Cowboys Break: Playing for Future?

We're life from the s WBC Mortgage studios at the Star. Got Nick here, got Amber here, got Dave here, and we got a forty five minutes show to be able to talk to you guys about the Cowboys. We're gonna do some big picture um analysis of this team. It's the midway point. Cowboys are two and six. The midway point.

I don't think any of us expected that going into this season, but I'll have some questions for these guys to kind of recap what's happened in the first half of the season and to look forward not only at the rest of the season, but going beyond that, and how the Cowboys should be looking at their team at this point. The deadline. Trade deadline happens today at three pm around the NFL, but the Cowboys have already made

a trade for one Eli Ankou with Houston Dave. What did they give up for him and what's the scouting report on him? They gave up a seventh round pick in twenty twenty two, so it's not even this coming draft, it's the next draft. You know, basically nothing. I mean, who knows what they might get in compics in that time frame. And it's also a seventh round pick. It's not very valuable. So they they wanted a run stuffing one technique, they don't really have one, and this allows

them to get it. Eli has been He's been on and off of teams. He was just with the Texans, but he was with the Colts at the start of the season. I believe he spent training camp with the Browns. He's kind of kicked around six three three thirty. Mike McCarthy said it himself last night, like this is a guy who can sit down an anchor. I think they got him with an idea and trying to improve their

run defense. That's what he's here to do. Is he a guy that immediately steps in Nick as the starter or that looks like they got one of these, so probably, I mean, I don't know if he's ready to play, you know, this game against Pittsburgh, but I would think that after a bye week he would be. You know, as Dave said, I mean that they need to somebody to stop the run. There's guys are just getting you know, blown off the ball, and they don't really have that guy.

They were hoping that, obviously Don Tarpeo would would be there for them, and that didn't work out obviously. So yeah, I think that he comes right in. I don't know if he's got all the terminology and ready to play almost every but and again those one techniques don't play every snap, but I think he probably will step in and contribute immediately. According to Stephen Jones, it doesn't look like the Cowboys are going to be looking to do

much here before the trade deadline. Beyond that, his quote was, I think we're basically in a mode that if something came to us and made a lot of sense, then we'd certainly look at it. I don't know that we're aggressively out here right now, either trying to get somebody or move somebody. What we want. What we want to do right now is play some of these young guys that we have, give them the reps that they need, see what we have as we move through the rest

of the season. And but does it sound like to you that they are basically, I guess relacable, way better way to put it, that they're conceiving the rest of the season and really looking forward to twenty twenty one. And if so, is at the right approach. I think it might sound like that given what we've seen from the season. But usually when you look at what the Cowboys normally do, they don't tend to make these kind

of traits. So it's just part of who they are, and they usually like to stick to the guys that they already have. Now this is a season that this is the first time I would say that I actually agree with that mentality, just given the fact that there's just so many issues this year that I don't think that a simple trade will change anything. So I do think that this is the time to give this younger

guys some good game reps. And when you know, I've been seeing on Twitter all these possible trades, you know, you start talking about Michael Gallup Amari Cooper, even as Ze Gil Elliott. And I'm not on board of making any of those kinds of traits or trading any of those guys. So as of right now, I am for the whole idea of let these young guys play. You agree, Nick, Yeah, I mean I think that they're going to go and

try to win games. I kind of think this is this is going to be like a preseason mentality where you try to win games, you're just not using all of the resources that you have available. Um and and that's probably not fair either. The healthy guys are gonna are going to play, but I think when it's close, you kind of defer to a younger guy here. But you know they're gonna they're gonna still try to win. I think there's value in winning games. I really do. And so I think that, um, you know, I'm not

gonna be mad if they win a game. Now, the fans will be, but to me, that's stupid. But if if they think that it's you know, clearly better to have, you know, the sixth pick over the ninth pick, I'd rather win games. Personally, it doesn't sound like I mean,

it sounds like they aren't necessarily like winning games. It's important, and I think Jerry said even on his call this morning that with one or five out three, the fan I think he was he was making talking about it more from the standpoint of, Yeah, this doesn't have anything to do with the players that are on the field, the expectations. They're going to play hard, and we expect

them to play hard, and they will play hard. But when you start thinking about it from the standpoint of who's getting the playing time, you kind of opt more toward letting the guys who you want to see from a contract standpoint, guys you want to see because you think they're young and they need their reps. That's not necessarily leading toward, you know, giving your best opportunity to

win all the time. Are you saying that you would opt for doing like keeping the best guy on the field at the best moment at all moments to make sure that you win, as opposed to maybe looking at some younger talent. Yeah, yes, trying to win. I'm trying to win games, that's what. Yeah, I would do that, Dave.

