Mick Shots: Going Draft Heavy

day of April. We are one week after the two thousand and twenty NFL Draft, and it is day number fifty. I'm counting the days of this uh COVID pandemic, and so fifty days into this. It was May eleventh when this all started, when the sports world got shut down. But thank god, Mickey, we had the NFL Draft last week and this is a new look Dallas Cowboys team. Yes, absolutely is seven dude Draft choices in uh March eleventh. By the way, Billy March eleventh. I'm sorry, I always

get March in May mixed. You know what, you always got to be scared that I lost track of the time. But you know what, Uh what a draft. It was what a neat production the NFL pulled off with all the teams. What a neat production the Cowboys pulled off as a as an organization. And uh, you know, and here we are finally get a chance to talk about it five days later, but it's still fresh and everybody's mind and uh, you know, Everson, I never dreamed that the NFL could pull it off the way they did

so seamlessly. It seems, Hey, everybody's going virtual now, Spags. It was That's what I've been doing. You know, I've been on the computer more now than I've ever been in my entire life. And as an old dude like myself, this is not anything I'm accustomed to. But I like the way that the NFL made the adjustments. I love the raw opportunity to look at the where the kids came from and the interaction with the parents. You know, when we see them on the draft day, they're all

drafted up. Everybody's all looking nice and fancy restaurants and things of that nature. Now it was just raw, dog, this is my house. My currents are a little stained in the back. You know. We tried to cover up some of the stuff with some other stuff, and you know, I thought that was just very cool. You saw, first of all, how personal this this whole draft was, because you heard a lot of very human interest stories that just really kind of pulled at your heart string. And

that's been going on obviously, you know, for decades. But it's good that they kind of dwelled on that a little bit. And along those lines also the coaches and uh, team executives and so forth, seeing them in their own homes from the commissioner in his own basement, which was of course dressed up for television. But uh, in fact I was talking with I did a little zoom interview with Charlotte Jones Anderson yesterday and we were talking about the telecast and you know, you had Cliff Kingsbury out

in his whatever he's living in out Arizona. Uh, you know, Bill Belichick with his dogs making the pick and U and then Jerry on his yacht and as Charlotte, as Charlotte put it, you know, it was it was someone had told her that this and she so she admitted she was stealing it from someone. But it was like it was like everyone was sort of on brand with what they are like in real life and being the chief branding officer that Alice Cowboys. I thought that was

then appropriate way for Charlotte to put it. Well, you know, and and and it continues to happen, uh, you know, the stay at home thing, the isolation thing, but it always seems to bring us more together. Uh. And we see a more personal view of people. Uh. And again it happened in the draft and Bill, you're you're exactly right. It it put a face on the NFL. You know everything when it's at a stage it's formal. The guys walk out, they hugged the commissioner, they put on a

goofy hat. Uh and then you know it's like, okay, fine, well this uh yeah, it just made it more real and uh made people more real and the emotion more real. Uh So yeah, I thought it was great. And you know it all worked too. We didn't really lose connection or anything, uh fluffed up, didn't miss a draft pick. And you know, and you go through however many draft choices they had, Uh, it seemed like that. It was remarkable. You know. Plus you saw how Rot Goodell has the

worst sense of humor. I think I've ever heard of any commissioner. His jokes were bad, and he knew they were bad, but I did like his timing. His timing

was good, but the jokes were just really bad. Can we clear something up on CD Lamb's reaction, Mickey, because because there was a lot of criticism out there that when the announcement was made on television that CD didn't really have a reaction, much of a reaction, we need to point out that, See that was not when he found out that he's a Dallas Cowboy, right right, I mean he got the phone call prior to that. Yeah, absolutely, And and again what he was mad that he got

drafted by the Dallas Cowboys? Are you serious? Now? He may be a little disappointed that he lasted till the seventeenth pick. They could understand that. And I saw that in some of the other guys too. It's like, yeah, okay, I just got drafted. And it wasn't just by the Cowboys, it was other picks too that guys thought they would go a lot sooner. So uh, yeah, it's hard to hide your disappointment in how long you lasted the draft

