Cowboys Break: Camp at Home

but we do have Buddy Brookes here with us. He he's a former scow. He's an analyst for the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys. He's been writing scouting reports for us for a while now. And you know, welcome to the show. How are you doing, Thanks for having me, Thanks for having me. How's everything? You know? And also Bucky played for the Green Bay Packers and played when Brian brought Us was there. Brought Us was a scout. There isn't that to connected you guys? Have you you

were there at the same time. Yeah, we were there at the same time. So Brian brought Us was working in the pro department when I was scouting, so I was there from ninety five to ninety seven, parts of three seasons, and so I've pass initially cross then and then we always maintain some kind of relationship there after. Real that's awesome. We are gonna get to some of your scouting report, because you've been scouting all of these guys that are coming into the teams, the new guys,

the free agents that are coming on. So I do want to get into that in a bit. But before we get into cowboys stuff, I mean, there is something that we cannot just be blindsided by everything that's been happening around the world currently and in the United States, and it's a very very tough situation, and I just wanted to bring it up here a little bit, just so we don't act like nothing is happening in the world.

It's a very tough situation with everything, and from my stand, I know that everyone has different opinions, and from my end, you know, being part of a minority group, I see what is happening. I feel what it's happening, and I just want to say from me, I am doing everything that I can to support to sit back, listen and then take action and educate myself. I don't know, if you guys want to speak on your own, behalf. But so right now, I think it's a it's a moment

to really come together and be one. Yeah, that's well said. You know. I think that you know, in life, everybody has different agenda and and you know you can tell that they people want certain things for certain reasons. And in this case, in my opinion, I think we all should have the same agend on this one. This is uh, you know, this isn't just one person's problem. This isn't just one person's fight. It's it's it's all of our issues,

all of our fights. And and I know that, you know, I had to come full circle with that as well, and I had to. I've had some discussions with people and it kind of helped open my eyes a little bit about how much voice, uh that everybody has, uh, including you know myself, Dave and people of the majority, because those are the people, in my opinion, again, those are the people that are really going to help UH

make a change. So um, you know, and again I know that we're here to talk football, but but like she said, this is bigger than football. Well now, I mean it's bigger than football, but it's obviously, you know, football around just like everything else in this country. I don't know if y'all saw this. Literally, maybe ten minutes before our show went on the air, Dak Brethcott made a public statement about your avoid about racial injustice in America.

He's pledging a million dollars to police training and in fighting cinematic racism. So, I mean, whether whether you want to hear it or not, football is part of this, uh, And I mean Dak is one of countless figures in football that have spoken out about this, and there's no way to avoid it. Nobody should be trying to avoid it. You know. If that's not something you want to hear, I'm sorry about it. But but that's that is the fever pitch that this issue has reached in our country,

and it's irresponsible to avoid it at this point. I think what you're seeing in locker rooms across the country, you're seeing guys who kind of are shed lightning their experiences, and many of them have shared experiences because unfortunately, sometimes being young, rich, famous, um, it doesn't protect you from some of the things that you may encounter out in the world. And I think because of the platforms that athletes have they are the ones who can kind of

drive and enact change. And Nick and I had a conversation offline where we were talking about like part of the reason why we're seeing so many of these things, and like the pandemic and everyone being home and videos and seeing those things, Like we're being exposed to a lot of things that we probably would pass by in our normal circumstance, but because sports has halted and everything else has kind of hit the pause budding, we're being

exposed to more of these things. I think the good thing out of all of it, We're seeing that the huddle responds in kind. We're seeing players of all races and ethnicities come out and talk about those things. And so even though something negative has happened, I believe something positive, a greater good is going to happen out of all of it. And I think sports has wanted to be the driver force of that change. You know, and I know that, and Bucket is the first time you joined

our show. But if you know David Helmett at all, you know he's a huge LSU, huge LSU fan, and a huge fan of Joe Burrow. I think Joe Burrow got a lot more people that aren't just Bengals or LSU fans over the last few days, because it is going to be people like him to to speak up like he did, um just just the other day, and so you know, I was proud of him for doing that. You know, he could say, I'm just a rookie trying

to figure myself out. This is about that, This is about you know, this is about humanity, and he you know, I have applaud him for that. I'm a fan of his even more now, Um, just just for for doing that and taking that platform that he has. And to those listening right now, I just encourage everyone to just educate yourself, listen, put yourself in other people's shoes, and just just be patient, patient and willing to have these

kind of of conversations. And while I know this is a lot bigger than football, I also know that a lot of people are very stressed. There's a lot of bad things happening right now, and you guys do want to take a little break from that and just kind of vent and get away from from all this craziness. So we are going to talk about the Cowboys and football right now. One of the recent news that came out this week was that the NFL is having teams

hold their training camps at home. So the Cowboys most likely I don't know how official this has been, but these are the reports. The Cowboys most likely will not be able to go to auction our California. I know there have been there have been changes at the facility. You know, there is a field that was taken away with some constructions in Frisco. I just wanted to talk with you guys and just kind of get your thoughts on how this whole thing might affect how the Cowboys

have been doing their training camp for the past few years. Well, for starters, uh, you know, they like to be outdoors. They like to you know, get some get some work done out there, and so you can't really do that in Texas in late July in August. I mean you can, uh you know that you did that in which Stoffball. That's why I have a job, is because they decided to do that in which stop fall. But I don't

think they'll do that very often. Um, you just want more space, more field, and so being out and out started gives them the sunshine, gives them the great weather. But more importantly It gives them two grass fields that they can practice on, and I think that's that's one thing that they're certainly not going to have. Um, you know here is being able to be outdoors as much. Yes, you have an indoor facility, but it's one field and

