Speaker 1: The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com
Speaker 1: and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. Are you ready for
Speaker 1: a Break? Yes? Are you ready for a break? Absolutely?
Speaker 1: Ready for a break? Yeah, and so much for that.
Speaker 1: It's time for The Break on Dallas Cowboys dot Com
Speaker 1: with Nick Eatman, David Hellman, and bar Garcia and Derek Eagleton. Wednesday,
Speaker 1: December sixteenth, twenty twenty, Season sixteen, Episode number eighty one.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the latest edition of The Break, presented by Geico.
Speaker 1: I'm live from the s WBC Mortgage studios at the Star.
Speaker 1: We got Dave and Amber. Nick is not joining us today,
Speaker 1: but we have a replacement for him that I think
Speaker 1: might be even better. We got Lucky Brooks. He usually
Speaker 1: joins us to talk about the opponent, but he's gonna
Speaker 1: join us all show today. I like that. We're gonna
Speaker 1: talk about everything today. We're gonna start with the or
Speaker 1: We're gonna get to talk about Cowboys versus forty nine ers.
Speaker 1: But before we get to that, though, we got to
Speaker 1: catch up on some injury updates. Dave give us an
Speaker 1: update on the secondary, particularly Anthony Brown, Cheeto Woozier, Trayvon Diggs,
Speaker 1: and Donovan Wilson. Well, it's way too early to know
Speaker 1: if they're gonna play, but all of those guys are
Speaker 1: supposed to do something, I believe, particularly the injured guys,
Speaker 1: you know, Anthony Brown, Donovan Wilson, Ty, and Trayvon Diggs. Yes,
Speaker 1: Trayvon Diggs is going to be limited in practice on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: so I can tell him. We're in nine with three
Speaker 1: games left, Like, I'm excited to see if you know,
Speaker 1: this full secondary has not been available all season and
Speaker 1: maybe they will be for two or three of these
Speaker 1: final games. And that's exciting. Bucky, I'm gonna ask you
Speaker 1: this question from the standpoint. Yes, yes, it is age,
Speaker 1: Yes it is. Well, yes, okay, Kevin Dix, it's exciting.
Speaker 1: But you're talking about the rest of the group. Well,
Speaker 1: I guess Donovan Wilson, we haven't. We've we've gotten to
Speaker 1: see We've gotten to see Donovan for like two or day. Okay,
Speaker 1: I guess half of the half of them. Yes, the
Speaker 1: other half nuts so much because we didn't see any
Speaker 1: any much excitement prior to the injuries. So hater y
Speaker 1: hater in the house, Well, Dave, she told you yesterday.
Speaker 1: This is the Amber you're gonna get for the rest
Speaker 1: of the season, so this should not be a surprise.
Speaker 1: This is what we're gonna get for the rest of
Speaker 1: the season. This is hater Amber, and it's gonna be
Speaker 1: there until the season is done. Buck, y'all want to
Speaker 1: ask you this question as a former secondary player, as
Speaker 1: a scout um, how much can a young guy like
Speaker 1: a Treylon Dix who had he was basically thrown into
Speaker 1: the fire this year. He was having to garden a
Speaker 1: lot of instances some of the better receivers in the
Speaker 1: league and matchups that the Cowboys had because they just
Speaker 1: did have a lot of their starters available to them
Speaker 1: early in the season. How much can a young guy
Speaker 1: like that learn on the sideline because he's been out
Speaker 1: for these last several weeks, is at a time where
Speaker 1: he really can reflect on some of his experiences at
Speaker 1: that point and then kind of make things make more
Speaker 1: sense watching from the sideline while he's injured. Yeah, he
Speaker 1: can learn a lot. He can learn a lot in
Speaker 1: terms of understanding where he fits with the scheme, So
Speaker 1: really understanding what the rules are the scheme. So what
Speaker 1: I do in our cover for am I roll in
Speaker 1: the post? Am I playing man to man some of
Speaker 1: the intricacies that he probably couldn't get because the game
Speaker 1: is going so fast. He now has an opportunity to
Speaker 1: look at these guys do it in practice, to do
Speaker 1: it in games, to review the film, to hear the
Speaker 1: questions and conversations that the coaches are having with the players,
Speaker 1: and maybe take some of that in. But the best
Speaker 1: way to really understand it is to play it and
Speaker 1: do it. And so he'll miss those real reps. But
Speaker 1: depending upon how diligent he was in terms of getting
Speaker 1: the mental reps and asking questions and taking notes, he
Speaker 1: certainly can be a much better player coming back than
Speaker 1: he was when he departed. Yeah, that's really my hope
Speaker 1: for him at this point is that this this allowed
Speaker 1: the game to slow down a little bit for him,
Speaker 1: and we will see even better play in these final
Speaker 1: three games if he can manage to get out there.
Speaker 1: Let's talk a little bit about Tyler battish Um. He
Speaker 1: was active last week coming back from his injury, but
Speaker 1: he only played six snaps and they were on special teams.
Speaker 1: And but do you expect him to return to the
Speaker 1: starting center role and should he return to that role?
Speaker 1: If you were making that decision. I think so, I
Speaker 1: think once it's healthy. I know Mike McCarthy talked about
Speaker 1: him and just kind of saying they're easing him back in,
Speaker 1: and we saw a couple of plays, but it's it's
Speaker 1: something that they're going to be careful with, supposed to
Speaker 1: just throwing him in there. But yes, I would, And
Speaker 1: this has nothing to do with Joe Looney. I still
Speaker 1: think that if the season would be going in a
Speaker 1: different way, then I would want Joe Looney to be
Speaker 1: the center, the starting center. But at this point, like
Speaker 1: you I just mentioned, you want to see these young
Speaker 1: guys out there. You want to see them getting reps.
Speaker 1: We know that that game date reps are very different
Speaker 1: than practice reps and training camp reps, so this time
Speaker 1: is very crucial to rookie guys like him. Dave, what
Speaker 1: do you think? Yeah, I'm really curious about that. You know,
Speaker 1: McCarthy isn't going to give too much away. He said
Speaker 1: today that you know, we're gonna keep trying to give
Speaker 1: Tyler opportunities. We're gonna ease him back, no idea what
Speaker 1: that means, but I would absolutely put him back into
Speaker 1: the starting line up. Tyler biadis has a definitive future here,
Speaker 1: and we all love Joe Looney, but he doesn't. He's
Speaker 1: up for a new contract in this spring, and you
Speaker 1: know he's he's signed two or three contracts with the
Speaker 1: Cowboys at this point. Who knows how many more they
Speaker 1: would want to sign him to. Whereas you know, Tyler's
Speaker 1: got three more seasons on his rookie deal after this,
Speaker 1: he's you know, he's the heir to the starting job
Speaker 1: and he needs the reps. I would plug him back
Speaker 1: in there as soon as I feel comfortable about his health.
