Cowboys Break: On Location

I'm Kyle Yeoman's billing in for Derek Eagle. To much did Derek pay you to like know that episode? Zbro and all that stuff? I don't know, Zbro. I went back and listen to it. Now, the thing is, what'd you find when he went back and listen to it. This isn't the first time it's been correct all year. He hasn't switched it to twenty twenty. Yeah, Well, he go the first two, he goes by a completely, he go by season, he goes by the start of the league year. It's his own thing. Did not mean to

have a five minute discussion about Derek's show. See, I just thought it was interesting that he said that he keeps saying twenty nineteen and we've never caught it. It means we're not paying attention. It's okay, okay. I went back and listened to it to pick it up, just to kind of like bring it up for you to listen to. So I'm all over the place, but we are live from Mobile, Alabama, the Reese's Senior Bowl all the week long here on Dallas Cowboys dot com. This

is not the Draft Show. Despite the background, Cowboys break being represented by these two from Dallas Cowboys dot Com. But guys, a fun week already. Day one in the books, Day two coming up today. We'll be heading out to practices here in just a little bit. But really, after day one of the Senior Bowl, there were a lot of storylines Cowboys wise. Stephen Jones talked to the media and then you guys really got a chance to dive in and look at some of these guys that the

Cowboys could potentially be looking for come Draft day in April. Yeah, this is the time of year where you're kind of still talking about last year, but not as much, you know now, because you got a coaching change. All eyes are forward, but you know this is you can look at the players on the field, and you know or do you need do you need some of these guys? Are they gonna come in? Are they gonna fit in this team? And then of course you got one eye

on the field. He got also like where Steven worst Jerry? You know, that's kind of why another reason why we're here. So the Senior Bowl always has like multiple purposes that you're trying to figure out here some cowboys, some future cowboys. Maybe yeah it uh. I think it speaks to what's going on with the Cowboys right now that this is as small of a contingent as I can ever remember coming to the Senior Bowl for the team we sent everybody. Yeah,

that's because that's what we do. But I mean, Jerry Jones was barely in Mobile. I think he had to go to an award ceremony in Houston last night. Mike McCarthy and his coaching staff stayed back. So this is

really this is Stephen Jones and the scouting department. Like I said, I don't want to call it bare bones because the whole scouting department is here, But I think it speaks to the focus that Mike McCarthy's got on what they need to get going at the Star, getting his program in place, and as a draft nerd, I kind of dig that, like the focus is so on the draft here at the Senior Bowl, which is obviously the point, but to Nick's point, there's usually so many

other things going on here, but it really seems like the Cowboys are focused on the draft. We've we've done these in the past where Jerry tucks for thirty forty minutes and then Steven will talk for thirty minutes and Will McClay maybe, and you know, it was nine and a half minutes yesterday with Stephen Jones. Now, some of that could have been the fact that it was really cold, Like I don't care what the phone says of how cold it was. It says forty two degrees or whatever

it was. It was worse than that. And I was only down there for ten minutes. All these guys that are in here that are behind the scenes working on this stuff, they were bundled up and it was like arctic freeze down there. A Scott Purcell was in a ski jacket the whole time and having fun with that. But that's why Stephen Jones, after about five minutes, it was like anything else, guys, No, we're not can do this in Dallas, can't we? But there wasn't a lot

that kind of came out of yesterday. We can. We can get into some of it, obviously we will, but but you know, there wasn't this hard pressing like, oh my god, I can't believe that, you know, sure, Jason Witten still still not talking about Jason Witten. Happy for Jason Garrett. I mean things that you know, you kind of expected. It's kind of going back to the coaching staff before we get into Stephen. We'll hear that some of the quotes from Steven here in just a moment.

But with Mike McCarthy in his move here from Green Bay originally where he didn't necessarily have a whole lot of say come draft process wise, does that speak to him trusting the scouting staff so early on in his tenure by sticking back and not being in Mobile or is this just kind of changing of the guard in terms of the coaching staff and what he has to do back in Frisco. I think it's a little bit

of both. Actually, yeah, I do think that. You know, with the Senior Bowl, it was like, all right, guys, go out there, Let's find some good players. Tell me, tell me the guys we need to be looking at, and then we get to the combine and maybe some pro days we'll look at them. You know, we'll tell you what we think and if maybe break some ties or whatever. But they're still in that process, you know, evaluate the guys, tell us who's out there, and then

we'll give you our input when it's time. That is one of the most fascinating storylines for me for this entire offseason is what that relationship is going to be like, because I mean, if you watch the Draft show where you follow the draft process, it's a tail as old as time that it's such a collective process, and the coaches had a large say in that. You know, Tristan Hill, the coaches had a large say in getting him to Dallas. The coaches were in love with Layton vanderash not to

dog on him too much. I mean, they made some good decisions too, but they had a heavy hand in that process. We are still trying to figure out just how heavy Mike McCarthy's hand is going to be. You know, It's one thing for him to say, you know, we want good players, let's go find some good players, But when it gets down to nutcutting time, are you are they really going to sit back and not be part of it? Because that hasn't been the way that it's

been with the Cowboys for the last decade. So, you know, we try to talk to Stephen Jones about that yesterday. I think it's still early in the process to really have a firm handle on how that's going to work. But I can't wait to see what that collective decision making process is going to look like with the new regime and with the new regime and everything that it has to kind of be put in place for McCarthy as a whole. What is it going to be like?

