WEBVTT - Cowboys Break: Earl vs. Tate in Free Agency? 0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:05.040 The following. He's a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com 0:00:05.040 --> 0:00:08.200 and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. Are you ready for 0:00:08.280 --> 0:00:12.840 a break? Are you ready for a break? Absolutely ready 0:00:13.039 --> 0:00:16.720 for a break. Yeah, and so much for that. It's 0:00:16.760 --> 0:00:21.280 time for The Break on Dallas Cowboys dot Com wall 0:00:22.440 --> 0:00:27.960 with Nick Eatman, David Hellman, and bar Garcia and Derek Eagleton. 0:00:28.120 --> 0:00:32.000 It is Wednesday, September. I'm sorry, February thirteenth, twenty nineteen, 0:00:32.040 --> 0:00:35.520 Season fourteen, episode number one sixteen. Welcome to the latest 0:00:35.640 --> 0:00:37.879 edition of The Break. We're live from the s WBC 0:00:38.000 --> 0:00:41.680 Mortgage Studios after Star. We've got our normal crew, except 0:00:41.760 --> 0:00:44.000 Dave Hellman is not here today, so we've got sitting 0:00:44.040 --> 0:00:47.120 in again this week, Brian broad Us. Thanks for joining us. Brian, 0:00:47.159 --> 0:00:49.400 appreciate that. Guys, thank you. We got a lot to 0:00:49.400 --> 0:00:52.040 talk about today. We're gonna talk most of the show 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:55.560 about free agency, and thanks to Brian, we have this 0:00:56.080 --> 0:00:59.840 nifty little sheet here of all of these unrestricted free 0:00:59.840 --> 0:01:02.400 agent that the Cowboys have for this year. I sent 0:01:02.520 --> 0:01:05.319 that to you. No, I think he stole that from 0:01:05.360 --> 0:01:13.720 my desk. I sent that if PR put it out, yeah, 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:17.280 but whatever, correction, it's a great direction Thanks Nick Free. 0:01:17.880 --> 0:01:19.800 It was a team effort. Thanks for doing this a 0:01:19.920 --> 0:01:21.840 big point. I had nothing to do with it. If 0:01:21.880 --> 0:01:23.920 Brian would have done, it would have been laminated. Yeah, 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:28.440 you're right about that, Love. I blow out our budget 0:01:28.440 --> 0:01:31.160 on lamination with no question about that. We are actually 0:01:31.160 --> 0:01:35.520 putting a line item in for lamination because um but no, 0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:38.280 this this sheet actually lays out all the unrestricted free 0:01:38.280 --> 0:01:41.120 agents for the Cowboys for actually for the next several years. 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:44.400 This show, we're going to focus on unrestricted free agents 0:01:44.400 --> 0:01:46.520 for this year for the Cowboys, and we're gonna go 0:01:46.560 --> 0:01:48.280 through that list. And I want you guys to tell 0:01:48.320 --> 0:01:51.120 me whether you think it's a priority guy, whether you 0:01:51.160 --> 0:01:52.600 think it's a guy that you would signed at the 0:01:52.680 --> 0:01:54.680 right price, or if it's a guy you just say, hey, 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:56.720 let's just move on. We can find better, all right. 0:01:56.920 --> 0:01:58.200 But before we get to that, I do want to 0:01:58.200 --> 0:02:00.320 talk a little bit about Travis Frederick. He talking last 0:02:00.400 --> 0:02:03.400 night to a couple of media members and talk about 0:02:03.400 --> 0:02:05.440 the fact that he's hey, obviously right now, is recovering 0:02:05.920 --> 0:02:09.880 uh from Gimbari syndrome, which kept him out of all 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:14.480 of twenty eighteen, and it sounds like his plans are 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:17.040 that he's gonna return this offseason. Sounds like he can. 0:02:17.680 --> 0:02:20.040 He expects that he'll be able to take part to 0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:23.400 some degree whenever they start up the offseason workouts, and 0:02:23.480 --> 0:02:25.640 that certainly points to the fact that he would be 0:02:25.680 --> 0:02:29.000 back this season. My big question for you guys to 0:02:29.000 --> 0:02:33.240 get this conversation flowing, is how much of how much 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:35.760 of a of a difference did we see this year 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:38.560 with Joe Luoney playing center than what you would have 0:02:38.639 --> 0:02:41.520 expected with a guy like Travis Frederick, Because I know 0:02:41.600 --> 0:02:43.400 a lot of us think Joe play had a pretty 