Speaker 1: This this He's talking Cowboys Straining live from the Dallas
Speaker 1: Cowboys World headquarters at the Star in Frisco. Here are
Speaker 1: Mickey Spagnola, Bryan Brats, Rob Phillips, and Taylor Stern. Welcome
Speaker 1: everybody into the s WBC Mortgage studio here at the
Speaker 1: Star in Frisco. We are ready for another great episode
Speaker 1: with you guys. How's everyone doing? Guy, it feels like
Speaker 1: we haven't done this in a while, don't it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it hasn't been though. Always to me, you get such
Speaker 1: a in such a rhythm, you know, we haven't had
Speaker 1: that in a while. And now and then we're sitting
Speaker 1: there thinking, Okay, now we got OTA's about to get
Speaker 1: into that rhythm. So that's what's different. That's what's football
Speaker 1: is back. It's football is back. How are you doing, Mickey?
Speaker 1: It was back last week. I mean Vet's back. Rookie minicamp. Right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's what you call that. Meetings on the field. That
Speaker 1: was cool, ye, meetings. You're right. There are owners meetings
Speaker 1: going on this week in Atlanta as well as the OTAs.
Speaker 1: Starting today here for the guys, the full first team
Speaker 1: activity for them to all get underway, and we'll have
Speaker 1: media availability tomorrow, right, But this is the first thing
Speaker 1: going on this week which I wanted to get into
Speaker 1: some things that will help understand what this team will
Speaker 1: look like in twenty eighteen. You know, there's a lot
Speaker 1: of change. A lot happened this offseason, of course, different releases, retirements,
Speaker 1: the rookie class. So I wanted to pose a few
Speaker 1: questions to you guys and see what you think will
Speaker 1: be answered during the OTAs. And Mickey, doing his due diligence,
Speaker 1: was just kind of, you know, using our surroundings here
Speaker 1: at the Star and checking out what's going on. And
Speaker 1: I think you ractually got to my first question before
Speaker 1: you realized it when you walked in here, he said,
Speaker 1: I was looking to see who would replace Dez, kind
Speaker 1: of being around the different locker room and different things. Yeah, so, Mickey,
Speaker 1: the question I have for you is who do you
Speaker 1: think during this OTAs in the locker room might be
Speaker 1: that stepping up, you know, void, filling for the leadership
Speaker 1: and passion presence that of course Jason Witton and Dez Bryant.
Speaker 1: I have no clue they got helmets on out there
Speaker 1: by the way. Yeah, I was looking to see who
Speaker 1: was going to be the last one out of the
Speaker 1: locker room. Yeah, because Dez was usually the last guy
Speaker 1: out of the locker room, so he can make his
Speaker 1: entrance sort of the way Michael Irvin used to do
Speaker 1: back in the day. Yea. And they were still trickling
Speaker 1: out when it was time to get going here. So
Speaker 1: I was kind of looking for eighty three. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: seeing if he's around. Well, he's been rehabbing, so we
Speaker 1: may not see a lot of him. Well, he wasn't
Speaker 1: going to take part in there in the drills, but
Speaker 1: I thought maybe he'd be out there unless he's trying
Speaker 1: to paint that light pole that he supposedly hit. Let
Speaker 1: me ask you this though, in question though eighty three
Speaker 1: leader for you? Then, my god, no, because he doesn't
Speaker 1: have the personality to do it. Yeah, and he's not
Speaker 1: in the locker room that much anyway, so you got
Speaker 1: to go search and find him in the first place. Sure,
Speaker 1: somebody's it's not going to happen until they start playing games,
Speaker 1: so they start getting into training camp. I mean, who
Speaker 1: who's gonna as a wide receiver, who's gonna step up
Speaker 1: and talk other than I'd Beasley was always there right? Sure?
Speaker 1: All right? Hearns got to earn his way, right, Thompson
Speaker 1: got to earn his way, Gallop got to earn his way.
Speaker 1: I know Tavon Austin was here immediately after the draft weekend.
Speaker 1: He was here that Monday, and I'd be curious to
Speaker 1: see how his personality is going to mesh with this group.
Speaker 1: You know, he looks, at least from the social media
Speaker 1: aspect of what he's posted and put out there, looks
Speaker 1: like he's got a you know, vibrant personality. He has fun,
Speaker 1: he dances and videos. I don't know if you guys
Speaker 1: have seen those, but you know, I'm curious to see
Speaker 1: if he'll kind of mesh with them. And now I
Speaker 1: will because Alan Hearns, We've gotten a chance to talk
Speaker 1: with him and he's more laid back. Yeah, kind of
Speaker 1: seeing how that will fit. Yeah, I think that, you know,
Speaker 1: to I don't know if the if the if the
Speaker 1: leadership is going to come from if to answer your
Speaker 1: question in a big, big view, yeah, I don't think
Speaker 1: the leadership is going to come from a wide receiver,
Speaker 1: you know, and in naturally you'd say it's the quarterback.
Speaker 1: But then this offensive line has such a influence on
Speaker 1: what happens. I correct me if I'm wrong here. I'm
Speaker 1: starting to hear more from Tyron Smith than I did
Speaker 1: in the past. I'm starting to hear more of a voice,
Speaker 1: and maybe within his own group that that voice has
Speaker 1: always been there, but we're starting to see and not
Speaker 1: Tyrn Smith is like, hey, you know, I mean, I
Speaker 1: don't really like to do but but I think that
Speaker 1: you're starting to kind of get an idea that maybe
Speaker 1: that Tyren Smith is now going to be this guy
Speaker 1: him and Dak and you know Zeke if you say, well,
Speaker 1: but I think it's gonna come. The real leadership from
Speaker 1: from this team is going to come from a guy
Speaker 1: like a Tyrant Smith or a of course Sean Lee,
Speaker 1: that type of a person. There was a story a
Speaker 1: couple of years ago where Tyron Smith got in front
Speaker 1: of everybody in the meeting room and said, if you
Speaker 1: guys aren't all in, yeah, just get out right now.
Speaker 1: And it was kind of surprising to hear because, like
Speaker 1: you said, his personality's more reserved. I think he's one
Speaker 1: of those guys that will speak if if needed to.
Speaker 1: And I think that's important without Witten here, because I
Speaker 1: think Witten had the same type of presence. I don't
Speaker 1: think he was Michael Irvin like Mickey's reference, where he's,
Speaker 1: you know, the pied piper and always talking, always talking,
Speaker 1: but when something needs to be said. Hey, I think
Speaker 1: it depends on what type of leadership. You know, different things. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the offensive the offensive line leads by example. I mean
Speaker 1: they are highly respected because of the way they go
Speaker 1: about their business. To Bryant's point, let's not mistake doing
Speaker 1: interviews in the locker room and being available to being
Speaker 1: a leader. Yeah, we don't know everything that goes on.
Speaker 1: Joe Luny, I'll talk every day if you want to.
Speaker 1: But I think that we're starting to see more. I'm
Speaker 1: not taking it as leadership, as leadership, as media interviews.
Speaker 1: I'm just taking it as a guy that we don't
Speaker 1: always see step Travis Frederick steps up for the offensive lineman,
Speaker 1: Zach Martin is stepped up. I know that. But I'm
Speaker 1: saying we don't don't confuse it with not confusing it
Speaker 1: at all. I'm saying a guy who's I'm just saying
Speaker 1: a guy that normally isn't an outspoken guy is you're
Speaker 1: starting to see more from him. That's That's and maybe
Speaker 1: that's something that that is going to translate for them. Uh,
Speaker 1: they're gonna need somebody. They're gonna need somebody in that room.
Speaker 1: And it doesn't have to be is is dynamic as
Speaker 1: Jason Witten, But there's gonna be somebody's needs going to
Speaker 1: step up in that room. But if they got a
Speaker 1: lot of young guys in that room that are looking
Speaker 1: around and thinking, you know, okay, well who's who do
Speaker 1: who do I latch onto? Who's my guy? Who who's
Speaker 1: you know? Yeah, and they may find that the main
Speaker 1: point of this is that this is the first time
Speaker 1: that the rookies and veterans are really mixing together on
Speaker 1: the football field, interacting, learning things. You know. It's pretty funny.
Speaker 1: I was talking to someone who works in football operations.
