Cowboys Break: Ready For A Youth Movement?

usual cast, Nick Imman, David Hellman, Uh, Derek Eagleton. He's still a part of the show. I believe he's gonna be back next week. Right now, he's having a full graduation party of three people in his family graduating, and I believe his son is graduating from middle I think he just saw on Twitter what was going on last week and he was just he said, you know what, if I'm not wanted after what happened last week, I don't miss him. Good. Oh cool. I'm sure he'll hear that.

That's okay. We do have a lot of a lot of things to discuss. First of all, Tapper's injury. He suffered a concussion on Tuesday's practice. Uh, somewhat surprising to some, maybe not that surprising to others due to the fact that he's proud to be known to be having, you know, suffering several injuries. Poor guy. I feel terrible. I love the guy, but he just he doesn't get a break. I mean, concussions and OTAs, that's a new one. I mean, that's that's where you know, when you're injury prone. I

mean that happens, and uh, you're right. I honestly I hate saying this. I always kind of forget about Tapper until he gets hurt. I mean, like when he comes back up into a headline, like I just I just don't. You can't count on him right now. You can count on Chaz Green more than you can count on Tapper right now. That's just kind of the way I look

at it. Yeah, I mean I'm not gonna overreact because I mean, well, with this team, concussions can mean lengthier absences than some But uh, you know, if it's just run of the mill, I mean that's a that's a couple of weeks and it's May thirty first, so but yeah, I mean it's just you know, it's an unfortunate tendency that he has displayed over the course of his career. He's only appeared in one game, I think, which was the season opener last year. Yeah, he did, he did.

It's great. Yeah, but you know it's just you know, it's it's it sucks for him, and it's kind of unfair because players don't do anything to bring injury on themselves typically, But you know, when it, you know, the third time in three years, you're just kind of like, okay, man cool. He is the classic example of a guy that will probably just at some point it'll run its course and they'll move von and he'll sign with you know, Cincinnati and have like eight sacks in a season or

something like that. I mean, he could be somebody else's George Selvy. He's clearly a talented player. Yeah. Um, and I think this is probably his last shot here just I mean, he's a fourth round pick, third year. There's nothing tying you to him significantly, and I think he needs to have a great and healthy training camp. Um. Otherwise I think they'll probably just say, all right, let's call it what it is. So and and this is

this means nothing in terms of that. Like I said, I mean I would expect this doesn't affect his availability for training camp at all. So it's just kind of, like I said, it's I just kind of a bummer when it's in a row Tapper, and you know, the writing was on the wall when they drafted Dorance Armstrong, another fourth round pick that it's like, you know, he's now he's got that same role that Tapper had. So I don't think there's there's no guarantee Tapper makes this

team if he's fully healthy. He needs to be healthy and have a great game. So and like I said, that doesn't mean he won't, but it's just an unfortunate setback, especially for a non contact practice. And speaking of concussions, Jason Garrett did kind of hit on the whole Rico Gathers topic and what happened there. We were all wondering all last year why did Gathers disappear from everywhere? You know,

we didn't see him around too much. But the whole fact it was that he suffered the concussion, and by the time that he was kind of somewhat healthy, he was at a point that the team was just too far into the season to bring in a guy like him to even give him a chance to play, and when you have Jason Waite on the field, obviously that's a given that nothing's going to happen there. But based on the yesterday's practice, to me watching him this week

versus last week, I did see some improvement there. He was making some good blogs and catching the ball not really dropping it. Well, we're y'all's observation. I mean, like we said before, you know, he's a guy that just stands out for obvious reasons because he's because the size is there, he looks the part. Uh, he's still figuring out the ins and outs of the game. Um. But you know, I think I think this is a critical

time for him. I think the OTAs and in mini camps are bigger for him than any other person, just because he has to show that he's picking things up, that he could be reliable. It is not about catching the ball and all that. It is about making sure your quarterback does not get you know, sacked because you missed your protection and all that. So it's it's every other little part of the game that's not about his athleticism. It's the mental part of it. Uh. And this is

the really these are critical moments for him. Not only that, but I think Jason Garrett's willingness to admit that is kind of telling, because, Yeah, let's say it was Blake Jarwin, who has been played he played college, He played tight end his whole college career. I assume he's been playing tight end since he was like, you know, thirteen or fourteen years old. Whatever. If that were him, they would bring him back and let him. He's practicing. He needs

to practice, he needs to get better. He needs to he can play scout team and contribute and give you looks that is going to mimic what the opponent's going to do. They didn't even want to do that with Rico, which means they don't even trust him to do that. They don't trust him to give you good looks in

practice and do scout team stuff and play special teams. Like, if you're not willing to bring him back and let him practice and do stuff, that means you have no confidence that he can even get a jersey on Sunday. I disagree a little bit because you had to make a decision to bring him back. You've got him either knock somebody off the roster or cut him and put him on the practice squad, and I don't think they

felt like they could get him through. But that's I mean, you can't knock somebody else off the it kind of you know, I mean, I don't want to give away what we're going to talk about later, but it reminds me of the Darius Jackson thing that I harped on for so long. It's like you couldn't find somebody else, Like if he was really gonna be able to help you, if you had even a shred of confidence that he'd be able to help you during the course of the season,

you could find somebody to get rid of. And it's easier to say that now too, when you're when you go nine to seven and it didn't matter anyways, it's easier to go there's a linebacker, there's a Justin Marshalala or somebody who I guess my point, you're you know, there are a lot of fans out there who you know, he can, he can do something, he can be a

red zone threat. He's he's the goat in waiting, whereas maybe they're wrong, but the way they view him is there like he's so far behind, he's got so much to learn. That we can't do anything with him during the sixth day, sixth day grind of the season. Goes back to my point, this is why these are so critical for him, these practices. Well, let's just go ahead and give the quick roster update. On Tuesday, the Cowboys released rooky free agents Malik Girl and Ed Shockley and

