Cowboys Break: Question Marks

twenty twenty three, Season eighteen, episode number one, fifteen. Welcome to the latest edition of The Break Off s WBC Morgage Studios at the Star, represented by Miller Litte, the only beer of the Dallas Cowboys. We don't have two of our folks in with us today, Nick Eatman Brian brought us both. Actually Nick's heading to Super Bowl right now. Brian's already at Bowl, so they got things they're doing out in Arizona. We are blessed though, today to have

my guy hitting with us. Patrick No c Walker from Talking Cowboys gets a chance to see how the real big dogs do it. Yes, every time we can, we give you a chance to come over here and maybe and as I was explaining before we went on the air, I don't know. You and Amver sit close to each other, so you might already know this. But on the air, man, she's a whole different person. On the air, she can get a little feisty. Sometimes we have to settle her down a little bit so she's the exact same thing

and all good, perfect, okay, good good. It won't be a surprised. It will not be a surprise. Then when she starts kind of giving her full full opinions on this team, Uh, we're gonna talk about today what we typically do this time of the year. It's the show where we start trying to figure out how do we

fix whatever is wrong. Cowboys, although they had, in my opinion, what I would consider to be somewhat of a successful season going twelve and five, getting the playoffs, getting a playoff win, still didn't get over that hump that everybody wants them to get over. And so now the question becomes, Mike McCarthy, how do you get over that hump? He got a team that we feel like has a good

amount of talent. How do we get them over that hump to get them to that next level, to get them to that championship game, possibly get them to that Super Bowl and ultimately winning a Super Bowl. That's what we're gonna start talking about today. Before we get there, though, I want to start with Brian Schottenheimer. Cowboys announced this week that Brian Schottenheimer has been hired as a new offensive coordinator. I want both of you guys to tell

me what do you think this means. Obviously we know Mike McCarthy's calling plays, but what does disposition mean and what do you think it brings to this team. Well, for me, it means that the Cowboys offense is going to look slightly different going into twenty twenty three for obvious reason. It's not simply because you're looking at the difference between two offensive coordinators. But primarily the reason it doesn't the promotion doesn't necessarily move the needle for me

too much right or too much left. It's because, at the end of the day, it is it is Mike McCarthy calling in the plays. So I'm interested to see if Schottenheimer can bring the what i'll call prime Brian to the equation. And the prime Brian would be three of the four years he was in Seattle they had a top ten offense. Now, granted that was with Prime Russell Wilson. But we've also seen what Prime Dak can do.

So if Dak can reel end the interceptions, which I believe he can because that's uncharacteristic of him, QB coach change that could affect it as well. So if we can get Prime Dak, the one who was an MVP candidate or in that conversation not two or three years ago, Schottenheimer brings over some intricacies that can help advance Mike

McCarthy's Green Bay play calling system. It could be something that helps the Cowboys get over the hump because, like you said, it was successful twelve and five twenty four regular season wins over the past two years, but now they're bumping their head up against the ceiling and that ceiling might require some changes. Well, he is a guy that, like you mentioned, he has the experience, and I would

assume Mike McCarthy was part of this decision. Kellen Moore was the guy that was already here, and he praised Kellen Moore a whole lot when he was coming in. He was excited to work with him. But now this is all on Mike McCarthy's like, this is his decision. This is what he's gonna do. He's the one calling the place. I thought something that was interesting Will McClay he talked during the Senior Bowl and he did mention something.

You know, with his scouts, when they go out and scout talent, it can be challenging sometimes when you have a different coach position coach in those moving parts, because you're still trying to learn what they're looking for, what are they the type of players that they're attracted to or wanting to incorporate in the team. And it's interesting because this is a guy that has already been here

and you still have the Mike McCarthy. He's gonna be calling the play, so you have continuity in that aspect. So I think having somebody that's not completely fully from the outside it's going to help a little bit with that transition and still help the scouts in that way to try to bring in guys that now Mike McCarthy's wanting. He's wanting because what was his last year he was kind of like a consultant. Yeah, he was a consultant. He was he was with the team. Obviously spent a

lot of time with team. I see him on the plane yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, he was kind of up, But I wonder how much he really was doing. Typically, but that's the thing typically for consultants, like what they're really doing. They're observing if there are special projects, Hey we're looking at this team, what are your thoughts on this? Like they're there for their expertise. They don't necessarily have

a role all the time. Now that we don't know exactly what he's doing, but consultants in general typically don't have a role all the time where it's like, hey, every game you're gonna do this, this, this, this, and this. It's more like, okay, well, hey, what are your thoughts on this? How would you do this? Hey we need this extra help over here? Can you help out with this? Like that's kind of the role I would assume typically of a consultant. That's what I would assume he was doing.

But here's the deal. The reason why it matters, and I think he goes to what you're saying, Amber is the word I keep hearing around the building is alignment. I think the way the way that I look at this is this is just one more thing that tells me they want to get this thing all aligned and really it's going to be aligned up to Mike McCarthy. Mike McCarthy's ultimately going to be responsible for this offense.

And so when you look at all the coaches that aren't coming back to me, I look at it and say, alignment. I think, you know, are you getting guys that are going to be completely aligned with the direction and how Mike wants to do the offense, how he wants the offense to function. Because it was kind of pieced together in a little different kind of way. Obviously, Kellen Moore was already here and and Mike said he was good

with that. He was he was okay with the idea that Kellen was here, And quite frankly, I'm not sure it would have necessarily changed had not. You know, my personal opinion that maybe Kellen was as much a part of that decision as the Cowboys that Kellen wanted to leave. But all that being said, I do think a lot

of this has to do with alignment. If Mike's gonna call the plays and Mike's gonna run the offense, my suspicion is Mike's gonna want guys that know what he wants that aligns with his philosophies offensively so that it makes it a lot easier to accomplish the things he wants to accomplish, and do it quickly. He don't have four or five years to figure this out. He's got to do it pretty quick. And for me, going back to and I love the fact that Ambery you touched

on what McClay said about his scouting department. The play calling style that's now about to be deployed via Mike McCarthy with an in coordination with Brian Schottenheimer. It's going to be more of the West Coast style. So if you go back, if you look at some of the more successful West Coast offenses. Let's talk about the team that has now elimited the Cowboys in two consecutive postseasons, Kyle Shanahan and that West Coast offense in San Francisco.