I don't think I've ever been more frustrated by a trade deadline than I am this year, and that's saying a lot, because every year it gets frustrating, you know, talking about this type of stuff, even though the trade deadline just historically is not this crazy day and it never really has been. I mean, there's more activity in the last five years than before that, but it's still it's not baseball. And what makes it frustrating for me is like people people expect these grand movements when it's

really not. It's not necessary, Like the Cowboys don't need to trade anybody away. They don't need to come out and say we're tanking, we're not winning any more games, Like who who on earth does that in the first place?

In the NFL, Like nobody says that. But you also, like you don't need to deal anybody away to know that this team probably isn't gonna win a boatload more games, Like you can just evaluate the guys that you have, get some young players from playing time, play the good players that you still do have, And I mean, what do we think is the realistic ceiling for the number of games they're probably gonna win the rest of the way, Like six and ten seems like it would be a

fantastic effort in the second half. Guess what. That's what I'm saying, Like six and ten is probably a best case scenario, the more realistic, So they don't need to do anything to tank. They're already compromised to the point where it's not going to matter and you're up. You know. Then on the other side of the coin, there's people that are like, well, if you're not conceding the season, go do something about it, Go get somebody like you did with Amari Cooper. Why on earth would they want

to do that. They're not gonna go far even if they make the playoffs. They don't have Dak, they don't have an offensive line, their defense is historically bad. There is not a trade that they could do to significantly improve their fortunes, unless, you know, Kansas City for some reason wanted to deal Pat Mahomes. It's not happening. So I don't understand what people want them to do, like they don't they as it is right now, this team doesn't need to acquire anybody because they're not going to

accomplish their goal of winning the Super Bowl. They also don't need to have a fire sale because it doesn't make any sense to do so, So just shut up, Honestly, like it's it's gonna be fine. The team, they're gonna they're gonna fight hard, they're gonna win a few more games, they're gonna have a nice draft pick. But like all

this handwringing about the trade deadline is so tiresome. Well, let me ask you this, David, If that's where I'm at, I get your point on that, But there are there could be trades out there that maybe are not necessarily about this year, right, I mean, that's the one. I think it's it's kind of like we put him in these two categories of it's all or nothing. Either you're trading because you think you got a shot at the super Bowl, or you're not trading because you don't. And

I think there's an in between. There could be players out there that you look at and you say, if an opportunity becomes available, this is a player that is not just good for us for right now, which would be a marginal change because it's probably not going to change your fortunes this year, but he could be a really nice piece for you in coming years. If you trade for him now, you are not wrong. But like,

how many of those guys exist? Like how many? How many players that can be building blocks for several years that the team actually wants to get rid of them, Like, it can't be more than three or four. Like a perfect example is the Chargers put Desmond King on the trade block yesterday. Tennessee only had to give up a sixth round pick to get him, and people are like,

why can't the Cowboys do that? Well, he's only under contract for eight more games, so you get eight games out of him in a lost season before now you've got to worry about paying him a longer term deal. It makes sense for the Tennessee Titans because they're gearing up to make a playoff push. This team's not. And so yeah, I'm only I would only be interested in doing a trade if it was for a guy that

had several years left on his deal. If the purported Quinnin Williams trade was really a reality, sign me up. But I never like that. That was never gonna happen. Guys like that don't get traded. Doesn't even I don't disagree with you, I just don't think those those players are They're very few, and Fron doesn't make sense for the Chargers because they're going to get a better compensatory pick if he goes and signed somewhere else instead of

trading him, trading him for a sixth round pick. I'd like to think you get a better compensatory if he goes somewhere and plays well. Yeah. So, now so the Titans give a sixth maybe they sign them, maybe they don't. They probably get a better deal out of it, and and and help and have a better player down the

stretch because they're making a playoff run. Yeah, so there's Dave's right, there's there's not a lot of situations that are that, you know, like the Raiders said, all right, we're gonna get rid of Amari Cooper, you know, because they were trying to get rid of some good players and try to stockpile some picks and stuff like that. But Cowboys wouldn't dare apart with a high pick this year. You don't know how good it's gonna be. Yeah, exactly.