signed linebacker Pinkins. Right, Pinkins Pinkins. Yeah, to add a little bit of death there at the linebacker decision. And yesterday they released guard Jake Robertson and defensive tackle the Quintin Osborne and signed wide receiver Mikauli McKay. Hopefully I'm saying these names McKay. Yeah, there you go, defensive tackle Antoine Woods, and your guy Darius Jackson. Okay, now yeah, this brings back some question. Okay, what is going to

happen at the running back position? Darius Jackson's about to go for a thousand, That's what's about that? Hey, So where does that leave bow Scarbro. Well, you know, Zeke may not get to play if there is Jackson's If Dars jack I mean, we have to deal with this with you, like, I mean, what is the where's the one makes seem so exciting to you, to you and not the other team have picked him up, it doesn't, I mean, and I'm not dumb in the grand I mean,

he's he's a back end of the depth chart running back. Um, this is more about what the Cowboys. Well, it's it's a little bit of both. He he's Okay. For those of you who don't remember, if you're listening to this show, I'm sure you do. He's a sixth round pick of the count They drafted him before they drafted Rico the Great hype gathers. He had a great training camp, like he played special teams. He was good in the opportunities that he got. I thought he had really impressive quickness

and shiftiness. And then kind of going back to my point about Rico, he was good enough that they kept him on the roster for three months despite he never got a jersey. He could not get off the inactives list, which not trying to be mean, but like that's it's just kind of a waste if you just if from week to week you can't even get active once. I mean, you're just carrying him for basically depth purposes and for

the future. Yeah, and so that says a lot when you carry a guy for twelve weeks that you don't think can help you on a game day. And then you know, Darren McFadden came off of NFI and Randy Gregory came back from suspension and they cut him, and I bet they thought they could get him to the practice squad and they didn't. And it was never for me about that. I thought Darius Jackson was this amazing player. I just thought the logic didn't make sense. I thought

it was stupid um and so clearly it worked. It worked out. I mean, the Cowboys still have a great running back. Their running back situation looks fine. And Darius, you know, I actually talked to him yesterday. He had a whole h He called it a really humbling year. I mean, he wound up in Cleveland, he got hurt in Cleveland, was on IR with an ACL all last year. And then as soon as he was healthy and like excited about contributing their you know, ah, we're good bye

and uh. And then you know, you get a real look at what the NFL is like when you're unemployed and maybe only two or three teams are interested in talking to you. Then it comes comes back yesterday and gets the ball, gets one play. Yeah, gets what happened in that place? He nothing, He didn't they threw him. I mean it's fine. And the first yeah, coming back to answer to answer your question, it doesn't mean anything. I mean, yeah, yeah, Zeke is you still got Zeke?

And then I would you know, Rod Smith is the number two as far as I'm concerned. But again a lot of people were very hyped with bo. Yeah, well coming off to draft, So what happens there with that third spot? Competition? Man, And that's you know, the one thing that we've been saying about Bow is everybody's hyped about him because he's super talented, a known name from a big name program. But he's a seventh round pick. There's no there's no guarantee he makes this team. And

Darius is a guy with experience on special teams. So competition, I mean, I'd be I would be surprised if both of those guys made the team. And so I would guess, if we're being real, obviously Darius is my guy, but I would bet that they hope Bow beats him. Bow is better than him in camp, I mean, what more can you do? Yeah, Scarborough should be again, which well, and I think that Darius Jackson's a great guy to compete because Darius Jackson's a guy who can do multiple things,

uh and gives you a look. I mean, he's got the talent to be your third running back, but he can also he can do return, he can do all that type of This is also a team that that would love to play Zeke one to seven snaps in the whole preseason. You know that's yeah, they don't want him carrying the ball. Absolutely, anybody else I can carry the ball to finish these games would be great. I don't think it's remotely a lock that Darius makes the team.

And I'm not gonna go as far as to say I would be surprised, but I would I wouldn't bet money on it. I still, you know, I think Bo Scarborough is probably the guy, but quality competition in a spot where they wanted some other the other moves. You know, I thought Osborne was doing some decent things and uh, and Shockley was a guy that I thought had a chance to kind of you know, be a contributor and

maybe be a special teams guy. But you know, when when it's this early in the game and they they say, now what we're moving on? I mean, they obviously didn't flash at all. This is the this is the time year when you just keep churning that roster is Bill Parcells used to say, and you you definitely do. But I always think it's funny. Like you know, Stephen Jones said it like two days ago, we talked to him at a press conference. He's like, you know, it's it's

shorts and jerseys. It's cool to see him move, but what can you really see? Well, if you don't think a guy has got anything, you can see that apparently because you're cutting people. Yeah, and a lot of it, as I said with Rico, a lot of it is more than that. It's it's just they get in these meetings. They know who's picking it up and who isn't. And you know that's that's a good point to things that

we see right now. But but they definitely know how far along is this guy from from actually getting this thing? Do you trust him? Like? No way? Yeah, it's true. So we're in at a transition point in this Cowboys team, transitioning to a youth, younger group. And we've talked about Seek's role into becoming that kind of leader. We already know Dak Prescott has been that leader. So Nick, you know, for Eve and I we it feels like we're back in college. We fit right in. But that right you

pretty much. You know, we're pretty close. I appreciate you giving me those years back. Thank you. You are on the Yeah, we're on that side big and about three two, Nick,

you know you're you're in another generation. Um kind of different they So I'm gonna direct this question to you since that seemed to be a theme in yesterday's locker room, a lot of people asking everyone, you know, this whole youth movement, how does it feel to be in there and see all these young guys and all of a sudden, I have all those veteran guys, and just I think it's interesting obviously when you when you see you know, when you've seen these guys for so many years and