it's it's harder to get a lot of work done. Um. Yes, they do it during the season, but they don't have ninety players during the season. Yeah. I think most football coaches, and you played football at a high level, you can speak to this. I would imagine you don't want to practice on an artificial field for a month. I don't. It doesn't you know, people talk about it being bad for your legs. I'm not. I'm not convinced they would

want to do that. But it does propose a challenge of if you're going to practice doors on natural grass, they're gonna have to do it early in the morning or in the evening, because I don't see that happening in the middle of the day, that's for sure. It's it's it's going to be a different challenge, for sure, and I do wonder how they'll work through it. I was in Kansas City when Mike McCarthy was the quarterback

coach there. He's taken on some of the things that Marty Schottenheimer's done in terms of like physicality, toughness being a big part of the program. However, with the limited space and some of the issues that you're fighting against, like your guys not being in the off season program, your guys haven't been around, so you really don't know what level of shape and conditioning they're going to report, and I think it will be different. I think what you see is a mix of OTAs and some of

those offseason workout practices and normal training camp practices. It also came down that teams won't be able to have joint practices, So I think the teams that work smarter, not necessarily harder, will be the teams that benefit from this. Mike McCarthy has already said that he has he had contingency plans if they didn't go to Oxnard, they had a schedule, and so I think that will work out. One thing that Dave you alluded to was they may need to go early. I would expect that if they're

going outside, you may see different. You may see them go out at six am so they can get to work in early before the heat of the day and then come back and follow that up with meetings. And they're like, they have to get outside, they have to get accommitted to the conditions. They want to utilize the field space, but they're gonna have to do it in a different way, but be open to the media six am.

And if so, Dave, my first thought, I'm like that not better not be happening, you know, I mean, I don't you know, we don't have to talk about the logistics of doing our jobs here. I'm sure people don't want to hear that. But I mean, if if the Cowboys want to help me get a hotel room at the hotel at the Star, I'll cover a six am practice.

I don't really want to. I don't want to commute all the way across town, but you know, maybe if I can, if I can sell, if I can set up shop upstairs from the field, that would be great. You know, you know what one thing to consider. We we look at the situation like we've, like, you know, from from our own we know where they practice, and but not every I wouldn't say not every team. I don't think any other team has a high school stadium. Actually,

as their indoor facility. What's that many fans? So what? Basically, by telling all the teams that you're going to be practicing or having training camp at home without saying it, you're saying that there will absolutely be no fans, or at least for those teams that can't do it. I mean, I think that that was probably already in place, but I think just by that state, Malone means there's no way that they're they're gonna allow that to happen because

most teams don't have the ability there. It'll be interesting every time we do that last part of training camp back in Frisco. I always think, I'm like, how is this possible? When we're backing ox and our two fields and and they're all spread. I mean, there are so many guys and it just takes over the whole place. So it's gonna be interesting for sure to see how McCarthy handles everything. Maybe split the teams, you know, have the defense be outside for a while offense inside. I

don't know, We'll see how they work that out. Were you gonna say something, I'm sorry, I was just gonna say I can tell you one one person or a group of people that you know this is going to really benefit in a negative way is the rehab guys. The guys that that will be out there. You know, they always take goal on a side field and working on you know kneeds and and and ankle rehabs, Britt Brown and that team. And you know, by in this case,

they're gonna be outside. They're gonna be doing that probably on the graphs in a hundred degree weather or whatever. So you know, unless they are at six am or whatever. But you know, it's just it's just a space issue. We saw it when we were in San Antonio over the you know, forty years and you couldn't go outside out there, and they really didn't have field to do that, and you know, they made it work, but you know, it's it's it's difficult for sure. Space the space issue

will be something that you have to consider. Also, Like what's different than I guess when they were in San Antonio, Like now they have really tight time restraints, Like I think you have maybe four or four and a half hours from the time that you step onto the field for that initial walkthrough. Um, that's all the time that you have. And so I just wonder how creative they can get with their practices, particularly with all the young

guys who haven't been exposed to the system. Will we see separate walkthroughs for the rookies and the fringe players where you have walkthrough with the red the guys, maybe a practice with the team, and then after all that's done, almost like a small section practice for the young guys to get them up to speed, because the young guys haven't had the benefit of rocky minicamp otias and they'll like and so you have to find a way to kind of rush those reps so you can count on

some of those young guys, Digs and Robinson, and those guys are being counted on to play, and so some way, shape or form, you have to get them ready. They don't have to figure out a way to get it done. It's a really interesting point because I mean, you know,

it kind of gets lost in the shuffle. But even during OTA's and during the time of year when you're doing teaching sessions, like the rookies typically stay later than everybody, like they go through afternoon walk throughs, they have extra meetings obviously because the vets don't need it as much. It seems likely that the rookies aren't going to have a chance to do any of that until training camp

starts whenever. That is, so, yeah, that's that's gonna be a lot of getting up to speed that they have to help those guys with. I've had go ahead, Nick, I just said, we had some mail bag questions about veteran versus rookies and who's going to have an advantage, you know, making rosters, and it just doesn't seem like, like,

you know, it's even close right now. I mean, I you know, there will be veterans that have that upper hand because they understand terminology, they understand schemes and concepts way more than than rookies. Didn't mean, if you're a high draft pick, obviously you're gonna bank the team. But you know, I think it is going to be a challenge for an undrafted rookie to really make a splash because they they're gonna have to do all their work at training camp and they haven't had this offseason to

really start turning aheads. I mean, I think of Luke Gifford. Luke Gifford, by the time we got the training camp, he was a guy we already kind of like to see what he's done. At this point, these rooks, undrafted rookies haven't really done anything, and it'd be interesting, Nick, you bring rookies and guys trying to get contributions. I think this year, more than any of the other year, you have to pay close attention to the practice squad.

