Cowboys Break: Truck or Trailer

I'm Derek Eagleston, joined by Dave Hellman, Nick Eatman, Amber Garcia. We're at the s WBC Mortgage studio at the Star at least Dave and I are. We got our crew with us, and we're gonna spend about forty five minutes today talking to Cowboys football with you. Guys. We're gonna have here coming up shortly. Bucky Brooks will be joining us. He'll have some insight on the Minnesota Vikings defense versus a Cowboys offense. We're also going to have a topic

today that Nick brought up to me. If you were listening to the show yesterday, you heard Bucky make reference to this idea of a truck or trailer and if you don't know what that means, just stay tuned. We'll talk about it a little bit later. But that's gonna be an interesting topic we'll get into. We're gonna talk about Dak Prescott. Is he a truck or a trailer?

Through that in the second segment of today's show, and then we'll get some fan questions in the final segment that Amber's pulled together from you guys out there on Twitter. By the way, if you want to send some questions, you can also hit me on Twitter at Derek Eagleton and I'm sorry at the Eagleton I think it is and you can and I'll take some questions there as well. All right, so let's first get some updates on some injuries. Let's start with Tyler Battish. He did not practice yesterday.

Has a hamstring injury. Dave, how long is he expected to be out at this point or do we know? Well, we've kind of we figured when it happened that you're probably talking about a multiple week injury. I would guess somewhere between two and four. You know, Mike McCarthy hates giving timelines, but you can kind of read between the lines and think that he was not placed on IR, and especially in a season where IR is only three games, that gives you optimism that it's not super long term.

So he's not gonna play against Minnesota, but and probably not Thanksgiving either because it's you know, short week, but maybe Baltimore or the week after that, Like I would guess it's too Like I said two to four, just depending Nick, do you expect it when Beatist is back that he will jump back into the starting lineup or they will they stick with their original starter, who's Joe Looney. Well, I think that depends on what happens here in these games.

Especially you know, if if Looney plays against Washington in a couple of week a week I guess a week from today. It's just because we saw what happened the first time around, and you know, maybe you need a veteran presence in there that that will help push the pile more So. I just think that it'll it'll come

down to who's playing better. I mean, I thought Louney played a pretty good game decent, I guess against Pittsburgh, and and you know, I think that they want to see Beotish, but he's gonna have to be head and shoulders above. You know what Joe Looney is and you gotta just factor in how they're playing and how the team is playing. As you know, if it's two losses, then probably be Odish Amber. How much do you think that this time away is hurting Beodist. We've talked about

digs and how he was progressing throughout the season. This is another one of they're promising rookies. How much does this hurt him at this point? I mean, it's always gonna hurt a rookie, but I think because of the nature of the position, I think this is a situation where I see it hurt him more a cornerback rather than a center, a guy that plays the center, and he's been doing a good job and all of that. And you know, sitting to Mike McCarthy, I hate how

secretive he tries to be. Like, I get it, But at the same time, I mean, what's the difference of you just saying, Okay, Joe Luini's gonna be our guy, or no, we're maybe thinking of having Beardish back in the makes here pretty soon. I don't get that part, but clearly he's trying to maintain all his o line combinations a secret and hopefully hopefully for something good. I'm still waiting to see good, but hopefully it gets better. All right, let's move on. Let's talk about Randy Gregory.

He is not He did not practice yesterday and Mike McCarthy said he doesn't expect him to practice the day. It is an illness. Do we know anything more about where this is or is this something that that would maybe start to get to a point where it affects his ability to play this weekend? We know it's not COVID related. That's about it. So not really, I mean, typically,

I always that's a really interesting football thing. I think is you know, well, I mean even you know, if you catch if you catch a cold or the flu, you're probably you know, it can be like a multi

weak thing. But even if it's just a little thing three or four days, most of us, you know, football players are typically back on the field after missing like one day of practice because they've got or play through it or play through well yeah, but sometimes but you know, you've got these staffs that will give you a Z pack or just hook you up to an IV and just basically flush it out of you. In a day so I do. I can't count how many times I've seen a guy listed with an illness who's back at

practice the next day. So the fact that it's two days in a row for Randy is is interesting to me. I don't know what it means for the weekend, but I mean, Nick, would you agree with that? Like, it's pretty I feel like it's pretty unique for a guy to miss multiple days of practice with an illness. It is. It's also unique that you can't cough anymore and without people looking at you and going like, what's going on here?

