Speaker 1: The following. He's a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com
Speaker 1: and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. This this he's Talking Cowboys,
Speaker 1: springing live from the Dallas Cowboys World head Hours at
Speaker 1: the Star in Frisco. Here are Mickey Spagnola, Brian Bruns,
Speaker 1: Rob Phillips, and Bill Jones. Good morning from the Star
Speaker 1: in Frisco. Welcome to Talking Cowboys inside the SWBC Mortgage studio.
Speaker 1: Rob Phillips, joined by Brian brought us across the table
Speaker 1: from me and man, the attrician on the show keeps
Speaker 1: piling up. Man, what you get when you're dealing with
Speaker 1: a bunch of old men, you know. So I will
Speaker 1: say this though, and you know that's it. It's uh,
Speaker 1: it's nice though that you could. You know, we were
Speaker 1: talking about, hey, we're not gonna have Bill for this time. Mickey,
Speaker 1: you know, is dealing with some things and and you
Speaker 1: know it's like, well, can we do the show just
Speaker 1: a two man show? And I'm like, yeah, let's we
Speaker 1: do two man show for half the show half the show.
Speaker 1: Yea studio at some point, yeah, yeah, he's got TV obligations.
Speaker 1: Mickey's still out, So we've got a couple empty chairs.
Speaker 1: So yeah, we're good. Now we'll figure it out. We
Speaker 1: have so much to talk about it. We do, we do.
Speaker 1: It's got a game week, as they always say, Yeah,
Speaker 1: for the first time in uh almost nine months, this
Speaker 1: is a practice day for the regular season. Yeah, Cowboys
Speaker 1: on a Wednesday, get practice day too. By the way,
Speaker 1: a big one. Why is that? Well? You know, and
Speaker 1: I mean you interrupt you there, but I was gonna
Speaker 1: give it a little emphasis on this, uh this practice
Speaker 1: day because the first week you kind of want to
Speaker 1: figure out where guys are gonna play or who's going
Speaker 1: to play. And then the Rico Gathers story. We've talked
Speaker 1: about that him, Dalton Scholtz. Who's going to get the
Speaker 1: most reps? There? You know, how the wide receiver rotation's
Speaker 1: gonna work? You know, I mean we kind of any
Speaker 1: camp it was it didn't seem like we were able
Speaker 1: to get any type of a pattern to how things
Speaker 1: were going to work out. A receiver, who's going to
Speaker 1: be the starter? Where's hey, where does you know where
Speaker 1: does Michael Gallup fit into this? Is he going to
Speaker 1: be a starter for Terrence Williams that they could open
Speaker 1: eleven personnel? You know, there's all kinds of things. This
Speaker 1: is now the first week we'll see Ezekiel Elliott. I
Speaker 1: mean he's looked good in training camp and all that,
Speaker 1: but hasn't No, not one opponent's hand has been laid
Speaker 1: on him, you know this time. So a lot of
Speaker 1: really interesting stories, storylines going into the first week. You know,
Speaker 1: the questions about the safety spot, how they're going to
Speaker 1: practice safety, is a campbell? The new guy gonna be over,
Speaker 1: say Robinson? You know, I mean, there's there's just so
Speaker 1: many things that you kind of kind of keep an
Speaker 1: eye on it. Practice. They only give us twenty five minutes.
Speaker 1: It's not like we get to go out there and
Speaker 1: stand there for the whole day and say, oh, this
Speaker 1: is what they're gonna do. But you know, there were
Speaker 1: some indications how special teams line up. So I just
Speaker 1: kind of went through a litany of things we need
Speaker 1: to think about. No. I think you bring up a
Speaker 1: good point in that it is to me one of
Speaker 1: the most fascinating starts to a season for the Cowboys
Speaker 1: that I can remember, because of the questions, because of
Speaker 1: the changes that they've had at so many spots, right,
Speaker 1: and the first one you mentioned I think was wide receiver,
Speaker 1: and you're right because you had Joe Looney, didn't I
Speaker 1: I forgot Joey. There's that too. Yeah, got a new
Speaker 1: offensive center, right, So that's important. Zach Martin talked yesterday
Speaker 1: to the media. It looks like he feels great. He
Speaker 1: should be ready to go back to swell that last
Speaker 1: day here and before the Texans game. You can count
Speaker 1: on him at right guard. But that wide receiver spot,
Speaker 1: you had thirteen or fourteen receivers in camp, and you're right.
Speaker 1: They basically just shuffled nine ten guys in for first
Speaker 1: team reps throughout training camp, and guys played a lot
Speaker 1: of different spots and they were trying to figure out
Speaker 1: who does what the best. And I don't think we've
Speaker 1: seen that rotation because we have seen I don't think
Speaker 1: we've seen all these receivers on the field together yet
Speaker 1: because Austin's missed type, Austin's miss time, Deante Thompson's miss Beasley.
Speaker 1: So yes, I am. I continue to be fascinated by
Speaker 1: that position now, you know, it's it's one of those
Speaker 1: things where you go in, do do you feel great?
Speaker 1: Is there a Bell Cow guy? Is there that number
Speaker 1: one guy? I think that they're going to try and
Speaker 1: find a way to develop a guy. There's a lot
Speaker 1: of people that believe that, you know, Cole Beasley is
Speaker 1: your number one guy. Okay, well that's right now. But
Speaker 1: you know, could somebody emerge, Could Hearns emerge? Gallop? I
Speaker 1: mean a lot of people are betting on Gallop, including me.
Speaker 1: I'm betting on Gallop to be that guy. But he's
Speaker 1: yet to line up and play in a you know,
Speaker 1: you know, a meaningful NFL game. Yeah, he's He's gotten
Speaker 1: a lot of work in the preseason. I think that's good.
Speaker 1: I think the report that he's built with Dak Prescott,
Speaker 1: I think is good. But you know, it's Cole Beasley
Speaker 1: is your number one guy. You better figure out how
Speaker 1: to get Cole Beasley open because you didn't do a
Speaker 1: very good job of it last year, you know. And and
Speaker 1: and if it means just keep playing him in the
Speaker 1: slot and letting other people, you know, I mean we've
Speaker 1: seen Alan Hearns playing the slot some that might be
Speaker 1: the way of kind of getting things around. But if
Speaker 1: Cole Beasley, in fact, it's going to be Dak Prescott's
Speaker 1: best friend, like I think he will, you better figure
Speaker 1: out ways and and hey, let's you know it's also
Speaker 1: the the mantel was also laid at the feet of
Speaker 1: of of Scotland. Ahand about Tavon Austin, Jerry Jones made
Speaker 1: the trade and said, you better figure this out. You
Speaker 1: better figure out a way to get Tavon Austin going. So, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, two shorter receivers, two shorter receivers could play
Speaker 1: a very big role in the in the the the
Speaker 1: fate of this offense this year for sure. Um, and
Speaker 1: we're you know five two two nine seven is the number.
Speaker 1: By the way, we're going to get into, uh, the
Speaker 1: Cowboys defense more so, this this show focusing on the
Speaker 1: Cowboys facing the those Panthers offensively, right, and Cam Newton
Speaker 1: and all those guys, and how they're going to handle
Speaker 1: that Kaffrey McCaffrey. That should be that should be fun, right,
Speaker 1: not going to be easy? No, no, And this is
Speaker 1: you know, rob if if you want to jump into
Speaker 1: that a little bit, I don't even yeah right now
Speaker 1: start yeah, I'll throw that out there. You know, this
Speaker 1: is a team that's dealing with some injuries along the
Speaker 1: offensive line, and you know there you know, Corey Robinson
Speaker 1: was brought in to to try and kind of solidify
Speaker 1: some things at the left tackle spot. Uh, they've used
Speaker 1: you know, Taylor Moten has been a guy that's played
Speaker 1: a little left tackle there. Uh, you know, they they
Speaker 1: lost Khalil, they lost him to the injury, so they
Speaker 1: they've had some problems. They've They're really good though at
Speaker 1: right guard. Trey Turner I think is an excellent right guard.
Speaker 1: When you start talking about those guys, you know, with
Speaker 1: the best guards in the league. You know, the guy
Speaker 1: at Baltimore, you know, Zack Martin, I think you have
Speaker 1: to talk about Trey Turner as well. So you know,
Speaker 1: we'll see how the fact that they're able to do
Speaker 1: some things. Darryl Williams, I think their tackle is a
Speaker 1: good player. But they've got some questions along that offensive
Speaker 1: line for sure, and so how they're able to mix
Speaker 1: and match and line up. Dallas has got to take advantage.