Speaker 1: That's what I said. Oh, these rookies are so excited
Speaker 1: to do so much and he goes, yeah, they haven't
Speaker 1: been around the vets yet. He goes, just wait until
Speaker 1: they're around the Vets in a couple of days, and
Speaker 1: you'll see how things change pretty quickly. Oh, Connor Williams
Speaker 1: gets used to working with that group of offensive linemen
Speaker 1: exactly because you're coming from a different system. College is
Speaker 1: so much different than the professional level, and understanding that
Speaker 1: once you get around these guys, you might just tailor
Speaker 1: your personality a little bit differently. Well, I think they
Speaker 1: did a good thing of having those rookies out there
Speaker 1: watching the strength and conditioning workouts over the last since
Speaker 1: they've been here absolutely two weeks. Yep. They didn't do anything.
Speaker 1: They watched and then they came out later in the
Speaker 1: afternoon and did their strength and conditioning work. But they
Speaker 1: had them all out there standing and watching what was
Speaker 1: going on, so they understood, Okay, this is the way
Speaker 1: we practice, this is the drills we do. And I
Speaker 1: think that helps kind of get them moved into it
Speaker 1: because they're gonna be there. Those are young guys. Some
Speaker 1: of them gonna be starstruck when they sit there and
Speaker 1: they line up. Yeah, but let's be honest here though,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of veterans that are the same boat.
Speaker 1: We got a whole new group of coaches out there too. Right,
Speaker 1: These drills and the way things are going to be
Speaker 1: taught are different. I mean, those those veteran guys are thinking, okay,
Speaker 1: sang laws drills. I've never run around a poll here
Speaker 1: and had to sink my hips and Derek Dooley did
Speaker 1: it this way. I mean there's drills that they're having
Speaker 1: to learn. I mean there's actually some excuse me, Roun,
Speaker 1: there's some there's even footing in a lot of it.
Speaker 1: The experience is great, but the experience with these coaches
Speaker 1: is pretty equal for all these guys. I want to
Speaker 1: watch Chris Roshard with the young secondary guys more than anything. Yeah, yes, absolutely,
Speaker 1: that's another thing that we definitely need to talk about.
Speaker 1: But I think, you know, Mickey brought up the rookies
Speaker 1: getting starstruck, but some of these rookies also have the ability.
Speaker 1: You know, we brought up Terrence Williams maybe not practicing
Speaker 1: and participating with the foot rehab. They have an opportunity
Speaker 1: here in these OTAs to at least show flashes. Cam
Speaker 1: Kelly has been a name of undrafted rookie that people
Speaker 1: keep throwing around that he has an opportunity during these
Speaker 1: OTAs to prove his, you know, spot on this team.
Speaker 1: They're gonna have somebody make this team. It's an undrafted rookie, Tay,
Speaker 1: and you're absolutely right about they always do. Yeah, there,
Speaker 1: it might be two, it might be three guys. That's
Speaker 1: the great thing about. They do a great job with
Speaker 1: their undrafted class. But you're mentioned cam Kelly. Yes, there's
Speaker 1: guys that now have a fresh start. There's some guys
Speaker 1: that maybe the previous coaching staff and the kid White.
Speaker 1: I always bring him up the corner that they drafted
Speaker 1: Ques White from Florida State. In the old system, he
Speaker 1: might not been as valued as he is now because
Speaker 1: of the way he physically looks. He has the talent
Speaker 1: on the practice squad basically the whole year. He now
Speaker 1: has a fresh start. With the way this current coaching
Speaker 1: staff is, you have to see a guy like Jordan Lewis,
Speaker 1: maybe Christopher Shard's opinion of Byron Jones's yeah, I saw
Speaker 1: a corner all the way here, I saw a corner,
Speaker 1: and now all of a sudden, it's like, okay, well, yeah,
Speaker 1: let's move in the corner. Well what do you think about, well,
Speaker 1: Jordan Lewis is a little short for me. Well, now
Speaker 1: Jordan Lewis, after having a pretty good rookie season, needs
Speaker 1: to say, okay, well, maybe I've got to prove to
Speaker 1: Christoph Shard that I can play a little bit here.
Speaker 1: Christ Shard is definitely on there, and we're getting a
Speaker 1: little excited about it because he is an exciting name
Speaker 1: to talk about. But out of the guys that you've
Speaker 1: seen so far, and we've had the privilege of seeing
Speaker 1: some rookie minicamp, who do you think is going to
Speaker 1: have the best chance to show those flashes to possibly
Speaker 1: have an opportunity to even possibly start this season? I
Speaker 1: think I think Gallup has an opportunity right off the bat,
Speaker 1: Michael Michael Gallup third round picked to get some extra
Speaker 1: reps because I don't don't think we're gonna see Terrence
Speaker 1: Williams in the office, not going to see him till
Speaker 1: training think so, so you know, hey, Ryan Switzer not
Speaker 1: here anymore, had an opportunity in the off season, get
Speaker 1: some extra reps, get kind of ahead of the game.
Speaker 1: I think that's a chance for him. I think when
Speaker 1: everybody's healthy, I would I would predict Alan Hearns and
Speaker 1: Terrence Williams as you're starting receivers. But what happens midway
Speaker 1: through the season, you know, maybe Gallup has a chance
Speaker 1: to get a head start and can continue developing the
Speaker 1: point where maybe he's a starter by mid season. Yeah.
Speaker 1: The key thing with all these new coaches is everybody's
Speaker 1: gonna be out there trying to impress their new balls,
Speaker 1: no doubt. So no one's gonna feel like they just
Speaker 1: got grandfathered into their start. Now. Obviously, the guys on
Speaker 1: the offensive line, the three Pro Bowlers, they're pretty secure
Speaker 1: in their position. But just think back to when you
Speaker 1: were a kid and you got a new coach or
Speaker 1: you went to a new team, but you tried a
Speaker 1: little harder because you wanted to prove yourself and make
Speaker 1: sure they saw who you were. It's one of the
Speaker 1: reasons they tailed back the work in rookie minicamp because
Speaker 1: the guys weren't ready physically, and they didn't want him
Speaker 1: go on two hundred percent to try to impress. Chris
Speaker 1: Rashard just kind of let them ease in. You know,
Speaker 1: the name that I'm I'm looking to see out there
Speaker 1: is Layton vander Esh. You're gonna get three starters out
Speaker 1: of this group fight forward before midway through the season.
Speaker 1: Absolutely vander Esh is gonna start. I'm gonna I'm gonna
Speaker 1: throw Dalton Schultz's name out there. I think Mickey and
Speaker 1: Mickey said they might open eleven personnel. That's okay, But
Speaker 1: when they get back into that when they get back
Speaker 1: into normal personnel group. Dalton Schultz is gonna be your
Speaker 1: starter at tight end. I'm just gonna throw that out
Speaker 1: there right now. And then you've got Connor Williams. Conor
Speaker 1: Williams is gonna start at left guard and don't go
Speaker 1: to sleep on gallop. Yep, that's why. No, if you
Speaker 1: want to throw four, if you want to throw four
Speaker 1: in there, This team, after the Chargers game last year,
Speaker 1: proved that they're, you know what, just put the young
Speaker 1: guys out there, you know, and they were fighting for
Speaker 1: a playoff spots. They probably hadn't much with choice, but
Speaker 1: it's still if you you know, it's kind of it's
Speaker 1: unusual for a coaching staff that might be and this
Speaker 1: is me, this is not anybody else's opinion. This is
Speaker 1: a coaching staff that might be coaching for their jobs. Okay,
Speaker 1: So usually you don't throw young guys in the mix.
Speaker 1: Usually put veteran guys out there and say, okay, but
Speaker 1: you know, these are kids they selected, and they're gonna say,
Speaker 1: if these guys can help us get to where we
Speaker 1: need to be and it helps us maintain our job,
Speaker 1: then by all means, play those guys. But like Mickey said,
Speaker 1: you could you could have four guys. You could have
Speaker 1: four rookies start opening day for this football That was
Speaker 1: that was the plan last year until they all got
Speaker 1: hamstring injuries. Yeah, you know, I mean, may the best
Speaker 1: woman win, And that was that was the plan in
Speaker 1: the secondary at least. I'm with you. I don't four
Speaker 1: is a lot, but hey, it's a young football team.