So like like I wonder if and I don't know this, I just wonder if when it comes to that, it's you're even more are cautious about it. I mean, if you go back and look at the Steelers and the guy that was tested positive for COVID, I mean he was advanced McDonald. I believe that he was on the injury report with an illness just a couple of days before, So you know you have to I'm not saying they're

all related. I just think I think now used to be that that was the one thing you saw on the injury report and you weren't really worried about it. Now when you see it, everyone kind of freaks out, like, oh, yeah, you know, is it a knees and a back? Now it's an illness, And so I think I think that there's more cautious about it. Yeah, you just think about it from the standpoint of how we're all being told. And I'm not talking about just us that work for

the Cowboys. I'm talking about in general. People are being told if you feel sick, stay home. Right as before, you know, you got some coal symptoms. You're like, if I if I feel okay, I'll still go to work. I'll be fine. I can just go, you know, kind of go through it. Whereas now, like I think most people, as Nick said, you start coughing everybody around you, He's like, why are you here? You shouldn't be here if you're coughing? Right?

How much? How much not to like derail it, but like life is just gonna be so different even when this is all old. Yeah, Like the number of times that I've come into work with the sniffles because I felt terrible, but not so terrible that I couldn't work. Like nobody's gonna do that anymore, or you shouldn't really you know, I think that's regular life as a working adult in America. We take work very seriously and so we don't typically take time to get ourselves healthy when

we're not feeling good. We just work right through it. And COVID I think changes that quite a bit. So maybe again, I'm not saying that that Randy has COVID, and that's not what I'm saying at All I'm saying is all it takes is a cold. And I'm sure there are probably gonna be people that are gonna say, Randy, stay at home, Like, just stay at home, Let's see how this goes, see if you feel better in a couple of days and then come on back, versus just

kind of working through it. I know what you're laughing at, Nick, stop it. No, No, you don't, I promise you thought honestly, I'll tell you. I was just thinking about the fact that we've all done it, or we've seen people there. You know, you've been in a movie theater and someone like sneaks in a coke because I don't want to pay or PEPSI they don't want to, you know, have like a nine pay nine dollars one and they just

coughs because they're open up the can. Man, you do that now, and it's like, get this guy out of here. I don't care what the soft drink he's coughing on me. You know, you're just trying to like cover it up. People cover up lots of things with coughs. You can't do that anymore. First of all, I question I question people that decide they want to go sit in the movies theater for two hours these days and watch a movie and have food and drinks. But that's just my thing. Yeah,

I can't imagine when I'll want to do that again. No, I'm good, I'm good. All right, let's real quick. Zach Martin. He was limited yesterday with a calf injury. It sounds like it's not much, but as we've learned here, you never go the route of saying it's not much. You always have to keep an eye on it. What are you guys here? Uh, Mike McCarry went, I'm Nick's laughing because he's still dealing with a calf injury from two summers ago or was it last summer athlete? Non athlete exactly?

There you go, Um, that's fair. I mean over forty non athlete shouldn't be out there. You get hurt, you get you know, it'll take two years to get back. Yeah, but Zack Martin, what are they saying day? I think Zack Martin will be fine for Sunday. Mike said this morning that it's really more precautionary than anything. He said, they want to be very cautious the week after a bye week, just Eason back into practice. So, I mean, it's a tweak, but I don't I don't think it'll

be a big deal for the weekend. And I would assume they're probably being even more cautious this year because they didn't even have those practices last week that they thought they would have because they had to kind of do everything a lot of things virtually. So so yeah, it probably makes a lot of sense that they're going to ease him back in. Here's what's gonna do. We're gonna go ahead and head to an early break. Here, we got Bucky on the line. We'll come back from

the break. We'll jump right in with Bucky. We'll talk about this Minnesota defense versus a Cowboys offense. We'll do that when we come right back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio, There's nothing as unique as our eyes, which is why are pioneers ways to make lenses as unique as you. Varilux for super sharp vision, Essential Blue for protection. I'm Krisol for freedom from glam, three cutting

at solutions and a single unique lens. So whatever your needs, insist on selor visit your local essel or experts and find a perfect lens for you. Seymour do Moore Slore. Since eighteen sixty five, Stetson hats are American maid with pride right here in Texas, and Stetson is proud to be on the field with America's team. Want to show your Texas and team pride too? You can by purchasing your own Stetson. You can look just like how the

flag guys do on field at every home game. Stetson hats the official crown of all self respecting Cowboys and your favorite football team. Get yours today at shop dot Dallas Cowboys dot com or at Stetson dot com. I'm Jay Novachek, former tight end for the Dallas Cowboys back in the day. How was the guy who always got the tough yard And that's why I run with John

Deer today. In fact, I have a John Deer three zero twenty five E tractor that can handle any yard work I need to do, even the tough yards way out back. So if you have one acre or a thousand, John Deer has the equipment that's just right for you. Visit a John Deer dealer today and run with us. We are the official tractor provider of your Dallas Cowboys. Here it's nineteen o eight. Don't you think we should get electricity and stop using candles to see it night?