All right, we're gonna take our first break a little early. When we come back, we're gonna get into our midyear reviews. I got some questions for these guys. Will give you a good recap, an overview of what's happened the first half of the year, how the Cowboys need to look at the second half, and how they need to look at their team going forward. We'll do all that when we come back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot com Radio. We're back in a tasty treat that's sweeping airwaves and

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That's why at American Airlines we've been using enhanced cleaning measures so you can feel confident every step until you get to them. So, as always, our people can't wait to take you to yours American Airlines, you are why we fly back to the break Welcome back. It is the final set, I mean, in second segment of the Break life from the SWBC Mortgage studios at the Star and we're going to do a little midyear reviewing here of this Cowboys team. They are two and six at

the halfway point. Again, as I said at the beginning of the show. I don't think any of us, and I certainly will speak for myself. I had no There was no way anybody would have convinced me when the season was beginning that would get to the midway point and the Cowboys would be two and six. But that's where they are, and they are what they are at this point. They are a bad team, and there's not really a lot that you can salvage from that from

the standpoint of wins. There are some things though, that they can look at down the stretching ways to maybe get this culture changed and maybe get more familiar with the coach and the coach trying to figure out what he can do with this team to get him back on a winning path heading into next year. So here's we're gonna do. I have a list of questions here. I'm going to run through the questions, and you guys are going to give answers. Everybody will give an answer

for each question. Question Number One, position most in need of a postseason makeover, and this is top to bottom, the whole position, Like, there may be a guy you want to keep, but what position has the biggest need for multiple parts? Does that make sense, here are the ones I'll give you, cornerback, offensive line, line back, or

defensive tackle. Let's start first with you, Dave. I think the easy answer is cornerback, and I mean that's just the reality of the situation is you're gonna turn the vast majority of that over. You know, Ab and Trayvon Diggs are the only guys with long term futures here. But I don't want to cop out because I think the more important answers linebackers. That's the biggest problem to sort out. You know, I don't want to hate too much on Layton vander esh I thought he played pretty

well the other night. He's still coming back from injury. But as it stands right now, they got to figure out what they want to do with Jalen Smith. They either got to figure out how to make him a more viable player or figure out how to get out

from under that contract. Obviously, you assume Sean Lee and Joe Thomas aren't going to play forever, so they got a lot of big decisions to make their for sure, Amber, this is a tough one because I mean, you can are you every single one of those positions, But I think I would go with this secondary, either cornerback or safety, I mean those positions. Last game, yes, there were some good plays here and there, but just in general overall looking at the season so far, that position has just

been constantly terrible. There has been so many bad coverage, bad huge separation between the corners and the receivers that it's just absolutely unacceptable. And then this is an area where we have talked about all off season and clearly just didn't work out with the Cowboys giving these bringing and sticking with the younger guys and all that. So this is a position that just absolutely needs help, whether it's coaching or the player, the talent itself. It just

needs an absolutely shaken up and brings some help there. Yeah, I like the safety position. You didn't mention that, but I think safety is one that you know, I don't see. I don't really see Xavier Woods coming back maybe, but I just you gotta get somebody better there. It like Donovan Wilson are like how he's playing, Um, you don't really see a lot of You don't really see a lot of him on tape for negative things. He's making some some some nice plays, but you don't really see

a whole lot of others. So I like that there. But yeah, I think I think the secondaries the issue to me because I Layton's going to be there at linebacker. I think Jalen will be there at linebacker, now I do. I mean, I know he might. Don't think the money makes sense. I'm not going to get rid of him for nothing. I don't know. I just I wouldn't do that, not this year, now the next, I mean after this season,

but the next season. Maybe I don't know what a wash really does for your team, but I look at it like this Nick on the linebacker. The money make may make me make the decision as to who's on my team, it doesn't make me make the decision on who's playing. Okay, And for that reason, I think if I'm the Cowboys, there's no way possible I'm going into next season with Jalen penciled in as a starter linebacker

for me. Now, he might be a guy that comes in and plays if somebody gets hurt, which having Layton, that's a real possibility, right. But I do think that when you look at at what Jalen Smith has done, what he used to put on film the last few years, Like I just don't think that would be prudent for the Cowboys to go into the season expecting him to be their starter. He is just not playing at the level that you need a starting linebacker in the NFL to play. And I guess to go back to your

point about the safety position, I agree with you. I think Donovan Wilson, I think he might actually have some whereas well. I could see him staying a little bit long. I could see him being a starting safety here next year. I agree with you on Woods though, And so that's why I didn't really go that one out is because I'm thinking that's not really a makeover. I think there's one position there it's up for grab. I think Donovan Wilson will be a starting safety for your team next year.

You agree with that on Donald Wilson, Yes, And then I'll take that point to linebacker and say, I think one of the linebacker spots is going to be there with Layton vander esh So, you know, I look at it like you know, Jalen, I think be there too. He's just gonna have to draft a guy and hope

he's good. You have to draft the guy in the third or fourth round maybe, and hope that he's good like Anthony Hitchins and say maybe he's he's better, But I personally think if you've got two defensive tackles that were actually good and couldn't get moved off the ball, I think Jalen Smith would be a much better player. I really do. There's a reason he made the Pro Bowl. It's not just because he plays for the Cowboys. He made the Pro Bowl because he can make some plays.

