing right now are speculating.
Speaker 1: Anytime you mentioned Randy Gregory or aunt Alden Smith. You know,
Speaker 1: these guys fit that that you know mold of a
Speaker 1: three four. Don Terry Post certainly does as well. So
Speaker 1: you know, I don't necessarily think that's the way the
Speaker 1: Cowboys are gonna go, But but they have enough players
Speaker 1: where you can go and interchange the three four and
Speaker 1: the four three in the middle of the game. The
Speaker 1: Patriots have done that better than anybody, and I think
Speaker 1: that you'll see and the Packers have done that, You'll
Speaker 1: see that the Cowboys will probably try to do that
Speaker 1: with the personnel that they've got. All Right, So real quick,
Speaker 1: here's the final question on linebackers. I need each of
Speaker 1: you to give me one of these three answers regarding
Speaker 1: the linebacker position. Is it among the best position groups
Speaker 1: that the Cowboys have? Are they just okay? Or does
Speaker 1: this group need help? Let's start with you Amber, what
Speaker 1: was the last one? Or do they need help? Best? Okay?
Speaker 1: Or they need help? I don't know about best. I
Speaker 1: mean they need a little help. I'm just curious. I
Speaker 1: really don't know what to expect from this coaching staff
Speaker 1: because it's so different and so new to what I've
Speaker 1: been used to see in the past. So I'm curious
Speaker 1: to see how much that what an impact that has
Speaker 1: on this whole linebacker group and the defense as a whole.
Speaker 1: But they do have the talent. I do believe this
Speaker 1: is a talented group. You got Jalen Smith talented. He
Speaker 1: just needs to clean up his game and make it
Speaker 1: you know, stop the celebrations when it's not needed. Just
Speaker 1: keep giving it, you're all. But you know what I'm
Speaker 1: trying to say here anyways, Sean Lee, here's a guy
Speaker 1: that has it all. He just needs to stay healthy
Speaker 1: late late and vendoresh just come back healthy. He definitely
Speaker 1: showed to have what it takes obviously to cover Shan
Speaker 1: Lee's job and kept it. So this is definitely talented group.
Speaker 1: They just need to clean up the game and hopefully
Speaker 1: this coaching staff can can revive that energy and just
Speaker 1: make it all piece together again. So is the position
Speaker 1: group among the best? Are they okay? Or are they?
Speaker 1: Do they need help? They need help? I mean clearly
Speaker 1: from last year based on last year, they need help. Now.
Speaker 1: I think we'll see what the coaching staff does and
Speaker 1: if that was the kind of help that they needed.
Speaker 1: If you're talking about play your wise, is that what
Speaker 1: you're talking about, I'm talking about personnel wise? Are they
Speaker 1: among the best? Is their position group among the best?
Speaker 1: Is their position group just okay? They'll they'll do? Or
Speaker 1: do they still need more help that you know? From
Speaker 1: where they are right now? They need more help anymore? Helping.
Speaker 1: I don't trust the injuries. Honestly, all right, um, honestly,
Speaker 1: this this answer is all three. They are the best
Speaker 1: because they're the only group that all three of the
Speaker 1: starters are all one hundred percent of the starters have
Speaker 1: made a Pro Bowl. So from from what they've accomplished,
Speaker 1: they are the best. But the problem is is that
Speaker 1: sometimes they're just okay. And because of that, because they
Speaker 1: have a lot of invested in it and they're just okay. Yes,
Speaker 1: they need help. So I'm gonna say yes to all
Speaker 1: of them. I'm sorry, but that's that's the case. I mean,
Speaker 1: they are accomplished, but they don't always play up to
Speaker 1: that part, which makes them just okay, which means and
Speaker 1: all those one year contracts from the back end, you know,
Speaker 1: I think, yeah, that they need to make sure get
Speaker 1: some help. I agree with Dave. I think the third
Speaker 1: or fourth round. Well I don't know if he said that,
Speaker 1: but you know he didn't say, hi, first and second round,
Speaker 1: third or fourth round would be I would where I
Speaker 1: would start looking for value at linebacker. All Right, Dave,
Speaker 1: it feels kind of knee jerk to me, Like this
Speaker 1: time last year we would have said this was the
Speaker 1: second best position group on the entire team, behind the
Speaker 1: offensive line, and all of that talent is still there.