when everything's live. But I was getting some texts from friends saying, well, it doesn't look like he's excited me in a Dallas cowboy, And so I explained to him that what happens on this is the team makes the call, when they make the pick, they and they're making they're sending the pick in Basically, they make the call, Jerry gets on the phone with the player and they get on and then it's it's several minutes passes by before the announcement is made on television, and that's why his

friends and family are all poised to jump up and they're all excited whenever the pick is announced on television, and the players will react different ways once they the realization occurs where it's actually announced on television, but they already understand that the team has already drafted him. Yeah, it's really what really went viral though, was between the phone. I know you guys, you know you gotta go there, ain't God, I gotta go there, man, I got kids

here at the house. You know when I said kids are thirty plus years old. But that's what they all noticed. Everybody went off on the The young lady tried to tried to take the phone from him, and he on a smooth I mean a real smooth tip. He just kind of reached and grabbed that phone from like, no, no, no, you don't touch that phone. No, no, let me touching the phone, right, yeah, don't message the bath phone. I thought.

I just thought I was That was the funniest thing, you know, the second funniest thing about the entire draft, that phone to her picking up the phone and then the lady getting picked up off of her son. You know, the girlfriend was hanging on the guy and the mother comes over, picks up the girlfriend by under her armpits and drags her away. I want to get in and get this is my son. I'm gonna get a hug at this Mary. That's the kind of stuff golden, golden

for the draft. I hope they do this every year Reality TV. And it's fine. It is reality and you know, and see since that stuff happened when the camera was flashing, it happened, right. It's the old saying, like a tree falls in the forest. Uh, you know, you know if nobody and the same thing with CD, because that's up to TV. TV's gotta be on him. When he got the original phone call, like a bunch of the other

guys and they didn't have that shot good stuff. You see those shots on the like the second day of the draft, you get the uh, the actual phone call reaction a lot of times. All right, let's talk about CD to get things kicked off here. And how surprised were you, Mickey, that CD was still there at seventeen. Yeah,

I couldn't believe it. You know, as I was monitoring the draft and they got past the pick twelve, and I said to myself, oh my goodness, they're going to be able to draft calevan Chase on and I put a question mark on my sheet at number sixteen next to Atlanta, and I said, if Atlanta doesn't screw this up, the Cowboys going to get their defensive end. And then as it started getting closer, I'm going, oh my gosh,

they might have a choice between two of them. And you remember how we had been talking Bill and we'd say, you know, this is what they need, and this is what they're going to get at seventeen. And I would bring up, but what happens if by some miracle, they're sitting there at seventeen and CD lambs on the board, you know, what do you do? And I think we

were all in agreement We'll take them, don't. He's got to be the best player on the board at seventeen, no doubt about it, and that's the decision they made. It was like all the mock drafts that they did. Stephen talked about it. Will McClay talked about it. They never had to go through a scenario where they had to decide if CD was their choice at seventeen because they thought it was so unreasonable, And when it happened, it was like, well, I got to follow the board.

We got this guy number six on our draft board, the sixth best player in the draft. We gotta take them, and boy, what a home run. They couldn't have asked for anything more. I'm gonna ask you in a bit why he lasted so long. But you know, the Cowboys ended up doing what most teams do. You're gonna take the best athlete available, and it just so happened. The best athlete available is in a positions that we need. We just lost Coyle. We realized how CD is in

regards to where he lines up. He can run routes from any position. I think this is gonna bode well for obviously our offensive system, especially on third downs. Having CD in there being able to go back and forth with he and Cooper in the slot. That's something that you know, we always criticized Daz about about not being able to be more versatile by being in the slot. This guy kind of checks all of those boxes and of course once he's once he gets the ball, he's

just a game breaker. So we talked about this a long time ago, Spag. We always talked about the studs that were available at wide receiver in this draft. We talked about this months and months ago, and here it is. It comes into fruition that this is a guy. But overall I might be jumping the gun, but overall I thought this is a defensive draft for the Cowboys. So everything just kind of worked out pretty well. You know.