0:02:43.400 --> 0:02:47.040 good year. But how much of a difference was there? Well, 0:02:47.080 --> 0:02:49.600 I mean I think that it was. It was not 0:02:49.680 --> 0:02:52.120 as much of a drop off as we thought, but 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:54.560 it was a drop off that they gave up more 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:57.200 sacks than they've ever given up. And maybe franchise history, 0:02:57.200 --> 0:03:00.440 it's not all Luney wasn't I don't think the link, 0:03:01.440 --> 0:03:03.760 but I think the combination of everything, you know, he 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:05.799 just kind of is that glue guy, kind of keeps 0:03:05.840 --> 0:03:08.000 it all together, makes the calls. I think he makes 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:10.360 Zach Martin better, he makes definitely makes the left guard better. 0:03:10.560 --> 0:03:12.760 And so just not having that experience of a first 0:03:12.800 --> 0:03:15.800 year starter and Joe Looney. He did admirable job, but 0:03:15.880 --> 0:03:18.240 just there's no way you can compete with the best 0:03:18.280 --> 0:03:21.639 center in the football. I just think when you're so 0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:25.080 good sometimes, especially in those kinds of positions, you tend 0:03:25.120 --> 0:03:27.919 to not notice them and the fact that if you're 0:03:27.960 --> 0:03:30.799 not doing anything wrong then you don't notice, but they 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:33.000 are doing something really good. And to me, that was 0:03:33.080 --> 0:03:35.720 kind of Travis Frederick. I never honestly paid that much 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:38.160 attention to the way he played. He never gave me 0:03:38.200 --> 0:03:41.480 a reason to be looking at him and be cautious 0:03:41.480 --> 0:03:44.000 of the way he played. Now with Looney, this is 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:46.320 the first time that I actually started paying attention at 0:03:46.360 --> 0:03:51.040 the positions at that position, because that was obviously a 0:03:51.160 --> 0:03:54.240 change that was noticeable on the field. It wasn't anything 0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:57.600 to the point where it just went down the drain. 0:03:57.680 --> 0:03:59.640 He was able to maintain it, and that's kind of 0:03:59.680 --> 0:04:01.920 why one your backup guy to do. And he did 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:05.720 an amazing job. Obviously, we have to see and I 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:09.280 don't know, I know what the syndrome is and all 0:04:09.320 --> 0:04:11.360 of that. I don't know to the extent of what 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:15.640 that all implies as far as just his future health 0:04:15.760 --> 0:04:20.520 and how much that affects you long term hopefully, and 0:04:21.120 --> 0:04:23.680 by what he says, there seems to be a lot 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:25.760 of hope in that he can come back and play 0:04:26.040 --> 0:04:29.120 at a good level, and let's hope. So I don't 0:04:29.120 --> 0:04:32.600 know as far as strength, how that's going to affect him. 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:34.919 You know, it's interesting you bring that up. Excuse me. 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:38.440 I remember hearing an interview last year when this first 0:04:38.760 --> 0:04:41.880 diagnosis first came down. Mark Schlereth, who played in the 0:04:42.000 --> 0:04:44.360 NFL for a very long time as an offensive lineman 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:46.919 for the Denver Broncos, was talking about the fact that 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:49.160 he dealt with that during his career, and he talked 0:04:49.200 --> 0:04:52.400 about it from the standpoint of saying at the time 0:04:52.440 --> 0:04:54.120 he was like, there's no way he's playing this year. 