Speaker 1: There's definitely concerns. I'm not trying to convince anybody that
Speaker 1: there's not, but I have faith that can still be
Speaker 1: a highly effective unit any of my Most of my
Speaker 1: concerns are just about the future, which I completely agree
Speaker 1: with Nick. If there's a guy worth grabbing on Day three,
Speaker 1: like they did so good in back to back years
Speaker 1: drafting Anthony Hitchins and Damian Wilson in the fourth round,
Speaker 1: I would do something like that. If you're looking. I
Speaker 1: know I threw out some names earlier, but like day
Speaker 1: three names, look up Davion Taylor out of Colorado, guy
Speaker 1: Jacob Phillips out of LSU I think could be a
Speaker 1: steal and then um no, I'm I know, I know,
Speaker 1: I'm a homer, but he's a freaking he's a super
Speaker 1: good player. You can take my word for it. Another
Speaker 1: one of your guys, Yeah, Evan Weaver out of cal
Speaker 1: is another one. He is not an impressive as he's
Speaker 1: not an impressive athlete, but he makes every tackle in
Speaker 1: the world. Um, I would I've actually seen that guy,
Speaker 1: wasn't he a defensive lineman like in college or did
Speaker 1: he always play or is he like a three four linebacker.
Speaker 1: He's a hybrid linebacker. He wore like ninety nine in college,
Speaker 1: which made him look like a d lineman. But he's
Speaker 1: a I mean, he's a he's an off ball linebacker.
Speaker 1: UM an a guy like that in the fourth, fifth,
Speaker 1: or sixth round just to keep the depth churning and
Speaker 1: have a long term option. That's what I would do. Okay,
Speaker 1: let's uh, let's go ahead and flip flip over to
Speaker 1: the tape tight end position and see what we can
Speaker 1: get out of that before we have to go to
Speaker 1: our second break again. This is a position seen quite
Speaker 1: a bit of change, the notice most noticeable one being
Speaker 1: Jason Witten now no longer being with the team. We
Speaker 1: talked last week. I think we all answered the question
Speaker 1: of whether we think it was a big loss or not.
Speaker 1: My question for you this week is how does it
Speaker 1: change or do you think it will change how they
Speaker 1: play offense. Do you think that you might see a
Speaker 1: little more or a little less two tight insets? Do
Speaker 1: you see a little bit more a little bit less passing?
Speaker 1: With Jason Witten no longer in the mix. How do
Speaker 1: you think there'll be well, what do you think the
Speaker 1: changes will look like? Let's start first with you Nick.
Speaker 1: You know, I had a good conversation with Bucky Brooks,
Speaker 1: who's been doing a lot of work with us, if
Speaker 1: you've seen on the site some scouting reports and stuff,
Speaker 1: and he actually has another one coming up here in
Speaker 1: the near future about McCarthy and his history with tight
Speaker 1: ends and just the type of tight ends that they
Speaker 1: like to use, a lot more athletic, a lot more
Speaker 1: of an athletic build for for that position, and kind
Speaker 1: of why why does he want to stretch him out?
Speaker 1: What is he trying to do with all these mismatches,
Speaker 1: and so just you know that alone, I think Blake
Speaker 1: Jarwin will give you a little bit more mismatches. You know,
Speaker 1: Jason Witten wasn't there anymore with with anybody that you were,
Speaker 1: you know that was really worried about him as as
Speaker 1: a route runner. Um. But I just think that when
Speaker 1: it comes to it, I think that they still need
Speaker 1: a little bit of help there. Um. If I could
Speaker 1: pronounce his name, I would throw it out there. But
Speaker 1: is it Cole Hiccottini watch out for him. He was
Speaker 1: on the practice squad last year. Watch out for him
Speaker 1: as a guy that could that could maybe unseat Dalton
Speaker 1: Schultz's role. I think that I think he might have
Speaker 1: a good chance to make the team. All right, Amber,
Speaker 1: So right now, does I always have what Blake Jarwin,
Speaker 1: Blake Bell they got. They just had Dalton Scholtz and
Speaker 1: then that guy you mentioned, Yeah, I mean Hiccottini was
Speaker 1: on the practice squad. Yeah, and that's basically it. Obviously.
Speaker 1: I mean, Rico, no, give it another try. No, But
Speaker 1: I think you know, I am. I'm confident on what
Speaker 1: Blake Jarwin can bring to the game. I think that
Speaker 1: given the chance and given more reps, he can become
Speaker 1: into a better player and do more for you and
Speaker 1: for the offense. But as far as bodies and experience,
Speaker 1: I don't feel a ton like I don't feel that great.
Speaker 1: I think that Dad needs the help to meet the
Speaker 1: quarterback that I've seen from him. It's like he's the
Speaker 1: type of quarterback that needs all the help that he
Speaker 1: can get from those elements of the offense. So he
Speaker 1: definitely needs on it. He needs a tight end that
Speaker 1: he can trust, like Jarwin has shown to be that.