Speaker 1: There's not a lot of guys that have ten fifteen
Speaker 1: years in the league anymore. But think about where, think
Speaker 1: about where they're playing. Think about the positions they're playing.
Speaker 1: You know, if you look at the positions they're playing,
Speaker 1: would you feel better about a veteran player, I mean
Speaker 1: Jeff Sway maybe, Yeah, I feel better about that. We
Speaker 1: feel better about Terence Williams playing. I think. I think
Speaker 1: it's what we talked about with Cheeto and those guys
Speaker 1: last year. Like the experience gives a Jeff Swain maybe
Speaker 1: an edge now, right, but by the time you get
Speaker 1: to the end of Sea might give him a full preseason.
Speaker 1: Think about I'm not waiting that long. Think about what
Speaker 1: hellam with Cooper Rush Last year he kind of moved in,
Speaker 1: moved in and all of a sudden Oh he's our
Speaker 1: backup quarterback. It doesn't have to be right off the
Speaker 1: start if you can go back. You know, Russell Maryland
Speaker 1: was the number one pick in the draft, sure was.
Speaker 1: He didn't start until like game eight or nine. His
Speaker 1: rookie year was a town defensive line though they had
Speaker 1: well it was, but he still got in there eventually, eventual.
Speaker 1: You know, the same thing with Kevin Smith. He didn't
Speaker 1: start right away. Sean Lee, Yeah, sore though. Now. I
Speaker 1: I think if you have a veteran that can hold
Speaker 1: down the fort until the guy's ready, it's gotta be ready.
Speaker 1: They can't give away games so much, but you can't.
Speaker 1: You gotta be ready. Yeah, but you could give away
Speaker 1: games by putting young guys in if they're not ready. Yeah.
Speaker 1: That that's that's fair. That's fair. And you know, coaches
Speaker 1: that this can want to make sure. No. No, And
Speaker 1: I I think, and again I've been very adamant about this.
Speaker 1: This coach, it's it's all it's last chance, you know,
Speaker 1: let's figure it out. I mean, hey, you've got they
Speaker 1: drafted these kids. Put them in there, let them play,
Speaker 1: you know, if that's if that you would rather have
Speaker 1: your fate in your hands with guys that you select. Well,
Speaker 1: you said it. What you said to me about position
Speaker 1: is the most important thing. Lineback those two spots you get.
Speaker 1: You need a guy who can play a lot of
Speaker 1: snaps just the way based on the way the off
Speaker 1: season's gone, losing guys, what you guys are all telling
Speaker 1: me is actually giving me a lot of optimism right now.
Speaker 1: And it's giving me optimism because of the fact that
Speaker 1: you're kind of in a recipe for everyone to do
Speaker 1: their best and they're up against the wall, and as
Speaker 1: we've heard Brian say many times before, desperate football teams win. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you know, Mickey brought up a great analogy of
Speaker 1: the fact that these guys are showing up to their
Speaker 1: first impression first as to show them everything they got.
Speaker 1: On the opposite side, the staff and the coaches are
Speaker 1: doing everything they can to keep their job. So they're
Speaker 1: both yeah, combining. You have to you have to shame
Speaker 1: on them if they weren't doing that before. No, I think,
Speaker 1: and you got new coaches, I'm with you. Do you
Speaker 1: see my point, Brian, No, I do see your point.
Speaker 1: And I'm also they've also made a lot of changes
Speaker 1: of coaches because to your point, shame on them for
Speaker 1: not doing what they were supposed to do well. And
Speaker 1: I'm saying, and these guys are first year coaches, they're
Speaker 1: going to be coaching hard or regardless, right, Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, with so many guys and with different positions. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: they're they're they're going to be coaching, you know, real hard.
Speaker 1: But Rod Marinelli eating coach hard. No, Now he coached hard.
Speaker 1: Let a hand coached hard. Now you got new guys
Speaker 1: and they're trying to make their way and prove what
Speaker 1: they know. But do you still have to give guys
Speaker 1: a chance to show what they can do? I guarantee
Speaker 1: you when they line up there, you think Connor Williams
Speaker 1: is gonna be with the first team left guard? No,
Speaker 1: probably not. He'll probably be He'll they'll go with a
Speaker 1: veteran guys his way exactly, but it'll be Chas Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean, they'll put Chash green. And you're right about that.
Speaker 1: This team better than it was at the end of
Speaker 1: last year. I don't know that we can say that
Speaker 1: a big question that we answered on round table two
Speaker 1: weeks ago. Yeah, I don't I don't know that you
Speaker 1: can say that I think leaderships to play with. Okay,
Speaker 1: so getting rid of Witton retireing, does Bryant gone, Yeah,
Speaker 1: losing Witten, I think that voice, in that presence in
Speaker 1: the locker room, I think there's something to that. I
Speaker 1: think you still have to have receivers emerge for Dak.
Speaker 1: I do think what I've The thing that encourages me most,
Speaker 1: particularly offensively is the offensive line because I do think
Speaker 1: Connor it's gonna be your left guard. I think that
Speaker 1: guy playing sixteen games, you hope it's gonna help you
Speaker 1: out a little bit. Always say hope with him. Kind
Speaker 1: of hate that. Well, I'm thinking injury too, if he
Speaker 1: can have a healthy season. But yeah, there's guys that
Speaker 1: have to emerge. Into Tay's point, I agree with what
Speaker 1: you said because competence receiver is the best example of that.
Speaker 1: They went out and they got Tavon Austin. You'd call
Speaker 1: them a receiver, running back whatever. They have a lot
Speaker 1: of guys at that position, even without Dez. They're trying
Speaker 1: to make it competitive as heck, and I think I
Speaker 1: think that's going to create some nice competition. Well awesome,
Speaker 1: I can't wait. And just from our first segment here,
Speaker 1: you guys know that we will have a lot to
Speaker 1: talk about because we barely scratch the surface. Of course,
Speaker 1: we have to talk about the owners meetings and DAK Friendly,
Speaker 1: so that is up next after this break. It can
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Speaker 1: all right. We are back here and the guys are
Speaker 1: talking OTAs everything that is happening on the football field.
Speaker 1: They're back out there, one step closer to the twenty
Speaker 1: eighteen season. And while we've been in the offseason, we've
Speaker 1: been talking a lot about what this Dak friendly term
Speaker 1: really means. We've heard it thrown around different people trying
Speaker 1: to understand it. Well, we heard from Dak last Wednesday
Speaker 1: at the Reliant Energy home run Derby. He was speaking
Speaker 1: to the fact that it's not really Dak friendly. He said,
Speaker 1: it's now boys friendly. Yeah, it's Cowboys friendly. So different
Speaker 1: different understandings, interpretations of the phrasing. I know, Rob, you've
Speaker 1: spoken to the owners at different meetings and different things
Speaker 1: like that about how they feel about it. What do
Speaker 1: you think? I I think it's it's we talked about
Speaker 1: in the break. I think it's a dumb term. I
Speaker 1: really do. I think it's because it goes back. Jerry
Speaker 1: came up with it sort of, but he said it
Speaker 1: ten years ago about Romo, and when he said it,
Speaker 1: it made a lot of sense. And I think it's
Speaker 1: a general term because we're talking about two different quarterbacks now,
Speaker 1: So what does that mean? It means that it's you
Speaker 1: put your quarterback in the best situation possible. Every team
Speaker 1: tries to do that, So I thought Scott Lenahan talking
Speaker 1: to him about a week ago, he's about the nicest
Speaker 1: guy you'll meet. But he was pretty sarcastic about it too.
Speaker 1: He said, that's a fun Now we got a sarcastic team.
Speaker 1: That's a that's a fun narrative term, and it is.
Speaker 1: I mean, you want to build an offensive line around
Speaker 1: your quarterback, good solid, dependable receivers, solid running game. Every
Speaker 1: team's trying to do that. But and obviously they have
Speaker 1: a lot invested in dec He's their guy, so clearly
Speaker 1: that's what they're trying to do. But don't you think
Speaker 1: that it's a fair thing that they've said and talked about,
Speaker 1: because you look around the league, and I've heard you
Speaker 1: guys even mention it. There are certain teams that when
Speaker 1: they do kind of put everything around their franchise quarterback,
Speaker 1: things seem to fall in place. Like going thirteen and
Speaker 1: three and twenty sixteen, Yeah, you had a quarterback over
Speaker 1: his first twenty four games in the league that had
Speaker 1: a one or two point three quarterback rating. So what
Speaker 1: wasn't friendly over the first twenty four games of his career.