Speaker 1: If you ask me, hey, Brian key to the game,
Speaker 1: how does Dallas take advantage? Now, Dallas has had a
Speaker 1: history of not taking advantage of bad offensive lines, you know,
Speaker 1: when now it's been one of those things where okay,
Speaker 1: this is a beat up, banged up giant offensive line
Speaker 1: all of a sudden then they get no sacks, they
Speaker 1: get no pressure that you know they can't allow that
Speaker 1: to happen. Now, I feel like this is a game
Speaker 1: where it's going to be important to keep Cam Newton
Speaker 1: in the pocket where he makes mistakes is in that pocket,
Speaker 1: you know you've got to make him. It's a little
Speaker 1: bit like Russell Wilson, when you play a quarterback that
Speaker 1: has the ability to buy a second and third chance
Speaker 1: with his legs, make him have to stand there and
Speaker 1: make throws. I don't think he's as accurate throwing from
Speaker 1: there when he is on the move, and you tend
Speaker 1: to see him make some mistakes. Cam Newton doesn't really
Speaker 1: read defenses all that well. And I don't know how
Speaker 1: much Chris Rochard and Rod Marinelli are going to disguise
Speaker 1: some things. You know they'll probably it's pretty so much
Speaker 1: straight up. This is a team that uses a lot
Speaker 1: of eleven personnel and they've got a tight end that
Speaker 1: plays as a flex player or as a as a
Speaker 1: detached If you talk about Greg Olsen, he plays more
Speaker 1: of a slot type. So you know he is an
Speaker 1: ancient guy but still makes big plays. Yeah, he's the
Speaker 1: new Witten he's he's going to be the next broadcaster
Speaker 1: for some but because he's really good at it by
Speaker 1: the way he does the combine and does stuff and
Speaker 1: infil network's really good. But I feel like, though, how
Speaker 1: do you play? How do you match up against Olsen?
Speaker 1: Do you treat him like a receiver or do you
Speaker 1: treat him like a tight end. It'll be interesting to
Speaker 1: see if and we always say this word a lot,
Speaker 1: it'll be interesting to see how they do they use.
Speaker 1: Does Jeff Heath does that become his new rule where
Speaker 1: we've seen the Byron Jones rule of Okay, big tight end,
Speaker 1: big body, guy that can that can go with him.
Speaker 1: Maybe Jeff Heath will be that guy. So they got
Speaker 1: a lot going on with this offense. Comfortable that if
Speaker 1: that's the case. Jeff, I love Jeff I love Jeff
Speaker 1: Heath playing down. I love Jeff Heath, and I made
Speaker 1: a big argument about that yesterday on our show on
Speaker 1: Happy Hour, and I hope folks get a chance to
Speaker 1: go back and watch that. It was a lot of
Speaker 1: fun to get every week, just kind of a little
Speaker 1: bit of thought, but we kind of got into I
Speaker 1: want to see the Cowboys play Jeff Heath in more
Speaker 1: of a down position. I don't want Jeff Heat to
Speaker 1: be Xavier Woods where it's run up, run up, run up,
Speaker 1: run up, and no plays, you know. I mean we
Speaker 1: see that a lot of Xaviers, and that's nice. I
Speaker 1: mean I want to see somebody in and the thing
Speaker 1: with Jeff Heath. If you play Heath down, you can
Speaker 1: use him in coverage if you if you can also
Speaker 1: use him. We've seen Jalen Smith be an active player
Speaker 1: in tackling and then Sean Lee. That's three bodies, three
Speaker 1: active tackles going to the football. I don't want to
Speaker 1: see Jeff Heath play at depth and have to keep
Speaker 1: coming up and not being able to make any plays.
Speaker 1: I think Jeff Heath has had some good coverage skills
Speaker 1: throughout training camp. I think he's proven that he can
Speaker 1: cover people. He could be physical, he doesn't get bullied.
Speaker 1: So yeah, if you have to, if you have to
Speaker 1: have a guy run with Greg Olson all over the field,
Speaker 1: this is not Greg Olson like smack the linebacker and
Speaker 1: run a hook route. This is these are routes going
Speaker 1: down the field. So they're gonna have somebody to kind
Speaker 1: of take care of that. Looking at this Panther's offense. Yeah,
Speaker 1: what they did last year. Now, this is a Carolina team.
Speaker 1: I think they made the playoffs four out of the
Speaker 1: last five years. I mean in a tough division division.
Speaker 1: But you know they're statistically last year not as solid,
Speaker 1: not as great of a year for Cam Newton. He's
Speaker 1: taken a lot of hits in his career, hits, and
Speaker 1: some of that speaks to not just the offensive line
Speaker 1: injuries they have. Now they've they've been kind of shaky
Speaker 1: at times before that. M Norv Turner interesting now the
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator in Carolina. How that replaces Mike Schula has
Speaker 1: been the long time guy there, a long time guy there.
Speaker 1: And I know you're familiar with Norv right going back years.
Speaker 1: How do you think he can bring the best out
Speaker 1: of Cam? Well, he's gonna have to make and this
Speaker 1: will be interesting again I use that word. I'm interested
Speaker 1: because Norv's offense is timing based and he's got receivers.
Speaker 1: Though he's got receivers like in Tory Smith, uh funches
Speaker 1: that kind of guy. Dj Moore is a new addition.
Speaker 1: You know, he's got guys, that big body guys. If
Speaker 1: you remember, Norv Turner has always had success when he's
Speaker 1: had a big receiver and big body guy. Looked back
Speaker 1: all the way back to when he was you know,
Speaker 1: calling plays with Michael Irving and people like that. You know,
Speaker 1: I just have always been impressed with the with that
Speaker 1: timing based offense. But you got to get you know,
Speaker 1: Cam Newton to to buy into that. I think Newton has,
Speaker 1: by it has bought into that. Excuse me. They've got
Speaker 1: a running back that's a little bit of a dynamic
Speaker 1: guy too. When we mentioned McCaffrey that, you know, he
Speaker 1: don't let the appearance fool you though. He's a He's
Speaker 1: a guy that um can run between the tackles, you
Speaker 1: can hand the ball to him outside. He's a finisher.
Speaker 1: There's a couple of times in preseason where he had
Speaker 1: some really long runs just you know, because the threat
Speaker 1: of Cam Newton pulling the ball and running has kind
Speaker 1: of given him with some lanes. But Norv Turner does
Speaker 1: have weapons to work with. I mean, I do the
Speaker 1: offensive line is a problem right now for him, But
Speaker 1: what's north Turner always dealt with good things. If he
Speaker 1: has a good tight end, if he has some good
Speaker 1: receivers and he has the threat of running the football.
Speaker 1: You know, Norv Turner could present a lot of problems
Speaker 1: to you that way. Yeah, for sure. One thing that
Speaker 1: stood out to me throughout camp in preseason is how
Speaker 1: fast this Cowboys defense looks yes sideline to sideline and
Speaker 1: a lot of that. Maybe a little bit of a
Speaker 1: surprise that Jalen Smith has really appeared to take another
Speaker 1: step physically, right, You feel like they're better equipped to
Speaker 1: face a Carolina team that present, like you said, presents
Speaker 1: different matchup problems in terms of versatility both with your
Speaker 1: quarterback and running back. Shouldn't worry so much about the
Speaker 1: speed on the outside. This is not one of those
Speaker 1: teams that I feel like where you have to worry
Speaker 1: about this team throwing the football is Cam Newton. He
Speaker 1: will launch it down the field. You have to you
Speaker 1: have to be ready for that. He's going to throw
Speaker 1: the ball up to Smith. He's going to throw the
Speaker 1: ball up the funches. He's gonna try and hit these
Speaker 1: guys down the field with some plays. You know, that's
Speaker 1: just kind of his mo He got a strong arm,
Speaker 1: great arm talent, always had great arm talent. But yeah,
Speaker 1: you're gonna have to deal with it. The speed on
Speaker 1: the outside is not going to worry these cowboy cornerbacks.