I just think he needs a little bit better help in front of him, and I think that that some of that is true. I think the part I have a problem with, though, is he just doesn't run in the way that I need my linebacker to run, right. I mean, there are situations where he has an opportunity to get to the ball character there's no defender in his way, and he just doesn't have the speed to get there. And that's where I look at at Jalen certain I'm just like, I don't know if it's his

ankle or not. All I know is he's not He's not capable from what I've seen consistently, of doing the job that you need your linebackers to be able to do. And that makes me a little bit, you know, sour on having him be a starter next year. Let's move want to next question. Didn't he go ahead? Didn't he make the Didn't he make the Pro Bowl as a backup? I mean it's still the Pro Bowl? Yeah, but not as a backup. But he was like the fifth alternative

or whatever, like, yeah, one of the alternatives. He was way down. They it took them a while to call him. Let's put it that way. So I'm just saying, I'm just saying it was I'm not gonna take that away. But you know, let me ask you this, how many calls is it going to have to make a few guys off first? But I'm just saying, how many guys is it? How many? How many phone calls is it gonna take to get a defensive player in the Pro Bowl this year? Like, yeah, nobody on this team makes

the Pro Bowl offense or defense. That's true. Yeah, who's making the Pro Bowl? No? True? Yeah, Zach Martin. That's gonna be Zack Zach. Yeah, Zach will make it. Yeah, he's missed one. Zach will make it. And they didn't know about that. Honestly, I think no, he will just because offensive line is all about reputation, and you know, I think you know, people know who he is. His tape is still good. By the time the season's over, maybe he'll play some more tackle we can get to that.

I don't know, but I think Zach will make it. Um the interesting, Jalen's gonna be interesting. Jalen's gonna be interesting because he leads the league in tackles right now. He leads the league in tackles, which means absolutely nothing. It means absolutely nothing. But the Pro Bowl is very stupid, Like the way that people decide on who gets into

the Pro Bowl is ridiculous. So I will be uh, I will be intrigued to see, like stats first tape, you know what works in Jalen Smith's favor or not because they're not playing lead the league in tackles some well yeah, that's true to but you know that's gonna matters, but they're not playing the game yeah this year? Yeah,

which good. Let's go out to the next question. Um, if you had to trade one wide if you had to trade one wide receiver to get draft capital to fix another area of the team, who would it be and why? Obviously your your choices, and I don't want to go to the depth. Guys. I'm thinking about your top three Amari, Cooper, Ceedee Lamb, and Michael Gallup. Let's start first with Unick Michael Gallup. I'll trade him. I mean, because I keep my two best guys. I still think

I can get some value there. Um, you didn't mention anything about money, so you're just talking about I mean this contract. Yeah, it's money money in fact. Yeah, I mean if you can, if you can get rid of the contract. I mean, I don't know this next year, it might be kind of hard to get out from the the Amari deal. But um, you know, I think Gallups is a good player that needs some some good guys around him. Um, I don't see Michael Gallup being a real number one type guy. But um, you could

get by with Lamb and Gallop. But I think I think the best the best guys you've got is Cooper and Lamb, So I would probably trade him. See what I could get for him Amber if if I was doing that. I don't need to do that, though. Yeah, I'm saying you have to. I'm saying if you wanted to, if you wanted to look at this team and say Okay, we got a lot of areas we gotta fix. What's an area where we felt we have a lot of extra where we can maybe leverage some of that to

get some some picks. Yeah, great, amble Um. I'm gonna have to take out the money part in the equation because that's not my area of expertise when he comes to contract and money. So just based on merely the what they've done so far, I would say, Mr Cooper, I mean, I love the guy. He's a very talented player, and he can definitely make some place. But this year and including last year, I mean, you know, we always talked about the games that he was good and then

the away games where he just didn't bring it. But this year, I honestly have not seen much from him, and it's like every game we just see less and less And it's not his fault or anything, but at the same time, I just feel like I'm not getting much out of it. And yes, good player, talented player, bud, if it's not producing, if it's not producing on the field, then I'm gonna have to say bye and just take advantage of these younger guys that have shown talent as well.