And how much realistic film are these guys gonna watch before the draft process is really getting a new crunch time, right, That's that's what I'm saying. It's the biggest thing. And like I said, they will like they're not just gonna ignore the process like that would be criminal, you know, I mean, you want your coaches to be part of selecting your draft class. But like I said, I mean what Mike McCarthy has been hired for about three weeks and his coaching staff has been in place for less

than that. So I don't think that they're ready to hit the reck ground running on that as of yet. That's you know, Mike didn't bring his staff here, which I think is a great decision honestly, with all the stuff they've got to get squared away. But you know, February March, you know you're gonna bring it. You know you're still bringing in official visitors. They get a bunch of thirty of them to bring into the facility. Obviously

your coaching staff is gonna be part of that. So again, really interested to see just how hands on or hands off they are looking at what Stephen Jones also talked about yesterday, talked a little bit about Jason Witten and also just where the priority lies in terms of these free agents and exactly what the Cowboys are going to do in order to attack those free agents. Let's take a listen, Reseach, Well, that's already it's been urgent for us.

We want to certainly get that done and that's our number one priority as we go into the off season as to get his contract hopefully, you know, find some resolution to it and get that bunch. Do you have any idea on idea on the future of their has it been anything and he had discussions. Really nothing there to comment on. We talked about last off season. A

lot of this time is taken the next step. Even though you have all these free agents, you have a new coaching staff, is that still the goal is absolutely and uh no, I think we've got a good, you know, good team that's in its prime. We've got a good

mixture of players. And you know, part of the reason why dri and I were really set on finding not only a coach with experience, but a coach that had you know, had real success in the playoffs and uh you know it played in big games, and that was very important that we find that guy because we do believe this team, you know, can certainly have that type of success. Just putting a franchise tag on a quarterback change a lot of what you would want to do

in free agency. Last limit you if you have to tag around that Jones saying they're definitively Dak Prescott's our guy. He's our number one priority in free agency. That's not necessarily new, right, But the thing is he said Amari is number two. Amaris the second priority. Where does that kind of resonate with you guys, because now it kind of sets the pecking order as to what the Cowboys are going to do in the office. Well, and I think it should because you know, when when Dak is

the key to everything here. Um. I asked even yesterday about can you function with all the things you want to do if you're giving him a franchise tag? And he sounded like that was no big deal. Sure, that's just thirty million on the cap, right or what is it twenty? Well, it's thirty three if they go exclusive, which but I mean they got eighty game million in cap space, I think people, which I get it, they've got like twenty seven guys to resign, but the Cowboys

have a lot of room to work with. Yeah, we do just thirty three million, just like that. I would it mean we'll throw another sixteen on top of it if you transition Taka Marii Cooper. Now you're talking, well, I mean, I'm not good at math, but that's about fifty million. Yeah, I don't do that. Don't do that. You don't want to do that? And then when does that put the rest of your roster guys like Byron Jones fun Yeah, exactly. You're you're you're basically writing him

off at that point. Yeah, and that's when when he was walking off, he said one and two. And it wasn't a one A and one B. This was a Dak is one and Mari's two and So I don't think that's super surprising though now, I mean to you, I mean, it's it's something we could have guessed that. And I think, you know, there's always going to be the contention of people that want to try to deal Dak or you know, find somebody in the draft that's

not going to happen. I don't know how betimes if you've been hit up for Joe Burrow more times than I can count, and it's fun to talk about it, but it's not going to happen, which I'm but I am interested to see what exactly that looks like, because if I had to guess Dak is heading for a franchise tag like that, you just you don't see very many of these negotiations sort themselves out before the start of the league year, because I mean, theoretically Dak could

hit free agency and see how much he's truly worth. Obviously he would want to do that. And yeah, it's gone so far. It's gone so far here where even the season was gone. It's been some really good moments from Dak. It's been some moments where you know, he obviously could could be better. I mean at the end of the day, I mean he was an eight and eight quarterback, and yes, he put up a lot of yards and he had some moments of growth. You know, even though one of the coaches there is no longer here,

I mean John Kitten. I think Kitten had helped a lot. I think Kellen Moore I'm sure helped some as well. But I you know, the fact is is that Dak he didn't in the season the way you want him to. You want this guy to be a clutch make plays in the fourth quarter, bring him back when they need to. He didn't do that. Do I think he's still a franchise court Yes, I mean he's the guy. I wouldn't change it. I just don't know if he helped himself from a money standpoint. And then there's gonna be guys

that did. There's guys that went on over the top that are you know, I had elevated themselves. It's a strong free agents class of quarterbacks well, and I think you can go all the way back to last year's off season with Dak, especially the talks that were had going into the preseason when they really kind of ramped up, and that's where you got the thirty to forty million kind of range that they were talking about in there, and I think Dak at that moment, said, you know what,

let's put a pause on this. Let me bet on myself. Let me bet on myself for just a little bit. And it worked out. At the beginning, it looked like the first couple weeks of the season he was gonna win that bet, and he was gonna win it outright. And I'm not gonna say he necessarily lost the bet because I feel like we're right back where we started last year, right around the low thirties potentially being that number that really gets this deal done. I think he

wanted to be totally honest with you, and I hope so. Yes, absolutely, And I know he went eight and eight. I know he didn't get the job done. But how much did he win it though? That's the question. All I know is the San Francisco forty nine ers set the market with Jimmy Garoppolo back at twenty seven million three years ago off the strength of eight games, and it looks great now because he's in the super Bowl. They had no idea that was going to happen when they signed