Speaker 1: He wasn't a quarterback that got eased in. They threw
Speaker 1: him to the fire. They went thirteen three. I would
Speaker 1: have to say what wasn't friendly was something that we've
Speaker 1: all addressed in here is the offensive line. Well, but
Speaker 1: they still were averaging twenty eight points a game the
Speaker 1: first eight games last year. So now you tell me
Speaker 1: what changed. What changed in the last eight games the
Speaker 1: offensive line? There was no backup for Tyrn Smith. There
Speaker 1: was no Bay. That's not Dak friendly, that's cowboy friendly. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there was no Zekiel Elliott for six games. There was
Speaker 1: no Sean Lee for those games. Those are the things
Speaker 1: that affected them. They went from averaging twenty eight points
Speaker 1: a game to seventeen points. I think what it does
Speaker 1: is it takes it a little out of context, Like
Speaker 1: when Jerry created it about Romo, it's about to create
Speaker 1: the best environment for Romo, for the offense, for everybody,
Speaker 1: and now it kind of now we're attributing it to
Speaker 1: Dak and it's like it's all on Dak's shoulders, and
Speaker 1: it's not. It's it doesn't on the team, it's on
Speaker 1: the entire team. And put him in the environment have
Speaker 1: success and everybody else. I mean, the running game wasn't
Speaker 1: the same without some of those guys that you mentioned
Speaker 1: as well. Yeah, the receivers too. I mean, it all
Speaker 1: kind of flows together. So it's an offensive thing really,
Speaker 1: So I'm in agreement with you, Mick each other. No.
Speaker 1: I mean, well, if the owner in general manage to
Speaker 1: come out and said a cowboy friendly thing, I think
Speaker 1: then we all would have agreed to that. That's what
Speaker 1: the whole idea when we when we were trying to
Speaker 1: do the autopsy on the season. What were the various
Speaker 1: things we were talking about again, offensive line you talked about,
Speaker 1: I was talking about Cole Beasley, you know, not getting
Speaker 1: I mean there's there's things Seanly, everybody had an idea
Speaker 1: of what the problems were here, and they always stay, well,
Speaker 1: make it friendly for the quarterback. They will make it
Speaker 1: friendly for the team, make it friendly for everybody. That's
Speaker 1: that's really what this is all about. That's why they
Speaker 1: drafted the guys they did. They drafted another guard high,
Speaker 1: they try even though they had Pro Bowl offensive lineman,
Speaker 1: they knew they needed a linebacker. I mean, all these
Speaker 1: things that they knew they needed, they went out and
Speaker 1: got And that's team friendly right there. Team friendly because
Speaker 1: that goes into the coaching staff as well. They knew
Speaker 1: they needed to make those changes in certain coaching areas
Speaker 1: and they did that as well. So that's a full team. Yeah,
Speaker 1: well that that that's you. You're absolutely it feeds into
Speaker 1: this narrator of the oh sophomore slump for Dak, what
Speaker 1: can we do to make him better? Well, it's not
Speaker 1: just all about him. We saw that. It's it's you
Speaker 1: gotta have Zeke on the field for sixteen games. You
Speaker 1: got to have plays Tyrn Smith if needed. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's not just Dak. And that's that's the narrative that
Speaker 1: I think it kind of rubs people the wrong way,
Speaker 1: and that's not the way it was intended when it
Speaker 1: was created. I don't know. Two thousand and eight, two
Speaker 1: thousand and nine. Yeah, that's when Jerry said romo friendly.
Speaker 1: It applies everything. I think it's great though that Dak
Speaker 1: Prescott is not buying into that. Well, I mean, he's
Speaker 1: always going to be it's about the team with him.
Speaker 1: His success is always going to be about the team.
Speaker 1: But I think Mickey's right, I mean, I do, I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't think things have changed for him and what
Speaker 1: he's trying to do and how he's prepping for these
Speaker 1: games and getting your ready. I think the players around
Speaker 1: him affect how he plays. But you could say that
Speaker 1: about anybody. Sure, you can say about any quarterback in
Speaker 1: the National Football League. It is it's about the team.
Speaker 1: How can I get better offensive lineman? How can I
Speaker 1: have a better running game? How could a better offensive
Speaker 1: play calling? These are all things that factor into the
Speaker 1: success of the quarterback. If you don't have one or
Speaker 1: two or three of these things, your quarterback is going
Speaker 1: to get replaced every single year. Reality chuckle. A little
Speaker 1: bit of people will say, well, everything has to be perfect,
Speaker 1: and then you look at the Eagles, right, everything's pretty
Speaker 1: perfect for Nick Foles, And I mean taking over for
Speaker 1: a guy who is the starter and an all Pro
Speaker 1: type guy, you got to have the pieces around you're not.
Speaker 1: Does Dak need to get better, Absolutely, He's talked about it.
Speaker 1: He needs to, you know, pretty much everything, accuracy, footwork,
Speaker 1: all that stuff that's part of being a third year quarterback.
Speaker 1: Who's what is he twenty four years old? And staying
Speaker 1: off his back. Yeah, your realiz. He was sacked thirty
Speaker 1: two times last year. Twenty two were in the last
Speaker 1: eight games, no question. That means ten in the first
Speaker 1: eight games. So what happened, Yeah, yeah, what happened was
Speaker 1: what you just said they didn't have happened back up. Yeah,
Speaker 1: what happened is they took a second round pick and
Speaker 1: they went out and spent money in free agency on
Speaker 1: a couple of offensive linemen and still drafted a guy
Speaker 1: das which allowed those guys to be the backup now
Speaker 1: instead of to move Lale Collins. And they took the
Speaker 1: heat on the thing in Atlanta. Yeah, I did. We've
Speaker 1: talked a lot about Chris Rochard and we've talked about
Speaker 1: Sanjay Law. How do you guys think Paul Alexander will
Speaker 1: be able to help this offensive line group? And well
Speaker 1: he specifically be able to help Chaz Green? Well, I hope.
Speaker 1: So that's all going to be about confidence with him. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you gotta see if he's I just can't believe it.
Speaker 1: Chaz Green is that bad? Yeah? And he's not, and
Speaker 1: he's not, you know, but that they did him no favors.
Speaker 1: They did him no favors playing him at guard, and
Speaker 1: we and the head coach has been very forthright about that. Hey,
Speaker 1: we shouldn't have played. We should have probably kept a tackle.
Speaker 1: It was more important to this team to have a
Speaker 1: suitable backup left tackle than it was to have a
Speaker 1: starting left guard. He's got Willie Anderson, Paul Alexander, one
Speaker 1: of his former players, Willie Anderson coming in. Maybe working
Speaker 1: with these guys one on one. That guy's been a
Speaker 1: pro bowler in this league, maybe that can help. He's
Speaker 1: worked in a lot of different systems. He's worked with
Speaker 1: different guys, groom different guys for starting roles. He's got
Speaker 1: experience to do it for chats. I just think it's confidence.
Speaker 1: You got to find a way to forget about it.
Speaker 1: Don't reinvent the wheel here. Yeah, don't reinvent the wheel.
Speaker 1: You've got three all pro linemen, you know, find a
Speaker 1: way to play to their strengths. Find a way to
Speaker 1: coach them the best you can. If you want to
Speaker 1: develop Connor Waves, let Connor Williams watch these guys play.