It's just electricity lights up the room fast. It's more reliable than candles blowing out, and people seem to love it nationwide. Well, candles, dear, did you just run into the wall? I have a new candle please. Historically, switching to new technology is a no brainer. Today it's AT and T five G fast, reliable, secure, and nationwide. Switch to a T and T five G. It's not complicated. Five G requires compatible plant may not be in your area. See att dot com slash five G for you for details.

Back to the break, Are you craving at and T Stadium's famous Cowboys Chi steak, nachos or Cowboy rito when you're watching the Cowboys at home he'll bring your favorite stadium fair to you. Places the order online for pickup at AT and T Stadium every week the season. Check out the menu at AT ANDC stadium dot com Slash at Home. Welcome back to the second segment of The Break Life from the s WBC Mortgage Studios. At the start,

we got Bucky Brooks joining us from NFL Network. We're talking today about the Cowboys offense versus the Vikings defense, and I can start today with asking you our general question because this defense to me seems kind of like they're very, very just middle of the road. So tell me what is the best thing that they do and the thing the way that they're most vulnerable. You know, here's the thing. This is the worst defense that Mike

Zimmer's ever had up in Minnesota. And that's because he's created such a high standard for production and performance on that side of the ball. But this is the worst when it comes to total defense, scoring defense down at the bottom of the act. That's it. They started to play well the last few weeks. And I will say the guy that we always talk about will be Eric Kendricks, because Eric Kendricks is the leader in the middle of

the defense. He's a traffic cop. He's the one that kind of handles all the communication, making sure that everyone is lined up. But his partner, Eric Wilson, is an absolute stud. Three sacks, three interceptions, a couple of force fambles and fumber recoveries. He is all over the field. And so I would say what is different about this version of the Vikings and the passage has always been

about their front four and who they have upfront. News some decent guys up front, but these second level defenders, Wilson and Kendricks, they are the ones that get it done. And they've been able to incorporate a bunch of young guys in the secondary. And so it's still a work in progress, but as a defense that is trending upward

after getting off to a very very slow start. Bucky, I want to know how much her quarterback is going to struggle in this game, and just in general, whether that's you talking about their defensive line in creating pressure or just maybe protecting the ball down the field and just you know, against the passing game and all that just tell me how much or how concerned I should

be about the quarterback situation in this game. Well, I mean, I think you always have to be concerned about the backup quarterback starting and then what Kelly Moore is going to do to help him. If Kelly Moore treats Andy Dalt like he's Dak Prescott and they throw the ball forty to forty five times, it's a recipe for disaster because Mike Zimmer is going to take away Ezekiel Elliott and he probably has Tony Pollitt high on the priority sheet to slow him down, and he wants to put

the game on Andy Dalton's shoulders. And with the offensive line still being relatively inexperienced, they want to go with that double a gap. Look, they're gonna show pressure, they're gonna fall out, they're gonna bring some pressure, and they're

gonna put a lot of heat on the quarterback. And so it's really important that Dallas is balanced, that they're able to have some symbolis of a running game so they don't get into a traditional straight drop back passing game because you don't want to face Mike Zimmer when he's dowland it up and being a mad scientist as a play caller. This feels like a pretty classic case of like the NFL being not for long, Bucky, because I mean, these teams played last year and the Vikings

rolled in with Daniel Hunter, Everson Griffin, Lynvall, Joseph. They don't have any of those guys right now. They don't even have Yannick and Gagway, who they traded for at the start of the season. So if I am to assume that Terrence Steele is starting, and that is what worries me, So who I mean, who am I looking out for at left end? Like do they have a pass rusher that I need to be losing sleep about? Well, I mean, I don't know if they have anyone that

you need to be necessarily loving sleepover. But what they've been able to do is kind of do it collectively, Like they've been getting a handful of guys. If he I'm gonna have a tough knit time with his last name Otahbo has three sacks, two and a half sacks, and he has the ability to come off the pad off the edge. Really, what they do is they kind of do it like smoking mirrors by disguise and design. So they'll put six guys up at the line of scrimmage.

Sometimes they'll bring all six sometimes they add another one to bring seven. Sometimes they'll show that look and drop out where they test you. It is not from an individual standpoint, but from a communication standpoint a can we communicate who's live, who's the point man, who do you have? Can you handle the twist and games and stunts up front? And if you're not sounding in that area, that's when

they hit the quarterback. And so it was a defense that really struggled at the beginning of the year trying to get the pieces of the postle together. But now he's kind of simplified a little bit. Mike Zimmer has been playing with better technique and their sound, and the ball isn't flying over the head, and so now they're having a they're doing a better job of containing and winning up front. But it's not one individual, it's really a collective and collaborative effort to create the pressure on