him to that deal. Same thing with that, I mean, does Derek Carr have a better resume than Dak Prescott. No, but he set the market at one time in his life Matt Stafford. Dak has already accomplished more than Matt Stafford in terms of like postseason success. I'm not saying it's a lot, but he has and so and he set the market like And that's what I always argue with people about, is that's just the way these things work. And I think, sorry, I know you got a point

to make. But Dak was already in the range with Carson Winston, Jared Goff, and he went out and had the best season of his career. I know a lot of people don't want to hear that, but if anything, I think he firmly entrenched himself in the low to

mid thirty range. He might not set the market, but he's not going below that and the other and then you know the other part, which Stephen Jones did an amazing job of not answering the question is Pat Mahomes and Deshaun Watson are eligible to negotiate contracts this offseason? Pat Mahomes is probably going to be the first forty million dollar player in NFL history, And all of a sudden, Dak's price ceiling goes up, like you could pay him

thirty four right now. But if Pat Mahomes gets forty in two months, and all of a sudden, Dax says, well, I want thirty seven if Pat gets forty, And again, I know people don't want to hear that, but that's just the way these types of things work. So I think Dak Prescott is sitting prickedy right see if But to me, if Mahomes gets forty, if I'm the Cowboys, I'm like, how could you even be thirty seven? How could you be close to that? Like? Is how is

he close to Pat Mahomes at all? Yeah? I mean statistically, because that's Super Bowl that's what the Chief's willingness to pay Mahomes says a starting quarterback is worth. That's why, right, But I'm just saying, you know that to me, when Russell Wilson got into thirty six. I was like, Okay, well, how can you be higher than that? I mean, you're not one of the best quarterbacks in the league won

a super Bowl if they would run the ball. He wins two super Bowls, you know, I mean he's got he's he's just done more with his career, and I think Pat Mahomes has as well, even Watson has, so I don't know, it just depends on Watson's done more than Dak. He hasn't been to an AFC championship game. He's lost four divisional right down the year's Dak. But I know that's what I'm saying. I'm saying, if anything, they're even Yeah, I guess they're I guess they're even

one year behind in the draft. How many playoff wins does Watson have? It can't be more than one or two, right, I think it's two, okay, because they've well know they've won four division titles or division Oh, I don't know, it's it's right around three. Probably it's on his third year.

Which to go back to my point, though I know Garoppolos in the Super Bowl, his resume was not better when he set the market, and neither was Derek carrs Kirk Cousins just final like he just made his longest playoff push and he got obliterated in the divisional round, just like that did. So those deals to me are always fifty percent what you've done, fifty percent of what

you're going to do. And you know, if that's the case with Mahomes, it's really scary because I mean, if he's getting paid what he's done and what he's gonna do, it's gonna be higher. Then forty may not be may not get it done, true, and you're one hundred percent right. Listen, Pat Mahomes is in his category all of his own. That's not the point I'm trying to make. But if Pat Mahomes signs that deal this offseason, like that's the way negotiations work, Dak and his people are going to

see that that. I would be shocked if they're going to try to like compete with Mahomes's number, but they're gonna say, well, we slot in here now, you know, because thirty six million a year is all of a sudden, a lot less than top of the market. It's just it's just the way it works, which is why I think it's so important for them to get this deal done sooner rather than later. What if the Chiefs, I mean they're not in a hurry, they don't have to

do No, they absolutely don't. They absolutely do not. They've got him under contract for two more years. They could pay it. I mean, can you imagine what he will make in his fourth year if he's if he's unreal again, Yeah, well, what if they just say we're not doing anything right now. I mean he's probably would hold out, he could, that mean, I mean it's fat. I mean he is so far in a way like the best player in the NFL right now. Just int like what he brings to that team.

And that's the you know, sitting here arguing Dak's credentials can't say anything about Mahomes. I mean, he's been to the AFC title Game in both of his years as the starter, he made it to the Super Bowl in his second season. Larry Well could win the Super Bowls. There's like no knock on his credentials at all. You can't do anything with it, which yeah, I mean he

could almost name his price well. And I think the argument that you brought up about comparing Dak in Deshaun Watson's resume, I think Dad needs to probably stand true. I mean, that's where I see where you're you're talking about in terms of the contract potentially for Dak growing a little bit because des John Watson's in that same conversation right now, is Patrick Mahomes as those guys that could be re up contract wise. But we'll dive deeper into that coming up here in just a little bit.

Let's take a quick break. When we come back here on Cowboys Break, we will dive a little bit deeper into the Senior Bowl and look at some of these individuals that the Cowboys potentially could be picking up in the first round and maybe even a little bit later come April and the NFL Draft will be back in a minute here on Dallas Cowboys dot com rad. I'm J Nobachek, former tight end for the Dallas Cowboys. Back in the day, I was a guy who always got the tough yards, and that's why I run with John

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the Reese's Senior Bowl. Now Keatman, Dave Elman, Kyle Yeoman's with you as I fill in for Derek Eagleton on the road here from Alabama and guys the Senior Bowl this week. And we talked a little bit about Stephen Jones in the deck in Amari contract situation going on this offseason. But of course he was here for a reason.