Speaker 1: Playing between Tyren Smith and Travis Frederick will be the
Speaker 1: best education he can ever. Get back to Rob and
Speaker 1: Mickey's point about Chads Green's confidence, I think there is
Speaker 1: something to do that, and luckily we were able to
Speaker 1: kind of get an insider look that we normally wouldn't
Speaker 1: have seen with All or Nothing the Amazon show. You know,
Speaker 1: everyone was looking at that Week eight game against the
Speaker 1: Atlanta Falcons and what went wrong. Now, the game plan
Speaker 1: was bad, Well, if you're looking at you know, they
Speaker 1: were able to film practice and something that really caught
Speaker 1: my attention was that they were building up Chatz throughout
Speaker 1: that week. They were building them up. You know, they
Speaker 1: kept saying, oh, you got this, Chads, break us down
Speaker 1: in the huddle, You've got this. And if you watch
Speaker 1: who he was going up against in practice, he was
Speaker 1: mainly going up against Taco Charlton. Yeah, and you know,
Speaker 1: in all respect to Taco Charlton, he's a rookie who's
Speaker 1: still getting at We've talked about what his expectations were
Speaker 1: in the development there, but he almost had this false
Speaker 1: sense of confidence going into the Atlanta Falcons game because
Speaker 1: of the fact that they're like, oh, you've got this
Speaker 1: year taken over. I think that to me, maybe it
Speaker 1: wasn't going against Tacco. Maybe it's the fact that he
Speaker 1: made two quality starts the year before and San Francisco confidence. No,
Speaker 1: I don't think it was false at all. I think
Speaker 1: he played well against the Chicago Bears and Cincinnati and
Speaker 1: our San Francisco. He made those starts. He wasn't terrible
Speaker 1: in those games. In the Atlanta game, it started going bad.
Speaker 1: We've talked about this. It started going bad and then
Speaker 1: it got worse because he just lost his technique. He
Speaker 1: lost It's like he forgot what he was doing out
Speaker 1: there and it just snowball and got worse. Let me
Speaker 1: tell you what pressure from offensive line plays sometimes is
Speaker 1: also manufactured by what happens on the outside. If you're
Speaker 1: not running round and not getting open and not finding
Speaker 1: space out there, and the quarterbacks having to hold the
Speaker 1: football because he's not sure because every ball he's thrown
Speaker 1: that's gone inside on slant's been knocked up in the
Speaker 1: air and brought back on him at times. You know,
Speaker 1: I think those are the things that you start to
Speaker 1: think about a little bit. So again, it's not all
Speaker 1: on Chad's Green, and I'm not trying to defend Chaz Green,
Speaker 1: but I have seen him play better than he played,
Speaker 1: There's no question about that. And the right defensive end
Speaker 1: doesn't have to worry about the running back going to
Speaker 1: the house on any play, No doubt they didn't care.
Speaker 1: Alfred Morris nice, but he's not going to threaten the
Speaker 1: back end of the defense. Zeke's not there. So all
Speaker 1: they did is Clayborne said, Okay, I'm pitting my ears
Speaker 1: back and I'm going after the quarterback because he's the
Speaker 1: only guy that can beat me. Couldn't stop him on
Speaker 1: defense in the second half. Basically Chumley went out with
Speaker 1: an injury. I mean, what was the score at halftime? Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: see that to me there, you're still in the ball
Speaker 1: game right there. They just could not get a stop
Speaker 1: or two that they needed in order to help as Green.
Speaker 1: It's amazing how we're still talking about that game because
Speaker 1: we need to be, because it's it's the game. The
Speaker 1: reason why Connor Williams is here. I don't dis said it.
Speaker 1: I don't disagree. It was almost traumatizing for this team. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, Scott Lenahan said it all thinking about through
Speaker 1: us back and maybe and maybe the reason why the
Speaker 1: receiver's here because he's going to find a way to
Speaker 1: get open. He's gonna separate, he's gonna run his routes
Speaker 1: and be able to find space. There's a lot of
Speaker 1: factors Hey, that might have been the job, and that
Speaker 1: might have been the thing that got the offensive line
Speaker 1: coach fired himself. I mean think we're talking Chaz Green. Well,
Speaker 1: the next guy that went in was no better, no
Speaker 1: Byron Bell, right, and they kept him the exactly he
Speaker 1: was on the fifty three the whole season, and then
Speaker 1: all of a sudden he's starting and he was just
Speaker 1: as bad. Yeah, that's that a lot of changes happened
Speaker 1: in that one game, A lot of changes that you
Speaker 1: and you but is a stab. You gotta hope, Hey,
Speaker 1: but I hope they just don't just discard Chaz Green.
Speaker 1: I really I hope they don't. Again, Mickey's right, it's
Speaker 1: a confidence thing with him. Maybe Paul Alexander can help
Speaker 1: him a little bit there, or at least he'll teach
Speaker 1: Colombo those guys. He'll teach him how to get ketchup
Speaker 1: out of a bottle. That's what I'm hearing about. Yes,
Speaker 1: Mickey's referencing to the fact that Paul Alexander wrote a
Speaker 1: book a while back and explained how he could spot
Speaker 1: offensive lineman's talents based on how they poured a ketchup bottle. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know why. It's smarts take smarts to pour ketchup.
Speaker 1: I love it. That's what it is. You don't have
Speaker 1: to be a hey man to keep pounding. You have
Speaker 1: to figure out how to get the air out of
Speaker 1: the bottle, so the ketchup comes out. Technique. That's technique.
Speaker 1: So you squeeze at the fifty seven. Huh fundamentals. I'm
Speaker 1: glad you brought up William because I don't know if
Speaker 1: you saw his tweet that was going around last week
Speaker 1: of him he filmed Tyren Smith out there. He said,
Speaker 1: I love watching this guy do sets. He's just snabsolute
Speaker 1: pro and I mean, you really don't see Tyrn doing
Speaker 1: that too frequently. But hopefully Willie gets these guys kind
Speaker 1: of out of their comfort zones. I'll tell you what
Speaker 1: I was impressed. And we talk a little bit about Willie,
Speaker 1: and but I was in Paul Alexander was not here
Speaker 1: the weekend of the rookie camp and Mark Colombo was
Speaker 1: running the drills, and I liked what I saw from
Speaker 1: Mark Colombo. Mark Colombo is going to be one of
Speaker 1: those guys that will be an offensive line coach for someone.
Speaker 1: He might not be offensive line coach here, but he
Speaker 1: will be. He will be an offensive line coach or
Speaker 1: somebody promise you that he's got He's got the he's
Speaker 1: got the capability of mental capabilities, he's got the experience.
Speaker 1: He's a good teacher, he's hands on. You could see
Speaker 1: the way he's working with the rookie guys that they
Speaker 1: were getting a little bit better with the drills from
Speaker 1: practice to practice because of what Mark Colombo was able
Speaker 1: to do. If you want some insight, I was told
Speaker 1: on Paul Alexander, go listen to his commencement speech. He
Speaker 1: went back to small college. Yeah, and I forgot to
Speaker 1: do it, but I heard it was Courtland College, and uh,
Speaker 1: they said, you'll find out a lot about how impressive
Speaker 1: this guy is by just listening to his comment. M speed.
Speaker 1: Let's hope he doesn't try and reinvent the wheel here.
Speaker 1: I don't think you will. I don't think you will.