He deploys a lot of motions, but at the base of it, it still get the ball out quickly, depend on your playmakers. Tell your playmakers to turn this four yard catch into a ten yard overall reception. The Cowboys need to make sure they have the personnel to operate efficiently in the offense that's to come Ceedee Lamb has proven he can be that guy. Michael Gallup win healthy

and now he will have a complete offseason. He's now recovering from the scope on the right knee and the right ankle for those that didn't know, that's also not the same knee and that he told the ACL Lamb. But if a healthy Michael Gallop plus Ceedee Lamb and you would have to look at free agency. Maybe. I know they're going to try to develop Jaylen toil More, but they're gonna go back after Obj. See if that happens, I would love for them. I'm on the record I

want t Y Hilton back in the building. If you can get the right personnel, those playmakers. Jake Ferguson will talk about the tight end position here shortly. Peyton Hendershot, he's a playmaker. When you get the ball in his hands, You're gonna have to stack your offensive weapons for Dak Prescott.

Those types of players that you can get the ball out quickly and then depend on them to get yet because this West Coast offense and any kind of type of variation for it, sorry requires yards after the catch. So make sure you have that personnel. I will say this though, and I want to be clear about this, even though we think that might happen. Fact the matter is,

we don't know how Mike's gonna handle. It's true, Mike could go into this whole thing and say, you know, I'm gonna be calling plays, but I like what Kellen Moore was doing from an offensive philosophy standpoint, and we might continue to do that. Or he might say, you know, I figured out a hybrid between maybe some of the stuff Kellen's doing and some of the stuff I used

to do, and now that's what we're gonna do. So I wouldn't go as far as to say it is a foregone conclusion that this will be a West Coast style offense. What I would say is that's what Mike did before Kellen's been doing what he's been doing. Where does this end up? How has Mike evolved? Because my

suspicion is Mike has evolved. He's probably not the same play caller that he was when he was in Green Bay, and by the way, he probably at that point had different person Probably he had different personnel at that point. He may not think that personnel fits here, or that philosophy fits here, that scheme fits here with the players

that he has. So we'll wait and see, and I want to say I'll be interested to see once we get the training camera what this offense looks like with Mike call in the plays and implementing whatever he decides them. And we spoke about it off the offline, off the record. As far as I believe that to your point, he's going to take the best of Kellen Moore, I don't think he's going to scrap the entire tire Kellen Moore playbook because that would be kinterproductive in trying to get

Dak Prescott back to prime level. Right, So there has to be, to your point, Ambar, some type of continuity, not only in whom you're naming the offensive coordinator someone who is in the building, but in the playbook as well, in the language as well. So there's going to be For me, I believe a lot of the best of Kellen Moore that remains, but you'll see that mixed with some of the best of the Mike McCarthy Super Bowl Green Bay era and then see how Schottenheimer can kind

of mix it in into that. Yeah, I think that's that's the really cool part. And I hate every year because we get to the end result that's not obtained, the major goal is not obtained. But and now I'm like, you know what, I'm done. I'm done. I'm freaking done.

But then we hit this point where we start looking at things that we're interested in seeing and possibly it sparking a new little fire in you of excitement and wanting to see because I think it is pretty cool that he has that kind of experience where you've experienced both types of offense and then you can start picking out what really works and then hopefully now figure out exactly how to better cater to a quarterback like Dak Prescott. Yeah,

it's interesting you say that. I was Mencini's my wife. We were literally having this conversation two or three days ago about fandom and how you kind of manage that feeling you're talking about, and I was like, you know, I've come to this conclude and it's not just the Cowboys, it's Texas for me, because they are the organizations mirror each other so much, just in the fan basis, how the world looks at us versus how we look at ourselves, Like oh, it's just so just the same thing. But

I told my wife. One of the things I figured out that that I think is a healthy perspective is I'm gonna take it season by season, and what that means is, by February or March of every year, I'm going to allow myself to just say I don't care about what happened in the past. I'm gonna start over with this team and we'll see where it takes me. And I'm gonna get excited in the moments I get excited.

Big wins will mean something to me. I will not allow myself to be like, but what's gonna happen when it comes time for the real game, like the big game. I'm not gonna do that. I'm just gonna take every season as it is and take the ride, and wherever it takes me, that's where it's gonna take me. If it ends in disappointment, I'm gonna have that disappointment, I'm

gonna get to February. I'm gonna tuck that away, and I'm gonna move on to the next season, because otherwise it doesn't make sports fun, right if you're If you're the other way, then you're like, man, what's after a while, it's like, why am I even doing this? And it kills the whole fun of sports. So I ain't doing it. I'm not getting on that. I'm doing it from now on. I'm not gonna allow myself year and like that that was me last year. I'm like, I might work, this

is work. Let me just stay. We gotta do this, we gotta get through this. But then things start happening throughout the season that you get start getting pulled back in and reeled back in, and I'm like, dare it? Are hated this? But um, there's still there's always there's always something to look forward to. So well, the good news is is the Cowboys are showing progress. And granted, two things can be true at the same time. One, they did not achieve their ultimate goal last year. That's

that's effect. What's also affect is they made progress last year. Year over year, they went twelve and five for two consecutive seasons, two consecutive postseason appearances, got eliminated in the wild card last postseason, made it to the divisional round this postseason. Well, logic dictates that as long as you can make the necessary tweaks at minimum, maybe you should be I mean, the next step in progress is the NFC Championship, right, So that's they're trying to make the