He was watching players, he was scouting a little bit, even though it may have only just been for a couple of moments yesterday he only stayed for the first practice, which was the South team here in Mobile, but at the same time he in speaking with you guys in the rest of the media following that first practice, kind of talked about the shift of players and the importance of the Cowboys to potentially draft just playmakers as opposed to fitting them into schemes, which is what we've been

used to seeing as Cowboys fans for quite some time. How much is a shift? Is that? Is that a huge ship monumental that Cowboys fans don't even really know where to look at because it's been such a common thing for us. I think, you know, I asked the question to Steven. I thought he was going to give me an answer. I was like, well, that's kind of what we've always done, But he didn't. He said, no, it is kind of a change. And and you know,

it's we've talked about this before. We hate when when there was free agents there, like why don't they get this guy? You know, he's he's a great player, and they need this position, they need a safety, they need a linebacker, they need this guy. Yeah, he's not a good scheme fit. These defensive tackles not a good scheme fit. And we're like, all right, well this scheme's got you eight and eight. I'm like, like, what, you know, it's

just been frustrating. Yeah, so now we'll see if it if it actually goes down like this, But it just sounds like let's just get the players in, let's see what we've got, and then then we'll figure it out. That kind of goes back to what I was saying.

I want to see how that works because like at the end, like there's gonna be some element of that, you know, like you're not gonna draft a quarterback at seventeen potentially if you're of course, if you resigned back, you're not gonna go for well not only that, but I mean you can even look at free agency and you know, I mean Mike Nolan's going to have a preferred type of safety that he thinks can play well

for him, or defensive tackle for that matter. It might be a completely different archetype from what we're used to under Rod Marinelli. But coaches are still going to have their preference. But I wonder again how much say will they have or will they just you know, I love the idea, I really I need to we need to find will McClay and talk to him. I love the idea of Mike McCarthy just giving him a spreadsheet of like, this is what we're looking for in terms of traits

at every position. Go do your thing, and that's I mean, that's how I would ideally like this to go. Is if Will's kind of got the grocery list and he's like, all right, this is what they're looking for. I think I can figure this out. That would be interesting to look at, just to see the kind of conversations that would be had between the coaching staff and the scouting department with like we talked about in the first segment, such a new rapport between those two departments, the coaching

staff and scouting and Stephen. It's I mean, Steven said yesterday that there have already been some productive talks between you know, McCarthy and and Will and him and Jerry just kind of the whole front office brain trust. I mean, it hasn't been a long time, but obviously, I mean, you want to get those ducks in a row heading

into the draft projects. Almost sounds like you don't need it as much, you know, you don't really need to make sure, you know, if you had a new scout that came in like let's say last year or two years ago, and he's like, I got this defensive tackle. They're like, whoa, whoa, do you know what Rod Marinelli likes and all that. Well, no, but well you need to you need to figure it out. In this case, it's like, all right, I got some two or three

really good players. We're going to figure this out, and you guys decide which one you like. I like this one over this one, and you know, and it's not like you have to know the coaches and you know, scouts don't need to go on some retreat together and hang out and know each other. You know. It's like and clearly they didn't, you know, they didn't. They didn't come here for you know. But again there's still a combine and that's really when it gets when it gets serious.

Now you start ramping it up a little bit. Yeah, I mean that's you know, I kind of loved Mike McCarthy's honesty last week when he met with us, and I mean, he's got a lot of work to do getting everything together in Frisco. But he was also like, yeah, I mean, you know, the tape is like HD quality well, like, what do I need to be in mobile for? I

can just flip it on in my office. I was like, you're absolutely right, Like if you're not in networking, I mean I get why the scouts are here, that makes sense, But like, if you're not looking for a job or looking to network in this day and age, I'm not sure what benefit there is for a coach to be here because you're gonna have a chance to meet with all these guys in Indianapolis. They can come to your facility, you can go work them out. You're gonna have about

twenty five opportunities to see all of these guys. So I appreciate McCarthy's honesty, Like yeah, I mean we can. We can watch these practices anywhere. And they won. I mean that was that was the winner, because if you know, if they're gonna get the tape and they're gonna watch it in seventy two degree, you know, yeah, yeah, they're good for real. Yeah, they didn't have to put on four layers or five layers to get a lot of

use out of my heavy jacket Gulf Coast weather. With all that being said, you're talking about McCarthy and the generality that he has in terms of saying, we aren't going to define a scheme yet. I mean, he said last week that there's gonna be four men up front on the defensive side. Took a while to get that out exactly like he really didn't. But even when he said it, he's still kind of backtracked it a little

bit and said, hey, we're gonna run everything. Though, good watch out, We're gonna run a little bit of everything.

Let's go. Is this mindset in terms of going and scouting players based off of the fact that you don't really know exactly what scheme you're gonna run on defense and the majority of our draft needs are probably relying on that side of the ball, Well, I think, I mean, they've got a better idea than we do, obviously, and which again I think it's exciting because you know, the analogy I always beat into the ground with the you know, the Garrett regime was like colored by numbers, you know,

is like, well, this is our defensive tackle and he goes here and this is our cornerback and he did like just very regimented. And that's you know, that's why a guy like Tyron matt if you supposedly didn't fit here because basically they were like, well, he doesn't have a clear cut position, so we don't know what to do with him. That drove me up the wall because he's clearly a really good player, he's all Pro and going to the super Bowl. It's exciting to think that

they can be changing that attitude. You know, maybe this will be a multiple defense. Maybe we'll see some three four looks. We'll see some four three looks, four two five. You know, Belichick's up in New England running like a two three seven or whatever the hell alignment that was this year. It's exciting to think that they could do a little bit of all of that. And so we're going to figure it out as the draft process goes. But like right now, I don't know what they're looking for,

and that's like that. I feel like that is one of our biggest assignments from now until April is to figure out what they have their eye on in this ye. I think it'll be before that is when you'll really see kind of what they're looking for. You'll see a mentality change. In March, I mean, when you could we talked about twenty five twenty six free agents that they've got.