the quarterback. But you said earlier this week than Andy Dalton doesn't need to be a superhero. He also said just now that you feel like Zimmer is probably gonna make him try to beat him. So how does he beat the Vikings without being a superhero? How do you kind of how does he need to balance that. I think the thing that Andy Dalton has to remember is who he is and where he's at in the stage

of his career. And I think sometimes the temptation is to try and prove to the football world that hey, I'm still the starting quarterback, I still can make these plays. I'm still a franchise guy or whatever. And I think he has to understand I just need to let the offense work for me. He has three talented wide receivers that can do a lot for him. His job is just to basically get them to rock and get out

the way. And so I think some of that can be assisted and aided by Kellen Moore making sure that he doesn't put the quarterback in a situation where he feels like he has to make these hero throws. Just set the offense up much like they did with Gilbert, quick rhythm throws on early downs, get into second and short. Now you have the option to run or pass on second and third down, get another first down, kind of

do the same things. And so as much as I put it on Andy Dalton, I think Kellen Moore also has to know, Hey, I don't have a superhero at quarterback. Let's just manage the offense. Let's just make sure we play in a very efficient manner and let our defense and special teams set us up. Hey, Bucky, this question is going to kind of cross over a little bit to other units on the team. But right now, Minnesota's

ranked dead last in the league. An average starting field position of their opponents there on average starting at their own thirty four, which you know, that's ten yards more almost ten yards more than what you would get just in a touchback. That being said, is this an issue with their special teams? This is an issue with turnovers on offense. What would you pinpoint as the primary problem that's causing this and is it something that the Cowboys

are positioned to be able to take advantage of. Well, the number one time, number one thing that shows up whenever you look at the stat and you see that is special teams are okay, Like they're fine there. But Kirk Cousins had a lot of issues with turnovers early in the year, to the point where even he said, man if I keep playing like this, they're going to bench me. Now. Since that point, over the last three games,

he's been better. And the reason he has been better in terms of managing the turnovers is because we've got more Dalvin Cook. The more they give the ball the Dalvin Cook, the better it is for their offense. And they are unapologetically stubborn when it comes to the run game. They don't care if you stopping on first, second, and

third down. They're going to get it. They have a pitch down where Dalvin Cook is going to touch the ball twenty to twenty five times on the ground and at some point they believe that the damn is going to break. And then when they're able to run the football, Kirk Cousins gets to play the role that he's best suited to play, and that is as kind of like a complimentary weapon in the backfield. He can throw it down the field, he can get the feeling and Jefferson.

So some of their issues were due to the early

season turnovers and fumbles putting their defense in harm's way. Bucky, earlier, you mentioned how obviously they're gonna try to stop the run if they are successful at that and limit Zeke and Tony Pollard, who would be a guy that you're looking for the Cowboys to that would need or could possibly have somewhat of a success in this game as far as the offense goes, and aside from the quarterback position, well, I mean, any of the wide receivers can go off.

I mean, I'm gonna be honest with you. The young guys that the Minnesota Vikings are playing on the outside, they're still trying to figure it out. Cam Danzley what I liked when he was coming out of Mississippi State. Jeff Gladney from TCU, Chris Boyd like, those guys are fine, but they're still trying to find their way. Now, Zim, we're trying to cover them up by playing some zone.

But the difficulty in dealing with the cowboys that make sure that you want to stop Zeke Elliott is you have to leave those guys in one on one and so there's gonna be some opportunities there for Mary Cooper, CD Lamb and Michael Gallop to make plays. Is how

does Kellen Moore get to those playmaking opportunities? And can Andy Dalton cash in those lottery tickets when they do have an opportunity to strike up the band that actually that that plays into what I wanted to ask, because you know, obviously it's it's looked pretty rough since Dack

went out. You know, Dalton struggled in the two games that he had to play, and then you know you're looking at Bend Nucci and Garrett Gilbert obviously, but with the line, the offensive line being a little bit healthier and this Minnesota defense not being as good as what we're used to seeing up there, would it maybe be smart to like lean on the pass. You know, And we talked a lot about where we keep talking about wanting to ride Ezekiel Elliott and use that to limit

the mistakes. But are you better off can Andy Dalton take advantage of this secondary because it does seem like there's some pretty favorable matchups there to where maybe you want to throw to set up the run because that's a more favorable option than just charging it to a stack box like that. I mean, there's some certainly some

validity to taking that approach. I think the thing that you have to be cautious of is it's fine to kind of start out throwing like maybe the first fifteen right the opening script that maybe you have eight to ten passes on the script, but those passes should be more ball control than nature. And so I'm not advocating like Hey, just keep pounding in the Zeke like, don't don't worry about trying to take shots. But what I'm saying is, I think the difference was when we saw

Gilbert's game plan. The game plan was a very controlled passing attack. Everything was kind of within ten yards. There were these first down why option passes to Shultz, things that were very simple and high completion percentage throws. So if they take that approach, absolutely you can do that with Dalton. But this is a bombs away game plan where Kelly Moore is doaling it up and they're trying to take these shots over and over and over again.

