Speaker 1: The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com
Speaker 1: and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. Let's go. Are you
Speaker 1: ready for 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, and bar Garcia and Derek Eagleton.
Speaker 1: It is Wednesday, May nineteenth, twenty twenty one, Season sixteen,
Speaker 1: Episode number one ten. Welcome to the latest edition of
Speaker 1: The Break. We are live from the s WBC Mortgage
Speaker 1: studios at the Star. We are presented by Geico, and
Speaker 1: we appreciate you guys taking us some time with us
Speaker 1: today to talk a little Cowboys football. Here on the Break,
Speaker 1: got Nick, Dave and Amber with me. We're gonna catch
Speaker 1: you guys up on the rook minicamp which you guys
Speaker 1: attended last week. We'll get some perspective from you on
Speaker 1: some things you saw, some things that stood out to you.
Speaker 1: We'll also talk a little bit about schedule release. So
Speaker 1: we haven't had a chance to talk about yet. Cowboys
Speaker 1: and the NFL released there's there are twenty twenty one
Speaker 1: schedule last week, and so we'll catch up on your
Speaker 1: thoughts on some of the best things and worst things
Speaker 1: about the schedule. And then we got a little game
Speaker 1: with c No, we haven't played that in a long time.
Speaker 1: Amber's got some questions for us, and maybe even we
Speaker 1: will get to some fan questions a day. Maybe maybe
Speaker 1: we'll get some phone calls from some fans and hear
Speaker 1: what you guys have to say. Here's some questions from you,
Speaker 1: and see what these guys have to say. How's everybody
Speaker 1: doing today? Great? Good, awesome, good good good. Let's jump
Speaker 1: right in and let's start with the rookie minicamp. It
Speaker 1: was last week. Obviously it's not a full contact type thing.
Speaker 1: Guys are in shorts and T shirts and helmets. But
Speaker 1: I'll start first by going around the table and just
Speaker 1: getting some perspective of what may have stood out, one
Speaker 1: thing that stood out to you as you watched those practices.
Speaker 1: Let's start first with you, Dave m Maybe to start
Speaker 1: with somebody else since they were actually here and they
Speaker 1: forgot Yes, you were not here. You you didn't get it,
Speaker 1: but I'm sure you've you've seen and heard something. Anyway,
Speaker 1: let's start with yeah, I'll formulates I mean yeah, I
Speaker 1: can formulate something, but maybe start with somebody that Let's
Speaker 1: start with you. Well, I feel like I'm kind of
Speaker 1: taking the obvious one here, but I mean it starts
Speaker 1: with this draft class, starts with Micah Parsons, and I
Speaker 1: think that, you know, it's it's one of those things where, um,
Speaker 1: you know when Zach Martin coming when when it's Tyrn
Speaker 1: Smith's coming back, because I mean, these guys can't block him.
Speaker 1: I understand that pads aren't on yet and all that,
Speaker 1: but he could do what he wanted to. Is he
Speaker 1: was moving really well and he could get by the
Speaker 1: guys that they had blocking there. So the composition will
Speaker 1: be better. Um, you know, the pads come on, it's
Speaker 1: more physical. It's harder for offensive linemen to really, you know,
Speaker 1: get your hands on these guys and all that, because
Speaker 1: you know, especially a first round pick, you had to
Speaker 1: be careful with it. But I thought he look from
Speaker 1: his movement, he looked really good. He looked like you
Speaker 1: want him to look. In that first first day. What
Speaker 1: stood out to me was Dan Quinn. He was the
Speaker 1: fact to see him in there, and again this is
Speaker 1: not a real practice or anything, but the fact that
Speaker 1: you see him so hands on and being involved. Just
Speaker 1: it reminded me of, um, oh my god, my brain
Speaker 1: the coach I really like Rod Marinelli. No no, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: why would you say him? I didn't like that one
Speaker 1: that's not employed. Sorry, I didn't mean like but christ
Speaker 1: Ra Shard, Sure, yeah, Shards with the Saints. Now, okay,
Speaker 1: well one, I know he wasn't necessarily great here, but
Speaker 1: one thing that I loved about him was how involved
Speaker 1: he was within the players and the defense and just
Speaker 1: being in there in the game. Now, then Quinn, he's
Speaker 1: a defensive coordinator, that's not necessarily his role, you know.
Speaker 1: He the fact that he went in there when quintin Bahanna,
Speaker 1: Sorry if I said his name wrong, but when now
Speaker 1: banged up his shoulder, I believe left for a little bit,
Speaker 1: and then dan Quinn goes in there at tackle and
Speaker 1: just it's hands on it that that is super cool
Speaker 1: for me. I love to see it. I love to
Speaker 1: see a leader that can be involved and just get
Speaker 1: in there with the players and just be a part
Speaker 1: of it. And that's exciting to me. And I just
Speaker 1: absolutely love anytime I see a coach, especially a coordinator,
Speaker 1: just being that involved and making sure because that again,
Speaker 1: it's so important for the chemistry too, with bunding with
Speaker 1: the players and all that. I feel like players will
Speaker 1: look up to him even more when someone does that.
Speaker 1: So that stood out for me for sure. I just
Speaker 1: absolutely loved it. So I was. I was at a
Speaker 1: old and very dear friend's wedding. That's why I wasn't here.
Speaker 1: And I really appreciate y'all giving me the work life
Speaker 1: balance to do that, because I was like, he get here,
Speaker 1: what is he? What are you talking about? No? I
Speaker 1: cannot believe you, Miss Ruthie. You know what that's that's
Speaker 1: it embarrassing. I always fast forward five years down the
Speaker 1: road with your friends in New Orleans and they're like,
Speaker 1: you didn't even come to the wedding. Why, Well, we
Speaker 1: were watching Dan Quinn in the middle of this rookie
Speaker 1: Mini Caamp and Michael Parton, which never holds up. I
Speaker 1: actually I did. I did miss a dear friend's wedding
Speaker 1: for the Seahawks Cowboys playoff game, and that that holds
Speaker 1: water for me, makes a little bit. My friend Rob,
Speaker 1: he busts on me all the time. He's like, glad
Speaker 1: you loved me enough to come to my wedding. Over
Speaker 1: a football game, and I'm like, yeah, that's the playoffs,
Speaker 1: and like Dak had that run and like, I don't
Speaker 1: you know, I love you, but I don't feel that
Speaker 1: bad about that. But like to miss a wedding for
Speaker 1: a rookie Mini Caamp, yeah, I'm life moments. You gotta
Speaker 1: do some life. But regardless, regardless, you know, I just
Speaker 1: had my eye on it from Afar and two things, um,
Speaker 1: two things that really jumped out to me, which you know,
Speaker 1: you definitely don't want to overreact, but the team sent
Speaker 1: out the clip of Jabril Cox getting a pick in
Speaker 1: some seven on seven, which it was a tipped ball,
Speaker 1: and the quarterback that threw it is not going to
Speaker 1: play on Sundays, so take all of that with a
Speaker 1: grain of salt. But the guy, the guy is noted
Speaker 1: for his coverage ability, so for him to step out
Speaker 1: there and do it, it wasn't just a pick. It
Speaker 1: was thirty yards down the field, It was a covery.
Speaker 1: It was getting back there in coverage. I mean that
Speaker 1: that was the impressive part I thought, And then the
Speaker 1: other one I was I was embarrassed about how excited
Speaker 1: I got about this because I you know, we argued
Speaker 1: last week. I was like, don't put don't put these
Speaker 1: expectations on these day three picks. That's dumb. But then
Speaker 1: we actually posted the clip of Barry Church from the
Speaker 1: player's lounge. Barry was like blown away by Israel Mukuamu.
Speaker 1: I mean, he was just gushing about his movement skills,
Speaker 1: his you know, how smooth he looks. He's got the hips.
Speaker 1: And you know, Barry's not the he's not he's not
Speaker 1: going to the Hall of Fame, but he played safety
Speaker 1: in the NFL for nine years. Like I trusted a
Speaker 1: bunch of money. Yeah, absolutely, Like I trust his opinion
Speaker 1: a lot. So for him to like, if you haven't
Speaker 1: seen it, go look on our channels for it. He
Speaker 1: had so much good stuff to say about the kid,
Speaker 1: and I was like, all right, again, I know he's
Speaker 1: in shorts, but if Barry Church thinks he looks that great,
Speaker 1: then I'm going to take his word for it that
Speaker 1: I should be intrigued. Here's Bucky Brooks listed in mcquamu
Speaker 1: as his top one of his top five favorite picks.