Speaker 1: It really should. Now, playing the ball vertically in the
Speaker 1: air should worry. But these cowboy cornerbacks in the way
Speaker 1: they play. So yeah, are they better equipped to handle
Speaker 1: the screen pass it's gonna go to McCaffrey, you know, yes,
Speaker 1: you know, they're better equipped to get Sean Lee there.
Speaker 1: They're better equipped to get Jalen Smith there. You know,
Speaker 1: they've got to find a way to get bodies to
Speaker 1: the ball. They've got to find a way to get
Speaker 1: a body bodies into Cam Newton. And we talked about
Speaker 1: making him play from the pocket, but don't bounce off him.
Speaker 1: You know, you know, Tank Lawrence, if you're there on
Speaker 1: the sack, you beat the tackle clean. You're around the corner,
Speaker 1: you know, you have to make sure that you wrap
Speaker 1: up Cam Newton. You cannot just go in there with
Speaker 1: an arm tackle and expect he's too strong. He'll bounce,
Speaker 1: bounce off him. And then now it's a scrambled drill
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden he's looking to throw the
Speaker 1: ball down the field and there's Tory Smith waiting is
Speaker 1: you know Byron Jones has dropped coverage. So you've got
Speaker 1: to be able to get bodies to the ball, get
Speaker 1: bodies to Cam Newton, be able to handle McCaffrey with
Speaker 1: your speed at the linebacker spot, and don't let greg
Speaker 1: Olsen be a killer on third down. Those are going
Speaker 1: to be really really keys for this defense. But to
Speaker 1: your point, the speed is much better, the toughness is better,
Speaker 1: and they're getting a lot of guys to the ball.
Speaker 1: We've seen that when ones verse ones in the preseason.
Speaker 1: The Cowboys have been really really good in that regard. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and secondary too physical, playing physical, aggressive at the line
Speaker 1: of scrimmage with their corners. You mentioned Dj Moore. That's
Speaker 1: a guy that you and Dave Hellman loved him, loved
Speaker 1: him coming out of coming out of college for the draft.
Speaker 1: See anything from him on preseason, Yeah, they've what they've
Speaker 1: what they've done with him rob is They've they've thrown
Speaker 1: like screens to him. You've seen some tunnel screens to him.
Speaker 1: You've seen some just straight receiver screens. They've tried to
Speaker 1: get him the ball a little bit downfield. But everything
Speaker 1: has really kind of been underneath for him right now.
Speaker 1: And the like I say, the majority of the passes
Speaker 1: that have gone to the outside that have gone downfield,
Speaker 1: Tory Smith, you know, Funchs. I keep mentioning those guys names.
Speaker 1: Greg Olsen's name gets mentioned right there, but you know,
Speaker 1: don't don't be surprised because this guy is an acrobat
Speaker 1: when it comes to catching the football. He was at
Speaker 1: the University of Maryland. He was one of my favorite
Speaker 1: guys in watching the draft, one of my top receivers
Speaker 1: in this draft. I thought the Cowboys would have an
Speaker 1: opportunity to grab him. A matter of fact, he went
Speaker 1: right after very quickly after that, they took Layton vander
Speaker 1: esh here. So he was in that discussion with oh
Speaker 1: the terrest, Calvin Ridley and Ridley. There were all kinds
Speaker 1: it depending on who you liked better. Yeah, Ridley. It
Speaker 1: looks like Ridley will be a fine player in Atlanta.
Speaker 1: So yeah, if you needed a wide receiver, those were
Speaker 1: the guys that were clearly the names to be mentioned.
Speaker 1: But he hasn't had that explodes at least the games
Speaker 1: that I watched this preseason, he hasn't had that explode.
Speaker 1: If game that we've seen, he's capable of the six catch,
Speaker 1: one hundred and forty yard type game if you get
Speaker 1: him going down the field, you get him going, you know,
Speaker 1: throw him the ball in his hands. He's got a
Speaker 1: little bit of that running back mentality the way he
Speaker 1: runs the ball. So yeah, you have to be careful
Speaker 1: with all that. How do you feel right now about
Speaker 1: the interior part of the Cowboys defensive line? Because they
Speaker 1: let a guy go Brian Price that maybe they could
Speaker 1: have gotten back if he cleared Waiversum. That hurts him
Speaker 1: a little bit because there's a there's a one technique.
Speaker 1: They're small inside, right, you know, and then when you're
Speaker 1: talking about him McCaffrey, a guy who can run between
Speaker 1: the tackles as well as be about, you know, kind
Speaker 1: of an airback outside. Yeah, it's interesting issue because I
Speaker 1: think defense on the on the outside, the edges, they
Speaker 1: seem deeper than they've been maybe in a couple of years. Right.
Speaker 1: They kept you know, all those linebackers, you know, they
Speaker 1: and they and that's they kept all those linebackers without
Speaker 1: really practicing at all. With Layton vander Ish, right, so
Speaker 1: he was supposed to practice this week this week, Yeah,
Speaker 1: we'll see if Layton vandersh It's gonna come down to
Speaker 1: the final spot if they dress vander Esh or they
Speaker 1: feel better about Covington maybe playing special teams. One of
Speaker 1: those guys will probably not dress. But I feel like
Speaker 1: though that a lot of this early defense front seven
Speaker 1: talk hinges on the linebackers, hinges on the defensive end.
Speaker 1: But you brought up a great point. What can Woods do?
Speaker 1: What can Intwine Woods do? He's going to be your primary,
Speaker 1: you know, one technique. What is he going to be
Speaker 1: able to do? We asked Jason Garrett the other day,
Speaker 1: where do you see you know, Collins, elite Collins, where
Speaker 1: do you And his answer was more of a three?
Speaker 1: You know? So okay, well, more of a three? Does
Speaker 1: that mean do you move him to one? Or the
Speaker 1: nose tackle? When you kick you know, you kick Crawford inside.
Speaker 1: I mean, this is another one of those spots you
Speaker 1: keep a watch on practice because you know, Carolina very
Speaker 1: likely to open in that eleven personnel set, which means
Speaker 1: you're gonna have to match him with your with your
Speaker 1: nickel passage, which means you'll have, um, you know, he'll
Speaker 1: have Anthony Brown on the field, but you'll also you know,
Speaker 1: have to probably Randy Gregory on the field rush in
Speaker 1: the passer. So there's a if there is a little
Speaker 1: bit of a concern is Brian Price at least could
Speaker 1: have been a rotational player that was maybe a you know,
Speaker 1: an eighteen to twenty four twenty five kind of a
Speaker 1: play guy, and now you don't have that. So there's
Speaker 1: more questions there about how you play the inside rotation.
Speaker 1: You need to keep an eye on practice. Who the
Speaker 1: backup guys are inside for sure. And Dayton Jones still
Speaker 1: out with a knee injury. He has not been moved
Speaker 1: to IR right now. They're keeping I think, yeah, they
Speaker 1: think he's gonna be back sooner than later. So we'll
Speaker 1: see how that goes. All right, let's take our first break.
Speaker 1: Eight eight eight five five two two ninety seven is
Speaker 1: the number. We'll continue breaking down Carolina offense, Cowboys defense,
Speaker 1: anywhere you guys want to go too, as we get
Speaker 1: into the meet the heart of week one of the
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Speaker 1: slash Cowboys Welcome back. We got one segment down to
Speaker 1: to go on a Wednesday as the Cowboys are it's
Speaker 1: getting set to get back to practice for the first
Speaker 1: time in the regular season. Jason Garrett will address the
Speaker 1: media at ten thirty five. Can listen to that live
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Speaker 1: Sounds good, just on the road from where we were
Speaker 1: a few days ago with our feet of strength driving
Speaker 1: home from Houston. Josh in Htown. What's up man? What's up? Guys?
Speaker 1: A longtime listener. I'm actually really happen to be on
Speaker 1: the show today. Thank you, thanks for joining us. What's up?
Speaker 1: What's on your mind? Brian? I want to think your
Speaker 1: brain about something you said yesterday. You made the comment
Speaker 1: about how I know we're on the topic of Oarl
Speaker 1: Thomas a lot. But how Arl Thomas is going to
Speaker 1: be worth the first round draft pick? Now, what's love
Speaker 1: we've seen from vanderash this year? Do you think that
Speaker 1: his pick was worth it? Or do you kind of
Speaker 1: feel like if we could go back, we would use
Speaker 1: that first round pick to take you t that's so good?