now that they're no longer there, and who's going to fill that role? I mean, there's always somebody that that fills that leadership role or you know, feels that role of I'm cranky all the time. I mean, somebody's gonna do it, gonna have have um you know, these different roles, so you know, for me, I look at it like, yeah, it's interesting. But also I remember way back in the day, like before I covered this team, the Cowboys were one of the youngest teams in the league in nineteen ninety

two and they won the Super Bowl. If you're really good, it doesn't really matter. Zeke can be a vocal leader if you want, but you know, pick up, pick up the first down on third and two. Keep doing that, and that'll speak loudly with his actions. I think leadership is important, but there's obviously different ways to lead, and so somebody will fill that role. I think Sean Lee's

going to do a nice job overall. I think some guys on offense will do that, and I think it opens up things for a guy like Alan Hearns to say, I'm new, but yet I've still seen a lot more than a lot of you guys. So I can be a leader and there's not this this you know, tiptoeing around like who who are you? I mean, look at the receivers. Yeah, Terrence Williams is not even out there. He can't lead right now. Bro Deonte Thompson and Tavon Austime to Austin hearns. I mean they've seen more of

the guys. The new guys have more experience than the gallow called and Cole Beasley needs to know he's the one guy that can that can kind of step up and do that. I know we're going to talk about him in some other ways, but you know, I think Cole's a guy that that's been around and we'll understand this offense more than anybody. Now, we've been wondering who's gonna be that guy that turns into Dus Bryant as far as being vocal and you know, hyping everyone up

around him. So yesterday I heard something pretty interesting. I don't know if either of you heard this, but I'm gonna make you guess right now. Who is that guy not on offense, just in the team. Who is that vocal guy that kind of talks trash and Dave do it? Who is it? Hey? Oh she said not on offense. Oh, not on offense? Sorry, sorry, but yeah, I mean but that we can get into that. That's the Zeke I mean, I would get I love that that's Zeke's impression. Yeah, yes,

I would guess. Jordan Lewis Noah, I don't think so, you know, not not trash talking. That all or nothing segment left an impression on me. I don't know, Maybe I need to really watch that. Um okay, this this is It was hilarious. So apparently apparently he was. He called himself the biggest trash talker. Okay, so apparently. And then the media went up to Crawford and asked Crawford about this, and Crawford of course just laugh He's like, well, yeah,

he trash. He talks trash all the time, mostly to himself, like he's just speaking out loud. No one really pays attention to him. He was saying that he also talks trash to the law. So it was pretty okay talking. Okay, here's the here's what I want to see when we're at training camp and those one on one drills are going on and it's Tacos lining up against Tyrn Smith or Lyell Collins whatever, and then and then keep talking trash, Like do something worthy enough for you can continue to

talk trash. If if that happens, then I think will be A will be impressed or B will be like, what's wrong with Tyronn? It's the back and it must be something what's going on because Taco just beat him. But if he continues to do that, I think that's worthy of it. But I've never seen in any sport and a great a trash chalker that was like a reserve, like a backup. Well, maybe he won't be a reserve unless it's that hate player for the Lakers. The hate I just think the guy that for the Lakers, you

probably are not the Lakers. He used to play for the Lakers. He played for Golden State's name Nick Young. Nick Young, he's the best. He's a trash chalker who gets like six minutes a game. He might get a lot of minutes in this series. Gonna get a ring is what he's gonna get. Well, Prawford then mentioned that he did he has seen a lot of Grove and that's okay. Is it's just the show where I ride for my guys. Is that what I have to do? Because I like Taco to Taco, I like him. I

think he's gonna be a good player. But I don't think I didn't know. We we were like jumped up to trash talking status. Some thought we were just like, hey, he might surprise him. People I didn't think we're already. I see it as the opposite of that, because good Man like, uh, look, the part be the part type of deal. You're a first round pick, you're in your second year, you're not a nubie anymore. You should know the scheme, you're comfortable with, your teammates and your coaches.

They need him to take I mean, they don't need him to be d Law, but they need him to take a step forward. I think we had a question about this in our mail bag the other day. I said, you know, he played thirty seven percent of the snaps last year. He looked like he played better down the second half of the season, but he's still I mean,

he wasn't what you want your first round pick to be. Um, if he can bump that even to just like fifty percent and then hopefully the bumping snaps corresponds to better play, I mean you're talking. Can you know if he could even get to like six or seven sacks instead of three, I think that would be huge. And I think confidence was a big thing for him last year too. I don't I don't necessarily know that he had it, at least what you would want from your first round pick.

So if he's got the confidence to be trash talking the starters and the established guys on the team, I think that's great. Don't don't get up, Yeah, get the energy up, trash chalcolate with the d line. But I mean I still haven't seen him trash talk with the old line. Yeah, I don't. Well, let's wait untild training campaign. But let's go ahead and take our first break. When we come back, we're gonna answer this question. Is being fat really the reason why David Irving is not practicing?

I don't know. Let's find out when we come back. It can be hard to find the right resource for learning about important financial matters. You search how to build savings, you end up reading about the one weird ingredient from supermarkets that can make you a taller. That's why Bank of America build Better Moneyhabits dot Com, a safe little corner of the Internet for answering your financial questions. Full

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the Marcus Lawrence out veterans day. Just nothing out of the uh, you know ordinary, It's fine, all good. Aaron Smith, he just did some conditioning. It wasn't really anything injury related. He was just out. Then we had a few other guys that's hyped up. Good point. So Zac Martin, you know, still dealing with the whole contract thing. We have Lewis, Neil Terrence Williams, Malee Collins, Cony Italy. They're out recovering injury now. David Irvin is still a big question mark.