Speaker 1: He really loved that that pick. I'll say this though, Um,
Speaker 1: it's intriguing that a guy that's played it like Barry
Speaker 1: Church has played it. He knows what he's looking for.
Speaker 1: But I'll say this though, cornerbacks that convert to safety
Speaker 1: are going to look good at safety in rookie minicamp
Speaker 1: because they're not hitting anybody, and they're not you know,
Speaker 1: they're just can you keep up with a tight end cornerback? Right?
Speaker 1: But what's gonna make him make that transition is can
Speaker 1: he make the calls as he instinctive? And will he
Speaker 1: get in there and hit? And I think he will,
Speaker 1: but I just think it's early because any corner is
Speaker 1: gonna look what are we looking at him? Like? Oh, well,
Speaker 1: they have video of him. That's what Chris does. Our
Speaker 1: producers all over it. Now keep talking. He definitely looks
Speaker 1: he looks the part for sure, and he talked about
Speaker 1: his length. I got a chance to talk to him
Speaker 1: the other day and he said, you know, you know,
Speaker 1: he said, hey, Jerry, you got the best cornerback in
Speaker 1: the draft. And then about an hour later, Dan Quinn
Speaker 1: called from and said, yeah, about that, we're moving in
Speaker 1: to safety, and so I said, does your confidence like
Speaker 1: carry over? He's like, oh yeah, they're gonna get the
Speaker 1: best safety in the draft. So you know, he's he's
Speaker 1: a confident dude. And don't think teams didn't pick on him.
Speaker 1: He played corner opposite J. C. Hornet South Carolina. He
Speaker 1: they threw with him, and so he made some man
Speaker 1: enough plays to obviously get drafted. He wears thirty eight,
Speaker 1: so he's probably gonna be a baller. If I had
Speaker 1: to guess, if there was one thing, if there was
Speaker 1: one player that you would say you have a different
Speaker 1: opinion of now than maybe you had before, good or
Speaker 1: bad or you know, just something about them stood out
Speaker 1: that you didn't really expect to notice during a minicamp,
Speaker 1: what would he be? Nick Um? I again, I'm probably
Speaker 1: stealing this one. Probably Nashan, right. I thought he did
Speaker 1: a pretty good job, especially that second day, and he
Speaker 1: was he was making a lot of plays. He looked
Speaker 1: like a cornerback. It's supposed to me to look and
Speaker 1: even though he's tall. I thought he did a nice job,
Speaker 1: you know, break on the balls and stuff like that.
Speaker 1: But as Dave said, you know, it's hard to tell
Speaker 1: out there with the quarterbacks and the receivers and all that,
Speaker 1: you know, but but he did a nice job. And
Speaker 1: I thought, you know, not that I had mixed opinions
Speaker 1: about him, but I just you know, we'll see what
Speaker 1: he looked like. I thought I did a good job. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Let me start off by saying that I came in here.
Speaker 1: You know, it's been a while since we've seen football
Speaker 1: and players being on the field, so you come in
Speaker 1: here excited. Okay, We're finally gonna get to see some action.
Speaker 1: And it's hard, at least for me, it was difficult
Speaker 1: because I'm judging with another like level where I have
Speaker 1: to okay, hold on a second, let me step back.
Speaker 1: This is first day, second day, a rookie Minican, Like,
Speaker 1: let me not be so judgmental, because there were a
Speaker 1: lot of things that happened. I'm like, are you kidding me?
Speaker 1: This is this is what I'm seeing on the field
Speaker 1: right now, And you know, so it was really tough
Speaker 1: for me to even judge. And you know, back to
Speaker 1: what Nick was talking about Mika Parsons, Yes he looked good,
Speaker 1: but then you go back and look at the offense
Speaker 1: how awful they were. So it's just hard to get
Speaker 1: a grasp to the whole thing. So I'm gonna lean
Speaker 1: on one of their interviews with Kelvin Joseph I think
Speaker 1: that my opinion has started to change a little bit.
Speaker 1: And I know even before then, I didn't want to
Speaker 1: be so judgy because I don't know him. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of information that I don't know about. So listening
Speaker 1: to him speak and the way that he was talking,
Speaker 1: it just gave me ease and it made me feel
Speaker 1: a little bit better about his commitment with the team
Speaker 1: and what he's here to do aside from everything that
Speaker 1: media and even though so we talked about it on
Speaker 1: the show last week that we've been talking about you know,
Speaker 1: it's a really one percent committed to football based on
Speaker 1: his I gues hobby and all of that outside of
Speaker 1: the field. So just the way that he spoke and
Speaker 1: just kind of saying, you know, like there's no and
Speaker 1: it's true. Everyone can have a hobby and you can
Speaker 1: be one hundred percent committed to your job and all that.
Speaker 1: But just hear hearing it out of his mouth and
Speaker 1: not just that another one of his teammates just kind
Speaker 1: of backing him up and all that. So it just
Speaker 1: made me feel someone better and say, Okay, this guy,
Speaker 1: it's here for business. I mean, if it's fur the
Speaker 1: money and to get paid, we all here to get
Speaker 1: paid too, So it just my opinion on him started
Speaker 1: changing a little bit, which, by the way, is I
Speaker 1: thought an interesting I saw you tweeted about this Dave
Speaker 1: about him mentioning the fact that you know, yeah, the money,
Speaker 1: the money is important. It's a driver. And there were
Speaker 1: some fans that were kind of like, well, that makes
Speaker 1: me a little bit weirded out because he's doing it
Speaker 1: for the money. And my thought was like, I think
Speaker 1: we all, to some respects do our jobs for the money. Now.
Speaker 1: Don't get me wrong. You can love what you do,
Speaker 1: but it still is a job. And part of why
Speaker 1: you still do it is because you're able to make money,
Speaker 1: you're able to take care of your family, and if
Speaker 1: you're able to get to that level playing the NFL,
Speaker 1: you're able to take care of maybe your grandkids and
Speaker 1: great grandkids as a part of doing this job. So
Speaker 1: that's a great motivator and there should be no there
Speaker 1: should be nothing about that that should be considered bad.
Speaker 1: I don't think I will speak for Nick. I think
Speaker 1: I can worked with you for a while, like we
Speaker 1: are living out our childhood dreams dream job like and
Speaker 1: so many people would kill to do what we do.
Speaker 1: If you told me tomorrow that I wasn't getting paid
Speaker 1: for it, I would be pretty pissed off, Like, no, no,
Speaker 1: that's not that's not part of the deal, and I
Speaker 1: won't be there the day. Yeah, like that. We got
Speaker 1: to come to some arrangement, like, no, I need money.
Speaker 1: Money is important to me. It ain't a dream job
Speaker 1: if you're not getting paid to do it. And these guys,
Speaker 1: I mean, not very many people can do what Kelvin
Speaker 1: Joseph does, so he's he's worth a lot of money
Speaker 1: because of that, and the fans that have a problem
Speaker 1: with it are the reason he's worth as much money
Speaker 1: as he is. So I hate that attitude, and I'm
Speaker 1: with you. Took the words right out of my mouth.
Speaker 1: Ag I thought he was. He was really impressive the
Speaker 1: way he handled that. And he was like, I know
Speaker 1: the difference between my profession and my hobbies, And again
Speaker 1: that's something everybody should relate to. We all have things
Speaker 1: that we enjoy doing on our own time when it
Speaker 1: doesn't affect our work, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 1: But as long as you're committed to what you get
Speaker 1: paid to do, you know what your job is. I
Speaker 1: was going to say Monday to Friday. But I guess
Speaker 1: it's really more sick whenever you're called upon. Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: kind of my thing too. I think a couple of
Speaker 1: people went after us on Twitter, at least me, you know,
Speaker 1: because it's all about your as long as your focus
Speaker 1: is here, and it really doesn't matter. It doesn't matter
Speaker 1: what it is, if it's bowling or you know, playing
Speaker 1: tennis or golf like Romo did, or rap. You know,
Speaker 1: I mean, as I as I told William who's upstairs.
Speaker 1: I told him, you know, I'm not against rap. I'm
Speaker 1: not against rappers. You know which is I don't know
Speaker 1: if you know that reference, but no, you don't know
Speaker 1: that song. I know. Anyways, I love rap. By the way,
Speaker 1: if it's three, I would gonna say Nick's sweet spot
Speaker 1: is like ninety to ninety five. Yeah, problem, and then
Speaker 1: then it kind of then it switches more. It's more
Speaker 1: of an R and B thing. Yeah, I agree with you, guys.