Speaker 1: But I think a lot of it will depend upon
Speaker 1: I think I think a lot of depend upon if
Speaker 1: they're eliminated from the playoffs. I think right now, the
Speaker 1: way the offensive line has been going, they've been playing
Speaker 1: well of late, I don't think you necessarily want to
Speaker 1: tinker with the chemistry until you're eliminated. If you're eliminated,
Speaker 1: I would think that he'll be named the starter. He'd
Speaker 1: get right in the lineup and get those rests. But
Speaker 1: as long as they have like a sliver of hope,
Speaker 1: I think they're probably going to keep it as it
Speaker 1: is because they finally got it going in the right direction.
Speaker 1: Who do you think is a better player at this point,
Speaker 1: Joe Looney or Tyler Beyotish. I mean, I think Beyondish
Speaker 1: obviously has more upside. I mean, Looney's able to do
Speaker 1: it because of experiencing trickery. He knows all the tricks
Speaker 1: of the trade and how to kind of use his
Speaker 1: neighbors to help him. But eventually Tyler Beatis is going
Speaker 1: to be the starter and hopefully a long term starter.
Speaker 1: So you do want to get him in the lineup.
Speaker 1: But I can't understand from a coach's mind because they're thinking,
Speaker 1: here and now, let's go with the veteran. Let's go
Speaker 1: with the crew that's been going the last few weeks,
Speaker 1: and then we'll deal with it whenever we have to
Speaker 1: deal with it if we're eliminated. All right, let's go
Speaker 1: ahead and move into the segment, Bucky, where we're going
Speaker 1: to talk a little bit about the San Francisco forty
Speaker 1: nine ers offense versus a Dallas defensive segment presented by
Speaker 1: Chevron with tech Ron will start what we normally start.
Speaker 1: Give us the greatest asset and greatest weakness of the
Speaker 1: San Francisco offense. The greatest asset is Kyle Shanahan. This
Speaker 1: is a team that is very systematic and how they
Speaker 1: approach it. He is by far one of the best
Speaker 1: play designers in football, particularly in the run game. He
Speaker 1: does an outstanding job of creating mismatches and big play
Speaker 1: opportunities in the run and all of the teams that
Speaker 1: have traditionally given the Cowboys problems. He is basically the
Speaker 1: master of the scheme. And so when you think about
Speaker 1: the Cleveland Browns, it's the same zone scheme. You think
Speaker 1: about what some of the other teams have been able
Speaker 1: to do successfully Baltimore, some of that stuff applies. But
Speaker 1: he is going to attack the Cowboys the way that
Speaker 1: everybody has. This is a team that utilizes pre snaps
Speaker 1: shifts in motion on seventy percent of their down So
Speaker 1: it's a lot of eye candy, a lot of movement,
Speaker 1: a lot of misdirection, and based on how we've seen
Speaker 1: Laden vander esh and Jalen Smith and those guys get lost,
Speaker 1: I would expect him to have all the gimmicks and
Speaker 1: all of the shell game going to really make it
Speaker 1: tough for them to find the ball. And then when
Speaker 1: it comes to just a hodgepot to running backs and
Speaker 1: the reason I'll talk too much about him, is because
Speaker 1: they throw anybody in a running back. It could be
Speaker 1: where he mosted, It could be Jeff Wilson, it can
Speaker 1: be any of those guys that are available. We've seen
Speaker 1: those guys go over a hunting yards. Because the combination
Speaker 1: of the scheme and the way that he dials it
Speaker 1: up makes it very, very difficult, and so it's a
Speaker 1: very challenging offense to deal with, particularly when he also
Speaker 1: uses the wide receivers in the running game. Brandon Ayuk
Speaker 1: is basically a wing back, going back to your high
Speaker 1: school days playing in the wing t He's the wing
Speaker 1: back that is half running back, half receiver. They're gonna
Speaker 1: give him a number of carries. Deebo Samuels is out,
Speaker 1: so I would expect Brandon Ayuk to take a bigger
Speaker 1: workload when it comes to the running game and those things.
Speaker 1: And then the biggest weakness is the quarterback position. Nick
Speaker 1: Mullins is up and down. He's hiding cold. Maybe they
Speaker 1: play CJ. Bethet because Muller's a struggle of late. But
Speaker 1: either way, those guys aren't great. But what Shanahan does
Speaker 1: does a great job of creating opportunities where they can't miss,
Speaker 1: and so even bad quarterbacks look good in this system.
Speaker 1: And so it is a huge challenge for the Cowboys,
Speaker 1: one they can't have to really earn to win. Could
Speaker 1: you please talk more about the receivers and how those
Speaker 1: matchups may look like. We know how beat up this
Speaker 1: secondary is and all of that. So it's that an
Speaker 1: area where it could possibly become a threat for the Cowboys. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: So what cow Shanahan wants to do is he wants
Speaker 1: to use the running game as bait, to really bait
Speaker 1: the trap, so you guys are out of place, and
Speaker 1: then he takes a shot misdirection, deep shots and those
Speaker 1: things full full flow, play action, max protect and take
Speaker 1: a shot down the field. And so what has to
Speaker 1: happen is Mike Nolan has to make it a very
Speaker 1: early in the game. How am I going to stop
Speaker 1: the run? Am I going to drop an extra defender
Speaker 1: in the box? We've seen in the past what they
Speaker 1: do is they'll show like a five man line, they'll
Speaker 1: drop a safety in the box to have an eight
Speaker 1: man front, and they'll leave their quarterbacks one on one. Well,
Speaker 1: the problem with that is you will now see them
Speaker 1: keep everybody in and they'll run two man routes where
Speaker 1: you have Kendrick Bourne or Brennan Ayuk running double moves
Speaker 1: or deep overs or crosses, and the Cowboys have had
Speaker 1: a tough time picking up some of those old school routes.
Speaker 1: So this, I would say, from an offensive standpoint, is
Speaker 1: one of the biggest challenges. And it's not because of
Speaker 1: the personnel, but it's because of the guy who has
Speaker 1: the joystick in his hand and Kyle Shanahan. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I feel like you kind of outlined all of my
Speaker 1: concerns pretty thoroughly. And that's what I know of watching
Speaker 1: the forty nine ers is that even with a compromised
Speaker 1: quarterback position, between the amount of motion that they do,
Speaker 1: between the amount of different guys that they use in
Speaker 1: the running game, it's a lot to it's a lot
Speaker 1: to keep track of. Like I feel like every time
Speaker 1: I turn their games on said Auk or when he's healthy,
Speaker 1: Deebo Samuel's going around the end. They got like eighteen
Speaker 1: different running backs that have had success in that offense.