We know that the whole reasoning as to why he's not practicing out there on the field right now, is supposedly because he's a little overweight, out of condition, And to me, that just doesn't really add up, because if you have a guy like that, why not have him out there on the field sweating in this hundred degree weather, you know, playing running around with everyone, not inside of the gym a condition, just working out on his You're kind of like the old you're old school, like you

want to do two a days in Wichita falls. Just burned that fat off. Hey, it helps. He's doing things. It's not like he showed up here rolling, so I mean he didn't, no, I know, but just like that's just a vivid, vivid image. David Irving to me, was a guy that they they love the position flex guys, and they love that about Irving. That he could play defensive end, he could play defensive tackle. He can do both. If somebody gets hurt. He's a good guy that can

move things around. And I think when he showed up here he looked a lot like a defensive tackle so and not really an end. And I think we've seen before guys go out there and they're not really ready to play. That's where you're gonna get some injuries too. So he's doing some conditioning. He's getting into that point. And this is the point of yere. Look at all those guys you just named. I mean, if you had a fingernail out of place, you're probably gonna get held

out here. So I think they're looking for reasons to make sure you don't have to be forced out there. If you're not one hundred percent, you have to be one hundred percent I think to practice right now. Yeah, that's I mean, you're old school, but this is the new school. It's not. And I know, like there's plenty of people that think it's terrible the way like players get coddled. But you go out there if you haven't. And Irving's been like in and out of here, like

he hasn't been here every day. He comes every now and then, So if he's not one hundred percent ready again, it's may why do you throw him out there and risk that he does a real injury to himself? Where you know, right now, as far as I know, he's healthy and just maybe not in great condition. I'd rather that than he'd pull a hammy or do something worse because he's not ready to be in an NFL practice. A lot of this could be on him because this is a big year for him. It's a contract year,

getting hurt, I will say. I mean we talked about this on our mail bag today too. I mean, he's in a contract year on a one year deal and has a chance to make a lot of money next year. It is surprising to me that he's not in shape. I mean, it seems like you would want to kind of not give anybody a reason to be annoyed with you this year. That was the point I was going to make. Sorry. I didn't mean to take it from you, Okay. It was like I love pick and Roll like you

you know. I mean, yes, he if you saw pictures of him when he got here, it was kind of shocking. But at the same time, it's like these guys are big anyways. It's not like he's obese. You know, he's good, He's fine. I just want to see him out there right now. He's too fat. There you go. I just mean that wasn't me, good old Bill. Now, I do think Dave's right. I think that he'll get himself ready to go and also voluntary, voluntary I know, you know,

people don't want to hear that, but it is. If if this is an issue, if he can't practice in July, I'll have a much stronger take than I do right now. But otherwise I'm just like, yeah, okay, okay, Well, let's just hope that's the reason. There's no thing like hidden behind the curtains, you know, as far as off field issues that could or affect him in other ways that we don't know yet, but in the meantime, we'll see what happens there. As far as the OTA, yesterday we

saw Beasley playing on the outside. So Cole Beasley has been playing a major role, and as you guys mentioned, he kind of has to because who else is left as far as the veteran guys and all that. So what were your first impressions of, you know, being moving him out of the slot and playing him on the outside. I'm gonna let Dave answer this, because I don't think it matters much at all. You might have a different opinion,

but I don't. I don't think it matters in the sense that I don't think Cole Beasley is going to be this team's X twenty eighteen. But what it says to me is, and I think I said the same thing last week. I'm just I'm super encouraged by just all the different looks that they're throwing out there, because again, I mean, you don't have Dez Bryant, you don't have Jason Witten. Those are two guys that always lined up in the same spot every time for the last decade.

You don't have that, and so I think the way you compensate for that is to just make this offense as multiple as possible. And that Cole Beasley is not going to be running goes from the outside. He's just not. That's dumb, and he needs to do it a couple of times or nobody's ever gonna care if he's out there. I mean, you can run. You can run routes that benefit Cole Beasley from the outside. I mean he doesn't. You can do all You can do a lot of the same stuff. Not everything, but you can do a

lot of the same stuff. And it just again, get as many guys who can play in as many different spots as possible. I think that makes things hard on the defense. I think that is the strength of Dak Prescott. I should know this number exactly at the width of the field fifty three yards fifty three yards, they got to use every bit of that. I think that's really what DAK friendly is to me. Fifty three yards wide,

you use the field that way. They're not gonna be a lot they don't have a lot of vertical threats. They don't have a quarterback that they feel like that's his strength. So when Beasley lines up on the outside, I saw a play yesterday where he lined up out there and Tavon Austin was in the slot and they basically did a scissors route, if you will, and you know it was Austin sneaking out to the other side.

I think moving him out there just gives him more space to kind of work that middle a little bit. So I they're gonna they're gonna use these players. You're gonna see a lot of you know, jet sweeps and all that stuff. I just think we're gonna see more with thought here, and which I think is a good thing when you have a great offensive line and a running back that can just spread everything out and let him run. I think that I've said this before and

I'll keep saying it. Dak friendly means five or maybe six different possible targets on any given play, the defense can't account for all of them adequately, and the guy who has the best matchup gets the ball and the other five guys shut the hell up and don't care. There should one guy on this team that you go into a game and say, we've got to get the ball to him. The rest it should kind of flow, yeah,

And it hasn't been the case exactly. Zeke is the only person on this team that mandates a certain amount of touches in a game, and everything else is just gravy and until somebody's until Gallup makes some plays and you're like, okay, we got to get him the ball more. But even like that, but even still, I think a big part of that equation is, Okay, let's just imagine that Michael Gallup blows up two weeks in a row.