Speaker 1: I talked to him and I liked what he said.
Speaker 1: Now he does have a focus though. One of his
Speaker 1: focus is um getting out of twenty four. He doesn't
Speaker 1: really want that number. So he was like, he comes
Speaker 1: up to me and he was like who's in the
Speaker 1: number one, number two. I'm like, well, you know the
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl kickers and number two, so good luck with
Speaker 1: that one. But you know who knows. I mean, I
Speaker 1: don't want him in twenty four either, And which I'm
Speaker 1: I'm I'm the one that like, I don't I don't
Speaker 1: believe in superstition, but like they keep giving twenty four
Speaker 1: to these young cornerbacks and it hasn't really worked out
Speaker 1: for Clayborn. Cheetoh, those are the two big ones. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the number did it, no problem? The number to do it,
Speaker 1: Like it won't be his number that determines his success.
Speaker 1: But I still just see it about any of them.
Speaker 1: But I'm just like, oh, we're not done. Put that
Speaker 1: on the right. I mean, that's the way I look
Speaker 1: at it, is it? Especially if he didn't want it? Like,
Speaker 1: is it true what I heard about number nine for
Speaker 1: the Air? I don't know what I'm talking. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't know where that stands right now. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: don't know my source. It's kind of if I honestly
Speaker 1: don't know whether it's great stores. So I'm just, uh,
Speaker 1: I don't know making that we're not talking about numbers.
Speaker 1: Those guys are going to change numbers. I know, I
Speaker 1: know of two guys that are definitely gonna change their numbers.
Speaker 1: Um hasn't really been announced, and for some of them
Speaker 1: it's important for them to announce it. So UM And
Speaker 1: I'm sure once once the roster gets pared down and
Speaker 1: all that, because you got like multiple quarterbacks, you got
Speaker 1: multiple punters, those numbers are going to start when opening
Speaker 1: up and the guys will switch around, like, yeah, Parsons
Speaker 1: is gonna wear eleven, but you know that, but yeah,
Speaker 1: we know that, but like, yeah, you see changes every
Speaker 1: year after training game. It's fine, this will probably be
Speaker 1: another year we'll see that. Let's talk about Mike Michael Parsons.
Speaker 1: Nick you led with him. We found out last week
Speaker 1: in an interview that he did I think was it
Speaker 1: exclusive with us, but I know we had it. But
Speaker 1: he talked about the fact that that he is right
Speaker 1: now starting off working at middle linebacker, which I think
Speaker 1: for everybody was kind of like a home Okay, so
Speaker 1: talk to me about where what do you think that
Speaker 1: means as far as you know, how he fits into
Speaker 1: what they're gonna do. Knowing they've got two linebackers who
Speaker 1: have at different times played middle linebacker. What does this
Speaker 1: mean for that position group? If he's your guy that
Speaker 1: starts the season at middle linebacker. Well, I thought it
Speaker 1: was interesting. When they asked McCarthy about it, naturally, he
Speaker 1: kind of shot it down like it wasn't that big
Speaker 1: a deal. But one of the things that they wanted
Speaker 1: him to do was to get in there and listen
Speaker 1: and have the mic the headset in the in the
Speaker 1: for the calls to so be able to make the call.
Speaker 1: So that's one of the things. But he said, all
Speaker 1: the linebackers have to do two positions. They all have
Speaker 1: to learn two spots. So him starting out in the
Speaker 1: rookie miniicamp at middle linebacker is not that big a deal.
Speaker 1: But Parson said when asked about it, he said, yeah,
Speaker 1: they want me to go sideline the sideline and the
Speaker 1: best way for me to do that is to be
Speaker 1: right in the middle of the action. So, um, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, what does it mean for where Layton's going
Speaker 1: to play and all that? It's so hard to tell
Speaker 1: because we don't really know how dan Quinn's going to
Speaker 1: play this thing. He's he's got a lot of options.
Speaker 1: They're gonna they're gonna be on the field I think
Speaker 1: if you can play, they'll be out there. They're gonna
Speaker 1: do the exact same thing they did last year, which
Speaker 1: is used the fact that nobody knows to try to
Speaker 1: get an advantage, which did not work at all last year.
Speaker 1: Hopefully it'll produce some better results this time around. But yeah,
Speaker 1: and rookie miniicamp doesn't really mean anything to me because, like,
Speaker 1: who else is out there with him? Jabril Cox, I
Speaker 1: mean the Texas say, and m undrafted guy. I guess
Speaker 1: you know, like it's not this isn't the real linebacker corps,
Speaker 1: so but it is that. And that was the debate
Speaker 1: about Parsons is like, is a pure off ball linebacker
Speaker 1: who runs and hits worth a top ten pick or twelve.
Speaker 1: I know that's where he was eventually drafted. Is there
Speaker 1: going to be a pass rush element or um? You know,
Speaker 1: I thought something really interesting. It wasn't a coach, but
Speaker 1: you know, we all respect the hell out of Todd Archer.
Speaker 1: He's been doing this for a long time. If he
Speaker 1: says something, he's probably got good information about it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he said he said something along the lines of like
Speaker 1: Mica can play, Mike and I think Layton will be
Speaker 1: back at will when this thing all shakes out. He
Speaker 1: didn't say what didn't say? What he didn't say made
Speaker 1: my eyebrows perk way up, because if that's really what's happening,
Speaker 1: then you're saying, what is the what is Jalen Smith's role?
Speaker 1: Are You're going to have a thirteen million dollar role
Speaker 1: playing linebacker and you talk about learning two positions? Is
Speaker 1: Jalen gonna do Mike and Sam and be like you
Speaker 1: you're Sam and bass and off the field and Nickel?
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people would probably prefer that,
Speaker 1: but is you know, there's politics that go into this,
Speaker 1: whether it's money, whether it's the fact that Jalen is
Speaker 1: one of the most visible players on the team, Like
Speaker 1: how does that actually take shape? And we don't know.
Speaker 1: What I did say about Michael was if you're drafting
Speaker 1: him where you're drafting him, I think there needs to
Speaker 1: be a component of rushing the passer, whether that's doing
Speaker 1: some edgework or just blitzing a lot. I wonder if
Speaker 1: maybe Jalen could do that as well, Like if you
Speaker 1: would rather just keep if you just want Michael to
Speaker 1: play Mike one hundred percent of the time, that's fine,
Speaker 1: But Jalen Smith maybe could be your LEO or something
Speaker 1: like they And that's what makes that so interesting is
Speaker 1: they got to find something to do with one of
Speaker 1: those guys aside from just play traditional off ball linebacker. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I've thought about that before too. The issue becomes,
Speaker 1: if you're going to do that, that means you're taking
Speaker 1: either to Marcus Lawrence or you're taking Randy Gregory off
Speaker 1: the field. In those situations, there going to be that
Speaker 1: outside linebacker, right, not necessarily, and that's you know, it's
Speaker 1: the most overhyped thing in the world. But people talk
Speaker 1: about the LEO, which is I mean it is it
Speaker 1: is like a defensive end type of role. But again,
Speaker 1: you know we saw last year they had five man fronts.
Speaker 1: That's really what that was, you know. So I think
Speaker 1: it's possible to do a little bit of both maybe
Speaker 1: and it'll be interesting to see. I mean, but here's
Speaker 1: the deal. You're not losing, like it's not. The Cowboys
Speaker 1: can actually help themselves by getting rid of Jalen Smith.
Speaker 1: The money. The money is the money at this point, right.
Speaker 1: So it's one of situations where he's likely on the
Speaker 1: team just because it doesn't make sense financially to not
Speaker 1: have him on the team this year. So he's gonna
Speaker 1: be here. You should and I wouldn't think you would
Speaker 1: let that affect your decisions on how you deploy him,
Speaker 1: because it's that becomes a non factor in my opinion. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's already spent money at this point. Yeah, and it's
Speaker 1: it's basically they're turning it into it. Hopefully he's aware
Speaker 1: or his agent is aware enough to realize this is
Speaker 1: pretty much a contract year for him, even though it
Speaker 1: technically isn't. Your writings on the wall about what they
Speaker 1: can do. It's like you said, it's tough to move
Speaker 1: him this year, it's not tough next year. It's saying
Speaker 1: with Layton, they've made that into a contract year for him.