In the ability to make plays. Dave, I refuse. You can't make me. You cannot make me answer this question because I think it's terrible. And this kind of goes back to my point. No, I see your face and I don't care. This goes back to my point about people overreacting to the trade deadline like this is such a knee jerk reaction. The Cowboys don't have their quarterback, and the quarterbacks that are left don't have an offensive line. Of course, the offense is going to look terrible, that

is a given. But think about where this team is headed. They're probably gonna pick in the top ten, so they're gonna have four picks inside the top one hundred. They're gonna get a comp three for Byron Jones, They're gonna get a cop four for Robert Quinn. They're gonna pick six times in the first one hundred and thirty hundred and forty picks. That's all the ammunition you need to

improve your team via the draft. So why am I dealing away Michael Galloper or Marii Cooper when my Pro Bowl quarterback will be back next year to throw them the ball. And my offense, by the way, is still going to be my best bet at being successful. It's a knee jerk reaction to think you need to take talent off of this team because they're struggling right now. There's no chance in hell I would deal any of the three of them. Sorry, if I'm not playing along,

that's me leaning his way, Derek. Sorry, I agree. Okay, yeah, okay, No, I mean like, I get it, I get it. We're doing to share on Tuesday on a bad football team. I get it, we're trying to play on I understand that. But but makes good points. Don't you think it's important to flesh out the other side of that? Like again, like the team's bad and we got to talk about it, and we got eight more weeks to get through it.

But don't blow up the good things about your team, because this season's not going the way that you want to know. But here's the point. Here's the point. Here's the point that's not blowing up the team that is. Wait, I'll put it to you like this, The most memorable trade the Cowboys have ever had in the history of

their franchise was this kind of move. You say, I have a bad team, I have what is the area where I have a really good player an area where I can take that really good player and I can leverage that into more that can help my team get better faster. And that's the question. The question is, and

I'm not assuming that you guys are making this. I'm saying if the people that are making decision in the building decided, hey, this is an opportunity for us to take an area that we think of as a real strength where we have extra parts and turn that into value that we can use in other areas, which, by the way, we could probably list right now. We could probably list five or six different positions where the Cowboys

need I'm talking absolutely need to upgrade this offseason. And if they say, if that can give us value to be able to do that, to be able to make our ascension faster, then who would be that guy that you would want to trade? You know, I think it all comes down to one player, and that's Cedric Wilson. If Cedric Wilson has shown this team that he is capable of being a third receiver, which he has done,

He's shown some flashes of that before. He's more of a receiver than he is a passer, I think, and a reverse guy and all that kind of stuff, I think if I think that actually shows, Okay, now we have four receivers that we really like, and maybe we could trade somebody away. From that standpoint, I still, to me would be Gallup if I had to do that. But I agree with Dave. I like what I've got on offense there, and I just have to think that I'll get better on defense to free agency in the draft,

mainly to the drafts real quick. The other another thing I think you need to point out is, and it gets talked about a lot, is you know, choosing between Gallup and Cooper. Stop trying to create problems for yourself ahead of time because you know everybody's like, well, you can't pay them all. You can't pay them all. That's fine. Gallup has a season and a half left on his Cooper's guid teaser done at the end of the twenty any one season, you don't have to make that choice

ahead of time. You could get you can get away from the Amar contract in the same year that Gallup needs a new deal. You don't have to make that choice right now. And if there's anything I've learned this season, it's you really can't afford to look more than like a few months ahead of time in the NFL, because two years from now, who on earth knows. Yeah, But

what you also just said a little bit earlier. What you said a little bit earlier is you, as a person that would be talking about trade options, would not be looking at trade for somebody in the final year of their deal. So the value if you were going to continue consider maybe getting value out of one of those two guys, would be right now. It wouldn't be next year. Oh yeah, no, no, absolutely, I'm not ever.

I'm not gonna deal either one of them. I'm gonna play them for the I'm gonna play them for the next year and a half. And in twenty twenty two, I'm gonna say, do I let Michael Gallup walk in free agency and get a COMPIIC for him, or do I cut Amari Cooper and signed Michael Gallup? Like that's what I would do. All Right, We're gonna take our final break. When we come back, we got more questions. We're gonna roll through here. We'll right back. This is

Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio 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. Want to show your Texas and team pride too? You can by purchasing your own Stetson. You can look just like how the flag guys do on field at every home game. Stetson hats the official crown of all self respecting Cowboys and your favorite football team. Get yours today at Shop Dallas Cowboys dot com or at Stetson

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Jack Black dot com slash Cowboys. The Jack Black Starter ten bucks, free shipping. We're back in a tasty treat that's sweeping airwaves and taste buds. It's new Doctor pepper and cream Soda. Let's take a listen, Doctor Bad Cream Soda. Is he a Newcombonet's music to my ears? Okay, Doctor bath Time? Put it in a glass, into my ears and mouth, New Doctor pepper and cream Soda. Let's just do bad. Back to the break, Hey, PBR fans, that