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:56.640 He said, I just can't foresee a scenario where he 0:04:56.680 --> 0:04:59.840 plays this year, which poured out to be true. He said, Now, 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:02.240 the thing about my particular one, first of all, you 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:04.640 have to know about it's different for everybody. It's kind 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:06.880 of depending on what stage they find it in and 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:09.040 how quickly your body recovers, like, there are a lot 0:05:09.080 --> 0:05:12.960 of different variables. But he said in his situation he 0:05:13.000 --> 0:05:15.640 was able to play after a year. However, he wasn't 0:05:15.720 --> 0:05:18.839 himself for two years. It took the year after he 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:21.680 came back. He wasn't quite there yet because he had 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:24.479 to regain all his strength and he had to get 0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:26.200 back to the point. For him to get back to 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:30.280 the point where he was before the syndrome he was at, 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:32.680 it was actually two years after that. Now that that's 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:35.440 not to say that that's necessarily the case for Travis Frederick, 0:05:35.440 --> 0:05:37.720 because again he did say that it varies for everyone. 0:05:38.080 --> 0:05:39.440 But I do think we all ought to be a 0:05:39.480 --> 0:05:41.760 little cautious as we talk about this. You really don't 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:43.719 know even if he comes back, you don't know exactly 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:45.880 where he's gonna be. And he even to mention that 0:05:45.960 --> 0:05:48.039 yesterday of where he's gonna be, he won't know all 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:49.400 of that until he kind of gets out there and 0:05:49.440 --> 0:05:51.440 start doing something. The scary thing, I was just gonna 0:05:51.440 --> 0:05:53.200 say real quick, the scary thing to me when I 0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:55.120 look at that situation is the whole fact that you 0:05:55.160 --> 0:05:58.040 don't know how he can get injured during the process 0:05:58.040 --> 0:06:00.120 of it. Let's say he goes on the field and 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:03.640 then just not really being and I know the trainers 0:06:03.680 --> 0:06:05.720 and the coaches are not really going to put him 0:06:05.720 --> 0:06:07.760 out there if they don't feel that he's ready to go, 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:12.120 but there's always that you just have to be very 0:06:12.160 --> 0:06:14.920 cautious and have a lot of precaution with this whole thing, 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:18.640 which absolutely broke my heart last year just seeing the 0:06:18.640 --> 0:06:21.040 whole process of it. You see a guy that's big 0:06:21.080 --> 0:06:23.720 and tough and great on the field, and then you 0:06:24.120 --> 0:06:28.360 see how he just starts sloping down and the way 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:30.640 that he changes, even the way he was walking, you know, 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:35.240 limping around, and it's really sad. And the amount of 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:39.039 muscle that he lost, like muscle, um, what do you 0:06:39.080 --> 0:06:43.559 call that, muscle masks or whatever. It was really sad 0:06:43.600 --> 0:06:46.360 to see. And I hope that this offseason he's able 0:06:46.400 --> 0:06:49.000 to you know, get back to where he needs to be. 0:06:49.120 --> 0:06:51.360 They missed him in the red zone, yeah, oh, they 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:53.279 missed They missed him when they got down inside the 0:06:53.279 --> 0:06:55.400 five yard line and all of a sudden you had 0:06:55.400 --> 0:06:57.960 to cut a defense in half. You know. You missed 0:06:58.000 --> 0:07:00.679 him in the running game on some of those days 0:07:00.680 --> 0:07:02.520 where they needed to run the football a little bit 0:07:02.520 --> 0:07:04.080 better than they did, and all of a sudden they 0:07:04.120 --> 0:07:06.400 couldn't get Looney to the second level. Nothing wrong with 0:07:06.480 --> 0:07:10.160 Joe Looney. Joe Looney was like my kind of my 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:12.800 dark horse MVP, because this thing could have been an 0:07:12.800 --> 0:07:17.240 absolute disaster for the Cowboys at center, and it wasn't 0:07:17.240 --> 0:07:19.920 because Joe Looney was able to hold it together. They 0:07:19.960 --> 0:07:23.800 missed the communication, They missed the ability though to say 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:26.120 to cut a