Speaker 1: So I think we're gonna get the very best of
Speaker 1: what these guys can do um this year. And and
Speaker 1: then the factor you didn't really say, I don't think
Speaker 1: I heard it was Keyan O'Neill. He's gonna factor into
Speaker 1: all this, right, I mean factors into this. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of options here. I don't I don't know what
Speaker 1: to do with it. Like I was floored when Dan
Speaker 1: Quinn because he didn't want to tell us anything specific
Speaker 1: when we talked to him, but he very specifically was like,
Speaker 1: Keano's he's a linebacker. He's gonna play linebacker. I was like, where,
Speaker 1: I just assumed he was going to move back to safety,
Speaker 1: which maybe he still could. I mean, coaches lie all
Speaker 1: the time, but like for him to say that so
Speaker 1: bluntly was very surprising to me. Yeah, I think there's
Speaker 1: so many, so many options of how they could play this, uh,
Speaker 1: and and there's gonna It's interesting you say that this
Speaker 1: is effectively This effectively is a contract year for Jalen,
Speaker 1: because it's tough to put a guy in a situation
Speaker 1: where it's a contract year and you're going to limit
Speaker 1: his play playing time, right, you don't really give him
Speaker 1: a lot of opportunity to earn the opportunity to continue
Speaker 1: with that deal, and that could be tough for him. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, I say, screw politics. I hate politics. You
Speaker 1: need to get whoever is doing the best out there.
Speaker 1: And you're I don't care how much money you're making,
Speaker 1: And I get it, because that's a very high expense
Speaker 1: and you're wasting that money on someone that that is
Speaker 1: not producing anything for you on the field. But I'm
Speaker 1: with the initial scenario that they've presented here where you
Speaker 1: get I mean, maybe I'm speaking too soon because I
Speaker 1: have barely seen anything from Parsons yet. But if he
Speaker 1: really is looking good once we get everyone in there
Speaker 1: and he's doing better, and we'll see him the preseason
Speaker 1: games as well, But if he gets to that point
Speaker 1: where all of us are saying, you know what, this
Speaker 1: guy needs to be more on the field, I'm the
Speaker 1: first one to sit someone down. And again, you never
Speaker 1: know when someone might get injured. You never know when
Speaker 1: late in vendors is going to have to come off
Speaker 1: the field. There's always this rotation scenario that you can
Speaker 1: also do. So I think that everyone's gonna get plenty
Speaker 1: of playing time, but at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: you need to keep the best player on the field,
Speaker 1: regardless of who's a veteran, regardless of how much money
Speaker 1: you're making. I mean, you got to focus on winning
Speaker 1: and having the basic basics are what we know of
Speaker 1: Jalen is his best ability is his availability, and I
Speaker 1: think that that might factor in this year like it's
Speaker 1: factored in every other year of his career, Like he
Speaker 1: may be the guy that you know you start getting injuries.
Speaker 1: He doesn't seem to get hurt, so he might still
Speaker 1: get his opportunities even if he starts the season not
Speaker 1: being the guy one of the two guys that are
Speaker 1: getting the most staffs of line always last on the play,
Speaker 1: So how is he going to get in the back? Wow? Sorry,
Speaker 1: I'm god, I hate, I hate to hate, but accurate
Speaker 1: when you're when you're leading the team and even the
Speaker 1: league and tackles and you're not always last. He leads
Speaker 1: the team in tackles, not always last. But I mean
Speaker 1: he leaves a team in tackles. It wasn't you really
Speaker 1: want to have this debate? No, I'm just saying he
Speaker 1: but we got a call for what it is. I mean,
Speaker 1: is he worth the contract? He No, No, he's not.
Speaker 1: He hasn't been worth the contract. And I think what
Speaker 1: you guys said was was right. Like he he with
Speaker 1: the money, he's on the team. That doesn't mean you
Speaker 1: have to play it though, right, And so yeah, I agree,
Speaker 1: best player plays at this point for this year. But see,
Speaker 1: I and I like a g I love her perspective
Speaker 1: because like you're like the you're the moral compass of
Speaker 1: the fan base, Like this is what should happen. We
Speaker 1: know that that's not always what happens. That's my point.
Speaker 1: And you don't see a lot of thirteen million dollar
Speaker 1: players who are subbed in as sub package and role
Speaker 1: playing guys. It's just not how it works. Well. You
Speaker 1: also don't see a situation where a lot of times
Speaker 1: where teams will go out and invest so much in
Speaker 1: an offseason at a position where they got a thirteen
Speaker 1: I will it's and it's the epitome of a sunk cost.
Speaker 1: Like the money is spent, what's done is done. So
Speaker 1: maybe it's maybe that factors less than the decision making
Speaker 1: process and says they've thrown more resources at linebacker this
Speaker 1: offseason than maybe any other position on the team. If
Speaker 1: that doesn't tell you a ton about what they think
Speaker 1: about the two linebackers they have. You know, you can
Speaker 1: say what you want to say about and they can
Speaker 1: say we love you, we love you, love you. But
Speaker 1: they do a ton of resources at the linebacker position
Speaker 1: this offseason. And it's funny to think the other spot,
Speaker 1: probably the other big trouble spot that gives you a
Speaker 1: lot of pause about the future is offensive tackle. And
Speaker 1: they again they showed you what they thought about that too.
Speaker 1: They spent the bare minimum on a free agent swing tackle,
Speaker 1: and they waited until day three to draft an offensive
Speaker 1: when they had a really good when available to them
Speaker 1: in the first round, they opted for linebacker rather than tackle. Right,
Speaker 1: not saying they're right, but it speaks volumes about how
Speaker 1: they feel exactly. All right, We're gonna take our first
Speaker 1: break when we come back. Let's talk a little bit
Speaker 1: about the schedule. It's interesting schedule. Cowboys will kick off
Speaker 1: the season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Will ask each
Speaker 1: to these guys what we think the best and the
Speaker 1: worst things, in their opinions are about this year's schedule
Speaker 1: for the Cowboys. Will be right back. This is Dallas
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Speaker 1: Slash Academy. Welcome back to the second segment of the
Speaker 1: Break Life from the SWBC Mortgage Studios at the Star.
Speaker 1: We're presented by Geico. Let's talk a little bit about
Speaker 1: the schedule. Cowboys released a schedule last week to a
Speaker 1: lot of fanfare, a lot of dancing and partying by
Speaker 1: one Jerry Jones and Post Malone. If you haven't seen
Speaker 1: the video, do yourself a favor and go check that out.
Speaker 1: We've actually done really well. It's been very highly viewed
Speaker 1: and reviewed piece of content. But the Cowboys released a
Speaker 1: schedule lots of interesting little nuggets throughout. So I'll open
Speaker 1: it up to you guys, and let's go around the table.
Speaker 1: Tell me what you think first is the best thing
Speaker 1: for the Cowboys about this schedule. Let's start with you Amber.
Speaker 1: That look well. I keep looking at the schedule and
Speaker 1: its start to judge, don't you know. I always want
Speaker 1: to say that the end looks the easiest, but then
Speaker 1: it never It never is like that for the Cowboys.
Speaker 1: It never happens to be. Again, we don't know what
Speaker 1: this team is gonna turn out to be, but I'm
Speaker 1: hoping that this year they can start out better than
Speaker 1: before and actually have an advantage towards the end of
Speaker 1: the season with Washington the Giants, you know, the divisional
Speaker 1: rivals here with the NFC's but hopefully those games are
Speaker 1: not as crucial as they always are, which again, I'm
Speaker 1: just talking on both sides here because they always end
Speaker 1: up being But I'm just I don't know. I don't
Speaker 1: know what any of these teams are gonna turn out
Speaker 1: to be. But I'm hoping that that is the case.
Speaker 1: And I'm hoping that we have the whole old line
Speaker 1: healthy and available by that end, that last month of
Speaker 1: the season, and that you're not having to really really
Speaker 1: put everything on the line towards the end so that
Speaker 1: you can have those guys back healthy by the playoffs
Speaker 1: if we get there. Um, the best thing about the
Speaker 1: best thing about this are we gonna we are gonna
Speaker 1: talk about the worst. Yes, we are going to get
Speaker 1: to the worst thing. Yeah, right now, focus on the
Speaker 1: best of things. Start positive. And the best thing about
Speaker 1: the schedule is really not at the order. It's just
Speaker 1: the fact that you know, your strength of schedule from
Speaker 1: last year is not that strong. It's actually one of
Speaker 1: the easiest. Which I saw that and that confused me
Speaker 1: because I looked at the schedule and said, how could
Speaker 1: if you're playing the Division I get that, but other
Speaker 1: teams are playing the Division two and I mean you're
Speaker 1: talking about you're talking about the You got both teams
Speaker 1: that were in the super Bowl last year, you got
Speaker 1: other really good things. Let's which the strength of schedule
Speaker 1: thing in the NFL is the most overrated? Yes, statistic
Speaker 1: like the different between worst and best, Like the easiest
Speaker 1: strength of schedule is like forty eight percent win percentage
Speaker 1: and the hardest is like fifty three. Like we're bickering
Speaker 1: about five percentage. Like you know, it's it's just it
Speaker 1: doesn't matter as much as people want it to. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna say nothing. Really, I'm not trying to be really negative.