Speaker 1: But for example, when you talk about Dalton Schultz, a
Speaker 1: guy that they drafted a couple of years ago. I
Speaker 1: don't think he's a guy. Honestly, I don't remember anything
Speaker 1: from Dalton Schultz. I don't remember a single play, to
Speaker 1: be honest, I don't think he's done much and that
Speaker 1: what there isn't one. Well, there you go. I don't
Speaker 1: I think I'm ready to move on from that and
Speaker 1: bring someone else. I think that they can definitely get
Speaker 1: a guy from the draft and have him compete with
Speaker 1: Sholz for a spot, and that's easy to do based
Speaker 1: on what we've seen in the past. So as of
Speaker 1: right now, I don't feel super excited about the tight
Speaker 1: end position, but I have hopes in Blake Jarwin and
Speaker 1: what he can do in the future. Right Dave, I'm
Speaker 1: intrigued and excited because I don't I mean, this sounds
Speaker 1: harsh to say about Jason Witten. He was he was
Speaker 1: fine last year and in the final few years of
Speaker 1: his career, but like, it's not like the tight end
Speaker 1: position has just been this like crazy boon of productivity
Speaker 1: for the last five years. So I don't think there's
Speaker 1: anywhere for it to go. But up we talked last week,
Speaker 1: you know, I don't think Jarwin is Travis Kelsey, but
Speaker 1: he can stretch the defense, he can get downfield. We've
Speaker 1: seen him thrive in the seam, he's great after the catch.
Speaker 1: All of that's really intriguing. And then Blake Bell really
Speaker 1: interests me because of how versatilely is. You know, obviously
Speaker 1: he's played tight end in the league, but I'm very
Speaker 1: confident he could do some h back stuff. And obviously
Speaker 1: he's got a history playing quarterback, so that there's like
Speaker 1: the added elements of the unknown. Not that he's gonna
Speaker 1: play significant reps, but I don't know. You could probably
Speaker 1: do some fun stuff in the goal line in short
Speaker 1: yard situations with a guy like that, So I'm intrigued.
Speaker 1: It's definitely it's not a strength of this team, but
Speaker 1: it'll be new and athletic, which is what they haven't
Speaker 1: had in a while. So's I'm optimistic to see what
Speaker 1: that looks like. Talk to me a little bit about
Speaker 1: Dalton Schultz. He's a guy that the Cowboys jaf a
Speaker 1: few years ago. Last year, I mean, I don't know,
Speaker 1: I still haven't seen a lot from him that suggests
Speaker 1: to me that he's got to be a real player
Speaker 1: in this league. Have you guys seen anything that suggests
Speaker 1: he's a guy maybe for the future for the Cowboys
Speaker 1: or the future would be now for him. Uh, there's
Speaker 1: opportunity there that he could jump up and seize. Let's start. Yeah,
Speaker 1: go ahead, No, I don't think. I mean I figured
Speaker 1: this has to be me or Dave about what we've seen,
Speaker 1: because clearly, you know she hasn't seen anything. Who has
Speaker 1: I mean really, I mean it's not it's not well,
Speaker 1: I mean, but it's not wrong. I mean, like, he
Speaker 1: really hasn't from it for a fourth round pick, you know,
Speaker 1: and he didn't contribute a whole lot on special teams either,
Speaker 1: So you know, for him, getting stronger was was the
Speaker 1: you know, what he needed to do. He needed to
Speaker 1: get to get stronger so he could be an adequate
Speaker 1: backup tight end. That second tight end has got to
Speaker 1: be a guy that that could be out in the
Speaker 1: field to end short yardage, to help block and not
Speaker 1: be a liability. So you know, he's had an interesting
Speaker 1: career so far, just because you know, he got caught
Speaker 1: up in the he was drafted. But yeah, some people
Speaker 1: wanted Rico and so what do they do with these
Speaker 1: third and fourth tight ends, and he played half the
Speaker 1: snaps he probably should because Rico was getting some so
Speaker 1: he kind of kind of got caught up in all that.
Speaker 1: But if he was clearly better, he would have played,
Speaker 1: and he wasn't. So that's but you see, you know,
Speaker 1: when we talked about Luke Giffer earlier, he's a guy
Speaker 1: that we didn't really get to see much of it,
Speaker 1: but when we did, we saw sparks of it. With Dalton,
Speaker 1: I feel like I never got to see a spark,
Speaker 1: not even a training cap. I never got to see
Speaker 1: something that made me want to keep seeing more, or
Speaker 1: you know, feeling like, oh, you know what, maybe if
Speaker 1: they give him more reps he can turn into this.