Speaker 1: You know, I don't. I don't think I said he
Speaker 1: would be worth a first round pick. I think where
Speaker 1: I said he would be worth it. And again I
Speaker 1: hope that we're not I'm not confusing people. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: personally think that Dallas needs to give the second round
Speaker 1: pick for Earl Thomas. I know that there's been some
Speaker 1: reports now about they're offering a third Seattle wanting more.
Speaker 1: Of course that he's still not show up. Yeah, start
Speaker 1: not showing up. So the problem you're running into now
Speaker 1: is you play Seattle in week three. Seattle is not
Speaker 1: going to give you Earl Thomas, you know, the week
Speaker 1: of the Seattle game. So if you don't get this
Speaker 1: steal done, Yeah, you don't get this steal done this
Speaker 1: week or next week, you know you're gonna you're not
Speaker 1: gonna probably get Earl Thomas until week four. If that's
Speaker 1: the case, if you know, if you're in a situation,
Speaker 1: because I don't see John Snyder giving him up for
Speaker 1: you know, Seattle week. He's not going to put him
Speaker 1: on a plane back to Seattle and have him find
Speaker 1: a way to beat him. Yeah, so I think that that.
Speaker 1: I think timing is going to be real critical here.
Speaker 1: But I don't feel like that. The thing that I
Speaker 1: the thing that I kind of was talking about with
Speaker 1: Earl Thomas. I think the most important thing about Earl
Speaker 1: Thomas being here, and I brought this up yesterday is
Speaker 1: who is the glue to whold things together? Something happens
Speaker 1: to Sean Lee. Is it Jalen Smith? You know who
Speaker 1: is that guy? Who is it to Tank Lawrence? Does
Speaker 1: he hold the defense? Because we've seen what happens when
Speaker 1: Sean Lee goes out. The defense tends to drift and
Speaker 1: fall apart and makes mistakes and doesn't tackle well and
Speaker 1: all that. You know, that's a great point. I just
Speaker 1: don't see. I don't see right now. And maybe I'm
Speaker 1: will be proven wrong with Jalen Smith as far as
Speaker 1: being that guy, or maybe it is Tank Lawrence. But
Speaker 1: when Sean leaves out, they just don't have somebody in
Speaker 1: the secondary or right now that I think it could
Speaker 1: be that I used the word glue guy. It's more
Speaker 1: to me, it's more intangible than it is just him
Speaker 1: running and making tackles. It's it's the pre snap communication.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's like when you watch him get into
Speaker 1: pads and Oxnard after taking you know, resting early in camp,
Speaker 1: It's like the practices were louder. The communication just seemed better. Right,
Speaker 1: he's he is like a quarterback on the field. Is
Speaker 1: now to his point, If you said first round pick,
Speaker 1: you know I would have I would have surely entertained
Speaker 1: the opportunity for Derwin James. I had Derwyn James is
Speaker 1: a is a one of my top players. So if
Speaker 1: you're talking about a safety instead of vander Ish, you
Speaker 1: know I had actually had Connor Williams ahead of Vanderish
Speaker 1: on my top fifty by one spot. And then you
Speaker 1: know with also with Michael Gallup, I believe at thirty seven.
Speaker 1: So I had three in the top fifty. Either they're
Speaker 1: gonna be really really right or I'm gonna be really
Speaker 1: really wrong with my with my assessment of my guys.
Speaker 1: But yeah, if you would have said, okay, you want
Speaker 1: to use a first round pick. Yeah, I would have
Speaker 1: taken I would have taken Derwin James maybe moved up.
Speaker 1: There's people will say, well, if you would have just
Speaker 1: tanked the last game against against the problem, you wouldn't
Speaker 1: have had this problem that you but you know Jason
Speaker 1: Garrett's but yeah, but Jason Garrett's jobs to win games.
Speaker 1: It is you know, he it's his job. And you
Speaker 1: can't fault a man for trying to win games, especially
Speaker 1: when it's his job. And you don't want to go
Speaker 1: into the offseason with another eight and eight. He didn't
Speaker 1: want that. He didn't want that. But but yeah, I
Speaker 1: me personally, I moved the pick. And I know that's
Speaker 1: a great conversation on TOK Radio on our partners one
Speaker 1: oh five three, they go back and forth on you know,
Speaker 1: they're like, I wouldn't do it, you know the three
Speaker 1: I would hold it. You know this guy, this guy
Speaker 1: could mean a lot to your defense. He can mean
Speaker 1: a lot too. He could solidify the safety position. He
Speaker 1: could allow Jeff heat to play down like I want
Speaker 1: him to. He could he could be the glue when
Speaker 1: things kind of fall apart. He's could be the one
Speaker 1: guy could stand in the huddle and get the respect
Speaker 1: of his teammates. You know, he's been there, seeing that,
Speaker 1: done that, all that stuff. So I to me, it's
Speaker 1: worth that it's worth to have that guy like that.
Speaker 1: That is a And people say, well, the money and
Speaker 1: the years, and he's old and all that. Go back
Speaker 1: and look at some of the best years that Ed
Speaker 1: Reid had, you know, go back and look at those guys.
Speaker 1: Go back and look at Troy Palomala when they got
Speaker 1: to a certain age. These guys are difference makers. These
Speaker 1: safeties are rare players, and especially the elite wines. Darren Woodson,
Speaker 1: an elite player, probably didn't get the credit did he
Speaker 1: deserved for what he did. But you get to a
Speaker 1: certain point in time, Darren Woodson still was playing at
Speaker 1: a very high level, even though he was banged up.
Speaker 1: And I think the same thing. I don't think you
Speaker 1: have to make this huge financial commitment. Yeah, people say, oh,
Speaker 1: the fourteen million years. No, I don't think that's the
Speaker 1: case at all. I think I think with no state
Speaker 1: income tax, I think you can you can craft a
Speaker 1: deal that could be very conducive to to him coming
Speaker 1: here and playing. You know, I don't think he yeah,
Speaker 1: he wants to be the highest paid player in this
Speaker 1: position when he's at Seattle. I don't think that's necessarily
Speaker 1: the case here. We don't have Mickey here to discuss this,
Speaker 1: and he'll be back soon. Yeah, I hope so. Um
Speaker 1: we miss you man, Yeah, we miss Mick. I know
Speaker 1: he's probably listening right now. You all have gone back
Speaker 1: and forth about the safety position and fair points. Well,
Speaker 1: how important it is to winning a championship. And I
Speaker 1: look at the great defenses in football that have had
Speaker 1: that had safety play. That to me is where you know,
Speaker 1: I want to take advantage of two young corners. I
Speaker 1: want to take advantage of Jeff Heath's ability to play
Speaker 1: down and I want to take advantage of Jalen Smith's
Speaker 1: uh just rebirth as a football player. I want to
Speaker 1: take advantage of Sean Lee, you know, in the few
Speaker 1: more years that I have with him. You know, I
Speaker 1: want to take advantage of Tank Lawrence rushing the passerd
Speaker 1: and and Randy Gregory. You know, I don't want to
Speaker 1: be handicapped back there and no offense to I hope
Speaker 1: that Cavon Frazier and and Campbell and Woods and all
Speaker 1: those guys play Gray. I hope. So I hope I'm
Speaker 1: wrong about that. But I know what that I know
Speaker 1: what this guy can do. I've seen this guy. I've
Speaker 1: seen this guy take a defense that had a really
Speaker 1: good pass rush and had guys that can cover and
Speaker 1: make it one of the elite defenses in the National
Speaker 1: Football League. He can do that. He's got that kind
Speaker 1: of ability. Yeah, he does. Um, I would still be surprised.
Speaker 1: And now he can show up by Saturday, I think,
Speaker 1: And sure he could still get paid for the leak
Speaker 1: if you know he reports and then plays on Sunday
Speaker 1: for Seattle. Yeah, I just know in human nature, I
Speaker 1: would be surprised if he didn't show up. But see,
Speaker 1: I've I've gone all along Rob that I felt like
Speaker 1: that he wouldn't leave game checks on the field. I'm
Speaker 1: with you. And but you know what, maybe Earl Thomas
Speaker 1: has enough money put away to where he doesn't need
Speaker 1: the game checks. Maybe he could sit there in Austin,
Speaker 1: Texas or you know wherever he is and see out
Speaker 1: sit there and just say, you know what, I'm just
Speaker 1: gonna I'm just gonna let it ride. I'm gonna let
Speaker 1: it ride. I'm gona let it ride on principle. I'm
Speaker 1: a prideful man, and I'm gonna force them to do
Speaker 1: something with me. See, I's got a couple of choices.