Speaker 1: I just know when you go into a schedule, there's
Speaker 1: things that you you look for, and there's things that
Speaker 1: you try to avoid. There's about three things you try
Speaker 1: to avoid if possible, and they've got them all. And
Speaker 1: that that's so I don't I can't look at anything
Speaker 1: and say this is a really good thing. And I'm
Speaker 1: not really trying to be negative here, I just what
Speaker 1: what what? What's an answer here? Which I will say,
Speaker 1: I again, I hate people that are like the league
Speaker 1: hates us because they did Like I hate that, Like
Speaker 1: you gotta play seventeen games. Everybody does. We've known the
Speaker 1: opponents forever, and if you're in the NFC, you're going
Speaker 1: to have more road than home. It is what it is.
Speaker 1: Just play like. I hate that. I hate when people
Speaker 1: get all bent out of shape about that. Having said that,
Speaker 1: the schedule doesn't do them a ton of favors, but
Speaker 1: one favor that they do have is it's a damned
Speaker 1: division party all the way through the last like six
Speaker 1: weeks of the season. You play four of your six
Speaker 1: starting December twelfth, going through the end of the year,
Speaker 1: and you don't play anybody twice before then. So nobody's
Speaker 1: got a tiebreaker over you. So even if they for
Speaker 1: whatever reason, somebody gets hurt or they just don't have it,
Speaker 1: they maybe they suck all the way through Thanksgiving, but
Speaker 1: you got a real chance to make up for that
Speaker 1: by playing everybody in the division down the home stretch
Speaker 1: of the season. I mean, you play Washington twice, you get,
Speaker 1: and then you play New York and Philly once each.
Speaker 1: We all think that Philly and New York are the
Speaker 1: lesser two teams, like Washington and Dallas are above, and
Speaker 1: we agree with that, right, So you get the two
Speaker 1: easier teams, and so you know, if you're if you're
Speaker 1: just tread and water, when you get through Thanksgiving, you
Speaker 1: got to I mean, if you just kick everybody in
Speaker 1: the division's ass, it doesn't matter. And Dat's great against
Speaker 1: the division, So as long as he's there, I feel
Speaker 1: good about that. Now I'm starting to wonder if I'm
Speaker 1: misreading this, but the one that I would point out
Speaker 1: to me, just like immediately when I saw the schedule,
Speaker 1: I was like, I love this for the Cowboys is
Speaker 1: even if you say, okay, first game of season, they're
Speaker 1: gonna lose going to Tampa to play the defending championship,
Speaker 1: just give them that as a loss. Those next four games,
Speaker 1: Cowboys got a chance to get off to a really
Speaker 1: fast start. You're talking about going to the Chargers again.
Speaker 1: That wasn't a good team last year. Philadelphia you just mentioned,
Speaker 1: wasn't a good team last year. Carolina wasn't a good
Speaker 1: team last year. New York Giants wasn't a good team
Speaker 1: last year. So you got four teams lined up there
Speaker 1: in weeks two. Throw New England in there too. They're
Speaker 1: not They weren't bad, but they weren't good either. I'm
Speaker 1: saying no, yes, they weren't good last year. The only
Speaker 1: reason I didn't put them in that same category is
Speaker 1: because we all I think we all say the likelihood
Speaker 1: that Belichick does that two years in a row probably
Speaker 1: ain't great. He's probably going to be better this year
Speaker 1: than he was last year, but maybe not. If you
Speaker 1: want to go off just last year, you're absolutely right
Speaker 1: New throw New England there with. So my point is
Speaker 1: you start off the season in an opportunity to really
Speaker 1: get off to a fast start. I know the first
Speaker 1: game is going to be extremely challenging, but those next
Speaker 1: several weeks you could run off some wins and stacks
Speaker 1: some wins day if you're a good team. They play
Speaker 1: the World Champs on September the ninth on the road.
Speaker 1: They don't face another playoff team until November twenty first, exactly,
Speaker 1: another Super Bowl team. Yeah, but it gets rough from
Speaker 1: that point, Like that's when you start getting to the
Speaker 1: treacherous party schedule. But you can make some you can
Speaker 1: really make some headway against in the early part of
Speaker 1: the schedule. There is not a lot of Now, get
Speaker 1: we don't know what these teams are going to be
Speaker 1: this year. We're basing all this on last year, and
Speaker 1: that's the thing that they're looking at. Dallas, Samuel Dallas
Speaker 1: wasn't good last year and these teams are probably going
Speaker 1: to be better than what they were, some of them.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think Barkley is gonna make the Giants
Speaker 1: a better team. I mean, I think McCaffrey will probably
Speaker 1: make Carolina a better team. Absolutely. I think Herbert will
Speaker 1: be just better along. Well, they'll get there. One of
Speaker 1: their best defensive players, like they lost, actually two or
Speaker 1: three of their best defensive players. That's dangerous, I don't
Speaker 1: I would you be judging the Cowboys same thing. Looking
Speaker 1: from the outside, I would be I'd be like, hey,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't call him a six and ten team. No
Speaker 1: one there. Oh yeah, I think that. I think the
Speaker 1: consensus on the Cowboys is that they're a very flawed
Speaker 1: team with an offense that gives them a chance to
Speaker 1: beat anybody. Yeah, if I mean, if it's if it's
Speaker 1: healthy the way it's supposed to and if they got
Speaker 1: they got a respected, well respected coordinator. Now, uh, they
Speaker 1: got a plug and play defensive player in there too.
Speaker 1: So you know, if you stop the bleeding on defense
Speaker 1: and in the offense gets back, you know, I'm sure
Speaker 1: that that's scary, you know, But I will say, and
Speaker 1: but it's I think it's just PTSD from last year,
Speaker 1: but this like this will this will go up and
Speaker 1: smoke by before training camps over like somebody's gonna lose
Speaker 1: a player that changes. I mean, McCaffrey went out like
Speaker 1: week one of their season. Who knows how much better
Speaker 1: Carolina is if he's there, and on and on and
Speaker 1: on and on, and I'm just so yeah, like Philly, Carolina,
Speaker 1: New York, New England, honestly all the way through Atlanta,
Speaker 1: like all of those games look winnable. They beat Minnesota
Speaker 1: without Dak last year. Denver doesn't have a quarterback right now. God,
Speaker 1: I'd made this joke on our schedule release show. Can
Speaker 1: you imagine if thin for trades for Rogers, I know,
Speaker 1: before the season changes that game, that game may not.
Speaker 1: I don't know if they can flex at that point
Speaker 1: that they're going to be really kicking themselves. But again,
Speaker 1: that goes back to my point. It's like on paper,
Speaker 1: you're like, oh, hell yeah, beat Minnesota without without Dak
Speaker 1: last year, Denver doesn't have a quarterback. And when they
Speaker 1: beat Atlanta last year too, and then you know, Rogers
Speaker 1: gets traded to Denver on June fifteenth, and we're like,
Speaker 1: well that's a loss. We know this, like you just
Speaker 1: never know, right, And I guess you can only count
Speaker 1: on you really you your factoring based upon what you
Speaker 1: saw from them last year. And I do think although
Speaker 1: there are a lot of teams that lost a lot
Speaker 1: of players, when you lose your quarterback, to me, that's
Speaker 1: a little bit different. Like losing your quarterback makes a
Speaker 1: ton of difference in the NFL, and so I think
Speaker 1: the Cowboys, I give them a little bit more difference
Speaker 1: than maybe some of these teams that may have lost
Speaker 1: a safety or defensive end or whatever the case might
Speaker 1: have been. I will say this that remember twenty first
Speaker 1: at Kansas City Chiefs four days before Thanksgiving is all
Speaker 1: Philadelphia's fault. It is the Philadelphia Eagles fault that the
Speaker 1: Cowboys have to do that, because if you remember a
Speaker 1: few years ago, they made that rule change proposal. The
Speaker 1: Eagles hate that the Cowboys Thursday game is basically built
Speaker 1: in at home because like it's an unfair advantage, and
Speaker 1: so they're saying, well, you get to always play a
Speaker 1: Thursday game at home, you don't have to deal with
Speaker 1: short week travel, and the league's not going to take
Speaker 1: that away from the Cowboys, but it's unfair advantage if
Speaker 1: you get to play at home on the Sunday before
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving and you don't even have to deal with any
Speaker 1: of that. And so I think I just feel like
Speaker 1: the league is like, all right, let's throw these people
Speaker 1: that are upset about this a bone and give Dallas
Speaker 1: a really tough thing to deal with on the Sunday
Speaker 1: before Thanksgiving. I think I think what they do with
Speaker 1: these back to back Thursdays is also unsafe. I don't
Speaker 1: think it's that's fair for the Cowboys because because it's
Speaker 1: still seven days, right, yeah, but but it's seven days
Speaker 1: after four like you have to face a team on
Speaker 1: the road in Kansas City and that is going to
Speaker 1: be a gut wrenching type of game, and they all are.