next step. The needle is pointing in that direction, the trajectory is aimed in that direction. So that's that those are things to get excited about. You know that you're going to get a one hundred percent Michael Gallup back in camp versus the Michael Gallup who is trying to return from a torn acl in season and trying to regain his swagger on the fly, which is a much

more difficult task. You know that they're going to be at least more aggressive in free agency than they have been in the past because they just showed you that Jason Peters Anthony Barr, you're going to trade for Jonathan Hell? Does that? Is that more aggressive or is that more of what they've been willing to do because what they've been willing to do over the years is, well, we will we will go out and get the guys that we can get at a time and a price that

makes sense. A better hit rate. Let's say that. Okay, that's better hit rate because you're talking about Anthony bar and a Jason Peters versus let's say a Gerald McCoy and a Don Terry Poe, so better hit rate. I'd say the caliber of name would be similar respective to their off seasons that they were brought into Dallas. But the hit rate was phenomenal for the free agents that the Cowboys did bring in, and then the heat hit rate for the twenty twenty two NFL Draft was just

through the roof. Jayleen Tilbert. Notwithstanding, but as of today, we had we had this conversation as of today, as of today, but ultimately there are things to be excited about. It's not a rebuilt season for the Cowboys, and now you're just looking for them to, like I said, stop bumping their head against the ceiling, like just now it's time to blow to the roof off. All right, now it's time to fix this thing. We're gonna take a break. When we come back, We're gonna go position by position.

We're gonna start with the offensive side of the ball, and each of these uh, these analysts are gonna tell us what one thing, if they had one thing that they would fix that they think needs to be fixed, what would that be? What would be that focus for that position. We'll do that when we come back Dallas cowboys dot com Radio. Todd thought it would be secure

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by blockchain dot Com. All right, here's what's gonna do. We're gonna go through each position. We're gonna start with the offensive side of the ball, and I want you guys to tell me what do you think is the biggest thing that the Cowboys need to be focused on trying to fix this offseason at that position. It can be about a particular player, It can be about a contract, it can be about a player's performance. It can be how that position is being coached. Whatever it is, just

about this position. If you had to line out, here's the thing I think is most important for them to work on. This is what it would be. Let's start first with the quarterback position. It always gets the most attention, and quite frankly, it should because it is probably not probably it is the most position in sports, most important position in sports. Right now, looking at the Cowboys and what they have and what they've done, what do you think is the most important thing they have to address

This offseason. You got to get the interceptions in order. With Dak Prescott, and like I mentioned earlier, those are uncharacteristic characteristic of him if you look at the body of work that he's put on film in the NFL. And I don't know if because he wasn't throwing these interceptions. And this is not a shot to Douglas Smyer think he did a great job, but the fact is the fact. And when John Kittner was the quarterbacks coach, as one example,

you didn't see Dak Prescott throwing these interceptions. What you did see with Dak Prescott find another gear and become prime Dak Prescott, MVP caliber Dak Prescott. But something happened over the past couple of years, and particularly over the back half of this past season, that the interceptions just completely ran away. Now I think I did some quick math, and I think only, not only, but sixty percent of the interceptions were attributable to Dak Prescott making poor decisions

and or poor throws. The other forty ish percent were completely on his targets tip drill, Noah Brown picks six, Jacksonville, Peyton hendershot tip drill, interception and those things but at the quarterback position, that's a very fixable offense. So the onus is on McCarthy and nuss Meyer, whomever they bring in at quarterbacks coach to get that get into the lab with Dak Prescott this offseason, making sure that his decision making is back to where it was and he's

not playing hero ball. I think he was pressing a lot on the back end of last season and that led to some of those ilevised decisions. But I'm on record saying this. I also wonder what was the impact to his fractured thumb as far as his feel for the ball, how he threw the ball. Does he need to recalibrate with how his thumb might feel now, But now he has months to do that, So that's key for me. And then from there, the backup conversation is a more robust one than most are thinking about. That's

going to be interesting. Yeah, to me, it would be having a different voice in his ears. I think this year hopefully it might give me personally a better clarity on what I truly, truly think about Dak Prescott as a quarterback and where he could pass go and become. He's a quarterback that I think has a lot of talent. We've seen him make some really really great throws off the field. That's not even a question. He's the perfect guy you would ever want for your team, and he's

a great leader and all that. But throughout the like throughout his career, there have been moments where it's like, Okay, well he still needs growth. Well, the old line needs to improve. Well the running game needs to work out and create that type of balance for him. Well you got a receiver by comedian, it's not really working out to figure out the receiver. So's there's always been something and I think that this year and obviously I'm we're

gonna talk about receivers. That's another issue there and like everything else, okay, and now that ire again. But my biggest thing with him this year would be to see if if he does improve in just by having a different voice that's other than Kellen Moore, because that's who

he's had this whole time and under Jason Garrett. I think that just bringing it different, just to see how his game actually changes a different perspective from someone that is maybe watching from the outside and seeing just a different view. You know, it helps being out of the room sometimes and just building, creating your own thoughts and evaluations. So to me, that's something that it's already maybe in the works with just having Brian coming in and he's

a different guy, although not so much. And then the backup position for quarterback, well, I'm not sure what's going to happen there. I mean Cooper Rush he's becoming a free agent, and Jerry Jones he's mentioned it already as far as like the draft that they're hoping to draft a quarterback every year. So we'll see how that works out as well. But I'm curious to see what happens and who would be the guy behind Dak. Yeah, it's

going to be interesting to see what happens. And quite frankly, that to me is probably the bigger thing I'm wanting to about this offseason. It's like it's the backup because let's be honest, Dak Prescott is a good quarterback, and I think there's what gets confused in some of the commentary around Dak after that final game is people confuse criticism of Dak in that game with Dak's not a good quarterback. Dak had a bad game. I don't think Dak played according to his standard. I didn't and that