Speaker 1: What confidence should I have that the Cowboys are up
Speaker 1: to that challenge? I mean, even and you know in
Speaker 1: a normal matchup, you say like, Okay, they don't have
Speaker 1: a good quarterback, you crowd the box and confidence that
Speaker 1: the Cowboys can do that, I kind of lean toward no.
Speaker 1: I think I think the number one priority has to
Speaker 1: be to stop the run, because we've seen if they
Speaker 1: can't stop the run, teams will absolutely obliterate them. We've
Speaker 1: seen three hundred yard games towards the ninety four yard
Speaker 1: games from the things. So this has to be a
Speaker 1: concerted effort that you sell out to stop the run,
Speaker 1: and didn't you just have to live with what you
Speaker 1: give up in the passing game. I think the one
Speaker 1: thing you can encourage the DBS is just keep the
Speaker 1: ball in front, like keep the ball in front of
Speaker 1: the defense, rallyan tackle, just don't let them have the explosive,
Speaker 1: big place in the passing game. If they can die
Speaker 1: a slow death on defense and maybe buckle down and
Speaker 1: the rezon and forced him to kick field goals, that's
Speaker 1: a win for the defense. But this is all hands
Speaker 1: on deck to stop the running game. And the one
Speaker 1: thing that I'm very confident in is Kyle Shanahan has
Speaker 1: looked at the Redskins, the Ravens, the Browns. He has
Speaker 1: looked at that tape over and over and over again,
Speaker 1: and he is going to test the Cowboys front to
Speaker 1: see if they have answered those problems that popped up.
Speaker 1: And if they haven't, they're gonna have a strong dose
Speaker 1: of runs and you may not see them throw a pass. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's interesting. Yes, you talk about did you talk about
Speaker 1: this running attack? And you were talking about how he
Speaker 1: uses all these different backs. It actually for those who
Speaker 1: have been around watching the NFL for a while, they
Speaker 1: may understand what I'm talking about. But it reminds me
Speaker 1: of his dad, Mike Shanahan. When he was in Denver.
Speaker 1: It seemed like they would run any running back in there,
Speaker 1: like I'm a fantasy football player, and literally it would
Speaker 1: be you didn't care who was the running back. You
Speaker 1: just want to whoever was the starting running back in
Speaker 1: Denver because you knew they were going to get off
Speaker 1: because he was going to figure out how to make
Speaker 1: create opportunities for them. And it was even different kind
Speaker 1: of backs. He liked those one cut kind of backs.
Speaker 1: But but I say all that to get to Raheem Mostert,
Speaker 1: who is leading this team in rushing right now. He's
Speaker 1: an extremely fast running back, but since his return from injury,
Speaker 1: he's only gained forty three yards against the Rams, forty
Speaker 1: two yards against Buffalo, and then sixty five yards against
Speaker 1: the Washington football team. Is this a function of the
Speaker 1: quality of the run defenses he's faced, Is it his
Speaker 1: health or is it something else? And how much of
Speaker 1: a problem will he particularly be for the struggling Dallas
Speaker 1: a run defense. The three defenses that you listed are
Speaker 1: really really good at the front line. The La Rams
Speaker 1: have Aaron Donald who's a problem their run defense. Their
Speaker 1: defense overall has been really good. When you think about
Speaker 1: the Washington football team, their d line loaded, they can
Speaker 1: single handedly wreck shout with those guys up front. We've
Speaker 1: seen them make a run because the defensive front has
Speaker 1: been able to do it. And then Buffalo has gotten
Speaker 1: better on defense and their tryhard group. So it's more
Speaker 1: a byproduct of the competition. Not as much about him,
Speaker 1: but what I do know about him him. He is
Speaker 1: described as all those guys you used to talk about
Speaker 1: in Denver Downhill, one cut running back, very decisive, not
Speaker 1: a lot of dancing. They pride themselves and not having
Speaker 1: negative runs, and so they tell their offensive line, your
Speaker 1: job is to get the running back four yards. Once
Speaker 1: you get the four yards running back, it's on your
Speaker 1: job to do anything out of that. But they live
Speaker 1: for the four yard run, and over time it wears
Speaker 1: you down. And unlike a little bit those old Denver
Speaker 1: teams that you talk about, what they used to do
Speaker 1: is they used to cut you down on the back side.
Speaker 1: And so what would happen after they cut the d
Speaker 1: line the first quarter two? Those guys wouldn't chase as
Speaker 1: hard and then you would see these huge gaps where
Speaker 1: they would come out the back door. And so my
Speaker 1: concern is will Dallas play hard enough up front to
Speaker 1: will stand all of the chop blocking in those things
Speaker 1: where they can not give up those big plays, Because
Speaker 1: the play that sticks out in my mind is Kenyan
Speaker 1: Drake at the end of the Arizona game win for
Speaker 1: eighty yards. At the end, you can see those runs happen.
Speaker 1: If the Cowboys don't kind of bring the big boys
Speaker 1: plays and don't play with the kind of effort that
Speaker 1: you need to play with the defendive team like this,
Speaker 1: I guess my next question would be about turnovers. And
Speaker 1: we know that based on the game we saw last
Speaker 1: week with the Cowboys defense, much of their success became
Speaker 1: it came from turnovers and the ability to take away
Speaker 1: the ball. Is how good are the forty nine ers
Speaker 1: up protecting their ball? And is this a game where
Speaker 1: the defense could possibly have not a similar game to
Speaker 1: that where they can get their hands on the ball
Speaker 1: and get it to the offense. You know, it's all
Speaker 1: about really if they can win first down, that they
Speaker 1: can have a chance win a first down means holding
Speaker 1: the team to four yards a fewer. So now they
Speaker 1: can put Nig Mullas in situations where he has to
Speaker 1: pass in obvious passing downs. What the Niners want to
Speaker 1: do because there's such a pass, play action pass heavy team,
Speaker 1: they want to be in what we call mix downs
Speaker 1: where it's second and five and as a decordinator, you
Speaker 1: don't know if it's run or pass or it's first
Speaker 1: in ten and you're gearing up to stop the run
Speaker 1: and that's when they hit you with the play action pass.