Speaker 1: I never got any of that from the times that
Speaker 1: I did get to watch him. That the side, so
Speaker 1: I'll say this, and Nick has brought it up before,
Speaker 1: is just I can't I can't rule anything out just
Speaker 1: because of the changing coaching staff. So you know, Mike
Speaker 1: McCarthy and his staff could look Dalton, Chalton be like Jesus,
Speaker 1: why did these guys have you doing this stuff? Like
Speaker 1: we got a completely different idea of what we think
Speaker 1: you should be doing. Having said that, if you're a
Speaker 1: fourth round pick. I expect to have seen something intriguing
Speaker 1: from you in two years, so the fact that I
Speaker 1: haven't doesn't make me optimistic. But you know, maybe a
Speaker 1: new coaching staff can turn things around for him. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I actually think about that from the standpoint of what
Speaker 1: was being said earlier, Nick, that you said Bucky Brooks
Speaker 1: talked about, and how Mike McCarthy likes athletic tight ends.
Speaker 1: If he has that level of athleticism, my question would be,
Speaker 1: why wouldn't we have seen that in some way over
Speaker 1: these years? And I don't know that I can remember
Speaker 1: a moment even in training camp or practices where I've
Speaker 1: seen Dalton Scholt show me a certain level of athleticism
Speaker 1: that made me think he's a really athletic guy that
Speaker 1: maybe just wasn't being used in the right way. And
Speaker 1: quite frankly, the fact that they signed Blake Bill suggested
Speaker 1: to me that's even more of a reason why they
Speaker 1: felt like they needed a real second tight end, somebody
Speaker 1: who could legitimately be a good blocker for them. And
Speaker 1: I think you're gonna actually end up seeing Blake Bell,
Speaker 1: but your second tight end, wait, more than you're gonna
Speaker 1: see Dalton Scholtz, and that to me is an indictment
Speaker 1: on kind of who he is and maybe what they
Speaker 1: expect from him going forward. Yeah, all right, let's go
Speaker 1: and check our final break when we come back and
Speaker 1: has a game for us. We're gonna get have some
Speaker 1: fun here in this final segment. We'll do that when
Speaker 1: we come right back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot com Radio.
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Speaker 1: not in the s WBC Mortgage studios, although we wish
Speaker 1: we were. We were at our homes. We are tucked
Speaker 1: in safely. We're talking Cowboys football. In this final segment,
Speaker 1: Amber has a game for us. Amber. Let's go, all right,
Speaker 1: we're bringing back a little cr No for you guys.
Speaker 1: Some people have been asking for it, so let's get
Speaker 1: right into it. Will the Cowboys go after a veteran quarterback?
Speaker 1: Cr No, No, no, they would have already right, they
Speaker 1: wouldn't have already done it. Well, hold'll still some out there,
Speaker 1: hold on when they might they might, I mean, like
Speaker 1: get to practice and these guys see like maybe they
Speaker 1: don't like what Cooper Rush has or doesn't. We're no
Speaker 1: towards the end of train. Okamp, Yes, that's actually a
Speaker 1: good point, Nick, because I keep I keep just falling
Speaker 1: into this fallacy of well they don't do that. They
Speaker 1: love Rush, and I forget the fact that they are
Speaker 1: no longer here. So yeah, maybe maybe they do. Maybe
Speaker 1: they do get into some practices to start realizing that
Speaker 1: maybe Cooper Rush isn't necessarily what they want from a backup,
Speaker 1: or maybe they feel like they need a little more
Speaker 1: insurance in the event DA goes down. They want to
Speaker 1: keep developing Cooper Rush, but they want somebody else to
Speaker 1: be there their primary backup. Right, see what happened in
Speaker 1: the draft. I hate myself for even saying this out loud.
Speaker 1: I'm like the conductor of the DAK train. I firmly
Speaker 1: believe he needs to be paid. But like, what's going
Speaker 1: on with Cam Newton? What's what's the deal here? Like?