The practice squad has to be a true developmental squad in a vehicle that teams used to get better during

the season. So the practice squad guys may not be impactful the first half of the year, but I think what you may see guys stashed on the practice squad that are getting extra reps during the regular season on the side, after practices are done week eight, week nine, week ten, you will then begin to see those guys kind of sprinkled into the lineup because now they're ready to understand the offense and defensive scheme and they're ready

to make contributions. I wanted to ask you since you guys have been talking about these rookies and younger guys, Bucky, you've been doing scounting reports on a lot of these guys, and I'll just wanted to ask you, after watching so much film of each one of them, guys, who would be a guy. Do you have somebody that's what do you guys call it? Pet? Yeah? Hey, guy who would be?

Who would be a guy for you that has to toot out for you know, while you've been watching all this film, any is the guy rather they Adni is the guy that people need to pay attention to rather or not for whatever reason, um fail down the charts. But like, he's a fifth round pick who has big time talent and Dallas has traditionally hit on guys like in those stages. To think about Bradley and I that makes him a guy that could pop. He plays with

a tremendous motor uh. He has natural rush skills. He has a violent temperament on the field and that kind of plays really well. Also with Mike Nolan coming over and the hybrid scheme that they're going to use, he is a perfect fit to kind of feel one of those boys as a stand up player that plays off

the edge. And if you know anything, and I don't know how many Utah players have been on Cowboys rosters in the past, but typically when you get a Utah player, you get except one that's physical, is someone that's tough and kind of gets it because they practice and play in a manner this pro life. I think he's gonna be a guy there from day one. He's going to

flash right away in Utah. Anything close to Boysie States program, I know it's close in geography, because if so, we do have a good idea about Boysie State players, like

like like those schools Boise State, Utah, Fresno State. For the longest time, like they just had guys that just kind of made it when you step as a scout on the practice feeling and watched them go like it was all business um at Firstno State in particular, they used to talk about anytime anywhere, they did not care, like if you want to strap it on, they were ready to go. Utah operates in a similar manner. You've seen a bunch of Utah guys had success in the pros.

Radley and I like gets and when we watched him at the Ceni Bowl, he was unblockable coming off the edge against high level players. I think in this scheme, in this system, I think he's going to be a guy that is really really, really good play. Now I'm

racking my brain. I don't I don't think the Cowboys have had a Utah guy at least not a you know, a notable name in the time that I've covered the team, But I mean you talk, yeah, going all the way through the draft process back to last summer, that Utah defense was so impressive. You know, five or six guys off that Unich got drafted. They're so physical, nasty, fun

to watch. Uh yeah, I'm I'm really excited about about Bradley and I winn in here some physical toughness, especially after last draft, winning some guys that can come in here with you. You hate this defense so much, like it's it's just going over Yeah, no, no, no, I don't hate it all These guys gotta be tougher, gotta hit it, hit it, you know. And like I said, especially after what we saw from last draft, I think that a lot of people might probably will you agree

with me. You need guys that are able to come in and actually be bringing something to the table, and not some people that you completely forget about last year. The only person I kept reminded myself that I could remember their name was Tony Poller. Other than that, I would have to be like, who did with draft again? So don't mistake me. Everybody agrees with you. Like after every show, everybody's in my mentions talking about how you speak for the fans. So you're act like you're a

hundred percent right. Started sweating. I already started sweating. I get so emotional. I know we're Here's the thing that is different, And like Mike McCarthy talked about it in the opening for us, and when you talked about players over system, when you let the system lead, sometimes what you do is you boca is good players to get guys to kind of fit the system and it can work,

but you really got to hit on those things. When you go with players and then you tailor the system around what the players do, you have a better chance of getting it to work. Also, the way they're changing the defense from being kind of like what i'll call a simple system where we're single high safety. They lined up and we're gonna do what we do. It doesn't matter what you do. We're just gonna be better than you.

Like that's great when you have superior talent, and for whatever reason, it didn't work last year for the Cowboys. This year, Mike Nolan has talked about being multiple, being complex given the quarterback different looks and when you look at the acquisitions the guys that they've acquired, not only in the draft but in free agency, you have more guys that can do multiple things and play multiple roles.

The challenge will be, can Mike Nolan make it simple enough that guys can grasp it quickly so they can put it into play on the field. That would be the only thing that I'd be worried about it. I'll be paying attention to looking at training again. Well, let's let's go to a quick break right now. When we come back, well a little different into that because I know a lot of people are still asking about the four three four, which one is it? So I wanted

to get y'all input in that once again. And then we have a lot of questions from the fence to answer on here when we come back. Your new apartment's big, such a great deal. It's okay, just okay, right above the subway. Well, I bet you don't even notice it after that's my neighbor. Ange the deal. That's just okay, it's not okay. Get a great deal with America's best network. Come into an AT and T store to find out

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best value. So the next time you're craving this, download the Sea Geek app and let's go seek. Ladies and gentlemen, It's that time again for tailgating with the Auterbox Boys. Autterbox, the company that builds wildly overproductive phone cases. The one and only, but cases are just the start. Auterbox is the official outfitter of tailgating. If they can keep my phone safe, what can they do for my parking lot party? How about protecking your beverages from suboptimal drinking temperatures with

their elevation tumblers. An Auterbox elevation tumblers come in three sizes, a ten ouncer, a twenty ouncer, and even a sixty four ounce growler. Check out all the colors and sizes of their elevation tumblers at utterbox dot com. Back to the break, Welcome back, guys. We have Bucky Bruks joining us in today's show. Hopefully he can answer this big question that a lot of fense want to know. What is this defense gonna be at three four four three? Which one is it? I don't know why people care

so much, honestly, but just go ahead. I'm gonna let you go ahead and speak about it too, hopefully and bring some reason into this whole mess. Michelan said it's gonna be a hybrid, but given Mike Nolan's history, he excused heavily towards a three four defense, and the only change really they need a big They needed more size upfront to be able to do a three four because ideally, what you want in a three four your best players are your lie back, So whoever they doesn't as the linebackers.