Speaker 1: And then four days later you gotta go play the
Speaker 1: Raiders at home. You're at home for thanksgaming like they
Speaker 1: always do, but your body hasn't even recovered from the
Speaker 1: game before. You need a ten days at that point.
Speaker 1: They don't give them that. They give them seven. That
Speaker 1: I think that that is touff. I don't know what
Speaker 1: their record is and that Thursday game, but I'm just
Speaker 1: saying that's a that is a tough turnaround because you're
Speaker 1: you know, just like with anything, if you do it
Speaker 1: in four days, you need a break. Nobody else in
Speaker 1: the league, I think has is doing that, except for
Speaker 1: those teams that play on things. Those two teams that
Speaker 1: have to play, you know, that Thursday. They I think
Speaker 1: the first year I was here was the first year
Speaker 1: they ever did this, and it was such a boon
Speaker 1: for NFL Network that I just it's gonna be on
Speaker 1: the schedule for it is, and I hate it. The
Speaker 1: only way to get it, and that's the only reason
Speaker 1: it exists is like, well, every every team play has
Speaker 1: to play a Thursday night on NFL Network. So that's
Speaker 1: the only way I get them to do it. But
Speaker 1: because otherwise you got two weeks when you'd have to
Speaker 1: have a four day week, right, so you kind of
Speaker 1: have to do it right then. It's really this is
Speaker 1: pure selfishness. I hate, like, we will never have Thanksgiving
Speaker 1: weekend off again for the rest of our lives as
Speaker 1: long as this is built into the schedule, because instead
Speaker 1: of like you play on Thanksgiving, you're like, all right,
Speaker 1: well I missed Thanksgiving, but I've got this long weekend
Speaker 1: and well you get it next right back. But it's
Speaker 1: not Thanksgiving, right, And I mean that's you know, obviously
Speaker 1: nobody cares about my first world problems, but it pisses
Speaker 1: me off. Yeah, all right, give me your your best,
Speaker 1: Well we already the best. Give me your worst thing
Speaker 1: about the schedule. Yeah, As I said before, I think
Speaker 1: there's things you go into the schedule and you're you're
Speaker 1: like looking to avoid, and I think that they hit
Speaker 1: a lot of them on here. If you're gonna have
Speaker 1: to start the season on the road, you wouldn't think
Speaker 1: your Week two is going to have to be also
Speaker 1: on the road and on the opposite coad. And if
Speaker 1: you are going to start the season on the road
Speaker 1: for two games, surely you get to end the season
Speaker 1: it at home. No you don't. So I think how
Speaker 1: they started and how they ended, and you know, you
Speaker 1: don't like seeing a three three straight road games either.
Speaker 1: So I'm probably taking everybody's answers, but I just think, yeah,
Speaker 1: ending starting the season with two road games like that
Speaker 1: and then ending the season with road that's probably not
Speaker 1: any favors there, Not just being on the road, but
Speaker 1: who is the opponent on the road, like That's That's
Speaker 1: the one thing I look at is a lot of
Speaker 1: these teams are on the road for the Cowboys are tough?
Speaker 1: Are you gonna be tough? So that that and you know,
Speaker 1: we know that sometimes a lot of people believing home
Speaker 1: field advantage. I'm kind of effy on that, but um,
Speaker 1: the Cowboys, We've seen it happen many times where they
Speaker 1: go to somebody else's stadium and they just don't perform well,
Speaker 1: whether it's due to weather or whatever the reason. Maybe,
Speaker 1: Um it's tough. It is tough. So that is what
Speaker 1: I'm looking at the opponents on the road. It's concerning
Speaker 1: it's gonna be hard, which I don't want to contradict
Speaker 1: myself because yeah, I mean, you know, Patrick Mahomes might
Speaker 1: not play in that game, you know, like you can't,
Speaker 1: you can't. I mean, you just you never know, you
Speaker 1: never ever know. But that stretch starting with the Chiefs
Speaker 1: game just looks, really it just looks so brutal, and
Speaker 1: it really doesn't even have anything to do with the
Speaker 1: quality of the opponents. But to go at Kansas City
Speaker 1: short week Thanksgiving turnaround, and also even if Mahomes isn't
Speaker 1: playing one of the three toughest road venues in the
Speaker 1: NFL Arrowhead Stadium, then you turn around again, Drew Brees
Speaker 1: is gone, maybe the Saints aren't any good, but a
Speaker 1: night game in the Superdome again one of the like,
Speaker 1: that's a huge environment. Then you turn around another road game,
Speaker 1: division game. Then you turn around and another road game,
Speaker 1: a division game. So like two highly important division games.
Speaker 1: You play four road games in five weeks, so basically
Speaker 1: half of your road schedule in a twenty one day stretch.
Speaker 1: And by the way, you know the Chief and at
Speaker 1: the Saints are thrown in there as well. I just
Speaker 1: think again, like, you know, maybe the Giants in Washington
Speaker 1: won't even be that good. But to do all of that,
Speaker 1: and so much of it on the road and a
Speaker 1: short span of time, I mean, that's gonna be tough
Speaker 1: on And Division is still division, whether they're good or bad.
Speaker 1: Vision is still a division game. You think the Cowboys,
Speaker 1: You think AT and T Stadium is maybe at fault
Speaker 1: for this. I say that, I hate to say it
Speaker 1: like that, but I don't know. There's a big probably
Speaker 1: a big twelve championship game play. There's probably high school football,
Speaker 1: I mean, but not that they haven't switched that before.
Speaker 1: I don't think, yeah, I don't think Honestly, I don't
Speaker 1: think so, because I don't know that those things necessarily
Speaker 1: preclude you from being able to have an NFL game
Speaker 1: on a Sunday. When I say high school, they don't
Speaker 1: even change the field for the high school games, so
Speaker 1: I don't I don't know that that would be a
Speaker 1: part of one day. I mean, that just seems that
Speaker 1: just seems like we're really attacking them right there. I mean, like, oh,
Speaker 1: I don't yeah, yeah, at home. When you're making the
Speaker 1: Cowboys schedule, there are a lot of other things that
Speaker 1: you're factoring think about the schedule makers, like what they're
Speaker 1: more importantly thinking about is the television network, because everybody's
Speaker 1: trying to figure out how they're going to get the
Speaker 1: Cowboys on. So that's a way bigger consideration. Nan. Do
Speaker 1: they have three road games in a row in a row?
Speaker 1: Here's here's where I think there's a disadvantage. And I
Speaker 1: don't think the Cowboys are wanting to switch divisions and
Speaker 1: nobody really wants that. But it's a I saw somewhere
Speaker 1: where I think it's Philly or Washington that doesn't have
Speaker 1: to get on a plane at they don't have to
Speaker 1: get on a plane from for like the last six
Speaker 1: weeks because they're playing in Washington and they play the
Speaker 1: Giants and that all that stuff. But the Cowboys, I mean,
Speaker 1: those are some really long trips to do that. So
Speaker 1: that's not an advantage obviously for the Cowboys, you know,
Speaker 1: to have their road trips in the division are a
Speaker 1: lot different. I mean we see every every road trip
Speaker 1: for the Cowboys pretty much about in the same range.
Speaker 1: Like you're going somewhere like there's not a lot of
Speaker 1: teams that are that are local to the Cowboys, and
Speaker 1: once you get outside of the Texans, and if you
Speaker 1: want to include the Saints, like there's no teams that
Speaker 1: are close to the Cowboys. So you gotta get on
Speaker 1: a plane and travel at least an hour and a
Speaker 1: half for every game. There's only five or six teams
Speaker 1: that can pull that off, or you're like bussing to
Speaker 1: a game bust the East Coast. Basically, it is interesting,
Speaker 1: and I don't want this, like the rivalries are important,
Speaker 1: but like you know, a division of Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Tennessee,
Speaker 1: like you're logging way a fewer miles to travel those games.