Speaker 1: They could take Dallas's third round pick in two thousand
Speaker 1: nineteen draft, or they could wait and take get a
Speaker 1: compensatory third round pick in twenty twenty. That's that's really
Speaker 1: what their options are right now. Or they can give
Speaker 1: him an extension and keep him. Yeah, and and it
Speaker 1: also could gain but there's been no significant negotiations at all. No,
Speaker 1: it's a huge Stealema. It's that they're not they're they're
Speaker 1: both sides are dug in. And yes, do you feel
Speaker 1: like they missed their chance of it at the draft?
Speaker 1: Like they if they wanted this deal to be done,
Speaker 1: it should have been done then. But they said, you
Speaker 1: know what, would rather have Connor Williams? And that's pretty much. Yeah, Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a great question, Kent. And to me, it was
Speaker 1: more important to them to make sure that they had
Speaker 1: a solid offensive line than it was a safety. If
Speaker 1: that particular player wasn't available, would they have done it?
Speaker 1: I had a first round grade myself on Connor Williams
Speaker 1: and he was taken at fifty, So you know, that
Speaker 1: just shows you that they're valued, that this club has
Speaker 1: proven one thing they can evaluate drafted offensive lineman. There
Speaker 1: used to be a time where that wasn't the case
Speaker 1: at all. But if they have a first round grade
Speaker 1: on a lineman, it's it's proven to them that they
Speaker 1: need to go get that guy. And I and hey,
Speaker 1: I am all one of the best matchups this weekend
Speaker 1: or are really a key lynch pin matchup for the
Speaker 1: Cowboys this weekend will be how well that Connor Williams
Speaker 1: is able to play against short Kawan short for Carolina
Speaker 1: because if he has problems, he could wreck this running game.
Speaker 1: He could wreck this running game. So you know, whether
Speaker 1: it's Connor Williams or you know, Jonathan Cooper, whoever that is,
Speaker 1: you know they needed that spot to be But to
Speaker 1: your point, Kent, I think yes, it could have been
Speaker 1: done right then and there. And Stephen Jones was on
Speaker 1: the phone, and Stephen Jones called back in the third
Speaker 1: round and they basically said, yeah, we'll get back to you. No,
Speaker 1: we're not going to get back to you. A kind
Speaker 1: of a thing like, what incentive does the Seattle have
Speaker 1: to reignite the talks of Dallas right, well, that the
Speaker 1: Seattle needs to figure out the guy's not going to report, Yeah,
Speaker 1: Seattle needs he's not going to report, right, But he
Speaker 1: can go to thirty one other team. That's exactly right.
Speaker 1: That's John Snyder would not be doing his due diligence
Speaker 1: as a general manager if he didn't call the other
Speaker 1: teams around the league. If he didn't call the Raiders,
Speaker 1: or call the you know, call any anybody else, the Rams,
Speaker 1: the Buccaneers, whoever else. He he owes it to his
Speaker 1: club to try and get the best deal he can. No,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't be surprised if someone gave up a you know,
Speaker 1: if if if, in fact, John Snyder said this, if
Speaker 1: he said, you know what, this guy wanted to go
Speaker 1: to Dallas, I'll take a third round pick, but at
Speaker 1: another place. Just now, well, yeah, the whole come give
Speaker 1: me thing that did not set well in Seattle. That
Speaker 1: did not set well at all. And he doesn't owe
Speaker 1: Earl Thomas anything. Earl Thomas gave him some of his
Speaker 1: best years. But this is a this is a bit.
Speaker 1: Look you want to ask Dan Bailey about owing you anything.
Speaker 1: Dan Bailey got a big dosea reality the other day.
Speaker 1: One player told me. It's a tough business man. It
Speaker 1: is a tough stuff and players know, but yeah, still stings. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know absolutely, but yeah, you know if if if
Speaker 1: Earl Thomas, he could end up in a you know,
Speaker 1: some other town. And John starts say, oh, well wait,
Speaker 1: you took a third from you know, look what the
Speaker 1: look what the look what the Raiders did. They had
Speaker 1: some good offers. Green Bay had a really good offer.
Speaker 1: But you know, you see Aaron Rodgers playing quarterback for
Speaker 1: Green Bay? Is their offer better than the Bears offer
Speaker 1: if you look at where they could potentially pick. No, No,
Speaker 1: So the you know, he shipped him off to you know,
Speaker 1: he shipped him off to the where Gruden shipped him
Speaker 1: off to where he could get the best value for
Speaker 1: the picks. John Snyder doesn't owe like I say, he
Speaker 1: doesn't owe him anything. One more thing about the draft.
Speaker 1: When you make a good point about Connor Williams and that,
Speaker 1: yeah they got to that pick. They had a high
Speaker 1: grade on him. They know the formula that's worked for
Speaker 1: them when they've been healthy. That's badass offensive line running game,
Speaker 1: that's gonna help your defense. And they wanted to fix that,
Speaker 1: and they wanted to fix the Atlanta Nightmare from last
Speaker 1: November two. Yes, they absolutely did. That's the route they went. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And and Connor Williams has had a good camp. Now
Speaker 1: I'm interested to see, as you mentioned, how he's gonna
Speaker 1: work with Joe Looney, because I think it's Joe is
Speaker 1: a good player. But I was looking forward to seeing
Speaker 1: Connor with Travis Frederick and Tyrann Smith. He got two
Speaker 1: veteran all pro guys. Yeah. Now, now he's got to
Speaker 1: turn around and build that rapport with Joe. Yeah. So
Speaker 1: one of the one of the strengths of the Carolina
Speaker 1: Panthers is their inside too. And you look at Short
Speaker 1: and you look at Don Terry Poe, you know that
Speaker 1: that is a that is a strength for them. And
Speaker 1: so you know when you Connor Williams is going to
Speaker 1: have his hands full, whether it's Poe or whether it's Short,
Speaker 1: He's gonna have to deal with power, he's gonna have
Speaker 1: to deal with some quickness, and he's gonna have to
Speaker 1: play with some outstanding technique. And you would feel much
Speaker 1: better about this if, in fact, that Travis Frederick was
Speaker 1: able to keep that left eye over there on Connor Williams,
Speaker 1: Now Joe Looney has got to keep that left eye.
Speaker 1: I mean Travis Frederick is excuse me, Zach Martin will
Speaker 1: win his battles on the right side, and hopefully that
Speaker 1: will allow Joe Looney to to play a little bit
Speaker 1: more heavy to Connor Williams side. We did see Travis
Speaker 1: Frederick in the locker room yesterday, um did. He's speaking
Speaker 1: tomorrow as it hurts some rumors. I heard some rumors
Speaker 1: you were speaking tomorrow. That'd be great. Yeah, I kind
Speaker 1: of figure some things out. Yeah, he seemed to be
Speaker 1: in good spirits. Has not talked publicly since the diagnosis
Speaker 1: well yeah, beret syndrome, but obviously they feel encouraged by him,
Speaker 1: although no timetable for him to return just yet. I
Speaker 1: wanna grab another phone call absolutely Joel in Dallas. You're
Speaker 1: up next on Talking Cowboys. What's up, Joel? Hey, guys,
Speaker 1: I want to talk a little bit about the offensive
Speaker 1: side of the Cowboys, and specifically, I think I'm throwing
Speaker 1: this out as a as a theory here. I think
Speaker 1: the predicate for the offense we're going to see this
Speaker 1: year was sort of set in three games in twenty sixteen.
Speaker 1: Those were the three that dev didn't play. That was
Speaker 1: against the Niners, the Bengals, and the Packers. In those games,
Speaker 1: Dak was anywhere from two thirty to two fifty a
Speaker 1: game through for six touchdowns in the three games, and
Speaker 1: no receiver had over one hundred yards none, and that
Speaker 1: was Bryce Butler playing the X, which is generally supposed
Speaker 1: to be the prime ry. But my point is, other
Speaker 1: than Witten now being gone, I think we've sort of
Speaker 1: upgraded around that, and I don't see any reason why
Speaker 1: this offense wouldn't work. So I don't know your thoughts
Speaker 1: on that. Thanks for the call, Joel. It's hard for
Speaker 1: me to say other than Witten being gone, just what
Speaker 1: he's meant to this team and as as a safety
Speaker 1: blanket for Dak and the experience they have behind him.