If the game plans not there for him the next week and he has a bad game, that's fine too, And he's a rookie third round pick and he's not going to fuss about it. I think that's a big part of that. I think that's a big part of being Dack friendly is he doesn't have to stress that somebody's going to be in his ear that they're in Cover one or Cover two or what. You know, I think that's important. Well, it's still early to know and figure this out, especially when they have so many wide

receivers rotating around. But as of right now we are into second week of Volta's who has that guy in the wide receiver position that has stood out to you at the momentum from the whole group, who would be probably Deonte Thompson. It's not even that he looks good. It's that, you know, and this is just me speaking from my own perspective. Um, you know, when they sign, it's like a vet deal. He's a journeyman receiver. It's not it was not anything that got anybody super excited.

It's just like, okay, this guy can maybe do with Bryce Butler did, it's a little bit of insurance. If they don't get what they want in the draft, you don't have to keep him. And they still don't. I mean, there's no guarantee he makes the team, but judging on what he's been doing these first two weeks, he certainly looks like a guy who's going to make the team.

I mean, you know, you think about Tavon Austin. Deontay Thompson's been doing a lot of stuff like that too, I mean jet sweeps, screen stuff down the field, stuff running with the first team, playing all over the formation. And I know it's OTA's and I know one of your top receivers is hurt right now, but uh, he's just very involved and looks very competent at what he's doing. I could see. And we did a ranking the other day of the top on our on our site, top

ten receivers on the team. And it's early and I'm sure we'll do that again we get closer to camp or in camp. But I think that there's I think Thompson seems like he would be a guy that would be safe and there might be a spot for one more player on the outside looking in, like and I would put Noah Brown in there. I'd put Lance Lenore, um whom I missing here. That guys that are kind

of right there on that verge. Maybe Katie Cannon can, but but um, two of them, if if they can, if they can you know, surpass Deontay Thompson, which seems like that would be kind of tough to do at this point. But it's still it's early. I mean we did, I guess start I sort of in my head was thinking as Deontay Thompson on the outside looking in when you know, heading into the cedric. Wilson's another guy that could factor into that mix. I view him more as

a guy on the inside looking out. Now, yeah, and now you mentioned Tavon Austin, another guy that you know there are still question marks around his name. How are they guy the Cowboys gonna utilize him? We did see Cole Beasley returning punts and that is something that we thought that would be one of his main jobs, to put Tavon Austin there. But as of right now, we've only seen him with the wide receivers, just on offense doing things. So what is how can the Cowboys take

him and put him and utilize him? And we know the Cowboys like him, we know that the Cowboys won him here and he's a good player, has on speed to him, But what would be that role for him? I think he will return punts um. I think right now, looking at these drills, they want the guy back there catch the ball and and and and be solid. And Beasley can do that. But I think when they need to get more dynamic, I think Austin will be there.

And also when you're looking at touches in a game, I think it'll make more sense to put Austin there. He's not gonna get a ton of touches on offer hook gets some, but it'll it won't be enough where he can't do punt return stuff. Um, I think he will be that guy. And I think he's a wide receiver all the way. I interill it's third and two and he gets the ball up the middle, then he's going to be a wide receiver for me. And I

don't know if I mean. They can call him whatever they want, but I think and he calls himself a playmaker, which is fine. They need more of those. I'm straight up annoyed by what Tavon Austin has done during OTAs or a better term for what he hasn't done. And I assume he's healthy, Like he's out there. Um, I mean he does, he does stuff. I'm not saying he doesn't do anything, but like he's not really featured with

the first team very much. I haven't been able to get a good look at him, and I hope it's not out of some like you know, NFL sense of paranoia that they can't show their hand, you know, because it's it's OTA's and we get to two hours a week, like, and he's got five other years worth of tape. He's been in the NFL for a long time, Like you're not hiding him from anybody, And so I kind of wonder if they are. I kind of wonder if they just don't want to show people what they might do

with him. And that's just the that's the peak of lame NFL, Like everything's got to be a state secret. Like I can go pull up five years worth of tape on the guy, Like you're not gonna show me something that I already couldn't have guessed he could do. Yeah, I mean he and we know he's gonna have the ball and he's gonna be going and you know on the outside sweeps and stuff like that. Do you think, I mean, do you think that's fair compared to like

the other veteran receivers. It doesn't seem like he's getting as many looks right now. Yeah, in the one day a week that we want what we know at a Garrett and Lenahan, I think you're exactly right, and I think that they don't want to show all that right now, what about in the past other teams having trouble finding me a good spot for him? I mean, does that playing into this to where maybe the Cowboys aren't just quite sure how or you know what to do with him. I see this a lot in the NBA, and it

happens some in the NFL too. You get drafted because of the things they think you can do, and you get drafted high and you doesn't fit. But because you were drafted high and you're making a lot of money, they keep doing that. They keep pushing you here and the expectations are high, and you're never gonna get there, and you're just a bust. You go to another team, less money, a little bit different scenario, and you can actually fit their role. I mean, I think of a

guy like Leonard Davis way back in the day. He was number two overall pick, had to play tackle because you don't draft a guard that high. He wasn't good like that goes to the Cowboys plays guard. It's better I think Austin fresh start for him, not as much expectations to carry this offense, carry this team, be a good role player. You're making a million dollars. He get the ball in his hands, but doesn't have to be

every time. I think it'll be better for him. Last week we got him, we talked to him about just you know, like, whoa this offense doesn't have a number one receiver? Does that bother you? And he was like that that was my douchey TV reporter voice, not anyone specific, just generic, like somebody specific. I wasn't, no, but he, I mean he was like, he's like, honestly, the pressure to be that number one receiver can be overwhelming. I mean, he was drafted two spots lower than where Julio Jones

was drafted. I mean, just to give you an idea of what you're expecting from a receiver you draft that high, you know what I mean, and clearly did not produce that. And so I yeah, I think he's happy to be here where. I mean, if he has a game where he gets ten touches, that would be awesome, but nobody's expecting him to produce at that level, not for the