Speaker 1: But I wouldn't want it as much fun no, of
Speaker 1: course it's not there. And that goes back to my point,
Speaker 1: which is like, shut up and deal with it. Like
Speaker 1: it's proflay football, play football, like we're just yeah, I
Speaker 1: can sit here and say like, oh man, that looks
Speaker 1: really tough. At the end of the day, I'm like,
Speaker 1: no one cares go play the games, right, all right,
Speaker 1: We're gonna take our final bike. We'll come back, We'll
Speaker 1: get a game of see a no going. Amber's got
Speaker 1: some questions for us, will be that when we come
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Speaker 1: visit the Star District dot com. Welcome back to the
Speaker 1: final segment of the Break. We are alive from the
Speaker 1: SWBC Mortgage Studios at the Star presented by Geico. Amber
Speaker 1: got a game for us, Let's go. Okay, A lot
Speaker 1: of the questions are questions I received. Are us getting
Speaker 1: way ahead of ourselves? But it's a game, so just
Speaker 1: for fun. So we just got done talking about the schedule.
Speaker 1: The final game between Cowboys versus Eagles will decide if
Speaker 1: the Cowboys or another team wins the NFC East. Yes,
Speaker 1: that Cowboys Eagles game will have something to do with
Speaker 1: the Vision Change title championship. Yeah, I believe that. I
Speaker 1: say no. I'm gonna say no. I actually think that
Speaker 1: game on December twenty sixth will ultimately decide the division
Speaker 1: against Washington Football Team. That's I wrote that. Like my
Speaker 1: snap judgment was both of those games happening in December
Speaker 1: will be what swings the division, and like maybe something
Speaker 1: will still be up for grabs, like seating in that
Speaker 1: WE eighteen game. But it really like when was the
Speaker 1: last time that it was like a pure winners and
Speaker 1: losers out? I know they did it a lot like
Speaker 1: a decade ago, but it hasn't really been that way
Speaker 1: in a while, right am. I I'm not making that
Speaker 1: up right. I just think these are your two best
Speaker 1: teams in the division. I think they will be the
Speaker 1: two button in Dallas. Dallas and Philly. Interesting, do you
Speaker 1: think they're better? You think Philly is better than Washington?
Speaker 1: It's Washington. I think, well, we all know their defense
Speaker 1: was really good last year. They've added some pieces to
Speaker 1: that offense that I think it can fit nicely with
Speaker 1: that defense. You know, I don't trust Ryan Fitzpatrick to
Speaker 1: play seventeen good games, and they're screwed if he doesn't.
Speaker 1: But he's better than what they had and and and
Speaker 1: he's better than Maybe it's because we watched Dallas just
Speaker 1: pick on Jalen Hurts, but like, I don't. I do
Speaker 1: not think highly of Jalen Hurts, not right now at least,
Speaker 1: So I don't know. I just said I do think
Speaker 1: that game's gonna mean something for for for somebody, you know.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's only fifty percent of the division, So
Speaker 1: I mean, I think it's fair to say that that
Speaker 1: that will happen. I think it didn't. Washington signed Curtis Samuel. Yes,
Speaker 1: Like you start thinking about the offensive pieces that they
Speaker 1: put in place. Again, they don't need their offense to
Speaker 1: be like great. They need an offense that doesn't lose
Speaker 1: the game for them because their defense is so good.
Speaker 1: And in a second year, I think they're gonna be
Speaker 1: even better. So I don't know, I just subscribe the
Speaker 1: Cowboys gonna be a tough, tough hunt. You just suscribe
Speaker 1: the Cowboys in the opposite way. Yeah, they're the opposite
Speaker 1: of the Cowboys, exactly opposite of the Cowboys. Yeah, Washington
Speaker 1: is a good quarterback away from being pretty scary, really
Speaker 1: really good. Yeah, I agree, which is the hardest thing
Speaker 1: to find in football, Like I know it will. The
Speaker 1: interesting thing is is a lot of those contracts are
Speaker 1: going to come up pretty soon, you know, for them,
Speaker 1: so they're gonna have Washington. Yeah, I'm not saying their
Speaker 1: window is closing at all because they sign them, But
Speaker 1: I'm just saying they drafted a lot of those guys.
Speaker 1: It's kind of like Carolina a few years ago. You
Speaker 1: get all these good defensive guys and then next thing,
Speaker 1: you know, they become free agency. Can you sustain it?
Speaker 1: And the tough part for Washington now is they have
Speaker 1: a really good defense that's going to keep them in
Speaker 1: a lot of games, which means that the likelihood that
Speaker 1: they would get high enough in a draft to be
Speaker 1: able to draft a quarterback is relatively low. So trying
Speaker 1: to get a quarterback at this point, when you already
Speaker 1: built a defense that's this good, becomes very difficult. Now,
Speaker 1: you got to you gotta bet on the fact that
Speaker 1: you can get a quarterback later in a draft. Um, yeah,
Speaker 1: they can get a quarterback later in the draft that
Speaker 1: will allow them to be that that can really raise
Speaker 1: their level play. That's a harder thing to do, no,
Speaker 1: thank you, yes, all right. Next Washing Michael Parsons starts
Speaker 1: Week one against Tampa Bay. I'm gonna say no, but
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say no. But again we we we opine
Speaker 1: so much. Tell me why, Well, because you're only gonna
Speaker 1: have two on the field and you want like starting
Speaker 1: just means you have to be out there for the
Speaker 1: first snap. So why because he's a first round pick?
Speaker 1: First round picks, we know, first round. I don't care
Speaker 1: what you wanna say about whoever was here, but he's
Speaker 1: a first round pick, right like Layton vander esh didn't
Speaker 1: come on right away like he wasn't just like the
Speaker 1: guy from the gets a say about Layton, I mean
Speaker 1: like that, it's you expect I know, but you expect
Speaker 1: a linebacker, or you expect any player that you take
Speaker 1: in the top I don't know, fifteen picks in the
Speaker 1: first round, say you expect them to be immediate starters?
Speaker 1: Do you not? He strained, he did. I remember Layton
Speaker 1: did something at training camp where he meant, what about
Speaker 1: play right? I'm I'm telling you right now, I don't
Speaker 1: even feel bad about saying this. Like Michael Parsons will
Speaker 1: play forty snaps against the Bucks, he won't be out
Speaker 1: there for the first snap of the game. That's that's
Speaker 1: just it's just politics. Yes, politics usually happened when you
Speaker 1: have an existing coaching staff that these are their guys.
Speaker 1: They got no vested interest in those other two linebackers.
Speaker 1: They really don't. This is their guy the question, but
Speaker 1: it really does matter. And this isn't like this, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. They're gonna play, They're gonna play
Speaker 1: it all right, then I'm sorry and then we can
Speaker 1: move on. But like, it's not that common unless you're
Speaker 1: Chase Young. It's not that common to just snap one
Speaker 1: of day one. You're just like, I'm the guy, this
Speaker 1: is me, Like lunch of tender. Absolutely, I will make
Speaker 1: a lunch bet on this, not a bit. We're just
Speaker 1: gonna take one of us, will take the other one
Speaker 1: to lunch. Think that's that's your second linebacker lunch. Uh,
Speaker 1: yeah that is. Yeah, We'll see how that one turns out.
Speaker 1: I'm feeling pretty good about my prospects of having barbecue
Speaker 1: for free. I don't wanna, I don't wanna like I'm
Speaker 1: I don't smit to the Pro Bowls what I said, Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: that is what you say. I don't hate Micah and
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna play a lot of snaps this year.
Speaker 1: But I just I bet he won't be the starter. Yeah.
Speaker 1: To clarify, I don't hate Mica. No, well we'll talk
Speaker 1: about that last week. The minute you doubt something, it's like, oh,
Speaker 1: he hates I just feel I just feel like that's
Speaker 1: how this goes most of the time, all right. See,
Speaker 1: I know the Cowboys will have four or four starters
Speaker 1: on the oh line for fourteen plus games, fourteen of
Speaker 1: the seventeen. If they do, they're in the playoffs. Preseason No,
Speaker 1: um uh no, No, that's a tough one. No, they won't.