Speaker 1: But that's that's good knowledge and curiosity to see how
Speaker 1: these guys will do with that. The other one I'm
Speaker 1: looking at is for his new coaches is Ben Bloom,
Speaker 1: who of course is stepping in for Eberflus. Matt Eberflus
Speaker 1: who moved to the Indianapolis Colts, but Ben Bloom taking
Speaker 1: on this linebacker coaching job, especially when he has the
Speaker 1: first round pick in his group. Right, he's got, he's got,
Speaker 1: and he's got. Also he's got a pick two in
Speaker 1: Covington as well, so he's got a couple. And yeah, exactly,
Speaker 1: he's got a young group there, with the exception of
Speaker 1: Sean Lee Jaylen Smith. I'm curious to see him work
Speaker 1: with the guys. That's kind of somebody I'll be eyeing tomorrow. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and again, this is this is a team that that
Speaker 1: needed linebackers. And now now you've really here, you've drafted
Speaker 1: a couple, you've signed one too. They signed the from
Speaker 1: the Packers, Joe Thomas, Joe Thomas from the Packers. So
Speaker 1: they're trying to remake this group. You might here's a
Speaker 1: group that might have another young or maybe the fifth
Speaker 1: or six guy is another young guy that you know,
Speaker 1: just keep an eye on that. I don't think that
Speaker 1: position is far from settled yet. I think there's gonna
Speaker 1: be some players that are gonna move around. I think
Speaker 1: they're gonna use the waiver wire. I think they potentially
Speaker 1: can make some trades. That's a position to me that
Speaker 1: that you cannot be bad at. We've seen what happens
Speaker 1: when you're bad at linebacker and get exposed at depth,
Speaker 1: because all it takes is one or two injuries, right,
Speaker 1: and saw it last year. And Ben Bloom is gonna
Speaker 1: have to be He's gonna have to He's gonna have
Speaker 1: to teach these guys. He's gonna have to be. He's
Speaker 1: an attention to detail guy. That's one of the things
Speaker 1: when he first got here, that was one of the
Speaker 1: things that Rob Ryan always talked that he knew the
Speaker 1: defense better than anybody else. So he's always he's Since
Speaker 1: Rob has left, he's taken a reduced role almost. I
Speaker 1: always make joke of his He had like basically one
Speaker 1: foot in the parking lot, you know. I mean, he
Speaker 1: was probably looking for another opportunity somewhere else and just
Speaker 1: so happened this one came about. So he's got a
Speaker 1: veteran leader in Sean Lee. He's got a lot of
Speaker 1: young kids. Though. That's a position that is not settled
Speaker 1: by any means. He's gonna have to grab that by
Speaker 1: the horns and run that group through and get the
Speaker 1: best three guys, four guys, five guys, whatever he has
Speaker 1: to do to help this defense. Because they can't be
Speaker 1: bad at that position. Again, It'll be interesting to see
Speaker 1: if he carries over his enthusiasm he showed with the
Speaker 1: rookies now that the veterans are here, because he was
Speaker 1: about his vocal in attention to detail four practices. Then
Speaker 1: I'd seen them in four years, just constantly teaching. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And the other good thing about this deal now is
Speaker 1: you've got two defensive coordinators on this team, Chris Rochard
Speaker 1: Rod Marinelli. So if Rochard's taking care of picking up
Speaker 1: the nickel passing game and the secondary, he's kind of
Speaker 1: overlapping with those linebackers. So you've got a guy that's
Speaker 1: going to keep an eye on maybe the young coach
Speaker 1: to make sure that everything's working well. Ye, yes, very true.
Speaker 1: All right, well, we are going to take our final
Speaker 1: break here on Talking Cowboys. When we come back, we
Speaker 1: will have Rob's Twitter poll talking about depth concerns. So
Speaker 1: if you haven't voted the whole, if you haven't voted,
Speaker 1: make sure you do that during our break right now.
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Speaker 1: Oh what about Papa John's pizzas? Should we talk about that? Sure?
Speaker 1: Why not? Because we know that Papa John's taste so
Speaker 1: great because of the ingredients like those veggies freshold never frozen,
Speaker 1: and the pepperoni, pork and beef in with the ingredients
Speaker 1: like that, you have better pizza and it's gotta be
Speaker 1: Papa John. Thank you, Mickey. Yes, we are back here
Speaker 1: for our final segment of Talking Cowboys today and without
Speaker 1: further ado, of course, Rub's twitter poll that we look
Speaker 1: forward to in our lack segment every week. What's Today's
Speaker 1: got time to vote? Real quick? Is the voting close?
Speaker 1: It's yeah, it's close. Well, my dunn't vote make a difference? No, okay, everybody?
Speaker 1: Could you never vote for anything that? Would you vote
Speaker 1: today in the primaries? No? I did not. Okay, you
Speaker 1: got till seven o'clock. Okay, where you're out of time?
Speaker 1: Nice drop, Doug, appreciate that. All right. You said last
Speaker 1: segment you ask me, are the Cowboys better? Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: it's remained to be seen for me, you think so.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, But there are some questions on this roster.
Speaker 1: So my question today which position concerns you depthwise that
Speaker 1: they still have questions about? And I got four options
Speaker 1: for your defensive tackle Malie Collins out right now, wide
Speaker 1: receiver No Terence Williams at this time, recovering safety. Boy.
Speaker 1: We've talked about that position a lot or tight end
Speaker 1: without the goat. That's interesting. Which way do you go,
Speaker 1: Mick wide receiver? Why? Because I'm not sure who the
Speaker 1: starters are, let alone what the depth is. So if
Speaker 1: I ain't got a lead guy, I'm worried about who's
Speaker 1: behind them? Can I ask a question real quick? Yeah,
Speaker 1: they keep talking about that they don't have they don't
Speaker 1: need a lead guy. Yeah, you sound like you're not
Speaker 1: too happy with that. It's like when someone tells me
Speaker 1: they've got two starting quarterbacks. They have no starting quarter right,
Speaker 1: so you're saying they have somebody's got to be a threat. Okay,
Speaker 1: somebody's got to be a threat. So you're not buying
Speaker 1: the I don't need a number one receiver bit? Uh? No,
Speaker 1: is the Tom Brady analogy a bad one because it's
Speaker 1: Tom Brady, Like it's Tom tom Brady has had a
Speaker 1: great receiver like once in his career, like a great
Speaker 1: great receiver h Randy Moss. Yeah, and other than that,
Speaker 1: he's had a lot of really good to average receivers.
Speaker 1: How much better Tom Brady quarterback? And usually New England's
Speaker 1: defense too, by the way, it's been pretty good. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think I'm I'm about that's my vote. I voted
Speaker 1: defensive tackle. Okay, I don't think they have that position
Speaker 1: settled at all. I really don't, and I don't think
Speaker 1: behind it. If you can, you can, you can tell
Speaker 1: me all you want about Brian Price and Jihad Ward
Speaker 1: and all those guys. Until I see it, I'm I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna go there. Jihad Ward better be a player.
Speaker 1: He'd better be a player for them. If he's not,
Speaker 1: then that this team is. And Will McClay and Marinella
Speaker 1: obviously have a vision for the player, but that day
Speaker 1: do not that with with Malik Collins out. I thought
Speaker 1: that's why going after, going after McClain was going to
Speaker 1: be a big thing. You get him back in now
Speaker 1: you can kind of settle some things down. But I
Speaker 1: don't think they've settled that thing down at all. Feeling
Speaker 1: he didn't want to be here McClain, I don't think
Speaker 1: if he wanted to be here, he wouldn't have like
Speaker 1: spin around all day like he's waiting they you know,
Speaker 1: it didn't sound like it was money. Hey what yet,
Speaker 1: one I got one? I got one. I went with safety,
Speaker 1: all right. I felt like that was obvious. But I
Speaker 1: do think that it's manageable, and I'm gonna pull a
Speaker 1: Mickey Specnola here and I have a ride in one
Speaker 1: because I really read the question and to me, when
Speaker 1: you said which roster positions depth concerns you, I think
Speaker 1: at this point this is a ninety man roster we're
Speaker 1: working with and that will be the case until September ninth.
Speaker 1: They opened at Carolina, right. But when I was reading this,
Speaker 1: the guy that kind of concerns me that you know,
Speaker 1: hopefully in the off season he's had a chance to
Speaker 1: recuperate and get back to the guy we know and love,
Speaker 1: and that's Dan Bailey. The kicker position depth currently does
Speaker 1: concern me because of the fact that what we saw
Speaker 1: at the end of last season was not the Dan Bailey,
Speaker 1: the Pro Bowl Dan Bailey that I felt like we
Speaker 1: had seen in years before. Of course, he's been dealing
Speaker 1: with the ailing back, but I wonder in the off season,
Speaker 1: you know, we talk about these guys getting extra reps,
Speaker 1: getting things doing. Dan Bailey is notorious for being here
Speaker 1: at the Star, for recovering, rehabbing. But the one thing
Speaker 1: that does kind of concern me is that his loved coach,
Speaker 1: Rich Spasaccia is now out at Oakland coaching for the Raiders.
Speaker 1: I know he loves Keith O'Quinn, the guy who is
Speaker 1: now the special team's coordinator. But Dan Bailey, will he
Speaker 1: be able to come back from last year's injuries? Have
Speaker 1: the confidence because you talk about confidence and players, there's
Speaker 1: no one player on that team that needs more confidence
Speaker 1: than Dan Bailey. Yeah, that's that's a good one. I
Speaker 1: like right. I talked to him a couple of weeks
Speaker 1: ago at an event, and he said, getting healthy, getting
Speaker 1: back in a rhythm, feeling good. So but once we
Speaker 1: get out there, we'll have to see. I think it
Speaker 1: just I think it kind of snowballed on him a
Speaker 1: little bit too, you know, just being out of rhythm.