defense in half, and they missed him 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:29.200 on the goal line for his ability to snatch wide 0:07:29.240 --> 0:07:31.560 techniques when they were trying to run the ball to 0:07:31.600 --> 0:07:34.400 the edge. You know, some of those times that maybe 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:36.440 they would run a little bit different player had a 0:07:36.480 --> 0:07:39.720 different idea if they had a center that they knew 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:42.120 could grab a three technique, you know, and cut that 0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:44.040 off and make sure and give them that gap. Those 0:07:44.080 --> 0:07:47.200 are the things that you missed with Travis Frederick playing 0:07:47.200 --> 0:07:49.720 for your football team. And a lot of that though, is, 0:07:50.000 --> 0:07:51.840 like I said, you could talk about play calling. The 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:54.200 guy lost his job because of play calling. I think 0:07:54.240 --> 0:07:56.040 a lot of it had to do with execution, and 0:07:56.080 --> 0:08:00.320 an execution was also meaning that those five guys running 0:08:00.360 --> 0:08:03.240 sometimes those tight ends didn't exactly do everything that they 0:08:03.240 --> 0:08:05.680 needed to do, and not having Travis Frederick and there 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:08.080 hurt him for that. You know. One of the things 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:11.160 he said last night I think is really interesting. He said, 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:13.600 you know, we can do all the nerve tests we want, 0:08:13.640 --> 0:08:16.520 but without a baseline, we don't know where normal is. 0:08:16.600 --> 0:08:19.400 Everybody's normal is a little bit different. So now it's 0:08:19.440 --> 0:08:21.520 just about working in the weight room, trying to increase 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:23.840 my strength, and work with the team in the offseason 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:26.840 as far as conditioning wise, get myself ready to try 0:08:26.840 --> 0:08:28.640 and meet at some point and the rest of the 0:08:28.640 --> 0:08:31.680 team come comes back in March. And April said that 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:35.560 last night at the Jason Witten Um College Man of 0:08:35.600 --> 0:08:38.000 the Year where that they do here in the Frisco Um, 0:08:38.600 --> 0:08:40.720 which I actually don't even know who won. I mean, 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:43.800 I got named Dixon from Wisconsin. Yeah, is a good player. 0:08:43.960 --> 0:08:45.920 I haven't seen him play him film yet. I've seen him, 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:49.280 have not studied him yet. Senior, Yeah, I would imagine 0:08:49.480 --> 0:08:53.480 y senior. Yeah, it's hard to top last year's yeah 0:08:53.600 --> 0:08:58.840 winner there with Skeem Griffin. Yea yeah, but uh but 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:01.160 but he had a has an amazing story as well. 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:03.880 I want to look into that. But Frederick was here, 0:09:03.920 --> 0:09:06.200 you know, is here supporting that, and he's been a 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:09.120 great teammate all along through through this process. It's got 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:10.880 to be really difficult, but I thought that was interesting 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:13.360 about you know, my normal might be different than then 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:17.200 then maybe Mark Shlaris normal or whatever. So all those 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:19.360 things are different, and that's the thing. It all. It 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:22.080 all varies, and so I think the interesting point here 0:09:22.080 --> 0:09:24.120 will just be I think as he comes back, and 0:09:24.200 --> 0:09:26.520 certainly as we start watching him throughout training camp, I 0:09:26.559 --> 0:09:28.800 think everyone has to keep an eye on the fact 0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:31.640 that he even though he's back, he may not be 0:09:32.080 --> 0:09:34.800 the same guy. He may he may not, but you 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:37.160 have to kind of just kind of allow that process 0:09:37.160 --> 0:09:39.400 to take place and see how long it takes him 0:09:39.440 --> 0:09:41.000 to get back to that point. If you talk to 0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:43.760 the people in the organization, though, they're comfortable with Joe 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:46.880 Looney now, but they're also comfortable with Redmond, the other 0:09:47.000 --> 0:09:49.400 the backup center as well, the backup center and guards. 