I don't think you can give the ball back to the Minnesota Vikings offense a ton of times and think that the Dallas defense is going to hold up against Dalvin Cook in that running game. And so it's a delicate balance. It's a fine line. Yes, you want to be aggressive on offense, but you want to do so while still remaining a little more ball controls centric, trying to really retain possession of the football. Bucky, this question

is not really about the game or general. He said yesterday, two types of quarterbacks a truck or a trailer My question is do you feel like Dak Prescott is a truck or a trailer. Well, I think this year he has shown that he is a trailer because I think when you see the dramatic falloff, I mean he shown that he's a truck this year when you see the dramatic falloff in the offense from the beginning of the year to where we are now. Oh, I think he

answered all those questions. I think we've seen that he was covering up for a lot of flaws that we didn't even know that he was dealing with. And so from the offensive line to Ezekiel Elliott underperforming, to the defense not being able to really stop anybody, he single handedly was able to keep the team competitive ending games. So I think, if anything, he moved into a different category.

Even though I kind of felt like he proved that last year when he was ringing up these big numbers, I think he confirmed it this year that he is in a different category, that he's absolutely a truck and he is pulling the seam along. We appreciate you joining us, Bucky. We're actually gonna take that conversation and we're gonna dig in a little bit more here in the final segment. But we appreciate you giving us the insight on the vitings give us before we But Amber, I was about

I thought you were just saying bite to him. I was about to say, give us what's gonna happen this week and give us your tradition. So the biggest thing here is um. I think this is ultimately kind of like the deciding fact of what happens with the Cowboys. We would get a chance to see how far they progressed with the running game. I believe that they're better. I believe that they're more physical. I believe that Marcus Lawrence is certainly playing better, and Neville Gallimore has given

them something. I think the magic number is one hundred and twenty five. They have to keep Dalvin Cook under one hundred and twenty five yards. I'm not gonna sit the bar and say he has to be under one hundred, but he has to keep him under one twenty five. He can't dominate the game. I think it's there for them to do it. But the guy who wears the big sombrero, and I know we got we hate this, Jaylen Smith is gonna have the ball out if Jalen

Smith doesn't ball out, that's gonna be a problem. If he's running around and not disciplining gaps they're gonna run through. He's gonna slit the defense. He'll have two hundred yards rushing. So Jaylen Smith is the one that where's the big sombrero? This week? Sounds hard? That's a big that's a big gass. But we'll see. We appreciate you joining us, Bucky. We're gonna take our final break. We'll come back. We're gonna jump into this topic of trailer or truck on Dak Prescott.

We'll that when come back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. There's nothing as unique as our eyes, which is why SLOR pioneers weighs to make lenses as unique as you. Very lux for super sharp vision, Essential blue for protection, Uncrisolved for freedom from glam. Three cutting ex solutions in a single unique lens. So whatever your needs, insist on Selor visit your local essel or experts and find a perfect lens for you. Seymore Do Moore SLOR.

Since eighteen sixty five, Stetson hats are American maid with pride right here in Texas, and Stetson is proud to be on the field with America's team. Want to show your Texas and Team pride two you can by purchasing your own Stetson. You can look just like how the flag guys do on field at every home game. Stetson hats the official crown of all self respecting Cowboys and your favorite football team. Get yours today at shop dot Dallas Cowboys dot com or at Stetson dot com. I'm

Jay Novachek, former tight end for the Dallas Cowboys. Back in the day. I was the guy who always got the tough yards and that's why I run with John Deer today. In fact, I have a John Deer three zero twenty five E tractor that can handle any yardwork I need to do, even the tough yards way out back. So if you have one acre or a thousand, John Deer has the equipment that's just right for you. Visit a John Deer dealer today and run with us. We

are the official tractor provider of your Dallas Cowboys. Here it's nineteen oh eight. Don't you think we should get electricity and stop using candles to see at night? It's just electricity lights up the room fast. It's more reliable than candles blowing out, and people seem to love it nationwide. Well, candles, DA, did you just run into the wall? May I have a new candle? Please? Historically, switching to new technology is a no brainer. Today it's AT and T five G fast, reliable,

secure and nationwide. Switch to AT and T five G. It's not complicated. Five G requires compatible plant may not be in your area. See ATT dot com slash five G for you for details. Back to the Break AT and T Pose with the Pros on the Go is now available within the Cowboys app under the Stadium tab. You can pose with the Pros on the Go, presented by AT and T five G. It's bringing the in

stadium experience to the palm of your hand. Stop snap a photo with your favorite Cowboys player anywhere, at anytime. Welcome back. Final segment of the Break a Life from the s WBC Mortgage studios at the Star. As Bucky talked about in the last segment, we're going to dive into this conversation a little bit on this truck or trailer. Nick asked the question about Dak Prescott. Just so everybody's aware.