Speaker 1: I think he came back pretty much healthy, but is
Speaker 1: it's like a golf swing, that kicking deal, you know,
Speaker 1: and it can kind of go south mentally at times.
Speaker 1: I think that might have been something I had to
Speaker 1: do with them. That's a good write. Ind we all
Speaker 1: have the different votes. I like that. I don't always
Speaker 1: get that. I got tied end. I said, when you
Speaker 1: got nine total catches among your tight end group all
Speaker 1: by Jeff Swim, there's a concern. Yeah, a little bit.
Speaker 1: And I think Dalton Schultz is gonna be a good player.
Speaker 1: I think Jeff Swim is an underrated guy. But you
Speaker 1: gotta have somebody step up there. Who won safety fifty
Speaker 1: one percent? I'm with the people. Everybody else was around
Speaker 1: fifteen percent. And there's there's by the way, there's one
Speaker 1: position with no depth whatsoever. What's that quarterback? Well, it's
Speaker 1: you know, depending depending Yeah, yeah, but there's no depth.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm not. I'm not as down I'm
Speaker 1: You're not saying you're down. No, I'm not saying I'm down,
Speaker 1: But I'm saying if you're like White, and I might,
Speaker 1: you might you like Mike White, But is he ready
Speaker 1: to go in at the drop of a hat with
Speaker 1: no practice all week? You know you're about I didn't
Speaker 1: say veteran. I just said somebody proven. You asked depth,
Speaker 1: there's no depth. Two years ago, you wouldn't have said
Speaker 1: the same thing about Dak Prescott, wouldn't you know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he surprised me. Yeah, yeah, a better player. Okay, I
Speaker 1: value Dak didn't have to be the backup. Yeah, he
Speaker 1: got to practice right all week, all the rest of
Speaker 1: the office. He surprised me All the preseasons. How much
Speaker 1: work do you think Mike White's gonna get. Oh, if
Speaker 1: they're smart, they throw them out there quite a bit.
Speaker 1: It You said proven Mickey, and I like that phrase.
Speaker 1: Who is proven out there? That could be a possibility
Speaker 1: for the Cowboys? Is there anybody out there available to
Speaker 1: I don't Yeah, I don't think you want to waste
Speaker 1: money on a veteran, But I'm just saying you at
Speaker 1: the question was depth, and there's no depth. I think
Speaker 1: they've decided. We traded draft pick for Matt Castle, we
Speaker 1: invested in Mark Sanchez. Where did that get us? We
Speaker 1: might as well j Now, Jerry's not expecting. I don't
Speaker 1: think every guy they invest in a young guy to
Speaker 1: be Dak Prescott, but you might as well invest in
Speaker 1: a young guy and hope that your your development can
Speaker 1: turn him into something as opposed to a guy who's
Speaker 1: probably on the downside of his career. I think they're
Speaker 1: done with that. How much does Kellen Moore help in
Speaker 1: this instance of the fact that he was literally on
Speaker 1: the fifty three man roster last season. Now he's in
Speaker 1: the role as quarterback coach and he's having to kind
Speaker 1: of give those mental reps to these guys, because of
Speaker 1: course it's a lot different than the romo Wednesdays that
Speaker 1: those other vetter in quarterbacks you mentioned, we're able to
Speaker 1: benefit from. It's a good name. We didn't even mention
Speaker 1: Kellen far As coaches, Kellen Moore being there to kind
Speaker 1: of help these guys, And I like what Mickey said,
Speaker 1: prove themselves, prove themselves worthy of being behind Dak Prescott.
Speaker 1: I think where it helps. I think where Kellen Moore
Speaker 1: helps is he could be the buffer between the offensive
Speaker 1: coaches and the quarterbacks that if a guy, if Mike
Speaker 1: White has a problem, if Cooper Rush has a problem,
Speaker 1: even if Dak Prescott has a problem, he can go
Speaker 1: into those players can go into Kellen Moore and say, hey, listen,
Speaker 1: this is my issue, this is the problem having then
Speaker 1: you have then you have Kellen Moore. And I've sat
Speaker 1: in these staff meetings before where you have the buffer
Speaker 1: coaches that come in and they kind of explain to everybody, hey,
Speaker 1: this guy has this issue. We start talking about cutting
Speaker 1: guys like translators, Yes, exactly exactly. Kellen Moore will be
Speaker 1: able to translate. It's easier for someone a quarterback or
Speaker 1: any position to walk into a coach and say, hey, listen,
Speaker 1: this is my issue. Instead of going into Scott Lenahan's
Speaker 1: office or going into the head coach's office, it's easier
Speaker 1: for him just to walk into the position coach and say, hey,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm having a problem here and we need
Speaker 1: to think I like this as part of the game plan.
Speaker 1: I don't think this is going to work as part
Speaker 1: of the game plan. So I think that's where Kellen Moore,
Speaker 1: to least his first year, he's going to be that
Speaker 1: buffer that helps the quarterbacks as a group if they're
Speaker 1: having issues and being able to be on the field
Speaker 1: to kind of as Scott and Jason those guys are
Speaker 1: coaching guys up. Then you'll see, you know, Kellen will
Speaker 1: have the game plan or as the practice sheet in
Speaker 1: his hand and he'll be walking them through Okay, hey,
Speaker 1: look for this, look for this, look for this. I
Speaker 1: think that's where he's going to be the most helpful.
Speaker 1: That's a huge benefit. I think that's a great advantage
Speaker 1: he can add to this team. Yeah well yeah, so safety,
Speaker 1: huh I guess what one? Yes, big big see see.
Speaker 1: People are still dreaming about getting that guy from Seattle.
Speaker 1: That's their dream Earl Thomas. However, Yeah, they're still dreaming
Speaker 1: about that. They really are. They just you know, and
Speaker 1: we've talked about it. We talked about it on the
Speaker 1: draft show leading up. We thought they were gonna trade
Speaker 1: for you know, for more. You know, they were trying
Speaker 1: to move up. No, they were moving up for Armstrong
Speaker 1: in the draft. So you know they're there. They obviously
Speaker 1: feel like that the guys they got, and I just
Speaker 1: think this is gonna be initially the OTA's and then
Speaker 1: into training camp, and if it doesn't work out the
Speaker 1: way they think it's gonna work out, then I think
Speaker 1: you could see them making a deal. I really do.
Speaker 1: I don't think they're gonna go into those things. They're
Speaker 1: gonna let these young guys fail. They're gonna let for now,
Speaker 1: They're gonna let Xavier Woods fell. Mickey's talked about what's
Speaker 1: happened potentially what happened with Byron Jones. If the things
Speaker 1: don't work out for Byron Jones, you could bring him
Speaker 1: back to safety. I think that's kind of their little
Speaker 1: bit of they're as in their whole. If things don't
Speaker 1: work out, then okay, well we need Byron Jones to
Speaker 1: move back to safety. May you have a little faith.
Speaker 1: I just its like, no, I'm just saying it's a
Speaker 1: possibility because you you're gonna not many corners. I don't
Speaker 1: think is wrong, and somebody's gonna get eliminated. But we've said,
Speaker 1: if you're going to move him out there, you're probably
Speaker 1: moving out him out to start, right right? I think so?
Speaker 1: But he's got to be good enough to start and
Speaker 1: they don't know that. What did he start four games
Speaker 1: at corner as a rookie and hadn't played Their sense
Speaker 1: he's pay four games at safety. Now if they want
Speaker 1: him inside, that's a different story. Then somebody's got to
Speaker 1: start on the outside. My point on the safety thing
Speaker 1: is and I'm not minimizing the safety position, and I
Speaker 1: think if you have a good one, it really helps
Speaker 1: you a ton. But I don't think any team has
Speaker 1: ever finished the season and said, you know what, if
Speaker 1: I just had a better safety, I would have made
Speaker 1: the playoffs? Am I right? I think if you if
Speaker 1: you use that as an excuse, not an excuse. Barry
Speaker 1: Church was a stabilizing presence for them a couple of
Speaker 1: years ago when they won thirteen games AFC Championship game.
Speaker 1: Last year, I understand when he came back from that
Speaker 1: broken arm. I think they gave up less big plays.