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:51.760 So they feel like though that they could take their 0:09:51.760 --> 0:09:54.440 time with Travis and nobody knows his body better than 0:09:54.480 --> 0:09:58.480 what Travis Frederick. The whole time, he's been very uh 0:09:58.800 --> 0:10:02.360 not say out spoken, but he's been very as far 0:10:02.400 --> 0:10:05.880 as telling the trainers and the doctors, hey, this is 0:10:05.920 --> 0:10:07.760 what I feel, this is what I can do. This 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:10.840 is you know, this is a guy that we'll do 0:10:10.880 --> 0:10:13.320 everything he can to get back on the field. But 0:10:13.360 --> 0:10:15.080 he's not going to get back on the field until 0:10:15.120 --> 0:10:17.360 he's absolutely ready to get back on the field. He's 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:19.800 not going to put his team in harm's way just 0:10:19.840 --> 0:10:22.760 going out there and being a seventy percent player. Yeah, 0:10:22.800 --> 0:10:25.040 all right, let's move on. Let's talk a little bit 0:10:25.080 --> 0:10:27.720 about these free agents. As I mentioned earlier in the show, 0:10:27.720 --> 0:10:30.240 we're going to go through this list. There's actually a 0:10:30.280 --> 0:10:33.000 pretty decent number of unrestricted free agents the Cowboys have 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:35.440 this year. Only a few of them top name guys, 0:10:35.520 --> 0:10:37.840 but a lot of role players, a lot of guys 0:10:37.840 --> 0:10:39.480 that have roles on this team. So we're gonna go 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:41.400 through this list. I'm gonna throw out a name, and 0:10:41.400 --> 0:10:42.840 then we'll go around the table. I want you to 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:45.160 tell me whether you think this is a priority to sign, 0:10:45.880 --> 0:10:48.200 whether it is a guy you sign at the right price, 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:50.199 or if it's a guy that you just say, let's 0:10:50.280 --> 0:10:52.520 move on. All right, Let's start first with the fullback, 0:10:52.559 --> 0:11:00.320 Jama's Olawale. Amber you go first. I mean, I don't, 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:03.280 I honestly don't know what to say with about him. 0:11:03.400 --> 0:11:07.160 He's just one of those guys that UM okay with him, 0:11:07.440 --> 0:11:11.400 but then I'm just as okay without him. So he's 0:11:11.440 --> 0:11:14.400 not someone that I would like, desperately need to get 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:17.280 him back. I would assume for a good price, it's 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:20.240 fine bring him back. I don't know, well, I mean, 0:11:20.679 --> 0:11:23.640 it depends what they're gonna try to do with, you know, 0:11:23.640 --> 0:11:26.080 because this team, it's a copycat league, and everyone saw 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:29.080 what the Patriots again did with their fullback and all that, 0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:31.040 and then they don't have a full back like that here. 0:11:31.080 --> 0:11:32.760 In fact, they don't have a fullbackack can catch that 0:11:32.880 --> 0:11:35.840 in the goal line apparently. Um, but he led the 0:11:35.840 --> 0:11:38.400 team in special teams tackle, so you better replace that 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:41.080 with somebody else. If you're not gonna, you know, use 0:11:41.160 --> 0:11:43.800 him at that position. They're gonna keep one fullback, so 0:11:44.640 --> 0:11:46.400 you know, on the surface, it's easy to have that 0:11:46.679 --> 0:11:49.080 attitude and be like because he didn't do much on offense, 0:11:49.320 --> 0:11:51.560 but he is. He didn't lead him on special teams. 0:11:51.800 --> 0:11:54.360 He can actually run faster than he than he than 0:11:54.480 --> 0:11:57.400 guys that word number forty nine typically can run, So 0:11:57.440 --> 0:11:59.760 he's got some value. There's the tricky thing though, when 0:11:59.800 --> 0:12:01.920 you start talking about what they can do in offense 0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:04.439 versus what they are able to do on special teams. 