So if they dubbed DeMarcus Lawrence as an edge player and a linebacker, Alden Smith, Randy Gregory, whoever plays on the other side, they'll be a linebacker. The two inside linebackers, Jaylen Smith and Lady vander Esh those guys. The region need bigger guys inside, Gerald McCoy and Port Pope because you want them to clog up blockers so they can run and chase. You want a free lv and Jaylen Smith to be able to just run and chase and go. Really,

Seaball get ball on the edges. What you're trying to do and the reason it's beneficial to being at a three four, You're trying to get your best pass rusher on a running back or a tied end, and to think about the three four is you can move and stunt and create some five man fronts where the offense has to leave one of those guys on one of your better rushers. Mike Nolan has played this defense in the past with Terrell Sugs in Baltimore and created opportunities

for them to get a gang of sacks. The Marcus Lawrence will get a number of one on one opportunities. Now only gets tackles, but they can configure the defense to give him a chance to get one on ones with running backs. If a pass for rushers one on one with a back equals a sack. And so I think what you'll see is more blitzing, more chaos, more disruption up front. They should need more turnables. I agree with that. And I really think that, you know, we've

said this Bucky before, the Jalen Smith. Figuring out how to use Jalen Smith in the right way is a very high priority, or should be a high priority for um, you know, Mike Nolan and this defense. And I think a three fourth scheme putting him in Layton kind of right in the middle, there's not a lot of coverage to be asked for those guys, you know, I think that's exactly where Jalen needs to be. Yeah. With Jalen, like if you go all the way back to when he was playing at Notre Dame, he was so much

more than just a side on the sideline line. They would blitz him. They would incorporate him as part of the pass rush well in the three or four defense. One of the benefits of being in the three or four you have three down linement, but you have four stand up players, and any of those stand up players can go on a given down to create either a four man pressure which is called a simulated pressure, or

you bring two. You now have a blitz. So in theory, you could bring the Marcus Lawrence and Jayalen Smith from the same side. You can bring all the Smith from one side, Jailen from the other side. It just gives you a lot of flexibility. And even when they go into their nickel package, which may have a four man front, there's just so many creative things that you can do

when you add in the blitz pressures. But a lot of that will be dependent upon how will can they cover in the end, Because if you can cover well in the back end, then you can do more stuff, more aggressive stuff in the front end. That's that's where I keep landing, which is why I like I agree with Amber's It's funny to me that people are clamoring for clarity so much because that's exactly what everybody was so sick of under the last coaching staff. Liked Marinelli

is going to play a four three front. They're gonna do this, the pass rushers are gonna get up a field. It's the same thing all the time, and people were sick of it. I love the fact that we don't one hundred percent know what this is going to look like. Like, I hope Alton Smith and to Marcus Lawrence do stand up from time to time. I hope they put their hands down in a four to three front. I hope Jalen Smith rushes off the edge in addition to playing linebacker.

Like I hope all that stuff is true. That's why like hybrid. The word hybrid really excites me. I hope that they're as versatile as I think they can be because they have so many crazy athletes. I mean, you're both of your defensive facules can play in both types of fronts. Layton vander esh and John Smith are two of the most athletic linebackers in the entire league. They can do a number of different things. Obviously have very

versatile pass rushers. We've talked about how you know Tyrone Crawford can do everything from four to three end to four three tackle to three to four end. There's so much versatility, Like, if you're not doing a little bit of everything, then I'm not sure you're capitalizing on your talent.

So I'm really excited. We don't know for sure what it's going to look like, because it could look like a lot of stuff, maybe a bunch of stuff up front, Like the versatility did they have because and studying the roster and studying the lineup, You're right, Tyron Crawford is the wild card. Because Tyron Crawford started at end, but he can kick down the side of be a three, four or five. He plays over the shoulder of the tackle.

You have Poe and McCoy that can bleed the zero and the three technique, the nose tackle and the jump tackle, and then you got to stand up players. But where it really can become funky for teams facing them. The creativity that they now have with the safeties, how Clinton Dix maybe with being able to play what we call

split safety coverage. If you go back and the classic yes to you when everybody loved the Cowboys in the mid nineties, they played a lot of quarters, meaning that if you basically just divvy up the field and quarters the corners at the outside quarters of the field, the

safety plays the inside quarters. Well. Now with how high Clinton Dix and was being able to kind of rock and roll and play some man coverage and do some of those things, you now can have the nine man fronts against the run, but you can play quarters coverage

in the back end. And the other part of that, you can play quarter quarter half, which means that when they're facing the teams in the NFC East, and if there's a stud wide receiver, they can now roll up and basically double team that side and the other corner can play man to man. It is almost the old Dion Sanders defense. If they have a corner that stands out, you leave him locked up on the outside by himself. You roll the other way, and you dare the quarterback

to find the third option. If the Cowboys can evolve to that kind of defense while bringing pressure man, you're able to suffocate opponents with the different schemes that might go that wants to bring and I know that smirk. Okay, so I can get exactly no if you have and let's just say it at the same time because we're both we're both asking the question, which cornerback do you trust to lockdown inside of the field, Who's Deon Sanders?