Speaker 1: Based on history, they won't. Between See, if you'd have
Speaker 1: gone three, I would have been like, okay, you can
Speaker 1: kind of convince me that maybe they'll have three on
Speaker 1: the field for fourteen games. Four fours a lot. Four
Speaker 1: means that they'll be in the playoffs if if all,
Speaker 1: if four of the five are there all season long,
Speaker 1: basically they might they might have already wrapped up the division.
Speaker 1: If they have all those offensive linemen on the field
Speaker 1: for fourteen get the first four, well, I mean, that's
Speaker 1: just gonna make it competitive against Washington. And when you
Speaker 1: remember Washington dominated them like that. If the if the
Speaker 1: guys were out there, Lyell and all them, you know,
Speaker 1: because I think you can go back to that Thanksgiving game,
Speaker 1: Martin was there, Flint Cam flaming, No Cam, Irving, irving,
Speaker 1: Sorry some cam, it's not here anymore. Cam. They did
Speaker 1: a nice job. They moved the ball, you know, and
Speaker 1: now you thought they were going to be competitive. Then
Speaker 1: they both go out in that series and it went
Speaker 1: down from there. But yeah, yeah, I just think I
Speaker 1: think it's going to be way more competitive just to
Speaker 1: have them, you know, the strength versus strength there with
Speaker 1: that offensive line defensive line. I just think that's asking
Speaker 1: for a lot. With what we've seen from this group
Speaker 1: over the last night. I can't beat on four okay
Speaker 1: so much. That's a lot, all right? Another one that stuff.
Speaker 1: The Cowboys will be a top ten defense with the
Speaker 1: roster and the changes that they've made this offseason. No
Speaker 1: big old old booe thinking about it. You're thinking about it. Okay,
Speaker 1: you're going out there, Okay, Okay. Someone else said fifteen. Okay,
Speaker 1: take that, you all take fifteen, because once again, where
Speaker 1: were they the year before the year before last, they
Speaker 1: were I want to say eleven were nine. Well you
Speaker 1: know what they were last year they were thirty one.
Speaker 1: Now they were like twenty twenty four, twenty four yards,
Speaker 1: twenty seven or twenty eight and scores twenty four yards.
Speaker 1: I didn't realize that. Now, That's what I was asking, Like,
Speaker 1: what is then? So I mean defense, they use it
Speaker 1: by the yards, us by yards, and you know, as
Speaker 1: bad as they were giving up points last year, and
Speaker 1: they gave up more than any in the Cowboys history.
Speaker 1: But yeah, they were like twenty fourth or something like that.
Speaker 1: So they get to fifteen possible, I think it's very possible. Again,
Speaker 1: I look at where they were two years ago. I'm
Speaker 1: a big believer now, I'm a big believer in the
Speaker 1: fact that the problems they saw last year on defense
Speaker 1: had a ton to do with the coordinator um and
Speaker 1: I just look at what they were to because I
Speaker 1: don't think the personnel changed drastically. I think there were
Speaker 1: one or two guys that you could say, well, yeah,
Speaker 1: they make a big difference, but I don't think it
Speaker 1: changed that drastically to have the drop that they did.
Speaker 1: I think the coordinator was the big issue. And so
Speaker 1: I expect them to get back up at least to
Speaker 1: the top half of the league in yards that they allow.
Speaker 1: I'll settle for seventeenth with a positive turnover different If
Speaker 1: you get a positive turnover that manly, Yeah, that's huge.
Speaker 1: I have another one that is specifically asking about the
Speaker 1: rushing different defense, and I mean they're like you guys said,
Speaker 1: there are different metrics in different ways you can analyze
Speaker 1: this all, But do you guys expect the rushing defense
Speaker 1: to improve significantly this year? Can it get worse? It
Speaker 1: actually cannot because they were thirty two. They can't get worse.
Speaker 1: It can't, so I actually they will be better. I
Speaker 1: went back and listened to the show last week while
Speaker 1: I was in the gym this morning. I just got
Speaker 1: mad all over again about y'all fighting about which the
Speaker 1: combination just the resources that they put into defensive tackle.
Speaker 1: Bohanna's part of it. Brent Urban, in my opinion, is
Speaker 1: also part of it. Two other draft picks, Colston and
Speaker 1: no DIGGI zooo, who can help? And then the guys
Speaker 1: that were here. Maybe I'm just this, I don't know,
Speaker 1: Maybe this is just favoritism. I feel like I felt
Speaker 1: really good about what Tristan Hill was doing, and he
Speaker 1: was only there for he got hurt. He didn't even
Speaker 1: get he didn't even get the flowers of people being
Speaker 1: sad that he got hurt because he got hurt the
Speaker 1: same day as Dak. So if he's back and can
Speaker 1: continue the trajectory that it looked like he was on,
Speaker 1: I think that's exciting. And then you add Mica to
Speaker 1: go along with what's already there at linebacker, Yes, they will,
Speaker 1: they will absolutely improve. Think about the improvement between Tristan
Speaker 1: Hill year one and year two. Okay, it was a
Speaker 1: pretty significant. He looked like a viable football player last
Speaker 1: year after not being able to get on the field.
Speaker 1: So whatever he improved, whatever the percentage of improvement, whatever
Speaker 1: that is. What if Neville Gallimore improves that much from
Speaker 1: year one to year time, if you're actually I was
Speaker 1: talking about this yesterday, like if you're just like sneaky,
Speaker 1: sneaky storylines that make you feel excited, like everybody's excited
Speaker 1: about Dak. We get that, But like Neville and Tristan together,
Speaker 1: if like that's exciting and intriguing to me, that, like,
Speaker 1: the defensive tackle position could be surprisingly good if those
Speaker 1: guys grow into who the front office thinks they can be. Well,
Speaker 1: that's how I feel about No DIGGI Zoo. I think
Speaker 1: is a guy they're really excited about too, you know.
Speaker 1: And and here's another thing about Bohannah. Uh, the guy
Speaker 1: I've always been trying to get, you know, a big, fat,
Speaker 1: sloppy guy that's not Bohanna. Now, Bohanna is three hundred
Speaker 1: and thirty pounds. He doesn't look like it though. I
Speaker 1: mean he looks he's in good shape for his size
Speaker 1: and all that. He's got a lot of strength to him.
Speaker 1: And the joke was, well, um Quinn said he's going
Speaker 1: to be right here on the ball, you know. Well,
Speaker 1: a couple of times at practice he actually wasn't. He
Speaker 1: was in the three technique, so they kind of moved,
Speaker 1: which he kind of take that a little because you
Speaker 1: just don't know. They don't have a lot of people,
Speaker 1: don't have a lot of guys. I just think he's
Speaker 1: a big, strong guy, but I think he's gonna have
Speaker 1: a little bit more movement than you think. When I
Speaker 1: was watching him and going back to you talking about
Speaker 1: the conversation from last week and the argument between you two, yeah,
Speaker 1: I could not remember what the argument was, but all
Speaker 1: I can see is while I was watching, I'm like,
Speaker 1: I'm on Derek side on this. As what I was
Speaker 1: looking at you know you all. You know the classic
Speaker 1: meme of like you think about the perfect rebuttal two
Speaker 1: hours later you know you never have it. Like good
Speaker 1: one techniques get drafted high all the time. Vita Vea
Speaker 1: it happened. Danny Shelton was another one. Not all the time.
Speaker 1: I mean it happened something. If a one technique is
Speaker 1: a stud, he's worth drafted round. That's what I was saying.
Speaker 1: But I will say there are certain positions, and you
Speaker 1: know you cover the draft way more than I do,
Speaker 1: there are certain positions where you have to be exceptionally
Speaker 1: great to get into that conversation. Do you get the
Speaker 1: tackle is one of those positions. You don't just especially
Speaker 1: one technique, You don't get into that conversation unless you're exceptional.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying he's exceptional. What I'm saying is he
Speaker 1: fits a terrible need for the Cowboys, and he's the
Speaker 1: only guy, by the way, that could fill that need.
Speaker 1: And that's why I think he's gonna get opportunities. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna ride. I'm riding with Brent Urban on this one.
Speaker 1: That's okay, we'll see see, we will see, all right.
Speaker 1: One last one real quick, uh, no, no, that's it good.
Speaker 1: Let's go. That's it's all right. I appreciate you guys, Jannus.
Speaker 1: We'll be back on next Wednesday. We'll have more talk
Speaker 1: for you guys. Told them for Nick Eatman, Dave Helmet,
Speaker 1: Amber Garcia. I am Derek Eakleton. This has been The
Speaker 1: Break live on Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. This has
Speaker 1: been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys Football Club.