You know, a lot of those guys are on the defensive line, so we're gonna find out kind of how they feel about these guys, Robert Quinn and Malite Collins. You know that, I guess there's there more. I guess Michael Bennett is in that group. You know, where do they put the value on some of those defensive linemen

and maybe a defensive lineman from other teams? You know that That's the one thing that I think we kind of overlook a lot is you know, Mike McCarthy as opposed to other coaches that have come from you know, like let's say Joe Judge, who was working who was in you know, New England, and now he's with the Giants, So you ask him about somebody from the Bears and he's like, well, you know, we didn't play the Bears or but like Mike McCarthy, supposedly they were looking at

all teams last year. So from free agent standpoint, it's going to be interesting to see how well equipped he is to know what's out there in the landscape of free agency, because supposedly he was watching not every game, as he said, but it's a lot of games and he backtracked on that one a little bit out. Okay, press conference of your life man, Yeah, exactly. And one of the guys you mentioned the defensive line needing some

holes to fill. One of the guys that could potentially fill those holes at defensive line, Javon Kinlaw, the defensive tackle out of South Carolina, could be there at seventeen for the Cowboys. He's at the Senior Bowl here. Immobile got a chance to talk to him yesterday and he said something pretty interesting about where he thinks he could

be as compared to Aaron Donald. And Aaron Donald come to this week really dominating some little by himself at the top prospect the kind of player you think, I think I can be better? Honestly, that's just the expectations I have for myself and that's just how high I am on myself. So quite the confidence from mister Kinlaw with the here at the Senior Bowl saying that I think I could be better than Aaron Donald. If the NFL scouts think that too, he won't be at seventeen.

That's fair. So, I mean, if that's what if they think Donald Donald fell to what thirteen? Something like ten? He I mean, right, outside the top ten. It's crazy to think that he I mean, he did not go close to the top five by first round standards. Is what is a kin Law's like height, weight and all that six six over three hundred Yeah, three out of two I think is what he's passing the test. Aaron Donald didn't do that, you know, like he was for

sure he fell thirteen. He fell twelve spots because it was like he's too short, He's not gonna be killing people like that. Yeah, which that is. It's an interesting dichotomy because Donald was like the most decorated defensive player in college football history, like he won in every award you can win. Dominated at Pitt kin Law super I mean freakishly talented guy. I mean, which actually I was gonna say, you know, mediocre program, but so was pitt Yeah,

and it didn't matter. It's Donald whereas you know Ken Law and half the freakish production. He does have the freakish measurables. I think beauty's in the eye of the beholder there, because you see some tape where he absolutely just kills people. He's got some really crazy bend if you saw one on one pass Rustrials yesterday. But at the same time, you're like, Okay, where's the consistency? So it is interesting, Yeah, I mean, and I mean that's awesome that he thinks he can be better than Donald.

Like every draft prospect I've ever talked to. Oh, I mean, if he's there at seventeen, I'm definitely interested. Okay, I just think it's funny that Donald used the Senior Bowl as a launching pad. So it's only Wednesday, you know, Ken Law's got two more days of practice to go. We'll see what people are saying about him, because this is really the only opportunity where you actually get to do football. He looked pretty good yesterday. I don't know if he looked as good as Aaron Donald did when

he came here, though. Aaron Donald was the thirteenth overall pick in twenty fourteen, and by that time, I mean, that's Saint Louis Rams utterly insane. Yeah, unbelievable. I mean, and Nick's absolutely right, Like if he's six one instead of like five to eleven, he's a top three pick. You know, I remember that draft. There were three defensive players the Cowboys really wanted and then and they all went ahead of the Cowboys there they're sitting at a

belief sixteeneen and Donald was one of them. Anthony Barr was another, Ryan Shazier. They all went off the board like within five picks, and you know, we all kind of see that lining up in the draft like this too. I mean, you got guys like Grant Delpit, you got

a guy like h like Javon Kinlaw. Maybe is Xavier McKinney. Sure, those are three guys the Cowboys could be honing in on in terms of a draft pick defensively in that first round and sitting at seventeen, there's no there's no nothing that says that they won't be gone by the time seventeen. Also point out the fact that Cowboys got Zach Martin, yeah at sixteen, and had to fight off Jerry not to take Johnny Manziel and they up you know,

Zach Wark, so he ended up ended up working out great. Yeah, I guess you would hate saying this about Zachon Martin. We'd rather have Aaron Donald, yes, And that's I mean, that's that's no disrespect towards Zack Martin to say it's been incredible. You would rather have arguably the best defensive player in the NFL over the last decade. You have a great memory when it comes to draft. Who went with number one in that draft that would have been

twenty fourteen. Was that Clowne's draft? Or was clown before that? I think he was twenty thirteen, wouldn't he know? Uh? Number one? Sorry? Ass Well, this is gonna drive me derails it a little bit. My point is is I don't even remember who went top five, but it's gonna be hard to say that Donald and Martin wouldn't be in the top three or four picks there. It was