And this equation that that sounds great. That's like I keep hearing a lot of people say with the last dance, you know, who's who's the Scottie Pippen of the Cowboys. I'm like, who's the Michael Jordans, Like who's the Phil Jackson? Like, you know, who's the Deon Sanders of this? Okay, So think of it this way because a lot of times when we think about the Dion Sanders theory, we think

about Dion taking on the number one receiver. Would flip your mom, put the corner on the number two guy, double team number one, and forced them to throw the number three. So, whoever emerges as your top corner, don't put them on the other team's best guy. Put them on the worst guy, double team the best guy, and dare the third guy on offense to be the guy that has to beat you. That's how you play the defence. Nineteen nine Befour NFC Championship Game, That's exactly what the

forty nine ers did. That's what they did, They double team to Michael. Michael had a huge get day and Dion just shut down Harper and then they Kevin Williams had to try to be the other guy and it didn't work. That's exactly the theory there. So yeah, it'll be interesting to see, you know, but it's it's kind of funny how it's all connected. How the tackles need to help the linebackers, and how the safeties can play

this and the corners. It takes everyone, you know, they say that all the time to take to all eleven and it really doesn't that defense. To go back to the point about versatility, and I'm not trying to convince anybody that they're the legion of Boom. We have no idea how good or bad this secondary could be, but I am really intrigued by how versatile it is, just in terms of the skill sets. I mean, we know Anthony Brown and Jordin Lewis can both play inside and outside.

You know, we're we speculated plenty about you know, they might want to move Cheeto to safety or Reggie Robinson has some safety flex. People forget exact Woods slot corner as a rookie, and how high. Clinton Dix has also played a number of different spots. You know, I don't believe he's played a ton of corner, but he's handled multiple responsibilities as a safety. So yeah, a lot of guys that can do a lot of stuff. Yea, Worley's

played safety and corner as well, for sure. Yeah. So now the beauty of that the coverage and what we're talking about, so whether it's quarter, quarter, half, but whether it's just true quarters. So the thing that you saw in the offseason, the guys that they brought over Digs and Robinson's long versatile in terms of being able to play press, bill and off they get their hands on

the ball. Then in Worly the same thing. So in theory Mike Nolan has talked about, Look, we want to put the guys in a situation where they do when they do really well. But the thing about quarters, you can play quarters pressed like they used to way back when jim Base was to decorded. I mean, Jimmy Johnson and all those guys were there. They locked up and

they did things. But you also can walk those guys out and let them vision on the quarterback and if the pass rush is really good, they get their interceptions off tips and overthrows. So depending on how much pressure they can create at the line of scrimmage, that can dictate the number of interceptions. To get more interceptions, you have to play more zone because your cornerbacks have to have their vision on the quarterback and see the ball come out when you play man to man like Byron

Jones did. The reason why he didn't get a lot of interceptions, his back is always to the quarterback. Those guys get breakups, not interceptions. Mike Nolan has talked about we need interceptions, we need picks, We got to have turnovers. We have to have those things. He is going to play so they can see the ball come out. A little more zone, a little more stuff that gives his

guys an opportunity to get those takeaways. Startling how rarely Cowboys defensive backs played the ball, you know, in the last couple of years of Rod mary Elly's tenure. I think it's it's probably one of the top five complaints from fans and media about the way the Cowboys played

over the last few years. So yeah, I mean, it's exciting to think that they might unleash these guys a little bit well, and another thing is I remember last year when we were about to face the Patriots, and I remember asking you guys, I'm like, okay, what makes the Patriots so good? And one of the things that you guys talked about was the fact that they change things up every week based on their opponent. So to me, when you talked about, okay, what are you? What kind

of defense are you? Why do you need to be defined by something? Why can't you just change it? I mean, as in football. I've never played football, but how hard is it to change it every week depending who your opponent is? And hopefully you can comment on that as a former player, because I haven't been on the field plane, but really, how hard is it to switch it up? Hey? So hey, Kate, I'm sorry. I don't want to Jeff Bucky because you're gonna have a better answer than me.

But I'll say this that Bill Belichick didn't just do this overnight. When he is looking at players, he's not just looking at forty times and all that. He's looking at guys that are smart, that can understand concepts, understand a lot of teams. Just say give me, oh he ran a four to eight. I got him where this guy ran a four to four. But he's a very intelligent player. He's very versatile. He understands teams and so he can he can make a change on a Tuesday

and Wednesday in the middle of the week. As we've had players on this team. I don't want to name names pit players on this team for eight or nine years that could never, never really play a different position, and so that stuff matters, and you have to have the players that can adapt. That's that's a great point, nick Um. With the Patriots, they always if you look at him, they always skew towards veterans players. Why because

veteran players aren't experienced, they played in dolt systems. It's easier for them to get adjustments on the fly because they've been exposed to a lot. When you have young players, sometimes it's hard to overload them with a bunch of different changes and adjustments because as they're thinking, they can't really play with the Cowboys. And Mike Nolan said this, He's like, if you want to create takeaways, you have to get guys that have a history of taking the

ball away. So you gotta look in the background. As college players, did they get their hands on the ball, on the ball, and as collegiance, Brian Jones didn't get his hands on the ball a lot when he played at Yukon. So to expect him to be a high turnover guy, that's an unreasonable expectation because he's not going to play like that. When you look at Raggy Robinson, he has seven picks. He saw digs. He has seven or eight picks in his career. You've seen those guys

come down with interception. So you understand, Oh, these guys can catch the ball. Maybe they played wide receiver, they understand it. The thing that is the challenge in trying to do a lot of different stuff, what can your players handle? And so Mike Nolan, without the benefit of an off season, he's going to have to experiment. The first quarter of the season may look ugly on defense while he's trying to figure out what guys can handle

and process and do. And then as he narrows their focus and says, Okay, we can play this handful of coverage and stuff. We're just gonna major in that. That is the trick. Mary Nelly and Christophe Shart, they tried to say, hey, we're only gonna do this so you're gonna do it over and over and get good at it. It can work. It didn't work last year. But for Nolan to be able to pull this off, he's gonna have to have a clear understanding the words guys can

handle from a middle standpoint. All right, So what I got from that is just get smarter and more experienced players. What I got from that whole thing. But but you've seen that though you saw them, they got a worldly they got makes sense, makes sense. They brought Kennedy over Tray Digs played in the system that was multiple at Alabama. You can say the same for what Robinson playing in Tulsa. They're used to playing in systems that require them to

do a lot of thinking, a lot of changing and adjusting. Well, we are about to go to break here in a couple of minutes, but real quick, before we go to break, I did want to ask you about the free agent guys. Well, you talked about the rookies and the guys that you've done all these count and reports on, But what would be a free agent veteran guy that has caught your eye. It's important free agent that they sign. Maybe Cameron Irving and the reason why is he's a jack of all trades.