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review on the Cowboys. Next question I have for you guys, compare to expectations for Blake Jarwin Dalton Schultz has been good, I mean as good, better or worse. Let's start with you Amber. Definitely better, I mean better than what you thought of. No, no, no, let me make sure I got you got the question right. You're saying he's better than what you thought Blake Jarwin would be. Oh no, okay,

that's why I'm asking. I'm saying, based upon the expectations for Blake Jarwin, Dalton has been better than that, the same as that, or worse, I would say worse, worse. I'm gonna say worse because Blake Jarwin is a guy that I absolutely expected him to have a killer season. Unfortunately it didn't work out. I think he only got to play a couple of plays or one and then

got injured. But everything that I saw from him at training camp, what I was seeing from him last year when he was given the opportunity to be on the field, it just everything pointed upwards, and I was really excited to what he could possibly do. As far as Dalton Sholes. He was a guy that I was ready to say bye to cut him straight away, but definitely impressed me. And he has been able to make it and make it work on the field and do a lot better

than I personally expected. Now to say he's been better than my expectations for Blake Jarwin, absolutely not, but I think he's been able to at least handle the job and make some really good plays for the Cowboys at a time that they really needed a tight end to make plays. Dave. If you look at the production, I

would say it's pretty similar. You know. I'm sorry. Schultz is on pace for like seven hundred yards and four or five touchdowns, which when you think about all the other elements of this offense, that's probably what I thought for Jarwin. But I think my expectations were for Jarwin. We're higher because I just I see him as a guy that can stretch the field. You think about the plays he's made down the seams with Dak, I saw a lot of that, so I you know, I saw him being more of a big play guy. So I

think Jarwin. My expectations are still higher, but I'm so impressed by what I've seen from Schultz, which I said this the other night, like that is, you know, if you're looking for something to be happy about for this season, that's definitely one of them. Like, you know, we're sitting here talking about next season and all this stuff they gotta fix. I don't think they need to draft a tight end, at least not super high. I'm sky high on Jarwin even still. And Schultz looks like a badass.

So you give me those two guys and you know, throw in a third guy. You don't even have to draft one, Like I feel pretty solid about that position. To be honest with you, nick Um, this is about the same because when they look at what I expected at a Jarwin, I would have if you would have said sixty two catches, I would have been like, that's that's probably pretty good there for all the other receivers and Zeke getting the ball. Sixty two catches, so he's

at thirty one right now. That's that's about what I thought. Now, maybe maybe a higher average down the field a little bit more because he you know, he can stretch to feel more than than Schultz. I think the one thing that I'm forgetting I think people forget about, though, is is that you know, you just don't have that complete tight end, that guy that is on the line that can help you as a blocker and also can go

down the field and make those catches. You know, he's still I still think blocking is an issue for all the time, and so UM I would maybe draft one if there was a you know, he had a good situation. But you know, it's been good. I mean, he's been better than I thought. Schultz has been better than I thought he would be. But but I but I think this this production is about what I thought the starting

tight end would get give. You do you think that the blocking would have been better with Um with Jarwin than with Schultz and Blake Bell? Uh? I think? Yeah? I think Jarwin and Blake Bell are better blockers than Schultz and Blake Bell. Yeah. I don't think Schultz is a good blocker. I don't either, But ultimately I don't. I don't know that I think that Blake is a great block No, I no, I don't, And I agree with you. I think I think they don't have a

good block. They haven't had a good blocking tight end really for I mean, I mean maybe the first five or six years of Jason Witten's squere he was he was okay at it, but then he kind of I mean he struggled there a little bit. He knew how to get in the way, and that's what a good tight end, you know. I think he's taught those guys how to do it, but they get you know, you can't just match them up with a defensive end sometime.

I mean, they're gonna get through around. Yeah. They played twelve personnel quite a bit of the game last week, probably more than I've seen them playing since McCarty's been here. Um and and even with them playing twelve personnel, they were still not being able to slow down that that front all the time, even when they had those extra tight ends staying back to blocks. So yeah, I don't I don't know if they got a good blocking tight end right now. And for that reason, I do think

there's still a lot left to be gained. I do think Schultz is well ahead of what I thought he would be when when I when when we first heard that Blake Jarwin was going down. That's one of the next question with all that's happened. You know what. Yeah, I know, I know, training camp it's very difficult to fully judge because it's training camp. But I kept my eyes on Blake jar when this training camp, and he

did make some really impressive blocks during practices. And yes, it wasn't a real game or anything, but it was impressive enough for me to at least be excited as to thinking or expecting a tight end position to have a better blocker this year. He clearly didn't work out, but I felt like I saw some type of improvement at least during training camp compared to what we've seen from Blake Jarwin in previous years. So maybe that's an

area that he was improving. Maybe, and I guess we won't have a chance to find it out till we get to next year. But maybe he's blocking guys on a defense that can't get off blocks. Good point. I mean, I know all we could go off. All we could go off is trading camp. But I'm just saying, boy, I sat there with all you guys like, man, it's gonna be a party at the quarterback all Smith over here,