I thought Jerry Jones made a really good point when he was summoned up the draft and he said, I don't know what we did, what we wore, what we where we were sitting, but we need to do it again because things just fell for him, right. They didn't force anything. It just kind of happened. Didn't happen to make any hard decisions. Yeah, yeah, And a lot of it had to do and you were gonna say, well,

why was he there? Well, I think a lot of teams ahead of him basically started drafting by Need and the more offensive tackles you saw go off the board. You're sitting there going, oh my gosh, the Cowboys are gonna get what they want. H and teams drafted for Need. And you know, as I said, we got to sixteen in Atlanta took aj Tarrell, the Clemson cornerback. It was like, well, all this just fell in their lap. They didn't have to do anything. They didn't have to trade up, they

didn't have to get fancy. It was like, huh. You know. The funny thing was I got a question from somebody, well, with the Michael Gallop and Amari Cooper, how are they gonna use C. D. Lamb? And my answer was, they're just gonna put them on the field. You know, we're gonna worry about how we're gonna use them and get him on the field. You know, just put the ball in his hand. That's what we're gonna do with him. We're gonna put the ball in his hand. That's right,

you know. And you look at the way things fell. There were really three receivers and I actually had four. I had to Jefferson from LSU up there, along with Henry Ruggs and Jerry Judy and CD Lamb. And I think there's a lot of teams probably look at those top three guys as you know, it's it's like do you like chocolate ice cream, you like vanilla ice cream? Whatever? I mean there, I can see how you might rank them where Judy might be number one on some teams board.

I personally like Lamb the best. I had Judy second by a small margin. Ruggs and Jefferson were in that same mix, but it kind of went by need. What those teams ahead of them were looking at it wide receiver and the Raiders wanted a speed guy, and so they took Rugs and then Denver, it came down to a choice between Judy or Lamb, and they just decided

to go with Judy instead of Lamb. But even before that, Arizona at number eight, they would have been in the market for a receiver, but they had traded for DeAndre Hopkins, so they went defense with Isaiah Simmons. So that pushes another wide receiver down and it just so happened that Cede Lamb was the guy that fell down to the Cowboys at seventeen, and then you're right, and then Atlanta

they're sitting there. They've got two receivers and Julio Jones and Ridley and so they and they needed a cornerback and so they took aj Terrell instead. So it just worked out for the Cowboys. But you can take it round by around that one, you have to ask the question like what if what if we would have taken Judy? I don't think it would have mattered. I think both guys a quality players. So it's one of those right

situations where it doesn't matter which one you pick. It was all start to fall very well for the Cowboys, and it's just it's as if I don't know. Somebody mustn't Jerry must ask somebody driving that yacht somewhere, because man, he was just sailing along and doing everything that needs

to be done. And let's just be real, guys, the hero of this entire draft, my boy Will Will did a great job, very just a what do you call just his temperament is just so calm and even, and just to see him be as successful as he was, just an even killed young man. I really enjoy the way he stepped up this draft. We got Jerry looking good, but we know that Will did all the work. But he wouldn't. He would not tell you that the Will is ly really and hero at two things like that

Number one. Billy, Remember when I made the joke about the dark board behind me that if I replaced the numbers with the position and I blindfolded myself and through a dark whatever position I hit, it would be good. The Cowboys need it. Well. If you can see up there right now, it's on a it's the bull's eye and it's CD Lamb's bio pinned to the board now because they hit Cede Lamb. And as for Will McClay, I thought it was pretty neat. Uh. He did a

conference call two days ago. Two days ago, and when he mentioned Uh, it was mentioned to him that Jerry and Stephen called him the MVP of the draft. And he went through this, this whole long dissertation of how ownership, the scouts, the coaches, the head coach all came together very very well and did this whole thing. But he said, if I'm going to give an MVP award to this draft, it's my scouts because they did the Lake Ward. You know, we didn't get a chance to do the thirty visits.