Speaker 1: And so it's about winning the early downs. So Mike
Speaker 1: Nolan can dictate the turns with the call if they
Speaker 1: can get them backed up. Yes, Nick Mules would turn
Speaker 1: the ball over not only on interceptions but on phone
Speaker 1: was because he can be careless with the ball. But
Speaker 1: it's about stopping to run early to be able to
Speaker 1: get into those situations where you can pin your ears
Speaker 1: back and go after him. I know you mentioned him
Speaker 1: at the top, as you know they use him as
Speaker 1: a flanker. He's got you know, he's done a lot
Speaker 1: of stuff in the running game. But looking at it,
Speaker 1: Brandon Aiyuk like, I don't is he getting enough credit
Speaker 1: for how good of a rookie season that he's having
Speaker 1: because he's got fairly comparable stats to Ceedee Lamb and
Speaker 1: obviously he's only had Jimmy Garoppolo for four or five
Speaker 1: games this season. What I mean, obviously he's a first
Speaker 1: round pick we knew is a good receiver. But what
Speaker 1: I mean what does he look like? How comfortable does
Speaker 1: he look? And how much potential does he have to
Speaker 1: hurt this defense as a true wide receiver. I'll say
Speaker 1: the Cowboys are very, very lucky that Deebo Samuels is
Speaker 1: out because what happens is when you have Deepo Samuys
Speaker 1: and Brandon Nayuk, you have two of the exact same guy.
Speaker 1: They're physical, they're tough, they're outstanding with the ball in
Speaker 1: their hands, and the best way to describe it is
Speaker 1: like I said, as a wing back, they're basically running
Speaker 1: backs at the wide receiver position, and the Niners do
Speaker 1: a great job of putting the ball in their hands,
Speaker 1: fly sweeps in the rounds, quick passes, crossing routes. They
Speaker 1: want those guys to basically have punt returns where they're
Speaker 1: kidding on the move and they're running through tackles on
Speaker 1: the perimeter. He has been a fantastic player and as
Speaker 1: a first rounder, he's lived up to exactly what they want.
Speaker 1: And so as they build this team out with Deebo
Speaker 1: Samuels and Brandon Nayuk and Jimmy Garoppolo, this is a
Speaker 1: very tough offense to deal with. Luckily, Deebo Saniors isn't
Speaker 1: available and the Cowboys don't have to worry about that
Speaker 1: part of their offense. That was our breakdown with Bucky Brooks,
Speaker 1: presented by Chevron with Tech Bron. We're going to take
Speaker 1: our first break we come back. I got some questions
Speaker 1: for this group about the Dallas defense. We'll talk about
Speaker 1: that when we come back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot
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Speaker 1: for you for details. Back to the Break, Welcome back.
Speaker 1: It is the second segment of The Break, presented by
Speaker 1: Geico Live from the s WBC Mortgage studios at the Star.
Speaker 1: We've got Dave in Amber and Bucky Brooks. You joined
Speaker 1: us for the remainder of the show because Nicka is
Speaker 1: out today, So let's jump in. Let's talk about this
Speaker 1: Dallas defense earlier this week, Jerry Jones, it may have
Speaker 1: even been lad late last week, Jerry Jones was talking
Speaker 1: on an interview with One on five Down three the Fan,
Speaker 1: and he made the comment that if he had it
Speaker 1: all to do over again, maybe they would have not
Speaker 1: changed the defensive scheme knowing that they had the challenges
Speaker 1: or you know, now knowing that they had the challenges
Speaker 1: that they've had with COVID. My question for you guys
Speaker 1: is is the scheme changed the biggest problem that the
Speaker 1: Dallas defense has faced this season. I'm gonna start first
Speaker 1: with you, Dave. Yeah, I think so, just because you know,
Speaker 1: they lost Gerald McCoy on the third day of training camp,
Speaker 1: and obviously you know they've had to shuffle the secondary
Speaker 1: a good bit, but we knew the secondary wasn't gonna
Speaker 1: be this elite unit anyway. So I look at it
Speaker 1: and I say, they haven't had nearly the personnel issues
Speaker 1: that the offense has had. You know, they've had, you know,
Speaker 1: standard injuries that come with a football season, but they
Speaker 1: just haven't been decimated of all their most talented players
Speaker 1: like the offense has, and I mean, I think it's
Speaker 1: a little simplistic to pen the whole thing on changing
Speaker 1: the scheme, because you know, again I keep saying, like,
Speaker 1: teams have changed schemes all over the league and they
Speaker 1: haven't struggled with it to the degree that the Cowboys have.
Speaker 1: So I think I look at it as a as
Speaker 1: a you know, an equation between like, they're not that talented,
Speaker 1: they change the scheme, and then somewhere in the middle,
Speaker 1: I think the guys that are here for whatever reason
Speaker 1: just haven't committed to the scheme either. You know, you
Speaker 1: go back to like September and October when the coaches
Speaker 1: are very subtly suggesting that like, well, you know, guys
Speaker 1: revert to what they know when they're not sure what
Speaker 1: to do, which is basically like a very nice way
Speaker 1: of saying, they're not doing what we're asking them to do.
Speaker 1: They're freelancing, and that leads to really bad results. So
Speaker 1: I think it's a combination of all three of those things.
Speaker 1: But you could probably eliminate two of them if you
Speaker 1: hadn't changed the scheme. So if you had stuck with
Speaker 1: what you had, you would have not that talented defense,
Speaker 1: but at least they would have confidence in what they
Speaker 1: were doing, and maybe, you know, they would probably look
Speaker 1: a little bit better even if they weren't great. Amber. Well,
Speaker 1: we all know my football knowledge is somewhat limited and
Speaker 1: I am no football expert here, So I'm going to
Speaker 1: post a question to Bucky because in my eyes, and
Speaker 1: I get it, you get you have different schemes and
Speaker 1: all that, But at the same time, I have a
Speaker 1: hard time understanding why it is so hard to change
Speaker 1: from schemes. Like the way I see it is that
Speaker 1: every football player should be able to adapt to whatever
Speaker 1: the scheme is and to be able to figure out
Speaker 1: how to fit in whatever is being asked. At the
Speaker 1: same time, from a coaching standpoint, I see it like
Speaker 1: you should adjust your scheme based on the talent that
Speaker 1: you have and what your players are more capable of doing.
Speaker 1: But my question, Bucky, is it's just that Why is
Speaker 1: it so hard? Why is scheme such a big deal
Speaker 1: and so complicated when it comes to a transition and
Speaker 1: changing between a four to three and a three four
Speaker 1: I don't get it, man. I think we could do
Speaker 1: an entire podcast on this issue. When it comes to
Speaker 1: the Cowboys, when it starts leadership, Mike Nolan is a
Speaker 1: drastically different leader than Rod Marinelli and Christopher Shardon in
Speaker 1: terms of the way that he commands the room. He's
Speaker 1: a little more dos Allen his approach, and he wants
Speaker 1: to teach and maybe negotiate with the players as opposed
Speaker 1: to kind of demanding and setting high standards and pulling
Speaker 1: guys out. And so you saw some of that happen early.
Speaker 1: In terms of the complexity of the scheme, the scheme
Speaker 1: that was in existence before was very, very simple. It
Speaker 1: was basically a high school team. They lined up and
Speaker 1: the same thing. They did it over and over again,
Speaker 1: and they believed through repetition that you cleared the mind.