Speaker 1: I really wow, I'm I'm there's my headline for the
Speaker 1: for the art show, right, we're gonna go all in
Speaker 1: on it. I'm just curious why a former NFL MVP
Speaker 1: who is only thirty one can't find a job. Like
Speaker 1: that's crazy to me. And I know he was hurt,
Speaker 1: and I know he more than anybody, needs to be
Speaker 1: healthy to be effective because mobility is such a big
Speaker 1: part of his game. But like, nobody even wants to
Speaker 1: kick the tires on an NFL MVP. And I don't
Speaker 1: think you know I'm how expensive tis well, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'd rather have Cam Newton than Nick Foles, right,
Speaker 1: am I crazy? Well, But here's the deal. I think
Speaker 1: that's the interesting part about it is I think, yes,
Speaker 1: he is a he is a better quarterback than a
Speaker 1: lot of quarterbacks around the NFL. I think the issue
Speaker 1: for him becomes, like Nick says, obviously the price tag
Speaker 1: is part of it, but the second part of it
Speaker 1: is your offense has to change if you're going to
Speaker 1: be able to best utilize the skill set that he
Speaker 1: brings to the table. And I don't know that every
Speaker 1: coach is willing to say we're going to totally revamp
Speaker 1: what we do, not let alone we have the right
Speaker 1: personnel to match up with that. But you have to
Speaker 1: kind of change what you do because this skill set
Speaker 1: is not your is not. I don't think if you've
Speaker 1: got to utilize the skills very well, at least what
Speaker 1: he's been so far in his career, I think you
Speaker 1: have to change things up, and I don't know if
Speaker 1: everybody's willing to do that. And also I don't think
Speaker 1: he can continue to play at what he's done and
Speaker 1: continue to play in this league three or four more
Speaker 1: years doing that type of being another running back out there.
Speaker 1: Like I think he would have to be more of
Speaker 1: a pocket passer guy, and that's really not his thing either.
Speaker 1: So he's kind of in a little bit of a
Speaker 1: crossroads of his career to like, does he want to
Speaker 1: continue to do that, because that's what's been banging him
Speaker 1: up is just the way he plays. He does not
Speaker 1: played like a quarterback. He plays like a you know,
Speaker 1: bulldozing running back, and you know, he catches up to everybody.
Speaker 1: I am not saying that I think the Cowboys should
Speaker 1: do this. I think they should pay Dak Prescott. I
Speaker 1: can't believe it hasn't happened by now, but I am
Speaker 1: at least a little bit intrigued by the idea of
Speaker 1: paying Cam Newton a lot less and building up the
Speaker 1: team around him and actively try to draft a quarterback
Speaker 1: while he's doing that. If he's not good, then you
Speaker 1: know you're spending first, second, or third round picks on
Speaker 1: quarterbacks the next few years. That's what makes it scary.
Speaker 1: That's why the Cowboys shouldn't do it. But if you
Speaker 1: told me that I could sign Cam for like, I
Speaker 1: don't know, somewhere between twenty and twenty eight mill a year,
Speaker 1: what makes you think that Cam's gonna be that Cam's
Speaker 1: gonna be a lot less? That's a good question. I
Speaker 1: mean I don't have an answer to that. Because he's
Speaker 1: out of work and the markets dried up, that's all. Like,
Speaker 1: I mean, you're right. I mean, the guy's been to
Speaker 1: however many Pro Bowls and won an NFL MVP, like
Speaker 1: he should be able to command a lot more, but
Speaker 1: he's sitting out there unemployed right now. So yeah, I
Speaker 1: just look at it as I think, no matter what
Speaker 1: I think, a lot of these guys, especially guys, and
Speaker 1: rightfully so, for a guy like Cam is a former MVP,
Speaker 1: he's taking his team to a super Bowl, I don't
Speaker 1: think he necessarily is the type of guy that's just
Speaker 1: gonna settle because he's on the street right now. I
Speaker 1: think he'll probably wait it out as he should and
Speaker 1: get maybe not max value, but certainly get good value.
Speaker 1: I don't think. I don't think he would end up
Speaker 1: in a situation where he's taking twenty twenty eight million
Speaker 1: dollars a year. I think you might be able to
Speaker 1: get him for thirty two, maybe thirty three, but I
Speaker 1: don't think he's gonna be coming in really really cheap
Speaker 1: for who he is. I don't know about that, dude,
Speaker 1: thirty two or thirty three. I mean, those averages are
Speaker 1: based off of four to five year deals. If he
Speaker 1: doesn't get something like that, I don't think he's gonna
Speaker 1: get a one year thirty two. I mean, I don't
Speaker 1: even know if that. Yeah, I just don't know if
Speaker 1: the Cowboys are going to continue to do that with
Speaker 1: Dak on this one year thirty two. I don't even
Speaker 1: see that happening. But I think what Cam will do
Speaker 1: is sit there and wait for that one quarterback to
Speaker 1: get hurt, because there will be one or two, and
Speaker 1: then when that happens, it'll be like, oh, do they
Speaker 1: go get camp because some and so just got injured.