that I think he was clear about that. I think the difference is that doesn't mean Dak isn't your quarterback of the future. That doesn't mean that Dak isn't as good as what seventy five eighty percent of the quarterbacks in the NFL. He is up there in that top ten. I don't care what anybody says. I feel I am a firm believer Dak Prescott is a top ten quarterback in the National Football League, and you don't let those kinds of guys walk right, He's gonna be here. So

that being said, it's not so much. And quite frankly, I think the problems when you start talking about particularly interceptions, I think you hit it on the head. That is not a tradition, no problem for DA Dak is not. That's an aberration. So I look at this season as an aberration. I think the problems he was having that we had a quarterback with interceptions, We're way more about the surrounding cast. And so when we start getting to some of these other positions, I think that's where the

conversations have to be focused on. To fix that part of the Cowboys it's not so much Dak. I think the backup quarterback becomes very very important because if Dak is going to be the quarterback that I want him to be from the standpoint of what he's going to provide this team, it means he's gonna have to run, which means there is some risk, which means the backup

quarterback is even more important. So for me, that's where I'm focused right now, Like, who's going to be that backup guy that if I lose Dak for two or three games, because I'm asking Dak to be give me more of that dynamic quarterback, the quarterback we see in the Super Bowl right now. Dad can be that kind of guy, Jalen hurts, he can be that kind of guy if I'm asking him to be that that I got to have a suitable backup that if I lose Dak for a few games, just like this season, we

don't miss a beat. We still have a way that we can and win effectively. And I'm speaking as the coach, we still have a way we can win effectively. Sell the backup quarterback is probably the biggest question I have a quarterback right now. I'm one hundred percent there with you on Dallas Cowboys dot com. For those that haven't followed the series, we have an offseason series that began

called What's Next, and we address every single position. And on Monday I spoke about the quarterbacks, and of course I touched on the interceptions needed to be improved and how they could probably go about that, But most of that right up was about the backup quarterback position. Because as much as from a macro standpoint one hundred percent agree Dak Prescott is the top ten quarterback, you don't have No one has the numbers to disprove that. To me,

you don't have the film to disprove it. He has bad games, so does Patrick Mahomes. So that's any of those top guys you're going to name. But he's had a running with bad luck when it comes to injuries lately. He's not injury prone, let's make that distinction. He's not injury prone, but he has missed some time over the past couple of seasons. And when that happens, now you the onus is on you to make sure that you

have a capable backup quarterback. You've seen that Cooper Rush can do that, but he's going into free agency with fairly high value. I think it's inarguable that Cooper Rush is going into free agency this time with the highest stock he's ever seen in the n He's better than I'll put it like this, Cooper Rush is better than at least five to eight NFL starting quarterbacks from last night. And so now when you put that into the equation,

that means he's going to get some some pretty healthy offers. Okay, the Cowboys tie that into the fact that the Cowboys were witness seeing Will Grier really challenge Cooper Russian training camp. There were times where we had these discussions. Will Grier took the lead for the role of QB two, but then suffered the growing injury that slowed him monumentally in the preseason, and then Cooper Rush kind of got bumped back up. So can a healthy Will Grier really be

your QB two? If you let let if you and Cooper Rush part ways, because free agency is a two way street, but then what at what round do you go with your quarterback? Jerry Jones said, defend atively, Cowboys are going to start drafting every year. But are we talking to flyer sixth seventh? Are you willing to go a little bit higher than the flyer fifth, which makes it a little bit more of a mix between developmental verse plus someone who might be ready to step in quickly.

That is the most more robust conversation at that position. I'll be honest with you. The fact is, when you start talking about quarterbacks and drafting quarterbacks, I wouldn't expect. It's an aberration to expect a quarterback, even sometimes a first round quarterback. But certainly when you're talking about fourth, fifth, six, seventh, third round quarterbacks being capable of stepping in and playing a role in year one, that just it doesn't happen

enough for me to rely on that. So the way I look at this is Cowboys quarterback position is about Cooper Rush and Will Grier, and one of those two is going to have to be there in that spot. And Will if it's Will Grier, I agree with you. I personally thought at going into last when they were about to make cuts, I was thinking Will Grier was probably going to be the two, But for that injury, I think he would have been. But that all being said, I think it has to be one of those two.

You draft somebody there become the third guy. And you're developing them in hopes that they can turn into Cooper Rush. But Cooper Rush wasn't going to be able to do what Cooper Rush did this year his rookie year. That's just there's a reason why you either go undrafted or you're drafted late, and at the quarterback position, even drafted as early as the third, fourth, fifth round. Typically that

means you're not ready right now. And also not to take away from Cooper Rush, because we gave him his roses because they were due, but in his rookie year, he didn't have the defense that he had complimenting him in twenty twenty two. So and for those that have man forgotten, I love that you point out that the odds of a fourth or even the third round or later quarterback being able to step in immediately and make an impact they are very very low, very low. But

I think people forgotten that Dak Prescott did exactly that. Yeah, but no, no, I'm not saying that he's the norm. I'm saying that makes him that much more special in what he's been able to achieve. So between that and what he's put on film as a as a macro, you can dissect the micro all day long, but as

a macro, that is a special guy. That's a leader, and like you said, off the field and bar he's above approach, like he's just bulletproof off well, looking back at well his contract, we know that's a conversation right now, and extending him will create a lot more space and helped you with yeah, what you do this year, especially in free agency and all that. Where do they think

his position stands now? Because we know how long it took last time when they were working out a deal together and him wanting certain things, the Cowboys another finality. They obviously made it work. But do you think like now the Cowboys have the apprehend in this whole situation as far as extending him. Honestly, I don't know if that's a necessarily an upperhand kind of thing, because when you do those extensions like that, it usually is a win win. The team gets more cap space and the

player gets more money. Like it tens is just work. Everybody's happy. Players gonna get more money. They're just gonna space it out and structure it differently so that the team can actually get a benefit out of that an increased amount of money. And right now, let's be honest to some degree, when you start talking about the contract with Dak, that's an old conversation in my opinion, because at the time when they were doing the deal, and we talked about this a lot at the time they

were doing the deal, it was a huge deal. Yeah, no, it's not any huge deal anymore. This is like, we're getting our money's worth, Like, this is worth it for the amount of money you're paying, and where he is if he's a top ten quarterback, because I think he is, you're getting a bit of a deal, Like, so you're not overpaying at this point. I mean, I just saw an article last week that the expectation is that Daniel