Speaker 1: You allowed guys to play fast and they would make
Speaker 1: plays because they were more confident because they knew exactly
Speaker 1: what to do and how to do it. And you
Speaker 1: spent your time coaching effort and those things. Mike Nolan
Speaker 1: wanted to add more complexity to the thing early on.
Speaker 1: Remember in the opening press conference, he was like, Hey,
Speaker 1: We're just not going to line up in that old
Speaker 1: high school cover three. It is too good, Like you
Speaker 1: have to have more variances or whatever. And so the
Speaker 1: more that you do, the more veritables come into it,
Speaker 1: the more that you have to explain to the players
Speaker 1: and the more that they have to understand. And when
Speaker 1: you have so many moving parts, young guys coming in,
Speaker 1: veterans coming in everything, I think a lot was lost
Speaker 1: in translation, and so with out OTAs and all that
Speaker 1: other stuff, it was just a recipe for disaster. But
Speaker 1: then once you get into the season, it's on the
Speaker 1: coordinated to be able to recognize, we're not very good
Speaker 1: at these things. So I'm only going to call these
Speaker 1: handful of plays and we're gonna get good at that.
Speaker 1: And it took them a long time to recognize that.
Speaker 1: And I still don't know if they've settled into here's
Speaker 1: what we're good and if we're just gonna run these
Speaker 1: things because this is all that our players understand. So
Speaker 1: then the follow up question to that is do they
Speaker 1: have the right players right now to be able to
Speaker 1: play successfully play a three fourth scheme? Dave, No, No,
Speaker 1: I don't. I mean no, hey, I don't know that
Speaker 1: they have any of those components. I mean you don't. Okay,
Speaker 1: didn't take me farther, Take me a little farther and
Speaker 1: tell me specifically, where do you think they need different
Speaker 1: players or players that maybe you think right now you
Speaker 1: could work here in this defense. I take that back.
Speaker 1: Randy Gregory could play in a three four, but I've
Speaker 1: never seen DeMarcus Lawrence as a three four guy. It
Speaker 1: doesn't seem like he's adapted all that well to standing up.
Speaker 1: You don't really have the bodies that ideally that you
Speaker 1: need for a three four front, like you know, the
Speaker 1: three four ends and the nose tackle. Tyrone Crawford was
Speaker 1: drafted to do that, but I don't think you would
Speaker 1: want him to do it now, which I mean, are you, like?
Speaker 1: Are we? And I don't even know. It's interesting because
Speaker 1: we don't know for sure where this is going. I
Speaker 1: think that's one of the more frustrating things about this
Speaker 1: season with Mike Nolan is you know, say what you
Speaker 1: will about Rod Marinelli, but you knew exactly what he
Speaker 1: wanted to do, and you knew exactly what he wanted
Speaker 1: his defense to look like. Like is like we see
Speaker 1: we talk about this hybrid stuff or they have four
Speaker 1: three or they have three four. Sometimes guys are standing up,
Speaker 1: but it's not a it's not a three it's not
Speaker 1: a three four front. This defense has never seemed to
Speaker 1: have an identity under Mike Nolan. Maybe that's because he
Speaker 1: doesn't have the ideal personnel, But will he be here
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one to help them acquire the personnel
Speaker 1: that they need or will I mean, even if they do, Like,
Speaker 1: even if let's just let's just hypothesize that Mike Nolan
Speaker 1: stays here, what what is it going to look like.
Speaker 1: Is he gonna be like, all right, we're going all
Speaker 1: in on this three four thing and we're gonna draft
Speaker 1: for that and mold it around that I don't really know,
Speaker 1: And honestly, with the personnel that you have here, I
Speaker 1: probably wouldn't want to. I think I said this the
Speaker 1: other day, like DeMarcus Lawrence is the best and the
Speaker 1: most expensive guy, and you're committed to him, and I
Speaker 1: think he should probably be playing on a four man line.
Speaker 1: And so that's that's what I would do. Is And
Speaker 1: that doesn't mean you have to run Rod's scheme again.
Speaker 1: But I don't know that I would want to just
Speaker 1: blow this thing up and completely renovate it while I
Speaker 1: have guys under contract that are tailored for a different scheme.
Speaker 1: But what are your thoughts? Man? It's tough because Dave
Speaker 1: outline a bunch of issues because right now what you
Speaker 1: have is a mess. You have some of what fits
Speaker 1: what Rod Marinella and Christian Chardon those guys want to do,
Speaker 1: and you have some of what Mike Nolan wants to do.
Speaker 1: And so the first thing you have to do is
Speaker 1: figure out are we going to go forward with this
Speaker 1: marriage with Mike Nolan because it doesn't make sense to
Speaker 1: go forward. But then you're hedging your bet and then
Speaker 1: you give him his players, and then in the middle
Speaker 1: of next season you fire him, and then the way
Speaker 1: you go, you wasted another year. I think it's really
Speaker 1: a lot of samantas in terms of three four and
Speaker 1: four to three, like you have four bodies and whether
Speaker 1: you call DeMarcus Lawrence autside linebacker Edge Dresher, he's one
Speaker 1: of the thing. I think the main thing is can
Speaker 1: you call the defense that allows to Marcus Lawrence and
Speaker 1: Jalen Smith and Vander esh to do what they do best.
Speaker 1: That's the main thing. And in the secondary what happened
Speaker 1: there was a change. Right part of the reason why
Speaker 1: Bryan Jones didn't come back is because there was a
Speaker 1: lot of conversation about buying Jones not generating turnovers, Well,
Speaker 1: you don't generate turnovers when you play man demand because
Speaker 1: your back is to the quarterback. If you want to
Speaker 1: get interceptions, you play zones so you can see the
Speaker 1: ball come out of the quarterback's hands, which is what
Speaker 1: we've seen. They played more off in theory to get interceptions,
Speaker 1: off tips and overthrows in those things. The thing is,
Speaker 1: I still think it's a mess in the secondary because
Speaker 1: Diggs can play that way, but a Woozier and the
Speaker 1: other guys are not necessarily built to play that way.
Speaker 1: And so this has to be a meaning of the minds.
Speaker 1: And the biggest decision that they will make is what
Speaker 1: to do with Mike Nolan and his scheme because Will
Speaker 1: McClean the scouts, they don't know who to go get,
Speaker 1: because everybody doesn't fit how they want to play, and
Speaker 1: so it's a mess. And because of that, that is
Speaker 1: what we've seen on the field, a mess. So we're
Speaker 1: gonna take our final break when we come back. We're
Speaker 1: gonna get all those topics that Bucky just highlighted. We're
Speaker 1: gonna talk about whether Mike Nolan should be back. We're
Speaker 1: also going to talk about that secondary. There are a
Speaker 1: lot of guys are going to be free agents, and
Speaker 1: how many of those guys should be coming back? Are
Speaker 1: they a good scheme fit here in Dallas. If Dallas
Speaker 1: keeps Mike Nolan decides to go the route that we
Speaker 1: think he wants to go, we'll do all that when
Speaker 1: we come right back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio.