price they paid for him. But no, I think I think they know exactly what they want to do with him, but they just don't feel like showing us right now, which whatever. Well, I good indicator is that we do know that he's wanted by the Cowboys. He Oh, yeah, No, they want him here. And Scott Nahan, Scott Nahan told me last week, like, you know the same I'll use the same voice, like, well, is he a running back or a receiver? And he's like he classify him as a tight end if you want to just get him

on the team. So if the offensive coordinators saying that, I think that means they feel pretty good about him in terms of wanting him here and having a good idea of what he can do. Oh. I love that he told me last week. So that means that was you that you're right act I did ask that question, and I didn't do it in that voice. That would be cool, Scott. Okay, well, let's go ahead and take our final break. When we come back, we're going to discuss the whole safety position and getting to all of

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is the third segment of the show. Right now in Texas, it's pretty hot weather, really hot, I would say, so if you're a guy, you definitely need some breathing down there, some venting material that helps you. So Nick tell me all about how do you fix that issue? Well, I think you fix it by going to Tommy John dot com. That's really how you do it. I mean, we've talked so many times about how good it feels, how good it looks, you don't even you don't don't need to

adjust anything. But there's one more part of it too that I think gets overlooked a lot, and that's just being able to wear your colors with your with your underwear. I mean, you can put your Cowboys star on the Tommy John customize. You're Tommy John's with the team of Choice, So Tommy John dot com four sliced Cowboys, you get twenty percent off your first order. You can also, like I said, were the star with pride, So put the star on your star. Tommy John dot com. Does it

feel good when you're watching practice? I was out there for two hours yesterday in the ninety five degree heat. I was very uncomfortable in a lot of different ways, but not not with my underwear because I was wearing Tommy John. Thank you, Amber n. It's good to know, you know, if we just like you guys being comfortable. So if you want to be comfortable, Tommy John, So let's move on to Okay, let's move on to the safety position. Nick, you had a chance to I thought

we were just talking about that. Okay, you had a chance to talk to Jeff Heath yesterday. And the Cowboys still having done added anybody at me, obviously, because otherwise he would be everywhere on the internet. But they having added a veteran guy to come in and helping the safety position, and as of right now, they seem to be comfortable with the guys that they have, especially Xavier Woods. Yeah.

And I talked to Jeff just yesterday and he was saying that, you know, he is the veteran and the guy in the room and he could remember his first OTA and it's kind of weird that now everyone kind of looks at him. But I asked him, point, Blake, do you feel like the starting safety next to you is on the roster? And he said I do. Not only did he say that, he gave the name. He said, Xavier Woods, you know, has the right add too. He's very versatile, he can do a lot of things with him.

He really likes the kind of things that he's seeing from him. So, you know, I know Dave's probably gonna say, well what else? What else would Jeff Heaths say? And I get it, but he said that he and he mentioned Xavier Woods. So as as they stand right now, And I talked to some other people afterwards, because I didn't want to make Jeff look like he was calling the shots here. They talked to some other people and they said, right now, there's nothing on the horizon for that.

I still think they will sign somebody, but as of right now, it's it's Xavier Wood's job to lose right now. But based on the things that we've watched so far, and you know, we've all been very vocal in the need of a safety here, Dave. I mean, do you feel from what you've seen, has your opinion changed any No, I mean, and it's the same thing I always say, like, I'm not trying to hate on Xavier Woods. I just I think it's strange again. I mean, we talked about

this time of the show. They brought in a guy to compete with Bo Scarborough and up the level of competition at the bottom of the running back depth chart, at the top of the safety depth chart. That is not happening. I mean, it's Xavier Woods's job to lose

to a surprising degree. Not that he's not capable of it, just that typically NFL teams want to make their players earn those types of roles, and I don't know that there's a guy on the roster that can really compete with the Xavier Woods between experience, between talent and just the numbers. I mean Cavon Frasier, he's actually he's had some moments out there, but he's more of a box guy. He doesn't fill that role for them. And then he

got some rookies and Jamille Showers. There's just there's not a true competitor for that spot. So the thing that concerns me about the evaluation of safety is that when you when you're looking at in a game, what are the positions that are really going to test the safety tied in? And we've seen it on this team a lot. Also speed receivers and guys that can make plays down

the field. We've just said it earlier. The Cowboys really don't have that dynamic playmaking threat down the field at receiver. They don't have a tight end that's played more than a few games on this roster. So as we look at OTAs in minicamp. Who's going to really expose Xavier Woods. Who's gonna make them look like, oh my god, we need some help there. I mean, I don't know if

it's really gonna happen. So these guys could play well in the summer and we could be like, oh, everything's looking good, but really, until you get to some of these games and go, you know what, maybe maybe it's not so great. That's the one thing I kind of kind of worry about about seeing how it goes. You may not get a good test of how it's really going. And I forgot somebody too. I did Mark queston huff

I think he's playing second team safety. But again, I mean, that's not a name that just inspires a ton of confidence me And yeah exactly. I mean, hey, again, all credit in the world to Xavier Woods. And I like Jeff Heath a lot as a player and a person too, But that's what people always say at this time of year. Yeah,

he's picking it up, he's getting it. He looks great out there, he looks confident, and then you know, we'll see what happens when we're really evaluating these guys in real practices and real football games and The thing that worries me is if Xavier Woods is not up to it, then you've left yourself in a situation where you don't have anybody else. And so no, I don't feel differently at all. And I think they will add a safety. I think they will add a safety before we go

to training camp or while we're at training camp. I don't know if that guy will take the starting job. I don't know. I mean, Xavier Woods might beat him at the end of the day, but I still think they need a guy to push him. And that's what I was going to ask. It's like, you guys have been here a long time, so you know how the cowboys thing kind of you know what their mentality is.