Jones is going to get forty million. You're getting a deal like this is a good deal, right, this is a good deal. So you know, I think the conversation of Dak's contract is a bit overplayed at this point. I think when it comes to an extension sometimes and I don't I don't know how his deal is structure, but sometimes these deals have triggers in him that the player doesn't even have to sign off on. The team already built it in where they can just basically flip

a switch and do it and it's automatically done. So I don't know if that's the case here, but my point is, in most of these kind of situations where you're doing those extensions and that kind of stuff, it really is just a win win. The players gonna get more money, the team's gonna get more cap space, and everybody's like, yeah, let's do this because it makes sense for everybody. Yeah, and I agree. I don't think this is a negotiating a negotiation as much as it is

just common sense. Right. Common sense says that if you if you extend Dak Prescott right now, you'll save over twenty five million dollars against toward your coup. Common sense says that he's the top ten quarterback and those are those don't fall off trees every day. So when you approach Dak Prescott with the conversation, you say, hey, we want you around. We know you want to be around. Here's why it makes sense for us. It obviously makes

sense for you. You're rooted in dallasts, We're continuing to build the team around you. The changes that we're making in the coaching ranks, so forth and so on. You see us making these moves and try to take this next step, and we believe you're at the heart of it all. I think it's a fairly easy conversation, completely

non contentious. There's not much to discuss as far as value goes, because now the Cowboys know its value, and like you said, Daniel Jones, he's about to potentially average forty million a year, So that's not even a conversation anymore. Give him a little bit of a pay bump to make it at least respectable against what the market will look like over the next two or three years, so that you don't have to revisit it again in two years because now he's potentially underpaid depending on how the

Cowboys and he performed. But I think it's a much easier conversation to be had right now. All right, let's go ahead and take our final break. Will come back. We'll jump to the running back position. There's so many areas we can go with this. I'll be interested to see what you guys think is the most important one. We'll be back Dallas Cowboys dot Com rad Now the season is finally here. For months, we've been gearing up to win. Now it's time for the team that performs

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to approval of restrictions apply. This is not a commitment to lend back to the break Welcome Back. It is the final segment of the Break Life from the s WBC Mortgage Studios. At the start, it's Super Bowl week, So before we end the show today, I'm going to nail these guys down on their predictions for the Super Bowl. I have two questions for them. One, who do you want to win? And who do you think? Well, we'll do both of those here in the final segment before

we end today show. Let's finish our conversation, though I guess not even finish it. We're gonna be doing this for quite a few weeks, going through these positions because y'all talk a lot, so we didn't get it. Took us too long to get through quarterback. We might get through running back. But let's start Truman. Let's talk about the running back how we feel. Let's talk about the running backround right now. Obviously, the Cowboys got got a

lot to consider it running back. They got an aging running back who has been the main guy for a number of years, who finally has got into a point in his contract where the Cowboys could make a move. You've got a guy who has been the backup who this year I think has a planet the starter, and by the end of the year he was playing as though he were the starter. The Cowboys were using him in that way in a lot of games. And by the way, he's a free agent, so there's a lot

of things to consider here. What do you think is the biggest focus for the Cowboys at the running back position this offseason. I think they're going to try to keep the band together between Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard. They want Zeke, they love Zeke, and justifiably so. The impact of Zeke both on and off the field, particularly in the locker room. He's one of the locker room leaders as well. I mean, it's it's difficult to quantify

the value of Ezekiel Elliott, and kudos to him. The maturity that has been exhibited this version of Ezekiel Elliott versus the twenty sixteen version. Those are two completely different, which, by the way, I say this all the time, but I'll say it again. Any one of us, and I'm talking anybody in this room or outside his room, all the listeners. Think about yourself when you were twenty one, and think about yourself when you were twenty seven, twenty eight,

twenty different human being. You are a different person. Allow people to learn and grow, and he had. But you gotta allow that doing it because not every also true, not everyone does. Yeah, and not everybody does at that rate too. Some people take some more like thirty five before they get there, right but he has he has some hard knocks that helped him flip that switch fast. But I think, I think, and I'm on record of

saying this, and I'm not speaking for Ezekiel Elliot. I'm speaking about Ezekiel Elliott when I've said time and again, I believe that he would be amicable to taking a pay cut if that pay cut were used to keep Tony Pollard in the building. I think he and Tony Pollard both understand that together they extend each other's careers.