Jadavian Clowney, by the way, as the top pick. Don David Hellman through a little bit, Okay, yeah, I mean, well, oh it's a pretty loaded draft, but the top five is not that great. Yeah, you got Clowney and then Greg Robinson the offensive tackle for No. Or if he is, he's like I don't think believe hanging on Blake Mortal, Sammy Watkins, he's still in the league course at four. And then it goes Khalil Mack, Jake Matthews, Mike Evans. Not bad, pretty good. I mean those are three guys

that have been to a Pro Bowl. Justin Gilbert was eighth, Anthony Barr went nine, Eric Ebron tenth, Odell Beckham went twelfth to the Giants, one pick before Aaron Donald. This, I mean, that was a really great draft, but I'm no. I mean, to Nick's point, if you're looking at this, you're saying you're redoing it. Khalil Mack, Mike Evans Um. I think if you Aaron Donald and Zach did that draft,

you would probably take Zack Martin. We got a pretty good pass rusher draft two, because that was the same draft that Cowboys went and selected DeMarcus Lawrence in the second round at thirty four. Yeah, so you got a good pass pass rusher with there, and you got in your first two picks, you got Zack Martin and d Loss And where are the Cowboys picking right around the

same spot. It sounds dumb to say, but I mean this is as high as they've picked in recent memory, because thanks to all these good draft picks, they've been finishing with winning records like those are their worst record since twenty sixteen, and they got Martin after a mediocre season in twenty thirteen. So I'm really excited about who's going to be there for them at seventeen. But what I like about that pick in certain positions are that way,

is that if you say sixteen seventeenth pick. Uh, you know, can you really get a good player if you get valued um spots like a guard? Yeah, you know, if you'd take a guard at sixteen or seventeen, you're gonna get probably the best guard in the draft. Maybe it depends. I mean, I know Quenton Nelson a few years ago with five or six, and he's been awesome. But you'd take a guard that high if you take a center. I'm not saying nicaboys need those spots, but tight in. Yeah,

traditionally is that way. Now there's an exception to the rule, I guess in Eric Ebron. But um, you know, he's an interesting name too because he's he's going to be a free agent, right is and I and I think I think he's a guy that Jerry and and and you know Will and I think we'll see about McCarthy if they like that kind of player. But that wouldn't be surprising to me. We've got a guy in Blake Darwood. Yeah, we like him, but he's a twenty six year old free agent. He's go out and see what we can

do here that eighty million dollars of cash. They can't. They can't fill all their needs in the draft, no, they And it's almost it's it's refreshing, like it would be so easy to just turn this into like the dak and Amari watch for the rest of the year, you know, but like that that I'm just not even worried about that. Those guys are They're going to get tagged if I had to guess, and those negotiations will

play out on their own time. But I don't have to sit here and wonder whether he's going to be part of the team, right either one of them. And so that allows us to focus on what do you do at tight end? What do you do at safety? What do you do at defensive tackle? What do you do at cornerback? Can they afford to bring back Byron Jones? Does this coaching staff even want to bring back Byron Jones?

Because I mean, you know, he was about to be an outcast until Christoph Shards showed up, and now Christoph Shard's leaving again. And it's it's really fascinating, I wit, you know, it's it's still basically it's too early in the process for us to know. But over the coming weeks, we're gonna start to get answers to some of these questions. And I did ask Stephen. Of course he didn't answer. He walked off. He was like one dac to Amari. And then of course I'm like number three, not ready

to say it was number three. We don't know. He's like, I'm not going that far. But that's, you know, that's what we do. We I mean, we think it's Byron Jones or MALIEK. Collins, and you never know, they might look at it be Robert Quinn. Yeah, you never know. But Michael Bennett. They have to address some of these concerns and free agency, and that's the point. I mean, you know, you do what you can in free agency, which opens you up in the draft. That's, you know,

that is the goal every single year. They haven't always done as good a job of it as other years, but it's interesting to think the way they could shape this and how that will affect their decisions in the draft. And we'll talk more about that draft tomorrow eleven o'clock right back here on Dallas Cowboys dot Com and on the Draft Show. Yeah, you got it back here, David, I will be back tomorrow at eleven o'clock. We'll switch out Nick even for Bucky Brooks ye here at the

insert hotel name here. Don't want to give that away because I would give give it way too much information. So we'll be back one more segment on the way for the break here on this Wednesday. When we come back, we'll talk about a new rule potentially and being experimented on in the Pro Bowl when we return here on Dallas Cowboys dot com Since eighteen sixty five, Stetson hats are American maid with pride right here in Texas, and Stetson is proud to be on the field with America's team.

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you see it. I Old twenty three Doctor Pepper stack from top to bottom as far as the eye can see, the phrase two going to be true comes to mind. Get there. It is a rich, delicious Doctor Pepper Paradise. Wait did did that can of Doctor Pepper just open itself for you. They all are as if to say, it's so nice to treat you. And even though it feels weird to talk to we, can you pick one up and say, it's so nice to be treated doctor Pepper. It's so nice to treat you. Back to the Break,

final segment. Here of the Break live from Mobile, Alabama and the twenty twenty Greece's Senior Bowl. David Hellman, Nick eat mccyle Yeoman's with you here on Dallas Cowboys dot Com and Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio and Guys Pro Bowl. It's always been a fun time to kind of experiment with new NFL rule changes. They're gonna do it again this year, like no tackling, yeah, and no no effort. You're gonna say you said you like you said. It's always a fun time and it's definitely not They have