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Speaker 1: It is the final segment of the Break. Were Alive
Speaker 1: from the SWVC Mortgage Studios. We're presented by Geico. Let's
Speaker 1: talk a little bit about Mike Nolan specifically, and I'm
Speaker 1: gonna start off having Ambre answer this question first. How
Speaker 1: much benefit of the doubt should be given to Mike
Speaker 1: Nolan because of COVID and what he wanted to do,
Speaker 1: And should he get a chance to maybe try this
Speaker 1: after an offseason where maybe they can get more players
Speaker 1: that can fit a scheme that it seems like he
Speaker 1: wants to go to Amber. No, that's nonsense. There's zero
Speaker 1: benefit of the doubt here, and I'm gonna tell you why. Okay,
Speaker 1: First of all, I don't want to minimize what's happened
Speaker 1: with COVID. Obviously know how big of an impact that
Speaker 1: has affected everyone around the world. But when it comes
Speaker 1: to the Cowboys and COVID and all of that, when
Speaker 1: you look at it and you compare other teams in
Speaker 1: the NFL, the Cowboys have been one of the least
Speaker 1: affective teams around the NFL and they haven't really had
Speaker 1: to deal with something huge or a breakout here with
Speaker 1: the Cowboys. Now, the way I look at it, you
Speaker 1: guys talked about scheme just now, this is not a
Speaker 1: year where you come in trying to implement new things.
Speaker 1: You need to adjust. You need to adjust to your players,
Speaker 1: look at what's not working and make the right changes.
Speaker 1: Because this is because of the lack of training camp,
Speaker 1: you know, the lack of the off season, the ability
Speaker 1: of being together in person and practicing together for a
Speaker 1: longer period of times and all that. It's going to
Speaker 1: affect the whole wanting to teach new things and implement
Speaker 1: all those things. So I think that Mike Nolan as
Speaker 1: a coach, just in general, a coach should be able
Speaker 1: to arrange things to I can think of the right word,
Speaker 1: but accommodate the players better, something that suits the players better.
Speaker 1: And again, one of the things to me is that
Speaker 1: when something's not working, then change it. Change it. It's
Speaker 1: you don't need to be so com you don't need
Speaker 1: to overcomplicate things. And realistically speaking, you cannot change your
Speaker 1: whole defense. You cannot go out in the draft and
Speaker 1: try to draft all the players that are gonna be
Speaker 1: benefiting what you're looking to do as far as scheme wise.
Speaker 1: So that's the time where you need to take a
Speaker 1: step back and go go out of what you're wanting
Speaker 1: to do and try to figure out a better game
Speaker 1: plan for what you have right now that fits your players.
Speaker 1: So don't talk to me about COVID and any of that,
Speaker 1: because there's no benefit of the DOAO here, all right, Bucky,
Speaker 1: I think you have to I think you have to
Speaker 1: move on. I don't think. I don't think you get
Speaker 1: the benefit of the doubt because when I look at
Speaker 1: the LA Rams and how they become a dominant unit
Speaker 1: under Brandon's daily his first year, a lot of it
Speaker 1: is due to being a great teacher, being a great communicator,
Speaker 1: being able to hold guys accountable, and so it's not
Speaker 1: really about the scheme. It's about the leadership part of it.
Speaker 1: And I think Mike McCarthy has said this a few
Speaker 1: times where he talked about a the chemistry and the
Speaker 1: continuity not necessarily of the players, but of the coaching staff.
Speaker 1: And when he said that, my ears perked up. I
Speaker 1: think there's a little buyer's remorse with some of the
Speaker 1: coaches outside of Mike Nolan that are on that staff.
Speaker 1: And I don't have anything to say that, but I
Speaker 1: just believe that from a teaching standpoint, when you have
Speaker 1: all of the issues that have taken place, somewhere it
Speaker 1: trickles down from the coordinator to the position coaches where
Speaker 1: it's not being communicated or taught effectively, And so I
Speaker 1: think they're gonna do a deep dive under the hood
Speaker 1: to figure out why this wasn't taught while we're not
Speaker 1: playing at a level that we should be playing yet,
Speaker 1: because it shouldn't be this difficult when I look at
Speaker 1: some of those teams that have a success on defense,
Speaker 1: we have new coordinators, Dave, Are any of the like
Speaker 1: hundreds of players that get cut or don't get offered
Speaker 1: contracts with their teams this offseason going to get the
Speaker 1: benefit of the doubt, Like if they went out and
Speaker 1: just didn't perform up to expectations, had bad seasons, Like yeah, there.
Speaker 1: I mean, there's a million reasons why that might be
Speaker 1: the case, but front officers probably aren't going to give
Speaker 1: them a benefit of the doubt, like, oh, cheetoh, we
Speaker 1: just we think you'll be a lot better in a
Speaker 1: non pandemic year. We don't have a ton of tape
Speaker 1: that suggests otherwise, But we're just going to offer you
Speaker 1: this nice contract because we like you. Like No, that
Speaker 1: doesn't happen for players. It shouldn't happen for coaches. And
Speaker 1: I agree with Bucky's point about the Rams, but I'll
Speaker 1: even say, you know, the Rams have Aaron Donald and
Speaker 1: Jalen Ramsey, like they've got some amazing pieces there. But again,
Speaker 1: I'll say it for the million time, the New York
Speaker 1: Giants and the Carolina Panthers, both new coaching staff, first
Speaker 1: year NFL head coaches. They're not great defenses, but they're
Speaker 1: they're solid, especially the Giants. The Giants are in top
Speaker 1: ten and scoring, you know, like a whole new coaching
Speaker 1: staff asking players to do different things. And the Giants
Speaker 1: they have some talented players. They've got some first round
Speaker 1: picks on that defense, but not anybody that's you know,
Speaker 1: we're not talking about like the best of the best
Speaker 1: in the NFL on that defense. They're just executing and
Speaker 1: doing what they're supposed to do. And for that matter,
Speaker 1: I can't help it, you know, I can't help but
Speaker 1: think about the offseason and training camp, like everybody loves
Speaker 1: to say, like, oh my god, how many times did
Speaker 1: we hear like, actually, the virtual installation was really smooth,
Speaker 1: Like the guys handled it like pros, Like nobody it
Speaker 1: was awesome, like we did a great job of the
Speaker 1: virtual installation, and now here we are in December and
Speaker 1: they suck, And it's like, well, of course we suck.
Speaker 1: We did everything virtually well, you told me it wasn't
Speaker 1: a problem, so I don't expect it to be a problem.
Speaker 1: And I don't want to make light of the pandemic.