Speaker 1: Like I said, I still think paying Dak is the
Speaker 1: right course of action. But that is one situate. Like
Speaker 1: It's just it's interesting to me, Like, I think you
Speaker 1: could build a winning football team around Cam Newton, and
Speaker 1: I think it's even at this point of his career.
Speaker 1: I think you could. And I think it's weird that
Speaker 1: nobody seems to warn him right now. Definitely agreed there.
Speaker 1: I agree that with that. Well, another guy that nobody
Speaker 1: seems to warn right now, but a guy that I
Speaker 1: need to bring up once again because a lot of
Speaker 1: people send me this question. Is this Brian, especially after
Speaker 1: all these social media videos that have been going out
Speaker 1: of him practicing with Dak Prescott catching some passes. Shoot,
Speaker 1: the Cowboys signed Dez Ceo. No, no, no, no, they
Speaker 1: should shouldn't. They don't need that guy. They don't need him.
Speaker 1: M let's I mean, I'm inclining he was a declining
Speaker 1: player before a torn at Kelly's injury. I just what
Speaker 1: makes his think that he's going to be a he's
Speaker 1: gonna have a resurgence now and he hasn't shown the
Speaker 1: ability to be in This guy that is great in
Speaker 1: the locker room and he's gonna be okay with one
Speaker 1: pass for six yards and a loss that that doesn't
Speaker 1: seem to be like a guy that the Cowboys would need.
Speaker 1: I will say this, though, I don't know that. I
Speaker 1: give everybody room to change and grow, and maybe he
Speaker 1: has a different mindset now than he had when he
Speaker 1: was a younger player. That happens so a lot of us.
Speaker 1: We grow up, we become a little more mature, we
Speaker 1: have a little different outlook on things. But I just
Speaker 1: look at it and say, I don't know that practically
Speaker 1: it fits. You're right now, if you look at the
Speaker 1: receiving position, you think the Cowboys need depth, you think
Speaker 1: the Cowboys need a slot receiver. I don't think de
Speaker 1: Dez provides either one of those two things. And when
Speaker 1: I talk about death depth, I'm talking about also kenn
Speaker 1: a guy play special teams. We know des will not
Speaker 1: be playing special teams. So are you telling me that
Speaker 1: you're gonna have You're gonna add another guy that might
Speaker 1: be fourth on your depth chart that doesn't play special teams.
Speaker 1: I just I don't see whether there's a good fit
Speaker 1: here unless something happens to one of your top two
Speaker 1: receivers and you feel like, for whatever reason, Desk can
Speaker 1: play that role. I don't think Des comes in and
Speaker 1: immediate becomes a slot receiver when that's not something he's
Speaker 1: traditionally done. I don't think he's gonna be your fourth
Speaker 1: guy because I don't think he can play special teams.
Speaker 1: So I don't think there's a fit for Dez right
Speaker 1: now based upon how this roster is currently constructed. I
Speaker 1: thought it was really funny. I get you know, if
Speaker 1: you've been on social media, it's making the rounds. I mean,
Speaker 1: Dak has been working out with Dez, which you know
Speaker 1: obviously not following the social distancing guidelines. But on top
Speaker 1: of that, just interesting that Dak is throwing with Dez
Speaker 1: at Dallas area gyms right now. But the word going
Speaker 1: around is that Dak was telling somebody, you know, we
Speaker 1: need to get this guy on a team, not my team,
Speaker 1: not our team, like the franchise quarterback of the Cowboys,
Speaker 1: who you would think has that kind of sway. It
Speaker 1: was like, Des needs to be on a team, but
Speaker 1: not necessarily my team. I had this argument with Jeff
Speaker 1: Kavanaugh last night, like, if you want to bring in
Speaker 1: Dez to be the fourth receiver and go on the
Speaker 1: field in the red zone and be a mismatch guy, Okay,
Speaker 1: like you. I mean, that's fine. I don't think you
Speaker 1: need to as but if you're going to do that,
Speaker 1: you need to draft a young, versatile receiver who you
Speaker 1: intend to be your third starter. Like I Dez Bryant
Speaker 1: doesn't need to have a starters workload at this point
Speaker 1: in his career. Like if you were going to do it,
Speaker 1: it would be as like a situational guy. But to
Speaker 1: Derek's point, that's just not smart roster building. I just
Speaker 1: I don't see it. I can't rule it out completely
Speaker 1: because Jerry owns hasn't but I don't see it, and
Speaker 1: I don't think at all I will throw out this
Speaker 1: one caveat though I will throught this one caveat though
Speaker 1: we do know that they're gonna that there's some changes
Speaker 1: to the rules in the NFL with regards to rosters
Speaker 1: and who can be on the roster and how many
Speaker 1: players you can have. There are a couple of extra
Speaker 1: spots you can have. Maybe the Cowboys have the ability
Speaker 1: to be able to make him their fourth ride receiver
Speaker 1: and not having play special teams and having be a
Speaker 1: specialty gadget type guy because of the fact that they
Speaker 1: have those extra roster spots maybe that works. I don't know.