He can play all five positions along the offensive line. In the case of an injury, he could be the swing player that has to go up and play. And because he can play anywhere from left tackle, guard, center, guard, outside, he is a very valuable player. And it's one of those signings that everyone will kind of shrug their shoulders in the off season, but when you get to the mix down the stretch week ten eleven, when you have injuries, having a player that can do a bunch of different

things could be a huge asset. He is a very very valuable piece that they brought off. That's not the guy I was expecting you to say, And so that's interesting. And you're right though, Joe Looney was that guy. He was that backup to two or three spots, and if he has to start now, tamer and Irving is a guy you want your backup lineman. Even though they've changed the rules that you have to have eight guys active, you still would like to have a guy that can

do multiple things like that. I think that's that's a great point. I was expecting. I was trying to figure out which defensive guy you were going to throw out I thought, I thought you might say Kennedy. Honestly, I think he's an unforgotten player because he is going to be a key core member to the special teams. Murray's cannedy. He absolutely he has to be. They have to be

better in special teams. And here's the thing. Without OTAs and all the things, you cannot put young guys on special teams because early in the year you'll see a block punt, you see a punt return, you see a kickover return, something that ultimately decides the game. You need to have veteran players that really want to be special teamers on your special teams. He is a core player. I think he should ultimately emerge as a special team's captain. His ability to make plays in the kicking game could

deside a game or two. And so keep your eye on him and figure out which other guys that are backup players can emerge and really make solid contributions to the kicking game. Which you know, that's it's ironic, like I'll eat some robe as a as a as a writer, like you go back a few years, we used to kind of dog the Cowboys when when Richstacchio was the special teams coordinator like he had like seven guys who you know, the core special teamers like didn't do anything else.

And you're like, you know, whether it was Kyle Wilber, James Hannah, Jeff Heath before he got the nod to be a starter, We're like, how many with Andrew gash Cars another one? Absolutely are like, how many of these guys that don't play offense or defense do you need? Well, they all left and joined rich in Oakland and the Cowboys special teams got really that so maybe the answer

is you do need a handful of those fantasies. And I'll say, well, say that it's about about last year's staff and our last year's special teams as they were not good. We know that it's been documented, but one of the problems they had was they had a little bit of an issue at the coaching staff of coaches that wanted their players to be focused on a position and not special teams. It wasn't an all in, buy

in situation. There was too many players that were not starting that were like, I don't want to play special teams. That's a problem. Darren Woodson played special teams for about ten years and he was a starter for every one of his seasons except for the first one. So it's a mindset that's got to be you know, it's got to be changed too. And that starts at the top. That starts at the top. You talk about Darren Woodson, all those the other with Jimmy Johnson, they put their starters.

Every starter has to play on at least one special team as a starter. So your defensive starters tend to be played on put team because they got to go down and cover in tackling. This very important, not to

flip the field. You have defensive starters own kickoff and in return, like it has to be a very important part and to make the roster, it has to be one of those things that early in training camp your head coach has to stand up there and say like, look, we may have twenty two starters, but the rest of you guys for you to make it, you have to be able to make special teams contributions and eventually work

your way as a backup. Special teams buys you time to earn the right to be a rotational player as an offensive or defensive player. But special teams has to matter, and because you have arguably the best special teams coach in football coming over. You can best believe that the Cowboys special teams are going to be good with bones

falls so taken over. Thank you so much, Bunky. I know you gotta get moving and go do some other things, and we do need to take a break, so thank you so much for joining us today and bringing in some of your wisdom, because Derek doesn't bring wisdom so all of the time. So thank you. Hi, guys, Let's take a break and then we'll keep that we keep going with the shows. We do have some questions that you guys have been sending it and we'll get to them right after the break. I want to use what

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for the Dallas Cowboys. Back in the day. I was the guy who always got the tough yards, and that's why I run with John Deer today. In fact, I have a John Dear three zero twenty five E tractor that can handle any yard work I need to do, even the tough yards way out back. So if you have one acre or a thousand, John Deer has the equipment that's just right for you. Visit a John Deer dealer today and run with us. We are the official tractor provider of your Dallas Cowboys. Your new apartment's big,