Is this something that you really, you know, expect them to actually get someone although they been saying they're okay right now. Yeah, and I've said it before. I think that what you need to get at that position is somebody that's played a lot can give you some leadership

back there. And the longer they wait, the less chance that that person is going to have to come in and really take these guys under their wing, because they're gonna be the new guy trying to learn it unless it's somebody who has played in Christopher Shard's system that would that would help if if we gotta get in, just we gotta get in one a week, we have like a quota, you know, I was I was just thinking how and you would love it, Dave. How awesome would it be if if we lived in a world

where the guys really talk the you know, the other way. Hey, Jeff, do you really feel like the safety, the starting safety is here on this team. I don't think so. I mean, I know we have a guy in there right now, but I don't think so. I think we've got to get somebody else. I could say, I don't know exactly who it'll be. It might be that guy over here or this guy, but um, yeah, I mean Zaver's doing a pretty good job. We gotta get better. Like can you imagine like if yeah, I would love it. I

I was thinking about that. You know. Obviously, the NBA Finals are about to start. NBA has been the big storyline for the last couple of months, Like Raymond Greenish everybody, I just love just I just love how forthcoming that league is in general. You know, like you got Donovan Mitchell and Ben Stimmons like sniping at each other about who should win Rookie of the Year and sub tweeting each other and calling each other out. And they're I mean they play eighty two games in the playoffs last

three months. It's just a different culture. Like NFL players, your contracts not guaranteed and the whole dynamic of the league is all about like do your job, and it just it makes for it's kind of lame something. If Jalen Smith would have had an awesome year last year, just led the league and tackles whatever, could he have won Rookie of the Year. I don't know if he could have, but he should have been eligible. I mean that's that's the questions simons going on here. And if

he was even listed as a rookie's like a one. Yeah. I mean if you don't play a single game, I mean, if you don't get a single minute of action, I think you're still a rookie even I know you have an extra year in the weight room and all that, but I don't have a problem with that. Well, speaking of Jalen, let's go I know a lot of fans keep asking about him and his leg and he is playing without the brace, So that's a positive thing. Now we've seen him, you know, on the field moving around.

What are some of the things, And we talked about it last week, but people keep asking for quick updates on him. What would be your newest update on Jalen Smith. We'll talk yesterday to the media. But again it's like basic stuff that I'm happy. I'm happy to have some genuine confirmation about his brace because, like, I love Jalen Smith to death, but he's a frustrating person to cover because you can't always take his updates at his word,

you know. I mean, he's such a positive guy. We've talked about a million times, Like if you'd asked him during his real rookie training camp back in twenty sixteen, if he thought he's like, yeah, I'm gonna play the season opener, and then it be it's like Jalen Smith says he's gonna play the season opener, and then it's a story and it's not true. And like that has just been a repetitive cycle with Jalen where he is super optimistic and the real story is usually somewhere else.

So I don't always trust that what I'm hearing about him is genuine, but at this point, but well, I mean we've seen it with our own eyes. He's not wearing I mean, he's not wearing it. He's said he's not wearing it. His coaches have said he's not wearing it. They've talked about, you know, how fluid and confident he looks.

Jason Garrett had a good quote yesterday about how you know, you always hear that he looks like he's not thinking about it, which that's a thing for a guy coming off an injury is you don't necessarily trust that the injured body part is going to be there for you the way that you need it to be. And I think he looks more confident that he can count on it, and so yeah, I think that's big. He plays a position that is also pretty hard to evaluate in OTAs.

I mean, if you can't make real contact with people, I don't know how to evaluate you. But I I feel super optimistic that you know, I'm not saying he's gonna be an all pro, but I mean I just like the way his arrows moving right now. It's gonna be interesting to watch how his instinct developed, because that's one of the things that to my in my opinion, he needs to still work on which also affects his footwork because if you take off one side and then

now you have to switch. And we know his lateral movement is something that he's had the most trouble with, so you know, it's it's like a left tackle who's not he's not the best, you know as a blocker. He's got to almost jump off sides a little bit just to get that extra edge. And I think that's what happened a lot of times with Jalen Smith, is that he had to guess. I mean, you have to and sometimes when you guess right, you look great and you're swiping all over the field and it looks good.

But sometimes you have to guess to get that extra edge and and you miss. And I think that you'll see less of that and see more of just the reacting instinct because he's able to cut and move like that. So that's it. It's gonna be interesting to see how this goes when we get a little bit more physical practices,

games and stuff like that. I'm excited about what Leyton vander esh could mean for him because I just I think he'll be better if he doesn't have to play one hundred percent of the snaps and do everything that your middle linebacker is supposed to do. And I can hear the counter argument like, well, you draft him thirty fourth overall, he should be able to do that stuff. Okay,

but this is the reality of the situation. We're two years in, and if I told you that he's a much better player playing sixty five percent of the snaps as opposed to a hundred, I'll take that, especially if I can use his natural athleticism to do stuff like rush the passer. I just think having Layton Vanderesh there to help play Mike opens him up to just be like a Swiss army knife type of player who can

do a lot of different stuff. Okay, that's exciting. Sorry, they've I was gonna move into the whole quarterback position, and a lot of people we know how this goes. Either you like Dyk or you hate him, or you're ready to move on from him. Clearly, he's gonna be your starting quarterback next this season, so get over here's your guy, here's who we have, and for ten more seasons after that probably well we'll see how this one goes. But a lot of hype around Mike White. He's been

looking pretty good out there. Now there are questions in regards to him and what his future may be. And Cooper Rush, who becomes now your second guy behind Dak Prescott. So based on what you guys have seen so far, what are y'all thoughts on those two guys. I think Mike White throws a little bit a better ball. Um. I think he's got a better arm, and so in practice you're gonna see that more. Um. Cooper Rush, though, he when the games, you know, when the lights went on,