I think the concept here is that you know you're either a truck or a trailer as a quarterback, either a guy that can pull the weight, you're the truck, or you're a guy that's kind of being pulled along, you're the trailer. And Nick brought up the question to me last night, and my first thought was, well, of course,

everybody's gonna say truck. And then as we started to talk about it, it seemed like there were some areas where you could at least make the you could at least have a discussion about is he really a truck? Are we seeing signs that maybe he could be a truck? But is he really there yet? So Nick, I'll let you first take this question. Tell me your thoughts. Well, I obviously believe that you know, you can develop into

a truck if you will. Russell Wilson I think has done that, and I think Dak has has jumped into that category as well. But I think you have to make the case if he wasn't always that, if he's kind of and I think Bucky said it, I agree with him. Last maybe a couple of years he's moved into that. But what is he what is he pulling? Because they're they're ten and eleven, in the last two years since he became this truck. So you see the

right truck. Is he you know, is he is he a monster truck or is he just one of those you know, you know, like like what it also like what's he pulling here? So I think I think it's it's an interesting question because you're about to pay this guy forty million dollars a year, and so I don't know, like I think it's it's I think you have to make the case that, you know, maybe he does he need great players around him. And I still think that he does. I think twenty eighteen was an example of that.

They weren't going anywhere until they got him Maarty Cooper and then things kind of took off. So I mean, I don't think it's a bad thing to say maybe he's a trailer. I mean, he's a really good one. But I'm just saying I think he needs great players around him. Dave, who are who are all these quarterbacks that don't need great players around him? Like That's that's where I go in this conversation. There's in my opinion, there's Aaron Rodgers. There's one, there's one, and there's one.

But I will say the Homes I will, I will, yeah, Mahomes, but have great players we've we've ever seen. Pat Mahomes has an amazing offensive line, Tyree Hill, Travis Kelsey, Sammy Watkins, Nicole Hartman. Oh and by the way, they drafted Clyde Edwards Hilaire in the first round, just as like window dressing on this already amazing offense. So I've never seen. Do I believe that he would still be great without it? He'll be great when they when they're going, Yeah, I

do I believe that. Yes, is there any proof that that's true. No, Deshaun Watson, tons of people love to say that he's better than Dak How's he doing without any help? They look terrible? Um, Aaron Rodgers is the one. He is the one guy that has, over the course of his career, been able to make it work with less, which, by the way, everybody in Green Bay is pissed off that they didn't really give him any weapons after losing the NFC Championship game. They drafted a quarterback they could

have had. You know, maybe they trade up and get like a Justin Jefferson and who knows how good they look. So Aaron Rodgers probably wants weapons. And for that matter, when he was Dak's age, he had Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Um, you know he had Um, I'm blanking on his name. Jones, Greg Jennings, Um, Donald Jones, Donal Donald Driver, Donald Driver, Hime. Yeah, I was gonna say Donald DRIs before him, right, No, James, Yes,

James Jones, Jamesons, thank you so much. I'm sorry. Yeah, shout out to the Qus point being, there just aren't very many quarterbacks who still look great without having great weapons. So I don't I don't buy that argument at all, and I do think it is it is a very worthwhile and fair talking point that the Cowboys record has not been wonderful in the time since Dak took this leap. I think there's a lot of reasons for that. I don't think most of it has to do with the quarterback.

Would you guys throw Lamar Jackson in that category you just said you kind of think about which quarterbacks. I don't know that he has a great supporting cast. He's got some average guys, but I think he's the straw that makes that drink work right. Well, Yeah, but you I mean, I forget tom Brady. Let's not forget like Tom Brady and Trade Manning. I mean those guys well during during his career, I would tell you that about Tom Brady. I don't think that's the case anymore. Yeah,

certainly don't think that's the case anymore. In the in the prime of his prime, tom Brady made it work with lesser players. Um, Peyton again, do I still think that they would be great? Yes, Peyton Manning played with Hall of famers basically his entire career. Marvin Harrison, Reggie, Wayne Edge, James, you know, not a Hall of Famer, but Brandon Stokely and Dallas Clark were great players in

their day. Got to play with Welker and peaked him, Marius Thomas when he was so still not buying it, um, and for that hold on all those all those guys you just mentioned. Though, I believe that the quarterback made them great. They go somewhere else, they're not that good. I mean I think that. I think the quarterback makes them great. So you can make the argument he makes Cooper wasn't going anywhere. He makes them Cooper he I mean,

obviously it all ties in together. I'm just I get I think it's it's not dishonest, it's it's like a straw man to say, like, well, he needs great players around, because the fact of the matter is most quarterbacks do, like the vast majority of them, Lamar Jackson, they're struggling this year. Their offense doesn't look all that uh you know, I know, you know, they've had injuries. Everybody's had injuries.