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questions that you guys have been sent. And this first question is kind of long, so just better with me. With the possibility of an even higher octane offense this next season, how do you see the Boys using Tony Polar will McCarthy using in more creative packages? Is he a bigger receiving threat out of the backfield than Zeke? Okay, answer that last part. Yes, I think so. I mean I think he's more dynamic in space and with the ball in his hands. I think he's got better home

run speed. So yeah, absolutely, And it kind of goes back to the whole question about you know, the defense is like, I mean, I haven't seen anything. I don't know, but I really hope so. And I trust Mike McCarthy's track record because what they did with Tony last year just wasn't good enough for a guy that's that talented. And and I mean, look, I know Zeke's going to

be the lead dog, and he should be. He's great, but uh, you gotta find a way to get a guy like Tony Pollard at least half a dozen touches a game. Um, whether you know he can he can move out into the slot, he can catch out of the backfield. He's very He's a damn good traditional running back kick returner. I keep saying, I think it doesn't seem like it should be that hard to teach the guy how to return punts. I don't think he ever

did it in college, but it does. I mean, I feel like you could learn if you spent some time with a jugs machine and a special teams coach. Um. So, in fact, I would have sorry, go ahead, I'm rambling. I just said I would agree with you on the on the punt return if they didn't draft ceedee Lamb. I think he is a perfect guy that could sit in there. But but you're right, I mean, he can

jump in there. My thing about Tony Pollard is it's just like you said, he's a better receiver, and yet he is a better receiver, but he won't get as many catches as Zeke because Zeke will be on the field more and it'll create those mismatches. I think the better that Pollard is as a traditional runner, stronger, he gets better vision. He's a guy that can put in to run the ball. Then he can open up and do so many other things. If he's just a gadget player,

you kind of know what to expect. But Kamara was so good because Kamara could run the ball right between the tackles. It wasn't just Ingraham and then Cammar did other things. If Pollard can do other I mean he can do everything, then I think he can do a bunch of other things as well. Well. They can create on that and that's where McCarthy steps in because I mean, we saw what Kellen Moore did last year, so you still have Kellen Moore in charge there of the offense.

So hopefully watching from last year and having McCarthy's voice it brings up new creative plays for them to use with Pauler. Now, I do have this other question, what is a new wrinkle that you would like to see the offense do that they can look at this Sorry, this question was kind of worried differently, but basically, what is something that you see from other teams offense that the Cowboys could maybe bring on their own offense and

do themselves. I think, um, you've got well, one thing that you can do is you can put a big defensive tackle on there and he can catch the ball and a wildcat formation information to throw it. I mean, we've seen Dontari Poe do that. You know, We've seen

Blake Bell do that at college. I don't think, you know, I think it's too early to talk about wrinkles and all that stuff, but I would say that you're tied end can be can do more things because you got You've got better athletes at the tight end position than you did it in the path. So I could see different things down the seal using eleven personnel at times.

But also I don't know if you go thirteen, but I do think that you'll see multiple tight ends out there and going down the field more than they have. I got, all right, this isn't even this isn't even innovative. It's it's like pretty basic. But I would love to see the Cowboys do it because they refused to under James Garrett, I'm stealing this from my buddy like White on Twitter. Um, they ran upward of sixty percent on first down in the vast majority of their games last year.

It was even as much as eighty percent in a few of their games. If you remember, they just refused to do anything but charge Zeke Elliott into the line on first and ten against Minnesota all night long. It was the only thing they did. If they could just bring that percentage down, throw on first down, play action on first down, I think that would help Dak Prescott tremendously.

I think it would make the offense more dynamic. Not to say Zeke won't be a part of it, but just be a little less predictable, and I think it would be a long way. William just texted me. William Boykins is part of our staff. He's listening to this show and he's like, here's one thing. Run the quarterback. Run Dak Prescott. Hell yeah, well that too. And I know you make him susceptible to injury if you do it too much, but he has game changing ability as

a runner. The dude's got twenty one rushing touchdowns. How much easier does that mean, especially in the bed zone, you know where you know, three yards is the difference between kicking a field goal or scoring a touchdown. It's just way too valuable to ignore that. It seems to me I've seen him plenty of times be a little more successful when making those passes on the move. I

mean he can throw while on the move. Saying well, I was gonna say, if I know William at all, he's probably trying to get the weather Wayne to join us and replace Bucky. But um no, I think Dak's best throw ever and Dave, I think we'll agree, was the one that he threw to to Cole Beasley in the the end of the Giants game and the end of twenty eighteen, rolling left, throwing to his right thirty five yards down the field, uh to win the game or to save the game and then win it with

a two point conversion. You're right, he's strong enough where his body doesn't always have to be set perfectly to make that good throw. People are still wondering about what the Cowboys are you gonna keep doing in free agency? We know that free agency technically isn't over. You know, there's player acquisition all throughout the year. As we hear

from Steven Jones all the time. So are you guys hearing anything or do you expect any of the Cowboys to bring in another player during the free agency that could come in and help out a certain position. Let me guess, Let me get one guess of who they want, because he's still out there ahead, Dave. I mean, you're you're thinking Clowney, but don't forget about everything Griffin either.

They're both there. Yeah, well green Clowney asking for I mean forty million a year, Like, what's he asking for that? Nobody's won a team. I think I think he's probably made peace with the fact that he's not going to get what he wanted when this all started. And at this point, I don't know exactly what he's waiting for, but I assume he's got a handful of offers. And I mean, you know, it's not like he's really missing

anything by not signing you. Um, I, like I said, I couldn't tell you what he's waiting for, but I'm sure he's got a few choices to pick from him. I don't think it's going to be the Cowboys. That's you know, people people have been asking since March. You know well, Oh, I mean, if we cut Tyrone Crawford, can we go after Clowney. I'm like you, they could go after Clowney right now if they wanted to, they

could do it. Yeah. Our producer, our producer, Chris Being pointed out too that I ever seen Griffin played for George Edwards with the vice. Honestly, I thought it made a lot of sense because of George Edwards. Um, you know, he's a veteran player. His price probably isn't gonna be as crazy as as some of you know, as some guys could be when they the open market. I would be in support of it for whatever it's worth. And the longer this goes, maybe it would be a discount

of enough price that it's possible. But I think it's highly highly unlike and I don't think that, you know, thinking about what Zimmer used to play, I don't think it would be the same type of scheme. Now again, if you've said all along, just get the guy in here and let's see what he can do, you know. I mean, I don't know exactly what ever seen griffin body type is, but I'm sure they can find a