he moved the ball, he moved the offense. It didn't always look great, but he got from point A to point B and down in the end zone every time, and uh and a lot of times he did it. And I think every time he did it. And in the preseason they were trailing in the first half. So he has this little moxie about him that's hard to to to really describe. It's a lot like what Dad had to a higher level year before. So I it's early right now, I think it in practice, one guy's

gonna look better than the other. But I can promise you this, if if Mike White is leading this team, to two field goals in seven possessions in the preseason, and Cooper Rush has got four possessions and two touchdowns. We're gonna be thinking differently about it, or it's kind of the way thinking the way David is thinking. Maybe right now, No, you kind of you made my point for me, and not to be perfectly honest, like Cooper Rush hasn't looked great in these two practices that we've seen,

but I just yeah, he's a gamer. He looked amazing last preseason and he got a little, very small amount of regular season experience against San Francisco, which is still something. And I just I would be surprised if two years in a row the backup quarterback for this team is a rookie who's never played. Like I think when push comes to shove, Rush will have a good enough preseason and they will value that experience enough that I expect

him to be the backup. The thing about Rush that people forget about too is just his athleticism is underrated to me. I mean, he can make He's not exactly like dak on these on these read options, but he made some plays with his feet last year, and I think that's something that if he had to play, you can see that you wouldn't have that much of a drop off. You're gonna have some, but not that much. Okay,

here's a question from Twitter. Are there any chances of adding a veteran as far as the defensive tackle position that would be someone consider splashy lash lash other than wide receiver and she Richard Ashy. Yeah, I mean that's already got Richard Ashy. Um other wide receiver in safety are like the only positions left in the NFL where there are quote unquote splashy players left. I mean, Jonathan Hankins is out there that Cowboys don't want him. Um.

Other than that, I don't even know. I think if somebody else gets hurt or something else happens, yeah, I would expect him to um Brod Marinelli and Splashy defensive lineman just don't work. I mean, he doesn't want that guy, he doesn't want him out. He hasn't typically and I mean you know, and yeah, he's he's got guys that he likes, Uh, you know, Brian Price, Richard ashe Uh,

there's one more one technique I'm not thinking of. Dayton Jones is playing defensive tackle right now, I think I think that is probably what's keeping them from signing somebody right now is a position flexibility. Stop me if you've heard that before. Um so, I mean they no sure, I could just say no, no, no, no, pretty simple, Okay. Cowboy John is asking who would be the one to most likely make the fifty three men roster out of

Charles Stapper, Chads Green, and Noah Brown. Most likely of those three, I'm gonna I'll just keep riding for my guys because I love Noah Brown. I think he's gonna make it. Yeah, but that's a that's a good group of players, because um I could see I could see no I think Noah Brown is the answer of those three right there. But one of my sneaky hot takes for the get ready for It is I'm not gonna be surprised if Chads Green makes this team, and I'm gonna laugh at all the people who are mad about it.

But I wouldn't be surprised either. I mean, I just nobody cares about me about making the team. As long as you don't really have to play at a position that's just hurt the team. I'm just playing guard. I think it'll be Fine, he's gonna be there left tackle with no help. Don't do that and learn he's gonna be the eighth and final alignment onto this team, and everybody's gonna lose their minds. But I just wouldn't be surprised, That's all I'm saying. Now, this is a wise shot

because we still have a lot to go through. But who would be the one guy as a right now that would be very surprising to you, someone that you would not imagine making the team And does it makes the team? Yeah? Um, like it would really surprise me if this person made the team. Oh well, I mean there's a lot of guys right now. Um, let's let's how to answer it differently, because you could maybe name seventy guys that come out of nowhere. I would say

Jeff five years ago. How about a guy that that would surprise a lot of fans if he made the team. But but don't count this person out. Maybe that Well, I'm gonna cheat a little bit and just say the linebacker depth chart looks very easy to figure out. Like it there is not a lot of room for a Cinderella story because you have three starters in Shaan Lee, Damian Sean Lee, Jalen Smith, and Layton vander esh Damian

Wilson gives you at four. H you brought in Joe Thomas at to be your kind of backup and special teams guy. He's been starting while Shaun Lee does his vet days. And then maybe you keep seven linebackers, but honestly, six wouldn't surprise me either. So that leaves one spot. You got Chris Covington who you drafted. You got Justin March Lillard who was here last season. Like, there's not

a lot of space for a rookie or any good yesterday. Yeah, now there's there's just not a lot of space at that position for you know, an undrafted guy or something like that to to do anything. So that would surprise him. I'm gonna give a name. I'm gonna go with Donovan in the lumba cornerback. I like that Long's he's one of the guys that just you know, he fits exactly what the prototype is and they've got a few like this. Now he's not the only one, but I think he's

number thirty two. Yeah, they need a new thirty two. They dude, need a thirty two. It's a lot taller than the last one. He's a lot taller and uh longer, hair, longer arms. No, he had a he had a pick six I think last week. Like he's he's flashed a couple of times. All right, Well, and he went to college. He went to broad US College. Is he really before he went to College of Scouting. No, but the college he went to, I forgot what. I forgot what it's

called exactly, but it was like something brought us. It's the name of the university. He went. Tope, gotta be good right here. You going, okay, thank you for that. You're welcome. All right, Thank you guys for listening one more time, thanks so quick. And I just say, if you're listening right now live stay tuned because Hang with the Boys is coming and they're gonna have a really

really special guest. Well, there you have it. Make sure to tune into Dallas Scotboys dot Com radio for Nickiman, David Hellman, Kan Garrison and remember her ce ce you guys next week on the break