But that's when I look at it, Like I said, I think there's it's a very interesting case that the Cowboys record has not been great in this time since Dak has has taken these leaps, But there's no more than there's no more than three quarterbacks in the NFL right now that I think are definitively better than him. So I absolutely think he's a truck. I will say this. I look at it maybe a little bit differently. I don't look at it so much as he has to

pull all the weight with no help. I look at it as is he capable of pulling the weight knowing that when he goes into a game, he is the best of what they do, right So, and that's two different things. To me, that's still a truck, and I think that that's what we've seen from Dak Is at least earlier this season. What we saw was they went into games where they were having to rely on him.

I should even say they went into games by the second quarter they were having to rely on him because of the circumstance, and he was able to deliver, and he was able to get them back in position where even if they didn't win, they were in position to be able to win by the end of the game. So I look at it from that standpoint. I say that that's why I would believe he is a truck is because it is turning to where now he is

the best of what they do. And I think when it comes to next year, if everything continues as it is with Zeke, I think he will be the best of what they do. Zeke will be the complimentary piece to Dak's passing game. With the receivers that he has. He doesn't have to do it by himself, but he certainly has a big hand in whatever's going to be their success. Jeff some Nickel that anything I was, well, I didn't know if everybody was contributing. I just thought

that they all seem very passionate about this subject. So I'm just listening to you guys. Yeah, I'll say this though, I don't think that. I don't think the problem so much is Dak And if it's he's the best guy or the I just don't think the Cowboys are structured well enough to to make this work. If he's going to make forty million a year, I just I don't. You can't have your quarterback make forty million a year. You can't have one of the highest paid running backs,

highest paid guards, highest paid tackles, highest paid receiver. You can't have all of that. It's so that's what happens when a guys get injured there you have no depth behind you. So right now now they're paying what So they just can't They can't function that way, and neither could have Houston and look what happened. So it's I

don't know. It's a scary thought. It's a scary thought to think you have a thirty one million dollar quarterback and the team is the team around him is not good at all, and now you're gonna make him a forty million dollars quarterback. It's it's scary. Something's got to give. And so I'm not saying it's Dak, but it's gonna be somebody else, Okay, not gonna have all those three receivers. So let's assume for a second that you take a

Marie Cooper out of the mix. Let's assume, for it take a second that you take Zeke Elliott out of the mix. And let's assume that with Zeke, you're you go out and you get yourself a second round running back, which you can get good quality running back value in the second third round even right. Let's assume you get a guy like that, and and you have the two receivers that you still have left. Do you think that

DAK is good enough to win with that cast? If you take out Amari Cooper and you take out Zeke Elliott because of their contracts, and and you're paying him forty million, and you're gonna have to take some of those contracts off the table taking those two out, do you think they're still they can still win? Absolutely? Absolutely they can they I mean six and eight? Whoa, that's the record. That's his record is his record is six and eight. Oh, I've been doing okay, Well, that's what

his record is. When you don't have that. When Zeke was out, they was three and they were three and three, um, and those games where he was out and then it was a different player here, Dak was a different player then right twenty seventeen is I don't even That's not even part of the conversation for me in terms of like what I think Dak is capable of doing. Yeah, and I get what you're saying, Nika, that's the only history that we have. But I think he's a very

different point you don't have. Yeah, Yeah, I think he's a very different player too. I do too, because they don't have They didn't have a second round running back like you just mentioned when when he was running he was giving the ball to Rod Smith and Alfred Morris and he didn't have that Nick, you know what this and I get it, Like I used to think that way prior to this year. I used to think that Dak Prescott was a guy that absolutely needed all the

help he could get around him. Until this year I started seeing seeing it differently. And you talk about those wide receivers, the three main one, but look at what they were they have been able to do with Cedric Wilson, Noah Brown. The fact that they are able to or we are able to start seeing them finally incorporate some of those other players that are not your start players and flashy players and still be able to show some

kind of production on the field. Yes, it's absolutely not at the level that we want them to be, but at the same time, we have started to see different elements that are not your starter guys to be able to you know, make some plays on the field. So to me, I started seeing it this year is absolutely I think that Dak Prescott can be that guy. And he's shown to take a big, a big, big step forward this year, not that many big steps because they're

not winning pretty big. They're not winning like that's not winning football. Like okay, are saying you do you put that blame on Dak and the players are do you blame the coaching staff and them not being able to create the right kind of calls for the players to be successful on the field. All I'm saying, I don't know. All I'm saying is is the teams are saying we're gonna let Dak beat us with all these yards and stats and all these other players, and they hasn't worked

that way. I'm just saying that is a fact. Nobody on the other side of this WebEx call can argue that they can't. You can't. Yeah, but that Dak hasn't been a good I'm done. I mean, I'm done. I mean, like, like all the stats from the last two years, all these numbers, but they're not winning. They're not winning. Is that is he better than Troy Aikman because look at all these stats or Detroit, I mean, or did they just figured out a way to win? Yeah? I don't think, Geordie.