fun up there sometimes. But they're gonna insert what could be a new rule for on site kicks, and I found that's extremely interesting. So basically the rule is the team that just scored, instead of having an onsite kick or kicking off to their opponent, they would get the ball at their own twenty five yard line that's where they would start. They'd give ultimately a fourth and fifteen, the scoring team has to gain fifteen or more yards,

it would retain possession and continue that drive. However, if in that one play they did not convert the fifteen yards, the opposing team would get the ball back where that ball was spotted at the end of the play. So if you gained ten yards, you would get it at the opposing team would get it in an enemy territory at the thirty five yard line. If it was an incomplete passed then you're all the way back at the

twenty five. And with a play like that, you think about it, it's if with it being fourth and fifteen, it's mostly a passing down, that's going to be a passing situation. So my question is to you, what do you think about this? It's kind of intriguing to think about just the fact of having a different way to

retain possession late in games. I like the spirit of it because I think that's that's what's going to take to work around the way the game is changing, is like innovation and new ideas, because I mean, honestly, what's the point of an onside kick right now? Anyway, Like I think I think two were recovered in the NFL this season, or I mean it was. It was certainly less than five out of however many dozen were attempted or even one hundred, Like the success rate was nothing.

And so it's a pointless play which takes the excitement out of the game because it it basically kills the ability for somebody to come back by down multiple scores. So if this is a way you can reintroduce that and have teams have more hope of doing it, I'm all for it. Going through it off the cuff like it does suck that that kind of removes some of

the surprise element. Like a cool thing about an onside kick is you can never completely predict when it's going to happen, and this obviously is a situation where the defense will be ready for the play. But again, if it can inject some drama into late game scenarios, I'm all for it. I thought the same thing, but I think you still have your surprise on sidekicks during the game. I think in this case, you know you're only gonna do it, You're only gonna give an opportunity for to

to be on defense on the twenty five yard line. Me, you're only going to do that if you just have to late in the game, you know, I mean, it's just late in the game when everyone knows you're gonna onside kick. Anyways. Well, well, to counteract that point, what about the teams that look at it analytically or maybe have a strong passing game in terms of Hey, I have Pat Mahomes or Aaron Rodgers in the backfield, good,

let's throw it. Let's go. I had the thirty second ranked defense and I was going up against the number I'd say number one offense, but that would be DAC. But we know what we're talking about. We know what we're talking about. Hey, you know, I'm just saying if I had the worst defense in the league and I was playing the best quarterback of the best passing game in the league, I'd take my chances on fourth and fifteen that the analytics say that that you're not gonna

get that. That's why that's why it's put it. Put it there. I don't like the twenty five yard line, Okay, I don't. That's just me. I I don't like the fact that you're already in field goal range because if you do an on site kick and they recover it. They recovered at the forty yard line. Forty five yard line, you're not you're not in field goal range. You're not. You still have a little bit of work. It's great field position. But I don't like the twenty five. I've

seen it. Who else was doing this? Was it the AF? It's something similar to that twenty eight yard line I have seen on the twenty eight that's still down there pretty I'm about the thirty five. Well, I know the Broncos tried to get something similar to this past last year or maybe two years ago, and they got shot down pretty quickly. I like the thirty five yard line, and it could be a fourth and twelve. You know, you get it. You're at midfield. I mean, you're you're

you're cooking at that point. The irony is that So they're doing this in the Pro Bowl? Yep, I mean talk about not a representative Like that's what does the atmosphere like? They don't they're not gonna play defense anyway. Picking up fourth and fifteen should be easy at the Pro Bowl. And also what's the you know, what's the recourse? Oh, we don't have it, like oh, we didn't get it, like, okay, Well, it just gives people a chance to see how it was.

I like it, but it's not gonna Well, maybe it gives people like us a chance to just have this conversation and to kind of work through what could and could not be problems. I love the idea of finding ways around and look like, I get it you. I mean, you need to make the game safer. We know too much about it to keep doing things the old way. But again, it kind of kills some of the drama

of it. Kills some of the drama of the game when you know, you know that nobody feels on side kicks anymore, like it just doesn't happen well on side kicks. That we're at a historic rate of about twenty one percent through twenty seventeen. It went down in twenty eighteen to seven percent, and then it went back a little bit up in twenty nineteen thirt that's honestly, that's actually not that's not converting it though. That's just how many ed Okay, that's how many attempts they had. You know,

there there you go. I would rather see tweaks to that, to that rule, to those and I know the safety is a big part of it here too, and I don't like you know, there's a lot of purists out there that are like, I don't why do you got to change it and all that. But if that was the case way back when somebody was said, you know what if we just put helmets on these guys, and they're like, no, we can't do that, you know, well, let's put helmets and then let's put face mask and

then you know, and here we are. So you gotta keep, like Dave said, you gotta keep evolving. I get that, but you know, I'm I don't like the kickoff rule as it is. I hate seeing a guy stand back there with his hands of that. I want to see the kickoff return. I think it's one of the most exciting plays in the game. Then again, I've never been hurt doing it, so well, what do you think about the The XFL is going with a new kickoff rule where you start within ten yards of each other and

it's basically a hunt. So you have a pun er back however many yards I don't know exactly what it is. You have a returner back and then you have ten guys up on the line, of scrimmage. They're ten yards away from each other and basically as soon as the ball is kicked, they collide and they go for it, and it's supposed to be safer because it's only ten yards away, and then you get the return and you

still have strategic rugby a little bit. It's just like, yeah that, I mean, I don't know a lot about rugby or Australian rules football, but like that's what it sounds like. But I mean, it's after the catch, not after the kick. I mean, I agree with Nick that the kickoff is one of the coolest players in football, but it's almost pointless these days, and like there's a few teams that know how to take advantage of it.