place for a good football player, whether between money. I mean honest, mainly money, because like Jadeveon Clowney can do whatever you want. I mean, he can play, he's he's a scheme proof player, I think. But I just you know, I don't see it happening mainly because of the amount of money that you'd have to commit when I mean we're still having the DAK contract just hanging over our heads and just kind of waiting what happens there with

that on a waiting status? Does that kind of stop you from trying to sign anybody else through free agent? See at the moment, well, you wait to see how how much money goes in there. I don't really, like I said, I mean, they could they sign those guys right now if they wanted to. Like, you can always find a way to finagle the cap in your favor if you really want to do it. Dak's negotiation isn't

stopping them. They just feel fine with what they have, Like clear, I mean they think the world Caldon Smith, They're very excited about that potential, and he is costing like a fraction of a fraction of what they would have to pay to Deaveon Clowney. Um, I don't think it has anything to do with DAK. I think they just feel fine with what they have and what they're paying for we have. Sorry, Nick, I was going to change the subject, So if you want to go ahead,

go ahead. All right. So the last question, since that's the time we have left, other than the obvious, who are the starting secondary? If you had to choose to if you're playing tomorrow and I you're playing tomorrow and I start the game. No, this is like when we had to rank the cornerbacks for one of our slide shows that we did like a week or two ago, and it was the worst. I mean I I mean, okay,

if they're playing tomorrow. If they are playing tomorrow, which is obviously absurd, but that's the rule, then I'm gonna say, uh, cheeto and ab on the outside with Jordan in the lot, and then ha and Xavier Woods and safety probably. I mean, how can I how can I lean on a rookie and Trayvon Diggs who's never even practiced in the NFL to play a game. I agree with you there. I think that's the easiest way for us to do this. But I have been told that Daryl Worley is great

it out. Uh better than than a lot of the cornerbacks on the team. So, uh, you know, new coaches, new new scheme. Maybe Worley comes in and you know they're not really playing favorites. Maybe he comes in and has a chance to to, you know, play over maybe a Cheeto or or Anthony Brown. But but you're right, I think it's it's that combination there, and then we'll see what does and how quickly that he jumps into the situation. But safety wise, I don't I don't really

see anybody else moving in there. I mean darry and Thompson. Maybe I always try to get there in Thompson, and I like him. I think he's a good player, But I always forget about it. I mean, who would you out of the group, who would you say has the

better hands? Just based on what you've seen in the NFL, that we've seen from previous veterans and based on these guys that have played in college, just kind of laying all those out, who would you see how who would you say has better hands to kind of get the ball and create some turnovers right now? Yeah, Jordan, Jordan's got great hands. I know he doesn't have a lot of picks he also that hasn't played a lot of staffs intercepting. He had the turf I mean against the

Bears last year. I mean that looked like a wide receiver. I mean, he is him, he's got good hands. W Worley might have a few, and I mean, you know, I was like, Okay, I didn't I mean I didn't realize this, honestly. Uh, Clinton Dix has had three different seasons where he had three or more picks. Uh, he had three twenty eighteen, he had three and twenty seventeen, and he had five when he was a pro bowler

for Green Bay in twenty sixteen. So that's really encouraging because last year, last year, he yet last year he had two. Yet two last year. It's fine, not amazing, but it's fine. It's two more of them, somewhat better than the two. More than a lot of people that have played for the Cowboys, that's for sure. There's been years where two has had led the team or at least time. So I'm looking at Worly Worley, it's never had more than two. Actually, he's only got five career interceptions,

So not as good as I thought. Last question time is ending, But and this one is just for the fun of it, I guess because there's no really telling. But with the new coaching staff, well they finally select or choose to be for every single time when they win the coin flip. You know what's you know what's you know what's funny is uh In twenty sixteen, they took the ball a lot and they scored an opening

touchdown a lot, and it really worked in their favor. Like, you know, the team was so controlled by the offensive line and zeke, you get an early lead and you get to dictate the game and that I mean, they won a lot of games comfortably by having a you know, two possession, three possession lead at halftime and they just grind people down. So it's not always a terrible idea, but it's usually a terrible idea. So like Glad dere's not in here. If you wanted you all day on

this one, I'm not. No. I mean, you should defer ninety nine point nine percent of the time, But if you believe in your offense and you want to set the tone for a game, sometimes I can see the logic behind you. Remember when McCarthy was hired like nine years ago over here whenever it feels like the long ago. But the big term was analytics. Cowboys are gonna do analytics, you know, and so that's that's my answer, is what

does the analytics say. You know, they're gonna they're gonna cross the numbers and money ball this thing and whatever it comes out, that's that's what they'll probably do. I agree. I like kicking off and setting the tone on defense, you know, but you know, especially at home because that's when the crowds in their seats and ready to go. But then again, this year, who knows what the situation will be. I think the analytics probably say you should

always differ. If I had to puss palytics also say you should you should go for it on fourth down all the time. But I tend to a if you want to, if you want to hop into that conversation, like I basically think you should go for it anytime you're if you're at midfield or closer, you should go for it. That's just my opinion. It's like I'm unless it's like eight yards or further, like if it's fourth and thirteen, you should probably punt, but eight yards an end,

you should probably go for it. Just my opinion anyway. Sorry, all right, you should get on the headsets on game days. I've been trying. You don't tell these guys how to deal and they'll ask for my opinion, but that maybe they should. Okay, guys, thank you so much for tuning in today. I know times are tough right now, but hopefully we were able to bring you some little space away from everything that has been happening currently. So thank

you so much for tuning in with us. Thank you Dave, Nick, Chris Beam for helping us, and Bucky Brooks for joining in today's show. This has been Cowboys Break on Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.