Dal all over here. Yeah, it wasn't quite because Terrence Steele I mean, yeah, it wasn't just Steel, I mean it was there was some everybody. I mean, you didn't have your two I mean, well you didn't have Yeah, you didn't have those guys that you would that you were expecting you were going to have once the season got here, and it just it showed. I think the biggest theme of the whole year is that other than maybe tight end, everybody else every key injury they've had,

they've had multiple at that position. It's not just Cheeto. It was Cheeto and Anthony Brown. It's not just you know, the one left tackle, it's the right tackle and the backup tackle. And now it's not just the quarterback, it's the backup quarterback. Everybody that's been hurt. That's significant. In the linebackers too, Shaun Lee and Layton Vanderish. It's just been one tight end. But I mean, you know, I think for the most part, the injuries have hit positions

multiple times. And now you can't even say the same thing about defensive tackle. I mean, you lost before the season even got it, and then you lost christ Riston Hill, right, all right, let's go out. I mean I'm just saying, like you lost the guy you thought you were fiding. That's what I'm saying. All right, let's on to the

next question. U. With all that's happened this season while Dak played and since his injury, the price you'd be willing to pay him has increased, decreased, or stayed the same. Let's start with you, Dave. I mean, I can't. I can't completely to that question until we know more about his recovery. And I it seems like it's going fine. I don't have any reason to suspect that's not. But I would like to know more about how he's looking

and what his prognosis is. But if we are to assume that he will be just fine, I'll say it stays the same. But that's because I was always willing to pay him more in the first place, you know, like I was already comfortable with the idea of paying him forty million in a year anyway. So if he's healthy and ready to go, I feel the same way. Nick. Yeah, I mean you have to sign him. You can't sign him to the franchise tag. I mean, that's just impossible. I don't think I don't think you can do that.

You might, you might tag him, but you certainly can't. He can't go off a tag like that. If the tag is not number, is not going to go down. But the salary cap is, which I don't understand that. But if that's the way it is, then he's got You gotta get a deal done with him. And yeah, I think I think you see his value. You're seeing his value even more with him not being here. Um, but you know it's it's gonna be hard for the

Cowboys to pay him more than Russell Wilson. But that's that's more of a Seattle problem than anything I think it. You know, he's gonna get paid like Deshaun Watson, and you know that's scary because the Shaun Watsons is hoping, I mean, Houston is hoping Deshaun Watson carries that team and you can't do it. You can't do it when when you you know, so it's gonna I don't know, it's gonna be tough. But also, where are the Cowboys picking? Because I think if the Cowboys are picking on the

top five, you gotta open this. Gary and Stephen aren't doing their job if they don't open up that discussion and be like, well, what are we gonna have to to discussion at least, Yeah, you have to. Yeah, I think it stays the same. But the big difference for me personally is that now when I'm giving him his contract, I have a big smile on my face and I feel better about it instead of being like, oh man, here you go, just sign it. Just go ahead and sign it. Now we're we're all buddies and now we're

we're happy around here and we can celebrate. So I think money wise, it just makes me feel better thinking and expecting that he's gonna fully recover from this injury. And based on what we did get to see from him this year, I think he made a huge step

from last year and we saw how. And my biggest thing with Dak Prescott has always been the whole thing about can he carry the team without him needing so many key guys around him, And given the injuries in the old line and the struggles that they had, I think that I feel that Dak proved that he can be that guy and he can't carry the team and just give that extra push that you needed. Sometimes it didn't work out with them getting a win, but we saw the change and the and the the ability of

him to make really important place under pressure. So yes, now I just give it to him with a big camber just made in my opinion, the best point of the day. And because I think going into this year and really going into the contract negotiations, think the vast majority of Cowboys fans and observers felt like Dak was not the main thing that they did. They felt like

the running game was the main thing they did. They felt like what the offensive line was the best thing that they had, and Dak was just a complimentary piece, a pretty good complimentary piece, but he was a complimentary piece.