We didn't get a chance to do Dallas Day, barely got a chance to do any pro day. So all their decisions had to be based on the leg work that these guys did throughout the season and how they inform the organization during these virtual meetings that they were having. And he said, without the scouts, we couldn't have done what we did. So, yeah, hats off to Will, but really hats off to him by giving that amount of

praise to the guys that work for him. All Right, we got to take a break here and when we come back, we dive into the rest of the Dallas Draft twenty twenty. When Mick Shots continues in a moment, I'm Jay Novachik, 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 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 Dealer today and run with us. We are the official tractor provider of your Dallas Cowboys. Slura is a proud sponsor of the Dallas Cowboys, helping fans see more and do more with our best vision solutions. Our lens technologies reveal a world more beautiful than you

can imagine. For a limited time, get the slur next Gen Offer, where you buy the latest generation of Transitions lenses with select Slur lenses, you can choose a second pair of clear lenses for free with qualifying frame purchases. Restrictions apply. Find a participating eyecare professional by visiting slur USA dot com, selor seemore. Do more want to use what the pros use? How about the official men's skincare

brand of the Dallas Cowboys, Jack Black. Right now you can get the Jack Black Starter, a curated collection of Cowboys locker room favorites, for just ten bucks with free shipping. The starter includes four Jack Clack skincare favorites, plus a full sized and tense therapy lip bomb. Go to get Jack Black dot com slash Cowboys and use the code word team JB. That's get Jack Black. Dot Com, Slash Cowboys, the Jack Black Starter, ten bucks three shipping your new

apartments big, such a great deal. It's okay, just okay? What's not two right above the subway? Well, I bet you don't even notice it after that's my neighbor. Ain't it the deal? That's just okay? It's not okay. Get a great deal with America's best network. Come into an AT and T store to find out how to get one of our popular smartphones for zero dollars down based

on GWS one score September twenty nineteen. Back back to mixed shots, start alot, third and three and another that accepted right to dicks and dicks and I fun a recovery for a touchdown last week, that's a dick sex This week stump and rolls and get accepting twybod Alabama cornerback Trayvon Diggs the number fifty one pick in the

draft second round selection of the Cowboys. Back on Fridays, Welcome back here to Mick Shot spill Jones with Mickey Spagnola and Everson Walls as we break down this twenty twenty Cowboys draft and Yes, cornerback heavy in the second round and the fourth round with Reggie Robinson, the second

out of Cleburne, Texas and Tulsa University. And also the Cowboys this week have signed a veteran cornerback, Darryl Whirley, who started fifteen games for the Raiders last year, was originally a third round draft pick in twenty sixteen of the Carolina Panthers, who's been a starter throughout his career. Make it very interesting, Mickey, the inventory they now have

at the cornerback position. Nothing better than competition on your team, right, and there could be no slackers at the cornerback slash safety position. And boy, when you see those highlights of Digs, that's a big corner and I think that's what they've been looking for. They want big press corners that can get on the line of scrimmage and disrupt patterns right from the start. And the fact that they were able to get Digs where they did in the second round,

are you serious? Because they had him. There was a consideration of taking him in the in the first round actually until things fell the way they did. So to get him with the nineteenth pick in the second round absolutely amazing. And uh yeah, he's got some skills now again, as Everson said about Ceedee Lamb, you know there's got

a berees and teams didn't take the guy. And you know he doesn't have the greatest speed his catchup speed, but you know what, if you don't have to catch up, then you know you don't have to use that ketchup speed. So I just see with the guys you mentioned with Reggie Robinson, the trade for darryl' worley, uh, and then having a woozier Anthony Brown and Jordan Lewis. Boy, that's a pretty stout group there, and you're going to see

some competition. And I think one of the things when we talk about these guys, and you guys can give me your opinion on the guys they drafted, somebody's moving to safety and they've got some guys with versatility to be able to do that. And you know, Everson, after you give us your kind of summation on what you think of Digs and maybe Robinson, I want to ask you about making that transition from cornerback to safety if you hadn't played it before, well, I'll tell you what.