So that's a talking point when you approach Tony Pollard for the contract negotiation, and ultimately, if you feel like there's not anough traction with Tony Pollard just slapping with the franchise tag it's only ten million dollars you pay, don't show it's more than that. Eight hundred thousand more than that. It was ten point nine for tight end last year, ten point one for a running back, franchise

tag him. Hopefully, get a pay cut on Ezekiel Elliott to lessen your hit at the position and then continue to develop me Lee Davis behind them, who might be really in play for next offseason depending on how things go with the Zeke and Tony Pollard. But yeah, I think you just keep the band together. Yeah, I freaking I love both of them, and I really really love zee and just everything that you mentioned. I don't need

to repeat any of that. But part of me, and that's ideally what I would want to see happening, just keeping them together. But then part of me also sees the way that they were able to develop a guy like Malie Davis and the way that we hear it every single year, how quote unquote easy it is to draft a running back and plug in the player, fresh legs, young guy have that kind of speed, a new energy

bringing in to the team. So seeing how successful those three running backs where, and even Malie Davis, he didn't play that whole lot, but when he did, he showed you the things that he can do, it leads me to think that possibly we will part ways with one of them, either Zeke or Polar. I don't I could see where they don't keep both, They keep maybe one, and then Malik Davis is still here, and then you draft and bringing some other new guy. I think could

possibly be the way of their thinking. But yeah, like I said, it's just hard to say goodbye. But it's the reality of the business. I don't there's some other positions that I feel they would seem maybe more valuable as far as addressing through free agency and spending that kind of money rather than a running back. Yeah, I personally, I look at that. I agree with a lot of that. Amber. I really think they've got to get younger at the

running back position. And what I mean by that is, again, in a league where we've seen it over and over and over again, it is the easiest position to turn over. It is the position where guys consistently can come into the league. You talk, we were talking about the quarterback position, where it takes a little bit of time. Running back seems to be the position where you can get immediate

impact from guys immediate immediately out of college. And I'm gonna be honest with you, guys, I'm not a big I usually am not the guy that's touting Texas players as guys that I want that I want Cowboys to take us. I'm harder on them than I am on other players around the country, mainly because I've seen them

play every one of their games. But let's be honest, Like, if Bijean Robinson is sitting there at twenty six, quite frankly, and I know this is gonna turn some heads because people are gonna say, for a running back, if Bijean is there at twenty one or twenty two, I would be looking at ways I could get up there to get him, because when I tell you, this guy is

one of those special running backs. And I think I've always been clear too, I don't love the idea of giving second contracts to running backs just because it's a position, and positional value says you can you can turn it over pretty easily relatively speaking. But looking at how this guy plays, he is one of those guys. It has

that ability. He has traits that are that are more generational running back type traits, like he has the kind of traits of a Barry Sanders, which for some of those out there listening may not that may not really ring well for you because that was in my childhood and early adulthood. But when I say that, I mean he is the kind of guy that I saw him do it multiple times at Texas. The offensive line Texas was not very good, and this year was better than

it's been in past years. There were a number of times I saw this man get to the hole there was no hole he should have been tackling in the backfield. He turns it into a seven yard game. He has that ability with no space and relatively poor blocking, to be able to make guys miss and turn something into what should have been a loss. And that's the kind

of guy that I'm like. If you have an offensive line that's a little in flux, which the Cowboys are kind of the they're young, they're a young offensive line, he will make this offensive line look really, really good. And that's what I saw. That was probably the most deficient thing that I would say about Zeke. I don't think Zeke has or has really shown that ability here over the last year of when things are all clogged up, can he make guys miss and turn it into something?

Is he even more like younger version Zeek or more like a Tony Pollard now? Honestly, in my opinion, in my opinion, his traits are better than either one of them at this point in their career coming out of and by the way, Zeke was a big time player coming out of college. He was a big time college player. Bijean's a different kind of back. Bijean has all of those like he's a he's an he has power, he has speed, Like he can turn it as Zeke used

to do early in his career. He can turn that that quick run that he gets a little space and now he's off for a forty fifty yard touchdown. He has that um he can lower his shoulder and go through it like he has all he can catch out of the backfield. You can line him up at a wide receiver, he can catch like he can do pretty

much all of those things from a trade standpoint. Now, obviously, going to the NFL, there will be things that you have to measure as far as whether it actually ends up being that kind of player on the NFL level. But I will tell you watching him play every single down in college, this man is special. And if I'm the Cowboys, now you have to make some decisions before you get to draft, correct. But if I have a chance, If I'm the Cowboys and I have a chance to

get Bjean Robinson on my team, I'm doing it. The problem I have with it is not obviously not with the player. Bejean is an absolute horse, and for my money, he should have been in the Heisman conversation, the only reason he wasn't was because of how the team as

a whole in Texas went. So I'm right there with you all the praise and credit to what Bejean Robinson is and can possibly be at the NFL level, but when you start looking at some of these other positions of need and granted, this conversation changes as we get closer to the last weekend in April, because then we'll have a better idea of what they did or did not do in free agency the Cowboys, I mean, so

the conversation could change then. But let's say all things being as they are right now, I would be wholly uncomfortable with selecting the running back in the first round when you don't know what you're doing at cornerback yet. Right, So,

you know what you got into, Ron Bland. You know you gotta Treyvon Diggs, whose contract negotiations are coming up here soon, by the way, so you kind of gotta get some not only someone to compliment him, but maybe someone who can be insurance in case those things don't go well. We'll see how it goes. But Anthony Brown is an unrestricted free agent who's also coming off of a major injury. George Lewis will be back in the building.

That'll be wonderful as he's healthy. But it appears Kelvin Joseph, it's not the answer there. You like the needle pointing up on this Sean right, You like the needle pointing up on Israel mukuammo. But these are still very young guys who still need more development before they can show you that they're definitively CB two opposite Trevon Dixon. That's just one position. Linebacker. Are you going to be able to keep Laton vander esh and are you or are

you not bringing man Anthony Barr? But then are you ready to unleash the unleash theman Clark. Yeah, unleash theman Clark. Unleash Clark. But my overarching point is these other positions are of such a high need and you don't currently have resolutions to them as much as you have at the running back position. If you just kept that back, that's that's great to say, but I think there are lots of challenges to that from a standpoint of you don't like, are you gonna franchise Tony Pollard? If you're

gonna do that, great, you can control his rights. But if you're not, then you can't control that right. Um and and I will say this too. I get your point. But I do think at certain positions, if you have a good enough player, like a transition, like a generational type player, you can change how effective other positions. And I do. I think it's like when they got Michael Parsons, the reason why this defense took that big jump. Yeah, they brought in a lot of different players and pieces

that all fit. But when you got a player like Micah, teams have to address you differently, which means like the guy who's whose deficiencies maybe should have or could have been exploited before can't be exploited the same way. Because you've got this guy, you're now worried about number eleven.