0:12:04.480 --> 0:12:06.000 I mean, the hope is to find a guy that 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:08.840 can do both can be good at both sides. But 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:12.280 usually that's the biggest like debate when it comes to 0:12:12.280 --> 0:12:15.040 certain guys like that. He falls into Rod Smith. To me, 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:17.440 the two guys you talk about one and two on 0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:20.040 special teams, tackles and all. That's all great, you know, 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:22.560 finding dandy, but you know, when I'm gonna ask you 0:12:22.600 --> 0:12:24.319 to play some play. One of the reasons why you 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:27.920 just continually hammered ezekiel o it and there's because you 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:30.160 didn't have a very good option at the back of 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:32.400 I don't know what happened to Rod Smith this year. 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:34.120 He went from being a guy that I had a 0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:36.839 lot of a promise and hope and all that. But 0:12:37.240 --> 0:12:39.160 I think Ola Walley was the same thing. I think 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:41.360 they lost a better player. I think Oakland got the 0:12:41.360 --> 0:12:43.959 better player and Keith Smith. Because Keith Smith, I think 0:12:43.960 --> 0:12:45.800 will go in there. He's a glass eater. He'll go 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:47.800 in there and did guys out. He'll give you a 0:12:47.840 --> 0:12:49.520 little what he has to do. A full back, he'll 0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:52.000 catch the football just as well as olda Wally will 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:54.920 I and I just think on special teams, yeah, fine, 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:56.520 if you want to call yeah, if you want to 0:12:56.520 --> 0:12:58.160 call it, a wash. You call it a wash, but 0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:01.720 I think they I think they downgraded with Ola Wally 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:04.080 and if they're, if they're, and we don't know what 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:07.000 kind of scheme that we're going to get from Kellen 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:10.560 Moore and also from John Kittna, and we talk about 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:13.080 the copycatch stuff. But you know, it's a team that 0:13:13.200 --> 0:13:15.040 wants to play with a fullback. We'll see if they 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:17.319 want to continue to play with a fullback. But me personally, 0:13:17.360 --> 0:13:20.280 I move on from that one. Yeah, yeah, I move 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:23.640 on from from that type of fullback. But I think 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:25.920 when this is a team that needs some red zone 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:29.199 you know, like some um you know, increased play in 0:13:29.200 --> 0:13:31.480 the red zone, and why not let's give that a 0:13:31.520 --> 0:13:33.480 shot because they do all these tight ends and stuff 0:13:33.520 --> 0:13:35.440 like that. But why not see about a fullback? And 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:36.920 you know, I've been saying it for years, even if 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:40.240 he's not a real fullback, somebody like a big defensive 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:43.000 tackle type, just somebody with some some beef that can, 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:45.680 like can move the pile a little bit. That would 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:47.199 be interesting. You got some names on that that you 0:13:47.200 --> 0:13:50.679 would that you would like to see Antwine Woods, I 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:53.560 want to see Antwoine woulds be the middle fullback? He's 0:13:53.600 --> 0:13:56.280 a he's a sneaky good athlete, especially for his size, 0:13:56.480 --> 