I'm just saying, other than when Troy was here in the early two like late nineties, I don't think Troy had a defense that was near as bad as what this defense has been. And I think I would agree. I would say that a lot of the problems they're having are not so much about Dak and what Dak can't do. I think we're actually seeing that Dak was overperforming. I think this defense was so bad he couldn't overcome

a really, really bad defense. That's not his fault. That to me, is a function of they got to do something better on defense. They got to figure the defense out in this day and age, with the with the cost of good quarterback play and the salary cap, there's there's like there's two ways to go about it. Is I got a quarterback I'm paying top dollar who can keep me in every game. Yes, they lost to Seattle

in Cleveland, they beat Atlanta. They only had a chance in those games because of Dak Prescott, and Nick's right, they didn't they didn't win. They didn't win. They lost two of the three, but they were in them because of Prescott. So you take you know, you either you have the choice between the quarterback who can keep you in every game because he's that good, or you try to build like this complete team with lesser quarterback play

and see where it gets you. And me, I'm gonna roll with the quarterback every time because if I mean, if he gets hot, or if you you know, hit on some draft picks on defense that make your defense better than it was, then all of a sudden, maybe you're cooking with gas and I just you just have to have top notch quarterback play to win in the NFL. And like you can throw all those stats you want at me about you know, quarterbacks on x amount of salary win in super Bowls. That's going to change in

a hurry. Like that's I mean Okay, Like are the does that's that not matter anymore? When Pat Mahomes picks up a couple of rings on this contract because he will, or you know, Russell Wilson's gonna get another. You know, expensive quarterbacks are gonna start winning super Bowls because there's no such thing as an inexpensive quarterback anymore. Um, So that's that's where I'm at, And I'm yeah, like, Nick's

totally right. It's gonna be hard to make all of this work, and if they pay Dak, they're gonna have

to make some sacrifices. But give me the sacrifice that involves having a quarterback that I feel good about, because you can't you can't expect to win in the NFL without that, right, And I agree with that, Like I think that That's what I'm saying is is that it's just scary to think that, you know, Jerry always talks about the pie, how many you know, big slice of the pie, that Dak has a big slice of the pie right now. He's gonna get a bigger slice next year.

And that's what I would do. I would do that. I would not I would not draft a quarterback. I don't care where you are, I would go get the I would sign Deck. All I'm saying is this team is not built right now very well to handle that. They're not handling it right now, and like Dave said, something's got to give. So that's what's kind of scary. He's got a lot of pieces on offense, and you know, is it too many? Do we need to have some on defense because just outscoring people is not gonna not

gonna work. It hasn't worked this year. And Nick, with that, you bring us full circle all the way back to the conversation about tanking, because if they have that how high pick, they can rebuild his defense really really quickly. Right, I'm just saying that. I mean, it's it's fascinating. I think we're seeing that this season is like I think, Nick, like this this team is not efficiently built, like the

way that they've allocated their money. Zeke is Zeke was a cherry on top of an ice cream Sunday with Tony Romo being the main event, you know, and that's that's not the case anymore. Same thing, you know, off ball linebackers in today's NFL, I'm not sure if you're you should pay them seventy million dollars and the Jayalen deal looked like a bargain at the time. It's still I mean, no, it's not because he's not playing up

to it. But and that's the problem is now you've got to look at this and say, did we allocate all of this stuff the right way? And how do we fix it so that when we're paying our quarterback forty million dollars we can still field a competitive team. I think there's a lot of stuff. I think they got some difficult choices in front of them in the next two off seasons. That's an interesting point. And actually tomorrow what I want to do, I want to go

into this topic. I'm ask you guys, so be prepared. I'm gonna ask you, guys, what's the worst contract this team currently has? Because when you start breaking down, as you're talking about how they're built and where they've spent their money, there's some contracts you look at and you're like, man, this, I don't know how you make that work Like this

is guys aren't playing up to it. On top of that, it really makes it very tough to be able to manage that in a specially in this situation now where you're about to have to pay a quarterback a huge amount of money, and you got a whole defense that you feel like you got so many pieces of that thing that you gotta redesign and rebuild. So we'll ask that question tomorrow and get itto that a little bit more. This was a good discussion, though we'll pick it up

at another time. That's the end of the show. That's the route. We'll be back tomorrow for Dave Hellman, Nick Eatman, Amber Garcia. I am Derek Eagleson. 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.