That affects everything else. I think, Bijean, maybe that kind of back that may solve some of your offensive line challenges, may solve some of your wide receiver challenges, may solve some of the challenges you see when it comes to your tight ends blocking. Like, there are lots of things that this guy becomes, as Nick calls him, the diaper, right, he can cover up all the stuff. Right, So when

when I look at it like that. That's where I'm like, I think somebody like Beijon has that kind of ability. Not again part of this. Maybe I just saw him and he was so great at Texas that I'm my glasses are too. Yeah. Maybe maybe that's it. Maybe that's it, and I will count. Look, I will acount for that, right right. It's like your kids, Like you see your kids and like I love my kids, like they're perfect. Yeah, but so it might be some of that. I get it.

I'm just telling you this guy has some rare, rare traits, rare abilities that I think can fit for this team and give this team some dynamic ability that I don't know that they have right now. I love Tony Pollard's game, I don't think Tony Pollard necessarily has the elusiveness that

this guy has. Like, this guy's does some things that are just like I literally watched some plays and be like I gotta rewatch that, Like how did he get out of this and he got out of the situation he was in and turned it into seven eight yards? It's it's amazing. Well, basically, you're telling me he's not gonna be there in the twenties. Andy well, honestly don't think. I think he's probably gonna get picked a lot earlier than that. I think he's gonna go to the Combine.

He's gonna dazzle everybody, and I think I think he's I actually think there's a chance he might get into the top ten. All I'm saying is it would be a steal if he gets into the twenties. Even if you have to give up a little bit to get up a few spots, it would be a steal in my opinion, even after running back position. Knowing that there's so much value out there as far as running backs and where you can get them, I still think this guy is special, and for special guys, I don't care

what the position is. You take that that extra chance. Well, the good news for the Cowboys is, be it for b Genre or whatever other player they might have an eye on, they are so flush with draft picks this this coming April that they can move up in any round easily and still have a come away with a ton of guys entering the building as rookie. So yeah,

I wouldn't talk about helping your quarterback. Give him a running back that can make things happen like that, because now the defense is going to really have to think very hard about how many how many resources are you going to really dedicate to ceedee lamb when you got this guy to the backfield, that can make a guy miss pretty easily. I'm just looking at there's a lot to think about of cornerback. You know, you lost Green

Bay because of cornerback. You lost because I wouldn't say yeah, I wouldn't say now, but but I think there were some things that happened in that game that were more about injury, that were about who was out there at that at that particular time. At the end of the day, if you ran this defense back another year as it is currently constructed, you would be fine on defense. You would be for you could go to a super Bowl

with this defense as it is. Would you say it's fair to say that the Cowboys lost in Jacksonville because of the cornerback position. Think about it, was it was part of it, was a part of it. Yes, it was a part of it. So yeah, anyone's a part of those types of things about the forefront. But that's that's nice to say. But again, once again, that's one game.

Every you look at the two Super Bowl teams. I guarantee you they can point somewhere and say, yeah, we lost that game because of this, Like I don't think that necessarily means it is a big overarching problem. I look at the cornerbacks and I look at it and say, I am firmly convinced that Duran Bland and we're way over on defense. We're not supposed to be here. You just know you're not coming back. So but I look at and I'm like, Duran Bland is every bit good

enough to be your CB two. I don't have any questions about that anymore. Not I don't have a single question. So if I got my two top corners and I feel really good about them, which I do, then to me, cornerback is yes, it's something I gotta address because I want some depth. I need to make sure I got guys in case somebody goes down. But that's not as big a problem as trying to get a player that I think can change my whole team, like a running back that's good enough to make my whole team better.

That's my point. I got dan Quinn back, so it don't matter, I trust. Yeah, it still matters, but you know, I just stand Quinn with everything. Yeah, and you got again. I think it came down to you, like all the injuries and all of that, but with the off season and just recruiting more people and coming in, Like Derk said, we'll talk about that later, but I worry about He's like, I ain't gonna be back. Had to fire that shot a real quick before we end the show. I need

to get some predictions from you guys. Super Bowl. You got the Eagles, you got the Chiefs. Who do you want to win? Who do you think will win? Let's start you Amber. Okay, if you ever hear me say the Eagles, I picked the Eagles to win any game, please slap me in the face. Um yeah, easy answer, both forty nine ers both Yes. So you saying you want the Chiefs to win and you think the Chiefs will win. I am not gonna say I think the Eagles win. Okay, I don't want to hear it from

the fan base. So anyways, regardless of what happened and I did, I'm still thinking I came out of that game, the loss against the Niners, thinking they played dirty, and they did. They were. There were some plays in there that I've just came with a very distateful, like bad taste in my mouth just some of the things that I saw, So just in general, that kind of left me a little pissed off about that. But I still rather than win than the Eagles. They do have a

lot of talent, and I hate it. I hate that they're so well built right now, and we were talking about the draft and kind of what they got for this year as well to kind of keep adding to what they already have. But I'd rather see yeah all around Chiefs for you. Um, yes, okay, I'd rather see Mahomes holding a trophy then the Eagles celebrating or Kevin Hart going at it already see Kevin Hart posting around. Um,

but yeah Mahomes when I like, I really do. I like Mahomes a lot and he's a very talented player, so i'd rather see him get another win, all right, I'll see. So for me, I mean, you guys know me, well, I'm going to say whatever I need to say, regardless of what the fan based reaction is going to be to it. But subjectively speaking, um, injuries a side because I don't ever wish injuries on anyone or any team. Um, But as far as the standings goes, I wish nothing

but the worst on the Philadelphia Eagles. I want them to lose every game forever, ever, ever, ever, ever. So it's easy money for me to sit here and say I want the Chiefs to win. I want the Chiefs to blow the doors off of them, because if that happens, then it then the narrative becomes shit. The Eagles have been there in the first place, and that's the conversation. I would just love to sit back and watch. That'd

be fun to watch. Objectively speaking, this is going to be a close one, but I think that the Chiefs are better in spots that will help them win this game. I think that bottling up Jalen Hurts is difficult to do, but the Eagles defensive line and particularly at the edge Frank Clark, Chris Jones, they have the ability to keep him in the pocket and then force him to make the plays down the field. Granted, you got a j Brown DeVante Smith down the field, but I love what