Speaker 1: All I know is based upon what we've known traditionally
Speaker 1: about how a roster is built. I just don't see
Speaker 1: how he would fit in that construct, all right. So,
Speaker 1: clearly seeing all these promotions help promoting with all these
Speaker 1: videos working out with Dad hasn't changed your opinion on
Speaker 1: him signing with the Cowboys. But we'll see what happens there.
Speaker 1: Here's the next question. Do you guys think that McCarthy
Speaker 1: will have more say in how the Cowboys do the
Speaker 1: draft this year compared to Jason Garrett? So basically, does
Speaker 1: McCarthy have a bigger voice in the draft room than
Speaker 1: what Garrett was able to do in previous years? C No,
Speaker 1: as ay, see, I think he will because I think
Speaker 1: he's trying to let everybody know his scouts, his coaches,
Speaker 1: what kind of team, what kind of players he wants.
Speaker 1: He's the one that said scheme doesn't matter as much
Speaker 1: as having good football players, and I think the head
Speaker 1: coach needs to make sure and let everyone know what
Speaker 1: type of football player he's looking for. What does the
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboy player look like in his mind? And so yes,
Speaker 1: I think he will have a little bit more say
Speaker 1: in that, but I think Garrett did as well. But
Speaker 1: I think I think McCarthy will probably have a little
Speaker 1: bit more say because they'll be looking. This is his
Speaker 1: first class to really build and shape what type of
Speaker 1: team he wants. I agree, but I don't. I don't
Speaker 1: think he'll have a larger voice than Garrett did. I
Speaker 1: think he'll have a larger voice than what he's used
Speaker 1: to having, because I think his arrangement in Green Bay
Speaker 1: with Ted Thompson was like Ted Thompson was like, I'll
Speaker 1: buy the groceries and you make the dinner, whereas it's
Speaker 1: always been a way more collaborative process here, even to
Speaker 1: the point where you would might argue the coaches had
Speaker 1: too loud of a voice. So I don't think he'll
Speaker 1: have a louder voice than Garrett did. I think he'll
Speaker 1: just have a louder voice than what he's used to
Speaker 1: And I agree wholeheartedwood Day, That's exactly what I was
Speaker 1: gonna say. So all right, since we don't fully know
Speaker 1: quite yet how this draft is going to go down,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of possibilities of it happening, virtruly, because
Speaker 1: of the change in the process of how things are
Speaker 1: handled in this year's draft. Do you expect that to
Speaker 1: mess up with the trading process and how teams start
Speaker 1: trading this year? No, see, not at all. Go ahead, Derek.
Speaker 1: I think one of the things, one of the things
Speaker 1: that I've learned, one of the things that I've learned
Speaker 1: just in what we do over these last three weeks
Speaker 1: is if you're if you're somewhat good at your job,
Speaker 1: you learn how to adapt. They're always going to be
Speaker 1: varying circumstances that change the dynamics of what you do,
Speaker 1: and if you're good at what you do, you'll adapt
Speaker 1: and you'll be just as good, if not better, under
Speaker 1: those new circumstances. Now, of course, this whole situation is
Speaker 1: a very different type of circumstance, but we've seen these
Speaker 1: types of these types of disruptions before. Again, not the
Speaker 1: same thing, but disruptions where what you're used to being
Speaker 1: able to do you no longer can do. And so
Speaker 1: I think the company to the teams that are really
Speaker 1: good at technology, the teams that are really good at
Speaker 1: knowing how to take advantage technology, they'll be just as good,
Speaker 1: if not better, this draft as they've ever been. Maybe
Speaker 1: some of those teams that aren't maybe they won't be,
Speaker 1: but I don't think this will change things for most
Speaker 1: teams that are adept at being able to run their business.
Speaker 1: You know what I've learned in the last three weeks,
Speaker 1: even like setting up a podcast between four people remotely
Speaker 1: has its fair share of hiccups. We've had them every
Speaker 1: single time we've tried to do this show. We worked
Speaker 1: it out, but it still happens every week, every single time.