Speaker 1: It's it sucks. I'm so sick of it. It has
Speaker 1: affected my life and my mental health. I can't imagine
Speaker 1: trying to play football at a high level on top
Speaker 1: of all that. But this is the profession that you
Speaker 1: have chosen, and you're at the very top level of it,
Speaker 1: and it just goes with the dinner, as Jason Garrett
Speaker 1: likes to say. So, no, there's there's no benefit of
Speaker 1: the doubt. Let me pick it back on this there quickly.
Speaker 1: I think one thing that you have to understand when
Speaker 1: you talk about the Giants and the scheme today run.
Speaker 1: The Giants put a huge priority on making sure that
Speaker 1: they had high IQ guys on their defense because their
Speaker 1: defense has a level of complexity. The previous defense that
Speaker 1: Dallas ran, it didn't necessarily require you to have guys
Speaker 1: that were high IQ guys because it was very simple
Speaker 1: and it allowed you to just play on instincts and reactions.
Speaker 1: And so when you have a room full of guys
Speaker 1: that may not necessarily be a level students, and then
Speaker 1: you come in with a complex defense, you begin to
Speaker 1: have some of those issues. And so when they talk
Speaker 1: about freelancing and those things, it may not have been freelancing.
Speaker 1: It may have been a lack of comprehension. And the
Speaker 1: pandemic exposed your ability to teach, and if you're not
Speaker 1: a good teaching, you can't meet students in different levels.
Speaker 1: We see what plays out. I'm not saying that I
Speaker 1: have anything on that, but I think it's something to
Speaker 1: consider when you think about the mental lapses that occurred
Speaker 1: early in the year with this defense. Yeah, and I
Speaker 1: agree with that, Buck. I do think though, the other
Speaker 1: thing to consider about that is that also means that
Speaker 1: it's equally hard to know. And Dave mentioned that they
Speaker 1: were talking about how well it was going with the
Speaker 1: virtual installation. Well, it's hard to know when you're doing
Speaker 1: installation virtually whether guys are picking up the information. You
Speaker 1: won't know that until you throw them out on the field.
Speaker 1: So it was probably a little short cited for them
Speaker 1: to make the comment that everything's going well. They don't
Speaker 1: know everything's going well. They can't see that until they
Speaker 1: get the guys on the field, and especially if they
Speaker 1: have issues where these guys really aren't comprehending it, where
Speaker 1: the product actually looks like they were not comprehen ending it.
Speaker 1: They didn't know that until they gotten them on the field.
Speaker 1: And I'm wondering, like, once they got the training camp
Speaker 1: and they're having the coaches meetings after each practice, I'm wondering,
Speaker 1: how much of the conversation is, oh, gosh, they really
Speaker 1: don't know what they're doing out there, like they look lost. Now,
Speaker 1: maybe that wasn't happening because they had an offensive line
Speaker 1: that was really banged up, and so it looked like
Speaker 1: every play your pass rushers are going to get home
Speaker 1: every play. Right, That's how it looked during training camp,
Speaker 1: and that may have given them a false sense of security.
Speaker 1: But at some point they had to figure out once
Speaker 1: they got these guys on the field, they weren't comprehending
Speaker 1: the information. And that's coaching, and so that's the part
Speaker 1: of coaching. Coaching is the ability to see where we
Speaker 1: are and to make to make changes. And I won't
Speaker 1: just put this on Mike Nolan. Part of that is
Speaker 1: on Mike McCarthy too, because Mike McCarthy has to look
Speaker 1: and look at all the bewildered defenders and the guys
Speaker 1: with the wild like deer and head lights looking. He
Speaker 1: has to say, hey, Mike, tighten this up. We gotta
Speaker 1: scale it back, make it simple. I want the guys
Speaker 1: to play fast, and I don't care if they line
Speaker 1: up in cover for the entire game. I don't want
Speaker 1: any mental bus And so it's all of that, and
Speaker 1: so part of the reset. If I'm ownership, I'm talking
Speaker 1: to Mike McCarthy, Hey man, the first year of your program,
Speaker 1: like we kind of got sold a bill of goods,
Speaker 1: and so we need to see that stuff that happened
Speaker 1: in Green Bay, because we're now going to climb to
Speaker 1: think maybe it was Aaron Rodgers and not the other stuff.
Speaker 1: And I didn't think it was like that before. All right,
Speaker 1: let's move on with I was just gonna say another
Speaker 1: aspect of being a great teacher to me is the
Speaker 1: inspirational and motivational part of it, because I think, especially
Speaker 1: in a year like this, you know, and Dave you
Speaker 1: mentioned mental health. I mean, this is a your word.
Speaker 1: It has affected all of us. And when you see
Speaker 1: the way that the defense was playing at the beginning
Speaker 1: of the year, the lack of motivation, the lack of
Speaker 1: energy that has to do that has to come from
Speaker 1: whoever the voice is in that room, whoever is speaking.
Speaker 1: And one of the things that I think this team
Speaker 1: is missing from Jason Garrett was that part of being
Speaker 1: that inspiration and motivating people. And we've been in some
Speaker 1: of those meetings with Jason Garrett talking and where I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm sitting there and at the end of it, I'm like,
Speaker 1: all right, who do we gotta take down? Like I'm motivated.
Speaker 1: So I think that the players that needed that, and
Speaker 1: I feel that that's another mental part of the game
Speaker 1: that we don't talk about enough that I think that
Speaker 1: they've missed this year. Yeah, Amber to go off of that.
Speaker 1: So when you're building your coaching staff out, you want
Speaker 1: to make sure that you don't have too many of
Speaker 1: the same kind of guys. And so Mike McCarthy is
Speaker 1: kind of laid back. Mike Nolan is laid back. Where
Speaker 1: you guys are there, who is the guy to get
Speaker 1: them going? Like, who is the coach that stands up
Speaker 1: in the room, it's like no, Yes, who is the
Speaker 1: guy on the defensive staff that is like, no, this
Speaker 1: is unacceptable. I don't care what you guys are telling me.
Speaker 1: We're not running to the ball. Look at the tape.
Speaker 1: You can't have everyone trying to be their friend. Somebody
Speaker 1: has to be the depend in the room. You would
Speaker 1: think Tom Sula is that kind of guy, at least
Speaker 1: from what I've heard of him. I've never met him,
Speaker 1: because again we haven't met most of these guys as
Speaker 1: we would in a normal year, but you would think
Speaker 1: he would be that kind of guy that just kind
Speaker 1: of tells it like it is. But you're right, Bucky.