I've seen from some of the younger guys. Hell, some of the younger guys were the reason that they were able to advance at this point. They made the big plays when they needed to make them in the AFC Championships. So and then at the end of the day, now you start thinking about Andy Reid's mind versus Nick Sirianni's mind. Andy read greater than greater than greater than greater than Nick Sirianni about a coach I do not want to see win either. Patrick Mahomes versus Jalen Hurts at the

quarterback position, is that even a conversation. That's not to take away from what Jalen Hurts has done this season, But Patrick Mahomes is in a different stratosphere. So all in all, I want the Chiefs to win badly, so badly I can taste it. Just that's right there on a typical song. But I also believe that they can and will win this game. But I don't think objectively speaking,

it'll be a blowout. I think it'll be close, a one possession game until it gets to the final couple of minutes, than the Chiefs pull away a little bit. So I on talking Cowboys. I put it at thirty four to twenty four, Chiefs take the win. This one was a very very hard one for me. Here's why I'm so perplexed right now, I am not like I'm I'm not a fan of the Eagles at all, Like probably of any team in the league. That's probably a

team I just like the most. The problem is personal, Like I actually really like Jalen Hurts as a player as a person. I love his story all that he went through from college all the way to the pros. I just love stories of people that are resilient, like people that just don't take note for an answer, Like they just figure out a way even when people doubt them, they figure out a way to make it happen and they still end up winning at the end of the day.

I love Jalen Hurts. And in addition to that, it's family involved. Brian Johnson, the quarterback coach of the Eagles, is a distant cousin of mine from my hometown. Now, you gotta understand, I have a very very small hometown, so everybody knows everybody. Everybody's related in some kind of way, right, But it's like it's a big deal in our hometown that Brian's now the quarterback coach of the Super Bowl

of a Super Bowl team. We don't have NFL players coming out of our hometown that doesn't happen very often. Like we get excited when we get when that goes to a D one college, like it's a big deal, right, it's a small town. And so from that said, well, I'm like, man, I really want Brian to get a ring. I really want Jalen to get a ring. Man, I wish they would have another team. This is really really hard. So I'm gonna be kind of split on the whole day. I'm gonna be kind of split on who do I

think I want to win. Ultimately, I think Philly's going to win. And the reason why I think they're gonna win is mainly because of injuries. Right now, the Kansa City Chiefs are depleted at wide receiver. They don't know who they're gonna have running out there come come game day. And what I know of Patrick Mahomes is he is special. But if he don't have anybody on the other side catching balls that he can rely on other than its

tight end, which is tight End's gonna be there. He's gonna do his thing, But they're gonna need some wide receiver help. If they can get something, those wide receivers out there and healthy enough to play a good game, then I think Kansas City can win. If not, then I don't think they will be I think Philly just has so much talent and specifically they have an advantage when it comes to their pass rush versus the Kansas City tackles, where if he doesn't have the receivers are

gonna be able to get open quickly. Then I think it's going to create a bigger problem for them. So it kind of matches up an injury weakness with a strength of Philadelphia. From that standpoint, I think Philly ends up winning this game, but I think it's gonna be a close game. And uh, and we'll have to see it here Monday and talk about the Eagles being two time world tam only we won't because the Chiefs are going to win, only because Monday we won't do a show.

Also that works also, all right, guys, I really hope so that they win. And I don't know why. Earlier my brain just kind of took me back. I see, if we were talking about the the whole NFC East, I was talking, I started talking about the forty nine ers and a lot of thinking, bed, uh, but you won't. I don't know how I'm gonna cope if that actually happens, and you know, going back to hers, going back to Hers,

he's a guy that aside from everything, I actually like him. Yeah, I like him as as a person, as a player, but anytime I see something good, and this is just so I don't build any kind of emotional niceness towards him social media, just skip skip rolling through it because I don't want to get attached. But uh yeah, and I can't watches it for me and as a person and as a human being, I like Jalen Hurts, but once he suits up and he puts on that that dark green and that black, it's just it's a wash

for me. And it's the same for me um across all sports. As a huge Braves fan, use Jacob de Ground for example. Loathe Jacob de Ground because he was admitted. Well, now he's in Texas, I want to go see Jacob pitch right. So it's it's that type of dynamic. It's it's the uniform. It's the organization that I so loathe and I want nothing but the worst for them. Well as as you made a lot of good points Derek about the strength and weaknesses that both like the teams

have right now currently heading into the super Bowl. But crazy things happened something. Yeah, Absolutely, Andy Reid and Eric b Enemy to me are just better than Nick. Sirianni and his group. Well, I just think they're they have some things up their sleep. For Jalen, I'm seeing more purple and gold than I am green. So okay, shout out to the all Right, we appreciate you guys joining us. We'll see you guys next week exactly. Thank you for for coming sitting in with us. Patrick, it was really

great having you on. We'll be back next Wednesday. I think we're gonna have our normal crew back in. Brian and Nick should be back. Maybe they have some stories from us for us from the super Bowl until then. For Nick, I'm sorry, not for Nicky because he's not here. For Patrick, no C Walker and Ambergar seeing. 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.