Speaker 1: I keep going back to the I keep going back
Speaker 1: to the Kansas City game. I was one of the
Speaker 1: best games that Cowboys played as a team all last year.
Speaker 1: Chargers was one of the worst. Kansas City one of
Speaker 1: the best. Terrence Williams had nine targets, nine catches. You know,
Speaker 1: they were able to run the football, got some turnovers
Speaker 1: on defense, created some problems for Alex Smith, didn't allow
Speaker 1: I mean they gave up the one big play right
Speaker 1: before the half, but other than that, they were really
Speaker 1: solid on defense. That was the closest thing to a
Speaker 1: complete game twenty sixteen win Cowboys exactly exactly. You know,
Speaker 1: they were able to run the ball with some effect
Speaker 1: in this Dak made some good throws on the move again,
Speaker 1: found Williams along the sidelines. Remember they drop coverage, Peters
Speaker 1: drops coverage. What happens, the ball goes, Dak breaks pocket,
Speaker 1: throws the ball all the way down the right sideline.
Speaker 1: That's kind of where I think that this team is
Speaker 1: trying to be. I think they're trying to be a
Speaker 1: balanced team running the football. I'm sorry it sounds very
Speaker 1: clichic to say, but this team does rely on balance.
Speaker 1: They do rely on that. The one thing that helps
Speaker 1: this quarterback more than anything is being in second and
Speaker 1: four and second and five all day. If you can
Speaker 1: do that with him and you don't put the pressure.
Speaker 1: And it's not that he's not capable of making a
Speaker 1: third down in seven or eight throw. We just saw
Speaker 1: too many times last year where it was a third
Speaker 1: and eighth throw and they try and throw the slant
Speaker 1: and it gets knocked up in the air. Or they
Speaker 1: get a drop or he's not accurate. Well, what happens
Speaker 1: is you're taking Zeke out of there, totally taking equation
Speaker 1: as an option exactly. There's no threat there on third
Speaker 1: and eight. Yeah, so absolutely right, and so you know
Speaker 1: they need to find ways to be to stay ahead
Speaker 1: added the chains. Carolina is probably not gonna let them
Speaker 1: run the football. So that's gonna mean I'll say, Okay, Beasley, Williams, Hearns,
Speaker 1: you know those guys Austin, these guys are all gonna
Speaker 1: have to come with plays. Somebody is gonna have to
Speaker 1: make a play because there's gonna be some bang in
Speaker 1: the head against the wall potentially, especially if Connor Williams
Speaker 1: is kind of a struggling with short you know, it
Speaker 1: might not be as pretty running the football initially. You
Speaker 1: don't want to get in a situation. It happened in
Speaker 1: Denver Laret last year where all of a sudden they
Speaker 1: just could not run the ball, and then all of
Speaker 1: a sudden it just snowballed on him. They couldn't move
Speaker 1: the ball, they couldn't do anything on third down, they
Speaker 1: couldn't get anything established. They weren't winning on the outside.
Speaker 1: You know, they have a chance to win on the
Speaker 1: outside against these Carolina corners a little bit. You got
Speaker 1: a rookie starting, you know, at one of the corners.
Speaker 1: You know I've written about the Dante Jackson from LSU.
Speaker 1: He's one of their starters. So you know, you got
Speaker 1: you gotta take advantage of the things you can. But
Speaker 1: you don't want the situation like I said to have
Speaker 1: in Denver where you just could not get anything going,
Speaker 1: no traction running the ball, and then that put Dak
Speaker 1: in some terrible, terrible spots. Do you have any concern
Speaker 1: about Zeke? Not concern, but we haven't You've mentioned earlier,
Speaker 1: we haven't seen Zeke take a hit. Yeah, all preseason
Speaker 1: he didn't play. Yes, that bother you at all because
Speaker 1: I'm of the opinion and I could be wrong about this,
Speaker 1: but given him five carries in preseason one appearance, yeah,
Speaker 1: what's the difference. Well, this is where it's going to
Speaker 1: come down to. We talked about block in short, I
Speaker 1: mean mentioned Luke Keekley as well. You know he could
Speaker 1: be a he could be devastating in the running game
Speaker 1: as well. With Zeke, you know it's gonna be about that.
Speaker 1: We've seen a lot with this the way the scheme
Speaker 1: has been running the football has been pulling guys. It's
Speaker 1: been angle angle pull. You know, angle angle pull pull.
Speaker 1: You know I mean when I say angle, I mean down, block, down, block,
Speaker 1: getting guys around the edge. You know the thing that
Speaker 1: it's that that right there could help That could help
Speaker 1: Jeff Swaying, It could help Jarwin, It could help Schultz
Speaker 1: or Rico when they get in there. You know, they've
Speaker 1: got to find a way though, to kind of get
Speaker 1: Zeke going where. Not only is it just I don't
Speaker 1: know how good inside running is going to be in
Speaker 1: this game, Rob. I don't know if the if just
Speaker 1: slamming it in there, slamming it in there, slamming it
Speaker 1: in there, it's going to be necessarily the way to go.
Speaker 1: I think they're gonna have to move. And the one
Speaker 1: thing we've seen about Zeke is when he does get
Speaker 1: behind those blockers, you get Travis on the out, or
Speaker 1: it's gonna be Zach on the outside. You know, his
Speaker 1: ability to kind of make that cut fall for four
Speaker 1: yards even when it looks like even when it looks
Speaker 1: like it's a short field, they're short, narrow sideline. All
Speaker 1: of a sudden boom, he's out on the marker. It's
Speaker 1: a first down. You know, his ability, he's got a
Speaker 1: sneaky way of kind of making those plays. So they're
Speaker 1: gonna have to do that. They're gonna have to And
Speaker 1: this is where I feel like arrested fresh. You know,
Speaker 1: he's practiced all the snaps. He's done everything he's been
Speaker 1: asked to. It's not like they're they're sitting him out
Speaker 1: and they're saying, Okay, we're not gonna practice you at all.
Speaker 1: He's lined up at first team tailback every single time.
Speaker 1: And we've seen it long runs. And there was a
Speaker 1: couple of practices there an ox start where they kind
Speaker 1: of took a couple of shots at him, you know,
Speaker 1: here and there, and he kind of gave a shot
Speaker 1: back or two. But I think I think that he
Speaker 1: will be I'll think he'll be ready for to go
Speaker 1: of this one again. It's just about blocking, blocking those
Speaker 1: two defensive tackles and then making sure that Luke Keakley
Speaker 1: doesn't make every single tackle because he's yeah, he will
Speaker 1: make every single tack. He's a sideline to sideline. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's there. Sean Lee for sure. Absolutely. All right, let's
Speaker 1: take our final break, come back, continue breaking things down.
Speaker 1: I got some questions for you. How about that? I
Speaker 1: got some questions from Brian broad Us for Rob Phillips. Next,
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Speaker 1: Welcome back to Dallas Cowboys dot com and Talking Cowboys
Speaker 1: inside the SWBC Mortgage Studio. We've only got about fifteen
Speaker 1: minutes left and let's grab another phone call. Brian. Okay,
Speaker 1: Frank in New York. What's up? Hey? What's up? Guys?
Speaker 1: Um So, I had a quick question Xavier Woods. He
Speaker 1: was playing cornerback for US a lot last year. Do
Speaker 1: you think our lack of depth but do you think
Speaker 1: our lack of depth that like cornerback is due to that?
Speaker 1: Do you think the team values him as a cornerback?
Speaker 1: I think that the team. It's a it's a good question.
Speaker 1: He played. He played more as a slot player. That's
Speaker 1: what he really really was. They liked him better in
Speaker 1: coverage than they did and that's why he's you know,
Speaker 1: he was a free safety at Louisiana Tech. When we
Speaker 1: evaluate him, I know the draft show guys had him,
Speaker 1: we had him in the third round, and I was
Speaker 1: kind of one of those guys that always thought like
Speaker 1: that he was a better tackler in college than what
Speaker 1: we've seen in the pros. I'm kind of hopeful that
Speaker 1: he can kind of develop that a little bit better.