And I think we found out at the beginning of this season is even without his two tackles, even with a running game that I think we all agree hasn't been up to par and what we expected, Dak was able to have this offense running at a rate that was really, really somewhat historic, Like they were putting up

tons of yards and tons of points. You can call it whatever you want to call it about you know, you know, garbage time, but I'll tell you this that garbage time, those garbage time points and yards aren't happening now. And so I think we all come away from this with a different perspective of Dak Prescott. That's not about the fact that he's a guy. That's a complimentary Right, we come away with the understanding that Dak is the straw that stirs the drink. At this point, in my opinion,

I don't think it's even close. He is the reason why this team will have success if they're going to move forward with him. All right, let's go on to the final question that we have before we end the show. Who has been a bigger problem slash disappointment this season? Jalen Smith, Chris Jones or Xavier Woods. Let's start with Nick Um on of those three. I mean, if you have another one you'd like to write in, Phil Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're talking about today or tonight or yeah. I don't

know what you're referring to now. I think that I think Jayalen. I mean it's probably Jalen. I mean, because the punter doesn't make that much of a difference. I mean, does he well he not really. No, he's been a disappointment. He's been a disappointment, but it's hard to say that the center of your defense versus the punter relatively. Yeah, I mean, I'm not as hard on Jalen as you guys are. But I no, I'm not. I don't think

he's I don't think he's the true problem. I guarantee you if he didn't dress and swipe and do all the stuff like that, I guarantee people wouldn't hate him as much. No, that has nothing whatsoever to do with it. In my opinion, it does not for me. It doesn't

for me. It's about just watching him play. I just I can't see where someone watches him play and they don't think that he is a big part of the problem with this step the answer, I mean, I think the answer zeke huh okay, I think that's the answer on the most disappointing. And it's not all his fault because he's he thought he'd have a different supporting cast. But I mean, to not have one hundred yard game after eight games, I mean, that's surprising, you knowsappointing him. Yeah.

Where do you think he ranks though? In the NFL? Do you know this? I know this. I'm guessing he's five hundred and fourteen yards, guessing he's probably around twelfth, thirteen, seventh, seventh. I would have guessed the same wow, but still he's been most of this point. I'm gonna say, Zeke, if I could do a write in ballot, vote for them, Zeke, all right, Amber Europe Anya, That's exactly what I was

gonna say. I was gonna see. I was gonna say a Zequel because Jamen Smith he's never been a guy that has been impressive enough to me in my eyes. He started changing my opinion during training camp. And again it was training camp, but we were all blah, you know, didn't work out to be what we saw at training camp. So there's that. So my expectations weren't very high for Jalen to begin with based on previously or not this

training camp. Anyways, point is it would be Ezekiel Elia because he just like I talked about Dark Prescott, he was the guy that I've always seemed to be the

person to be able to carry the offense. He was the guy that I always saw the Cowboys being able to run lean on, lean on with the running game and him being able well to create plays where it was just really messy and you didn't think he could get much and then there he goes pushing for those extra two four yards and this year it just unfortunately hasn't been that. He hasn't been able to not just make the explosive place that we've used to see, but

just protect the ball. You know, he's given the ball away and that that has cost the Cowboys touchdowns and losing games. And that's very important and something that you don't expect a veteran guy like him to do, not just once multiple times. So it would just have to be Ezekiel Elliott I would say, definitely the disappointment this year, Dave, it's jail and I don't think it's particularly close. Then. Zeke's been disappointing for sure, Like he's not living up

to that contracts. He's not having a great season by his standards, but running backs are a product of their environment. If he ad Dak and a healthier offensive line, I think he'd be just fine. And that is a fair conversation about whether or not it's worth to pay a running back that much money, But that's neither here nor there. Like, I'm not worried about Zeke being good next season if

the offense is healthier. I am worried about Jalen Smith ever being good again based on what we've seen and yeah, Nick, I get your point. Like the way that he carries himself rubs a lot of people the wrong way. But I'm with Derek, Like his instincts seem bad. He gets fooled a lot, he's out of position a lot. He doesn't seem to have the burst that he had in twenty eighteen. Whenever he's asked to move in space, it usually looks really, really rough. And the Cowboys are paying

him to be this centerpiece of their defense. He doesn't. More often than not, he looks like an average to below average linebacker and they're paying him to be at the top of the position. And not only is it it's obviously bad for the team right now, but there's big financial ramifications about that. You know, if he can't get it done. That's why I said, like, they got to figure out a way to make him a better player, or figure out how they can cope with carry and

that contract on the books like that. It's one of the biggest problems facing them for twenty twenty one in my opinion. And it's just not where I thought they would be when they agreed to that deal a year ago. All Right, that's a rap. We appreciate you guys, you guys, we'll be back tomorrow. Wouldn't start getting ready for Cowboys versus Steelers? What Bucky Brooks? You join us. We'll talk about the Steeler offense tomorrow versus the Cowboys defense. Till then.

For Nick Eatman, Dave Helm and Amber Garcia, I'm Derek Eagleton. This has been The Break live on Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.