Speaker 1: It's important. I think everybody felt very grateful for Jeff
Speaker 1: heath Is the safety when he rushed Derek Carr against
Speaker 1: that goal line and saved them in the Oakland Raiders
Speaker 1: at the end of December interceptions last year, the near
Speaker 1: Tomas he is the goat well, but Nicky you question though,
Speaker 1: I think though, if you look at what happened in
Speaker 1: the Chargers game, they were bad at corner, and they
Speaker 1: were bad in the back end with some of the
Speaker 1: plays that were going down the field. I think that's
Speaker 1: when you make the determination that we've got to do
Speaker 1: something different. If it's different it's slot corner, if it's
Speaker 1: different at right corner, left corner, we gotta do something
Speaker 1: different at safety though too. I mean, I think that's
Speaker 1: where the determinations personally. If I think if Connor Williams
Speaker 1: wasn't on the board at fifty, they would have made
Speaker 1: the pick, they would have traded for Earl Thomas. I
Speaker 1: do believe that with my heart. But they like they
Speaker 1: thought more of they thought more of Connor Williams than
Speaker 1: they did Earl Thomas. I'm just hoping that poor Byron
Speaker 1: Jones can figure it out this year, going into his
Speaker 1: fourth season. You know, I got a chance to talk
Speaker 1: to him in the off season and I said, oh,
Speaker 1: you know, everyone's talking about where you're gonna be playing again.
Speaker 1: He goes, I just wish I could go into an
Speaker 1: off season and know where I'm playing. And it was
Speaker 1: funny because we're around some other people, and he goes,
Speaker 1: it's like, if you're a pilot and they keep telling you, Okay,
Speaker 1: you're the best pilot, go fly the plane, go fly
Speaker 1: the plane, but you're also a great personality. You could
Speaker 1: be a great flight attendant. Go to this. Well, eventually
Speaker 1: the plane's gonna crash because you don't figure out who's
Speaker 1: the pilot and who's the flight attendant. Yeah, And so
Speaker 1: that's how he feels right now, is that he doesn't
Speaker 1: know how he is going to be best utilized if
Speaker 1: they've picked up his option, though, too. That's a pretty
Speaker 1: big commitment right there, to saying, Okay, we're gonna try
Speaker 1: and figure it out whatever whatever. If you're the pilot
Speaker 1: of the stewardess, we're going to figure out which one
Speaker 1: you are by picking up his option, I wonder if
Speaker 1: there is some confidence that he can get from having
Speaker 1: a guy like Richard come in who has a track record, legion,
Speaker 1: a boom. I know what I'm looking for. I scouted
Speaker 1: you at Yukon coming out of the draft as a
Speaker 1: corner I know exactly how to use you. Maybe he's
Speaker 1: gonna trust in that and we'll see how it goes.
Speaker 1: Minor standing is they're going to play the technique at
Speaker 1: the corner in man differently from inside hip to outside
Speaker 1: hip or outside hip to inside hip, which may be
Speaker 1: more conducive for him playing on the outside. Hey, he
Speaker 1: knew what he was the last two years. He was
Speaker 1: a safety, right, and they moved him into the slot right. So,
Speaker 1: and the problem to me was when he went into
Speaker 1: the slot because Orlando Scandrick didn't want to play, then
Speaker 1: you got Cavon Frazier deep and single safety. Right that
Speaker 1: that can happen again, No, you know, it's got to
Speaker 1: either be Jeff Heath or Xavier Woods. But again they
Speaker 1: needed Xavier Woods to go into the slot. See, I
Speaker 1: don't know what Xavier Woods is with this organization. He's
Speaker 1: been bouncing around since he got here. You're right, I
Speaker 1: don't I don't quite know what his you know, well,
Speaker 1: he you know we've got You've got a couple of
Speaker 1: guys that potentially could be slot corners. When you talk
Speaker 1: about Lewis Brown, Xavier Woods was your slot corner last
Speaker 1: five games of the season. Where does his role now?
Speaker 1: Is he gonna be a true free safety? I don't
Speaker 1: know if you play him down. I don't know if
Speaker 1: he's physical enough to play down in the box area.
Speaker 1: I think Heath plays down. Is Xavier Woods is at
Speaker 1: free safety? Yeah, and then Lewis and and Anthony Brown
Speaker 1: are your slot guys. But she talked. He talked to
Speaker 1: people in the organization. They'll tell you though, they like
Speaker 1: Jeff Heath playing deep where he can break on ball,
Speaker 1: where he can run. That he doesn't get to use
Speaker 1: his quickness and his burst when he plays down. So
Speaker 1: somebody play him deep and let him run. That's that
Speaker 1: was their play. Well, if you look at how Rashard
Speaker 1: has played his defense in Seattle, yeah, they play a
Speaker 1: lot of single safety high. So if that's Jeff Heath, fine,
Speaker 1: and that frees up the other guys. What does that
Speaker 1: do for Xavier Woods If you're putting him down in
Speaker 1: the box and he's not opening the other the other
Speaker 1: maybe they play more dying and he put him in.
Speaker 1: See that's where Marinelli we had this discussion. Marinilli doesn't
Speaker 1: want to play a bunch of dime. I mean he is,
Speaker 1: he said, he goes it give me an opportunity to
Speaker 1: play more nickel is what he wants might be their strength. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean I was gonna say dime would be their
Speaker 1: strength making well, if you have enough corners that can
Speaker 1: also play the run. When we talk to him after practice,
Speaker 1: he felt like he was playing too much dime and
Speaker 1: it felt like it hurt him. He says, if I
Speaker 1: could play more nickel, I want to do that because
Speaker 1: that means that's that helps him in the running game
Speaker 1: as well. So then is that a personnel issue? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you got to use what's best, what you've got to
Speaker 1: work with. Yeah, and you hope Sean Lee is on
Speaker 1: the field. Yeah, yes, Sean Lee can never leave that field. No,
Speaker 1: we've realized that very thoroughly. Well, maybe they've got a
Speaker 1: possibility now if Jalen Smithkin playing vander Esh is what
Speaker 1: he is, yeah, um, then maybe you have a possibility there.
Speaker 1: The best thing that Vanderesh can do in my opinion,
Speaker 1: guys is cover. That's the best. That's his best trait
Speaker 1: that I saw on tape. Now can he develop this
Speaker 1: stuff the instincts and you know if he's you know,
Speaker 1: watching Sean Lee. You know the one thing Shan Lee
Speaker 1: doesn't get blocked because he knows okay formation, balls going
Speaker 1: that way, I going, you know that kind of thing.
Speaker 1: So that's where that's where Layton vanderesh. He can't be
Speaker 1: like slow reading. You got to read fast and flow
Speaker 1: and get out of there so you don't get blocked.
Speaker 1: If you can maintain that ability you used to maintain
Speaker 1: that separation, then you're going to make a lot of plays.
Speaker 1: I'm feeling very happy to see the foot brace off
Speaker 1: of Jalen Smith as well, So yes, Sat, we'll see
Speaker 1: how long that lasts. But if that's a separate right direction,
Speaker 1: I mean when he was when he was hitting in
Speaker 1: that home run derby, he didn't have any problem with
Speaker 1: planting his left foot and swinging, so that's a good sign.
Speaker 1: So we'll see. But again, it's getting back to playing football. Yeah, um,
Speaker 1: it's almost time to go out. You know what. I
Speaker 1: double checked the elusive light pull too. By the way,
Speaker 1: this morning. You are good, you're and I still can't
Speaker 1: find one that's gotten done in it. No skyblue pet
Speaker 1: curve of sky blue paint either. We're gonna have to
Speaker 1: find that, all right. Well, it is May twenty second,
Speaker 1: twenty eighteen, and if you guys are listening, that means
Speaker 1: that where the start of OT is. So this episode
Speaker 1: in particular will be so fascinating for us to go
Speaker 1: back and listen to because there's a lot of talk,
Speaker 1: a lot of speculation, and we just gotta sea some
Speaker 1: football being played. So next time we talk to you
Speaker 1: guys next week, we will have watched an OTA practice.
Speaker 1: We will have more answers for you and join us. Then,
Speaker 1: Thank you guys so much, and thank you Douglas for
Speaker 1: manning the production in there. We will be back next week.
Speaker 1: This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com
Speaker 1: and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.