0:13:58.520 and I think he can he can knock someone out 0:13:58.520 --> 0:14:01.480 of the way. I really getting running down hill. It's 0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:04.400 not a bat and I actually wonder it seemed like, 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:06.280 and you guys can correct me from wrong. You guys 0:14:06.280 --> 0:14:10.199 were around Amber was not. But back in the eighties 0:14:10.559 --> 0:14:12.960 nineties seemed like there were more teams that were willing 0:14:13.000 --> 0:14:15.120 to do that. Obviously refrigerator Perry, but it seemed like 0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:16.800 that was more of a thing that teams were maybe 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:19.760 willing to do back then than what we've seen recently 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:21.280 in the NFL. Is that the way you see it 0:14:21.480 --> 0:14:23.880 or I don't remember much in the eighties and Parcels 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:25.480 actually would do it a little bit. I mean, he 0:14:25.520 --> 0:14:27.760 had a guy named Jay Ratler before Jay was even 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:29.880 even playing. He played him at tight end. Some, he 0:14:30.040 --> 0:14:32.680 played Marcus Spears some on the He would do that 0:14:32.760 --> 0:14:36.480 a little bit when he when he needed to. Mike Vrabel, Yeah, 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:38.800 you know they have a guy that Watt. Yeah, that 0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:41.720 athletic guy. J. J. Watts got more touchdown receptions than 0:14:41.760 --> 0:14:43.800 a lot of receivers in this league. And the Bears 0:14:44.080 --> 0:14:47.000 this year did it with four at one point, they 0:14:47.040 --> 0:14:50.000 had four defensive players on one play. Yeah, it was unbelievable. 0:14:50.000 --> 0:14:52.560 On one offensive one offensive play they had four guys 0:14:52.560 --> 0:14:54.600 and their Khalil Mack was one of them. Yeah, they 0:14:54.880 --> 0:14:56.560 do a lot of you know, but you gotta be 0:14:56.600 --> 0:14:58.680 able to practice. You gotta be able to spend that 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:00.840 time to do it. This also, it's into the point 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:03.040 of where you have to ask a discussion or it 0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:06.120 has to be asked, if does Ezekiel Eliot feel comfortable 0:15:06.160 --> 0:15:08.360 with a guy He's so used to playing without a fullback. 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:11.280 He's used to how he reads and how quickly he reads. 0:15:11.600 --> 0:15:13.400 And if you get a guy like Ola Wally or 0:15:13.440 --> 0:15:16.440 any fullback that doesn't is not very decisive and where 0:15:16.480 --> 0:15:18.160 he needs to be and where he needs to fit, 0:15:18.520 --> 0:15:20.800 it messes up. You're running back to where he hits 0:15:20.800 --> 0:15:23.800 the hole. So someone needs to ask Ezekiel. I'll let 0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:26.680 the question, Okay, do you feel comfortable or would you 0:15:26.760 --> 0:15:29.880 rather it just let's hand you the ball with no 0:15:30.000 --> 0:15:32.840 lead blocker and then you find the gap, which he's 0:15:32.880 --> 0:15:34.760 been able to do throughout his career. Well, that's why 0:15:34.760 --> 0:15:37.520 you have training camp for you. Try it out, check 0:15:37.560 --> 0:15:39.520 it out, see how it works, and then we all 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:43.160 talk about it and then they don't do it all right, right, like, oh, 0:15:43.280 --> 0:15:47.440 this is working great? Yes, then what the heart training camp? 0:15:47.680 --> 0:15:50.120 All right, let's move on, Brian, you did talk about 0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:53.200 the next guy, Rod Smith? Already? Nick Amber talking to 0:15:53.280 --> 0:15:55.080 me about ros Smith? Is he a prior already got 0:15:55.080 --> 0:15:56.960 for you right price or you just move on? He's 0:15:57.000 --> 0:15:59.640 not a priority guy at all. I don't even think 0:15:59.680 --> 0:16:02.840 he's a right price. And there's nothing against him at all. 0:16:03.080 --> 0:16:06.400 I think everybody likes him. He's a fun guy, and 0:16:06.880 --> 0:16:09.360 I'm sure he's probably helping the in the you know, 0:16:09.480 --> 0:16:11.960 development of Jalen Smith being here and all that. I 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:15.040 