Speaker 1: We saw the difference when Christoph Shard got here and
Speaker 1: how he was in guy's faces, and that made a
Speaker 1: difference for that first year he was here, I think
Speaker 1: where guys were taking notice and they were they were
Speaker 1: responding to it, and I think that's a big part
Speaker 1: of it. It was probably and I think Amber's absolutely
Speaker 1: right on this, It was probably the best part of
Speaker 1: what Jason Garrett brings as a coach, in my opinion,
Speaker 1: is his ability to motivate, because it was very rare
Speaker 1: during his time here. When you saw them having games
Speaker 1: where they didn't where they lacked effort, or where they
Speaker 1: just got completely blown out. He had a way of
Speaker 1: getting his team motivated to play. They may not have
Speaker 1: always made all the right decisions. I questioned a lot
Speaker 1: of things they did from a tactical standpoint, but when
Speaker 1: it came to motivating his team and getting them ready
Speaker 1: to play, from that standpoint, it seemed like he was very,
Speaker 1: very very good at that. Real quick before we in
Speaker 1: the show, I did want to talk a little bit
Speaker 1: about the secondary. Mike McCarthy said this morning on his
Speaker 1: press conference that some of the young secondary players played
Speaker 1: well last week. Who did you guys think played well?
Speaker 1: You have guys like Richard Robinson, Savian Smith, Deontay Burden
Speaker 1: that we're out there, and did any of them make
Speaker 1: a case or starting to make a case that maybe
Speaker 1: they should be back next year with all of the
Speaker 1: free agents that you have in the secondary. Let's start
Speaker 1: first with you, Bucky. I mean, they played well, but
Speaker 1: I'm wondering if we dropped out of standards so low
Speaker 1: that we're okay with just not given, you know, giving
Speaker 1: them passing March because they didn't let the ball fly
Speaker 1: over the head and it was the Cincinnati Bengals. I
Speaker 1: think Savian Smith and Richard Robinson have a role, maybe
Speaker 1: as the fourth and fifth guy, but I think for
Speaker 1: this team to compete, because you have to remember, this
Speaker 1: team has to be built to defeat the New York Johnson,
Speaker 1: the Washington Riskins, and those teams aren't going anywhere with
Speaker 1: the defenses that they have. You have to get a
Speaker 1: level players in the secondary. And I can say outside
Speaker 1: of Dicks that I really would be fired up about
Speaker 1: bringing any of those guy back that are hanging around
Speaker 1: as free agents. Camber. I mean, I know we're running
Speaker 1: out of time as far as the season goes, but
Speaker 1: some of these guys, I mean, I just haven't seen enough.
Speaker 1: That game wasn't enough for me to base an opinion.
Speaker 1: And then the one thing that I'll say, though, based
Speaker 1: on that game and the way that they were playing,
Speaker 1: that I liked was at least the fight. We just
Speaker 1: got done talking about motivation. We know the secondary was
Speaker 1: struggling with injuries and a lot of guys. Some of
Speaker 1: those guys got hurt in the game and all that
Speaker 1: one of them came back in and all, but still
Speaker 1: there was the one to fight and the will to
Speaker 1: go out there and at least try to play good.
Speaker 1: So that's the aspect that I saw that I liked
Speaker 1: from those young players in that game. But as far
Speaker 1: as performances that just that wasn't enough for me to
Speaker 1: base an opinion on them just yet. Dave, I'm definitely
Speaker 1: I'm not about to like it's the Bengals, it's Brandon Allen.
Speaker 1: Good for you that I did. I did think that
Speaker 1: Richard robin and played really well, and I he intrigued
Speaker 1: me especially I full disclosure, I'm I'm more familiar with
Speaker 1: him than most would be because he did go to LSU.
Speaker 1: He was a fourth of course, of course, just saying,
Speaker 1: I mean, just saying, but he is. Honestly, he is
Speaker 1: exactly the type of guy that the Cowboys would sign
Speaker 1: in free agency. You know, he's a fourth round pick.
Speaker 1: He's kind of kicked around the league. He's started fifteen
Speaker 1: to twenty games, which is not a small amount for
Speaker 1: a guy who's back at the depth chart. He's a
Speaker 1: lot like I'm not saying their games are similar, but
Speaker 1: it's a similar signing to Maurice Kennedy, who people forget
Speaker 1: about because he opted out before the season. Started, so
Speaker 1: you know, if they want to bring him back to
Speaker 1: be their fourth or fifth guy because he's dirt cheap,
Speaker 1: I don't have a problem with that. I think he's
Speaker 1: played up to that level. But this is we're not
Speaker 1: talking about a guy who's going to come in and
Speaker 1: hopefully be a meaningful part of your secondary I'm really
Speaker 1: intrigued by that because you know they're gonna need to
Speaker 1: sign somebody. You know, they always say, like you address,
Speaker 1: you address things in free agency so that you don't
Speaker 1: go into the draft with an insane need. And as
Speaker 1: it stands right now, they're going to have an insane
Speaker 1: need if they don't sign somebody. So whether it's Cheeto
Speaker 1: or Jordan Lewis or somebody from outside, either way, like
Speaker 1: they're going to need to sign a starting caliber cornerback
Speaker 1: in free agency, and history tells us that they will
Speaker 1: probably resign one of their own to avoid having to
Speaker 1: spend as much money. I know that's not what people
Speaker 1: want to hear, but that's what I expect, So um,
Speaker 1: I'll be interested. Yeah, Like I said, Richard Robinson is
Speaker 1: a guy that I could see them bringing back just
Speaker 1: so that they say they can say, well, we've got
Speaker 1: a guy who's capable of starting in case of emergency.
Speaker 1: Don't forget Xavier Woods there at safety is also God's
Speaker 1: going to be a free agent. They got a lot
Speaker 1: of things that they got, They got them work, They
Speaker 1: have work to do, and you would think they can
Speaker 1: let him go. Yeah, you go down that list and
Speaker 1: you can get rid of a lot of those guys.
Speaker 1: I think it goes back to what Dave saying, Now,
Speaker 1: you got to replace him. So will his group got
Speaker 1: to get to work because they're gonna have to either
Speaker 1: go out in free agency or they're gonna have to
Speaker 1: go in the draft, and they got have to replace
Speaker 1: all those guys that they're willing to let walk and
Speaker 1: and and probably walk or both. Yeah, exactly, all right,
Speaker 1: we appreciate you guys join us. We'll be back tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Bucky's gonna join us again and talk just this time
Speaker 1: I think about about the forty nine Ers defense versus
Speaker 1: the Cowboys offense. But if he wants to stick around,
Speaker 1: he can stick around and talk a little bit more
Speaker 1: Cowboys football with us. Till for for Bucky Brooks, Dave
Speaker 1: Helm and Pars about to say there and we miss you. Nick.
Speaker 1: We'll hopefully have be like tomorrow. Well, we'll see you
Speaker 1: guys tomorrow. This has been The Break live on Dallas
Speaker 1: Cowboys dot Com Radio. This has been a production of
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.