Speaker 1: And it's understandable. But thirty two teams and the general
Speaker 1: managers and coaches of those teams are mostly of an
Speaker 1: age where like they didn't grow up with this kind
Speaker 1: of technology. They're not used to it. I think it's
Speaker 1: going to be a mess. I think people are going
Speaker 1: to be screwing up all kinds of stuff. Because it's
Speaker 1: so many moving parts to coordinate remotely, there's bound to
Speaker 1: be some flub ups. I don't know what exactly is
Speaker 1: going to happen, but I expect it to be a
Speaker 1: total cluster. Well, the one thing we do know about
Speaker 1: this is you can always clear all those by just
Speaker 1: picking up your phone and making a phone call right like,
Speaker 1: so if there's ever a mix up with the other technology,
Speaker 1: the phone still works. You can still pick it up
Speaker 1: and say, hey, man, thinking about this trade, what are
Speaker 1: you thinking? You want to do it? And then figure
Speaker 1: it all out from there. So but Derek doesn't go
Speaker 1: like that. Jerry has two phones. He's got Cleveland over
Speaker 1: here with a second and a fifth. He's got the
Speaker 1: Jets on a second and a fourth and they want
Speaker 1: this player, and what about to call the Chargers back?
Speaker 1: And you've got all that going on. How many phones
Speaker 1: do you think you'll have this year? I don't know more.
Speaker 1: But he won't have he won't have Steven and Will
Speaker 1: and those guys in the room with him. Maybe you will.
Speaker 1: I don't know how it's gonna set up, but I mean,
Speaker 1: I agree with Dave, I agree with both of you. Yes,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be better than we think, but there's still
Speaker 1: gonna be all of those things we're talking about. There's
Speaker 1: a fifteen minute time limit on the thing, and all
Speaker 1: of a sudden you're like, okay, just just doo the pick.
Speaker 1: I think you'll see more safer picks, and you'll see
Speaker 1: a little bit less trading because it's gonna be chaotic. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there'll be some adjustments, no doubt about it. I just
Speaker 1: I have a feeling that teams that Again, if you're
Speaker 1: good at your business and you know how to make adjustments,
Speaker 1: you might have some some areas where you're like, oh,
Speaker 1: that didn't quite work as we expect it, but you'll
Speaker 1: figure it out and you'll be able to come out
Speaker 1: with a similar to the same product as what you
Speaker 1: were able to come out with before. I just I
Speaker 1: believe the situations like this or opportunities to show just
Speaker 1: how good you can be at what you do. And
Speaker 1: I think there will be some teams at rise of
Speaker 1: that occasion be a big draft for Ben. Yeah, guy,
Speaker 1: that's my yeah. Ben. Ben is phenomenal and you can
Speaker 1: see him every year at the draft. You can see
Speaker 1: him all over the feed helping everybody. But if he's
Speaker 1: got to do that right, right, if he's got to
Speaker 1: do it via phone, what the hell is going to happen?
Speaker 1: I like, I just think they're like, there's some teams
Speaker 1: are like, there's gonna be like a missed pick or two.
Speaker 1: There's gonna be some flow trades. I bet you we
Speaker 1: won't even know most of the chaos because it'll be
Speaker 1: in the form of like failed trades that never made
Speaker 1: the public eye because it fell right because of bad
Speaker 1: commune occation. I just yeah, because the forty nine er
Speaker 1: signal is busy. Yeah, like, wait, where's our WiFi? What's
Speaker 1: going on? One thing? The one thing I do know
Speaker 1: is I think this is shaping up to be one
Speaker 1: heck of a deep blue documentary. So yeah, Nick, get
Speaker 1: on that. That was gonna be. This one's gonna be really,
Speaker 1: really good. I'm just worried how we're gonna do our
Speaker 1: draft like we're gonna do our coverage and our stuff
Speaker 1: in twenty years, Nick, you and I have never spent
Speaker 1: draft day away from each other. This is gonna be
Speaker 1: very very different for me. We don't have to. I mean, like, no,
Speaker 1: we do. We're following the rules. We do. All right, Well,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be very interesting. But I think we ran
Speaker 1: out of time right now, so Derek just go ahead
Speaker 1: and close it out. All right. We appreciate you. We
Speaker 1: enjoyed the game, c And no, we'll pick that back
Speaker 1: up next week. We'll finish off that game next week
Speaker 1: and answer some more questions. We do appreciate you, guys.
Speaker 1: They'll take a time with us today, talk a little
Speaker 1: football until next week. For Nick, even Dave helm and
Speaker 1: Amber Garcia. I am Derek Eagelson. This has been the
Speaker 1: Break live on dllascowboys dot Com Radio. This has been
Speaker 1: a production of Dallascowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys
Speaker 1: Football Club.