Speaker 1: But to answer the question, I think that they let me.
Speaker 1: I'm surprised that he played as well as he did
Speaker 1: in slot because I thought he was a good cover man,
Speaker 1: but I didn't think he was slot worthy of as that.
Speaker 1: But he's got a little bit he's got a build
Speaker 1: that would make you think he's kind of got a
Speaker 1: corner build. Yeah, he's not a tall, rangy guy. He's
Speaker 1: he's slender and he's got really good feet and so
Speaker 1: you know that's something that you when you look at corners,
Speaker 1: their ability to stay in position. You know, they could
Speaker 1: be a little bit physical if they have to. But
Speaker 1: I was I was really impressed because when they put
Speaker 1: him at corner or when they put him at slot,
Speaker 1: I was like going, oh man, this has got this
Speaker 1: has got recipe. They're gonna wear him out. Did they
Speaker 1: do that in the Hall of Fame game from the
Speaker 1: very beginning, and it was remember the Rams games. It
Speaker 1: was a Rams game. We were yeah, we were the
Speaker 1: Rams game and in the Coliseum in preseason, and all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, he's covering a lot more and I'm going, man, okay, yeah,
Speaker 1: I didn't expect this. And then and then after that,
Speaker 1: the after the the Los Angeles Charger to Baccle, you know,
Speaker 1: they started, they just switched everybody around and and and
Speaker 1: they'd had enough. They'd had an enough of you know,
Speaker 1: with Brown, they'd had enough of Scandrick. You know, Scandrick
Speaker 1: got hurt, but they've had they had enough. They just
Speaker 1: kind of played those guys in spots. And I don't
Speaker 1: think they view him as a corner. I think they
Speaker 1: view him as a safety. But he's got cornered traits
Speaker 1: that you would you would you can use at certain situations,
Speaker 1: especially you're playing dime that you know extra the six
Speaker 1: defensive back might be a reason why two that they
Speaker 1: only carried four defensive or four corners. That the fact
Speaker 1: that he could play, he could play a little bit
Speaker 1: of that Semett slot corner. They did add a fifth corner.
Speaker 1: He's listed as a corner to coup on the practice
Speaker 1: practice squad yesterday, so that's a little bit of insurance.
Speaker 1: Um Cavan told us yesterday in the locker room he's good.
Speaker 1: We'll find out how much practice time he does get, though,
Speaker 1: but they're not counting on Xavier for at least week one,
Speaker 1: it doesn't seem. So we'll see about how the safety
Speaker 1: mix shapes up. Who needs to have a bigger game
Speaker 1: in this in this coming up this contest, Rod Smith
Speaker 1: or Joe Thomas. Who Rod Smith is a change of
Speaker 1: pace or spell zeke back Special Teams, Special Teams. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go with Joe Thomas because of what we talked
Speaker 1: about in the first segment of having to contain that
Speaker 1: versatile Panthers attack run to the ball ye Cam McCaffrey,
Speaker 1: and we touched on vander esh and we touched on
Speaker 1: Jalen and I think having Joe Thomas makes you feel
Speaker 1: better about something. If something happens to Sean Lee, you
Speaker 1: feel a lot, yeah, because I feel like, um, well,
Speaker 1: they had Hitchens last year and there was concerned about
Speaker 1: him leaving. But Joe Thomas has quietly had one of
Speaker 1: the best camps that we saw defensively just I don't know,
Speaker 1: just being around the ball, just making plays and a
Speaker 1: guy who can play multiple spots. But I do see
Speaker 1: Rod getting in there a little bit, yeah, series series
Speaker 1: two and like you say, helping on special teams. Maybe
Speaker 1: he makes a tackle. Maybe, and they're gonna they're gonna
Speaker 1: have to find a way to create some turnovers in
Speaker 1: this game. I think, yeah, you know, and I think
Speaker 1: you have to be ready when Cam Newton throws you
Speaker 1: the ball, and I mean throws you the ball like okay,
Speaker 1: he didn't read the defense correctly and now the ball
Speaker 1: hits you right between the five and the zero. Sean
Speaker 1: Lee or you know, Joe Jeff Heath will come up,
Speaker 1: you know with the ball. But you know, like I'm saying, uh,
Speaker 1: Barn Jones, you have to be able to come up
Speaker 1: with the ball when when Cam Newton decides he's going
Speaker 1: to throw it to you. So I feel like that's
Speaker 1: kind of the way they need to go some you know,
Speaker 1: go with some direction. There. Hey we got we got
Speaker 1: three fourths of the crew back Bill Jones and studio. Yeah,
Speaker 1: this is when this is when you know he shows
Speaker 1: up in coat and tie. Yes, and this is why
Speaker 1: this is why this is why uh TV guys make
Speaker 1: so much more money than radio guys, because that you
Speaker 1: break out the nice white, clean shirt, the start not
Speaker 1: on the ties perfect. But Bill, we were talking about
Speaker 1: guys like you know, we were kind of going through Carolina,
Speaker 1: you know, offensively and the problems that they present. But
Speaker 1: were I asked Rob this question just in a way
Speaker 1: of who needs to who do you think needs to
Speaker 1: have the better game? And I kind of did it
Speaker 1: in a backup form of Rod Smith or Joe Thomas.
Speaker 1: If you think about who as a backup player, maybe
Speaker 1: in minimal snaps can be that difference maker of a player.
Speaker 1: M interesting, Um, I'm thinking you know Rod, I think
Speaker 1: rod Smith, assuming there are no injuries, right whatever, I
Speaker 1: think rod Smith will have a bigger opportunity because Zeke,
Speaker 1: as much as they want to give the ball to Zeke,
Speaker 1: give the ball to Zeke, give the ball to z R,
Speaker 1: rod Smith's gonna have some opportunities. And so I think
Speaker 1: I think i'd say rod Smith on that. Okay, what
Speaker 1: do you got? I had Joe Thomas, Okay, I want
Speaker 1: to know what Brian has. I think it's I think
Speaker 1: it's going to come down to Rod Smith. Okay, I do,
Speaker 1: and I'm there's a side of me that's kind of
Speaker 1: like thinking, Okay, you know, he's they're gonna put him
Speaker 1: out there in some situations, maybe in some nickel package
Speaker 1: stuff he's been playing. I think the linebacker is gonna
Speaker 1: have to all play really well in this game. That's yeah,
Speaker 1: and I and I think yeah, and I'm with you.
Speaker 1: I mean, but I also think though, that there's gonna
Speaker 1: be a time or two where they do for those
Speaker 1: three four or five opportunities offensively that Rod Smith gets
Speaker 1: that he if if he goes in there and no game,
Speaker 1: no game drop pass, you know, maybe they throw the
Speaker 1: ball to him one time and it's a it's a
Speaker 1: big play. I'm kind of feeling like that he's gonna
Speaker 1: have to play a role on this, on this this
Speaker 1: attack because you don't want to go in there. And
Speaker 1: what was the biggest problem we had when they took
Speaker 1: Zeke off the field? Why are you doing this? You know,
Speaker 1: why are you putting Alfred Morris out there? You know,
Speaker 1: if he's not gonna you're dictating that. Okay, now they're
Speaker 1: they're throwing the ball because Zeke's not on the field exactly,
Speaker 1: So I mean, I feel like that they just cannot.
Speaker 1: I don't think either one and I hate ride the
Speaker 1: fence because I don't want to ever ride the fence.
Speaker 1: But I feel like that both guys and that's why
Speaker 1: I mentioned it. But I think both guys are gonna
Speaker 1: have to play. Is there a guy, another guy that
Speaker 1: we're not thinking about besides the kicker? We all understand
Speaker 1: the pressure. There's no there's no more pressure that you
Speaker 1: could put on somebody than what this kicker is going
Speaker 1: in dirt. I can't wait to see the reaction to
Speaker 1: you guys on the plane. You know, when he's when
Speaker 1: he's you know, see how he looks. He might be
Speaker 1: sitting there, but he might have the airsick bag. You know,
Speaker 1: he might just have the airsick bag in thirty one
Speaker 1: A just you know what I'm saying, there's a lot
Speaker 1: on there's a there's a bigger spotlight on him than
Speaker 1: maybe anybody going into this game. But is there about it?