But I would rather see innovations to keep these things in the game than just keep kicking ninety eight percent of kickoffs through the back of the end zone or just putting the ball down and saying gain fifteen yards? Yeah, or do you like that or do you think that's fun? I think I think it would be fun if team, Like, if teams thought they had a realistic shot to get the ball back. I mean, you know, and picking up fifteen yards is hard, man. I would love to see

that playout. I mean, picking up fifteen yards against an NFL defense that knows you have to pass. Yeah, that's easier said than that. It's the question that we talked about before the show. That okay, So let's say that's the rule. It does illegal contact a five yard penalty. Would that give you a first automatic first down? No way, Like in that situation, you've got you have to get the fifteen. I would think you've got to have a penalty.

It's a face mask or a PI or something that gives you fifteen, that's fine, But nothing short of that should should? You know? Oh my god. I mean I'm just imagining Pat Mahomes like lining up and just chunking like a go ball to Tyree Hill on fourth and fifteen, you know, but like they're just going for the end zone and stop us. I mean, we're gonna complete it or you have to tackle us and we get the DPI. I mean, there's all sorts of stuff you can do.

Rod marin all these defense they always would call it with money forty four money forty four, which all the defense was lined back, and I mean that you'd have guys to standing at the first down marker. So that's gonna that would be very challenging as well. I mean, yeah, but probably easier to get than you're, you know, than you're on side kick the way it is right now, I like the idea, and I don't know it might I'm still not gonna watch the Pro Bowl, but I'll

be curious to see what happens. I'll probably go look for the results on Twitter. Yeah, you know. They're also playing around with a potential new rule in terms of false starts, in a new way to to kind of back off on false starts a little bit. In terms of the flags being thrown. They're trying to loosen up the rule. They are already loosen up. Like I swear to God, he is the case. What's what are they?

What's more, it's tough to say. So it's it is a false start if a flexed eligible receiver in a two point stance who flinches or picks up one foot as long as his other foot remains partially on the ground, and he resets one second prior to the snap. Chris Beam, you have you have some of this, So it's kind of he's our producer here. It's an illegal shift it's all illegal shift thing. It's not necessarily false starts, it's

an illegal shift. Okay, okay, I love that. I'm gonna say, does anybody else feel like I saw a more offensive lineman get away with jumping early this season than I can remember in the rest of my life. Well, I think what's weird too is that you know, they're always making calls and stuff in the guard in the center, they got their hand up and they turn and look back here and then but all of a sudden, if you just kind of flinch barely, like that's a penalty.

That's what everything else. Yeah, I have I have a whole problem with with with the way that works because I hate the fact that the defensive lineman, I mean, they're getting hard counted, which is fine, you can do that, right, the guy can change his cadence. But then if you jump off sides, I mean you jump just for a second and then try to go back, the offensive lineman can can pop up and say and now you're you know,

now it's a penalty. So I don't know all these rules or for the offense, yeah, and saying we're the fourth and fifteen. There was twenty five times in the league this year that it was fourth or fifteen and greater it only they only converted six times, so it's twenty four percent of the time. Wow, that's still higher than offida. That's just like, that's more than I would have thought and more than an onside kick. So if it's going to make the end of games more entertaining,

I'm all full. Fifteen times in the whole league last year there was a fourth and fifteen twenty five twenty times, and six of twenty five is twenty four percent of the time. And that makes sense because I feel like that stat would have to be specifically for fourth and fifteen. It can't be fourth in sixteen or fourteen because of the rule and probably what's being written. It had to be exactly fourth and fifteen most likely for that to happen, which is twenty five times is kind of a lot. Well,

And and that's a little bit. That's that's you know, it's a little scowed just because it could be fourth and fifteen from the twenty yard line going in. That's that's definitely hard to get. You don't have last space fourth and fifteen from your own twenty five with Tyreek Hill or somebody that can just you know, that's part of the play. He can go deep, So that's that'll

be interesting. I mean, I don't you know. My first thought is that I don't know if I like that, but you know, it'll it'll be interesting to see really quick. Because Dave brought up the point of the Pro Bowl maybe not being the best place to test it. Would you be okay seeing it in a preseason game? Yes, yeah, let's go. I think saddle up again. And it's I mean, everybody's excited for the preseason when it gets here because it's been so long since we've seen football, but like

by week two you're over it. So again three week four. Give me a reason to be more intrigued by these preseason games, Like, give me a reason for them to like try all that stuff out. And unless that that going for two or I mean that that on site kick is gonna maybe lead to an overtime game, then no, I'm not cool with that. Yeah, no overtime. And if if it you're like down by seven and I'm like just kick off, like you don't, like, why do you get it done? Let's get it out of here? Well,

Well you're gonna get out of here as well. That's gonna do it here for the break. Dave and Nick will be back next week with Derek at MBAR back at the SWBC Mortgage Studios in Frisco. It's been fun filling in with you guys, and of course you can catch David and myself on the Draft Show tomorrow eleven o'clock. We'll be here with Bucky Brooks and that'll be a

whole lot of fun. Wrapping up Day two of the Senior Bowl and then looking ahead today three, the final day that we'll be here for the recent Senior Bowl in twenty twenty. So for Dave Hellman, nicky Man, I'm Kyle Yeoman's saying so long for Mobile Alabama. This is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.