think Jalen's gonna be fine, um, but but I think 0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:17.280 rod Smith might be better in a different offense. And 0:16:17.280 --> 0:16:19.360 it's harder to say that when we don't know exactly 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:21.600 what kind of offense there's gonna be. But we all 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:24.720 know when when Zeke comes off the field, it's like okay, 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:27.280 because it just it just goes backwards. It doesn't it 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:31.200 doesn't just keep it keep it rolling. So you need 0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:34.080 a better backup running back. Rod Smith was at one 0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:36.440 time when they were running him in the preseason. You 0:16:36.480 --> 0:16:39.480 talk about training camp in preseasons and stuff. There was hope. 0:16:39.800 --> 0:16:41.640 There was some hope where and then you watch even 0:16:41.680 --> 0:16:43.960 the Giants game last year, you're thinking, Okay, this guy's 0:16:43.960 --> 0:16:46.720 turned the corner and he's gonna you can use him more. 0:16:46.760 --> 0:16:49.200 He's gonna be tougher, he's gonna he didn't run with 0:16:49.280 --> 0:16:51.880 toughness this year. He really didn't. He didn't run like 0:16:51.920 --> 0:16:54.560 with the violence that he normally and he normally plays with. 0:16:54.640 --> 0:16:55.880 And I don't know if there was a problem. I 0:16:55.880 --> 0:16:58.320 don't think there was an injury problem again ambars, right, 0:16:58.320 --> 0:16:59.960 I don't think they're gonna put hurt players out there 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:02.640 they're on the field. But I do know there was 0:17:02.680 --> 0:17:05.639 something not right with Rod Smith because he wasn't clearly 0:17:05.640 --> 0:17:07.880 the player that we all thought he would be when 0:17:07.960 --> 0:17:11.560 he first came here. Yeah, I was really excited going 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:14.520 into last year, the fact that he was a backup 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:16.359 and some of the things that I was able to 0:17:16.440 --> 0:17:19.640 see that we were able to watch last year two 0:17:19.680 --> 0:17:22.560 years ago, right, Yeah, when Sike wasn't here and he 0:17:22.600 --> 0:17:25.520 was given the opportunity, and then throughout the season, I thought, 0:17:25.560 --> 0:17:28.760 well maybe, and I know you have to take advantage 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:31.560 of the opportunities you're given and whatever, even if you 0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:33.880 play one snap, like make the most out of it. 0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:35.879 But at the same time, there was a period what 0:17:36.000 --> 0:17:39.080 I started wondering, I'm like, maybe they're just not giving 0:17:39.119 --> 0:17:41.560 him a little bit like more to kind of get going, 0:17:41.920 --> 0:17:45.000 get the leg running, warm up and all that stuff. 0:17:45.040 --> 0:17:47.320 But at the end of the day, you need a 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:50.600 guy that can make it happen, even if it's one 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:55.120 play or two plays. And unfortunately that didn't play out 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:57.840 that way this year, like Brian said, not sure what 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:03.000 happened because we had hope. Yeah, Rams are a great 0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:05.440 example of how you can take advantage of a second 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:07.960 running back, right, I think, and I think they're also 0:18:08.000 --> 0:18:10.560 an example of why you need a second running back 0:18:10.800 --> 0:18:13.080 is because if you if they keep running, I think, 0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:16.480 if they keep running Zeke at the clip that they ran. Yeah, yeah, 0:18:16.560 --> 0:18:19.280 either either you're gonna have to or I mean, you're 0:18:19.320 --> 0:18:21.880 gonna either want to get him more help or you're 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:23.760 gonna have to get him more help because you're gonna 0:18:23.760 --> 0:18:25.760 beat him so bad that he's gonna have to be out. 0:18:25.920 --> 0:18:28.880