Speaker 1: Maybe as much as Dak give me, give me somebody
Speaker 1: in the forty six, it's not a starter or something
Speaker 1: like that that you kind of feel like, not a starter,
Speaker 1: not a starter. But this guy has got to This
Speaker 1: guy's got to come up with something about you mentioned
Speaker 1: about coaching staff. Is there a on the coaching staff
Speaker 1: that's got to come up with something? This is huge game.
Speaker 1: I mean they're all huge. But because I'm on a
Speaker 1: hand comes right to mind. Lenihan. Yeah, yeah, Lenihan has
Speaker 1: got He's got to outduel North Turner here, doesn't he
Speaker 1: I'm moving the ball for sure, for sure. And you
Speaker 1: talked about tavon Austin, He's got to have a role
Speaker 1: for him. I'm on that offense. So not to say
Speaker 1: they have to be you know, I think that's overrated sometimes,
Speaker 1: the creativity aspect of it. But what I'm interested to
Speaker 1: see what role is Tavan gonna have on this team?
Speaker 1: You know, how how is he going to be? I've
Speaker 1: talked I told you you guys. I've talked to so
Speaker 1: many NFL scouts around the league and they're like, hey,
Speaker 1: what's Austin doing? And I'm like, man, they're using them
Speaker 1: on the outside. They're doing this, that and the other.
Speaker 1: And they're like, huh okay, let's just see it then, right,
Speaker 1: you know, there is a lot of skepticism. Use that
Speaker 1: word right, Yes, can't spell it, but I used it
Speaker 1: and I just I just think there's a lot of
Speaker 1: people around the league that don't believe he can do it.
Speaker 1: That he was he's always been just a gadget player.
Speaker 1: Unless you come up with a gadget plan that he's
Speaker 1: not going to have any role in what you do offensively. Well, I, hey,
Speaker 1: that's fair if that's people's opinions based off of what
Speaker 1: five or six years in LA and he really didn't
Speaker 1: have much of a role there last year, he says
Speaker 1: risk bothered him that right issue. Yeah, I do think
Speaker 1: before he tweaked his hamstring in camp, we saw signs
Speaker 1: of him being a solid outside receiver for this team.
Speaker 1: Can he carry it over to the regular season? But
Speaker 1: I thought he was productive and he showed a little
Speaker 1: more versatility than I thought he there's some doubt in
Speaker 1: that man question. Yeah, someone that size on a consistent,
Speaker 1: consistent whoa whoa, let me let me. Can I give
Speaker 1: you another person then? Or you concerned about Cole Beasley
Speaker 1: outside on a consistent basis? Yeah, but I can. I
Speaker 1: can see you line up and then there's different things
Speaker 1: they can do, but the traditional what an ex receiver does. Sure,
Speaker 1: let's not be stuck in the nineteen seventies, especially when
Speaker 1: you're talking about jump ball situations where you're asking a
Speaker 1: guy who's five eight to go get a ball that
Speaker 1: may not be perfectly placed. Yeah, giving up a couple
Speaker 1: inches or more about Thompson Thompson. Can Thompson be the
Speaker 1: Can Thompson be that? But I always always say the
Speaker 1: X factor the X factor guy? Can Thompson be that boy?
Speaker 1: Better than Bryce Butler guy? It was just one practice,
Speaker 1: but what I saw from him last Tuesday opened my
Speaker 1: eyes said, oh okay, yeah, they may have something with
Speaker 1: this guy. And that's why I said the other day
Speaker 1: that I thought it was a shrewd move on the
Speaker 1: part of the organization flipping him exposed. You're able, in fact,
Speaker 1: they kept basically all their receivers this way. You know
Speaker 1: that they knew the market on Lance Lenore, that he
Speaker 1: wasn't gonna get picked up, making and he would be
Speaker 1: able to get to the practice squad. They knew Deonte
Speaker 1: Thompson wasn't gonna get picked up because nobody saw him
Speaker 1: do anything in the regular in the preseason. Right, you're
Speaker 1: going on pro tape Buffalo Chicago exactly, and not a
Speaker 1: huge it's coming out of that, right, the free agency,
Speaker 1: he didn't get a lot of play and but I
Speaker 1: saw a little glimpse there that oh, okay, that's what
Speaker 1: he might be all about. We'll see, you know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but it's just gonna be interesting to see the allotment
Speaker 1: of Okay, who's doing why? And I think it may
Speaker 1: be very from week to week, depending on matchups and stuff.
Speaker 1: Shoot down my tweet from yesterday Rico gathers as the
Speaker 1: third tight end Dalton Schultz in active potentially. I mean
Speaker 1: I could see it now if they know he said
Speaker 1: shoot it down, shoot it down. You shoot it down
Speaker 1: if you want, shoot it down, if you want. No,
Speaker 1: I agree with it. You know the thing that that
Speaker 1: changed it for me because I might have shot it
Speaker 1: down before. Jason Garrett said Rico has done a better
Speaker 1: job on special teams and that that's if he can
Speaker 1: do that, that can get him to the game. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we need to walk out there and see if he's practicing,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying, Yeah, that kind of thing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, I mean you need to see if he Okay,
Speaker 1: is he is he is he wearing the beanie as
Speaker 1: a scout team guy, or is he is he is
Speaker 1: a part of the game plats when you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's when you'll know, you know, and the other thing
Speaker 1: is okay, And it may go a week to week
Speaker 1: matchup to match up. Okay, But maybe they have a
Speaker 1: role that's different for Rico than what they would have
Speaker 1: for Dalton Schultz. Dalton Schultz is a duplicate of what
Speaker 1: they've already got active and Rico might provide something in
Speaker 1: a situation that they can use and that may be
Speaker 1: the difference right there, mating red zone Rico might have.
Speaker 1: I think Garrett made a really good point in comparing
Speaker 1: him to Martellis Bennett as a blocker. It's not pretty,
Speaker 1: but when you're two hundred and eighty pounds or whatever
Speaker 1: and you get into somebody, if you just get into
Speaker 1: him and hang onto him, it's hard to throw any
Speaker 1: two hundred and eighty pound man out of the way,
Speaker 1: especially they're athletes. As long as you don't miss the assignment. Yeah,
Speaker 1: if he if he whips completely and get somebody hurt,
Speaker 1: then you'll kind of know what all these coach has
Speaker 1: felt all along about Rico Gathers. I've said this before.
Speaker 1: I think Rico Gathers really benefited from a new coaching
Speaker 1: staff offensively. I know it's Scotland a hand still the OC,
Speaker 1: but his old tide end coach is no longer here.
Speaker 1: And so with that being said, he's got a fresh
Speaker 1: look on life and then there's really a fresh start
Speaker 1: and I think that helped him make this football team.
Speaker 1: How much ten personnel do you think they'll use? I
Speaker 1: don't see that a whole lot. I don't see that
Speaker 1: a whole lot. That's one back, just put them all
Speaker 1: out there. Yeah, one back, no time. Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: that that's that's kind of where maybe that's a I
Speaker 1: don't know if they'll get to that much. I am
Speaker 1: watching Carolina play. Captain Mummerlin, great name the league, is
Speaker 1: the starter at nickel corner, and boy he is he's
Speaker 1: survived being a big, heavy looking guy. But he could play.
Speaker 1: And so I'm thinking, okay, matchups, how do I you know,
Speaker 1: how do I get Captain Murmerlin on you know, Underland Munderland?
Speaker 1: I would say Mumerland captain Munderland Underland. Yeah all right, mum,
Speaker 1: it's mun it's mun Munderland's extra him in there somewhere
Speaker 1: down the line, maybe two extra ms captain the cap anyways,
Speaker 1: good player, yeah, good players, all right, South Carolina? I
Speaker 1: think yes, absolutely right out of time? Oh for ten minutes. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's good though. Yeah, you offered some insight. That's good.
Speaker 1: First time for everything. We'll let your host next time,
Speaker 1: how about that. Okay, let's do it tomorrow. That sounds
Speaker 1: good about it? Get us. I'm gonna wear a baseball
Speaker 1: cap tomorrow, now time. Okay, all right, John from the
Speaker 1: owner workout here tomorrow. We'll see them all sounds good.
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