You're right those fact one of those guys they are going to safety. But what you saw with Diggs is a guy who has such great technique. I love the way he gets his hands on the wide receivers. I've seen him be extremely aggressive, I mean pretty much causing a fight at the line of scrimmage. That's the kind of one on one you want to see the one

on one practices in the Cowboys practice field. Once we start giving this season going and this whole COVID thing goes by the wayside, you are going to see some of the most intense one on one competitions that you've ever seen in Cowboys camp. And that's the way it should be because you've got bigger receivers in the league

these days. Cowboys may not necessarily be one of those teams with the huge receivers, but everyone's concentrating on big receivers these days, so you gotta have the big dbs. Great footwork by Diggs, great hand combat by Diggs. I love his skills, his ball skills. When he gets down the field, some of the interceptions that you see he makes, he deciphers what the offense is trying to do. Now, that's a nice luxury to have when you have the

defensive line and the rush that Alabama had. But at the same time, he's able to work with his defense and be able to really sniff out what the offense is trying to do. And to me, that's just as important as being able to play one on one. You have to be a smart player and understand what the offense is trying to do. When I look at Robinson, well, I see a guy who you could tell that he was a transformed safety from and going to corner. I

thought Robinson's footwork was a little slower. I guess he would say smoother, which as a defensive back, that sounds a little better. Brand. Eye coordination is still very good, but you can see a little bit off now. To me, that doesn't negate a good cornerback at all. If he can work with his tools, you know, you're looking at the guy run the fourth seven. So if you can

work with your tools, that's great. But I think Robinson, if all the cornerbacks that they draft that they signed, that Robinson may be the one that looks more more apt to go to safety. He's really rangey, and he's got good anticipation and you can judge that ball very well when it's in the air. So we're looking at turnover cornerbacks. Okay, we're looking at guys that look for the ball. They're looking for fumbles, they're looking for loose balls,

and they can go up and get interceptions. So hopefully this this whole drought about the Cowboys secondary and not getting interceptions, I'm hoping this craft is over because I can't take it. Guys, I'm just letting you know. I can't take it. Not another year of this, I can so. Bill, what did the big Green notebook cav on these corners? Well, let me tell you about Reggie Robinson the second and

in fact, you talk about picks. He had four picks for Tulsa last year there, and Diggs had three for Alabama. But I talked with Reggie's dad this week, Reginald Robinson, who, by the way, as a Grambling man just like our Everson Walls. He played at Grambling. I think he gradual. He say graduated ninety four, ninety five, I think. But but he said that he told Reggie four or five years ago when he started at Tulsa that Byron Jones is the guy he could be. Like. Okay, and when

you look at Reggie's numbers, like at the combine. Well, his dad told me that before he put on fifteen pounds here in the last couple of years, he was running a four to three. Okay, he ran a four to four four at the combine. The eleven foot broad jump, it's not twelve foot like Byron Jones, but no one has a twelve foot broad jump like Byron Jones. The twenty two bench reps, Wow, I mean that's something um for a cornerback, safety, whatever game. It's exactly, yeah, exactly

and so but you think about Byron Jones. He at Yukon, he played both corner and safety, and I agree that that he's probably the most likely candidate to get reps at corner. But I'll throw in Darryl Whorley in there as well. All three of these guys are in that six one, two o five vicinity. Whorley that he's now listed I think at two fifteen. But I looked at some of Darryl Worley last night in their game against Kansas City last year with Travis Kelsey at tight end.

Of course for Kenny Sea, they got killed in the game, obviously, but Worley was playing outside at right cornerback, matched up against Tyreek Hill a lot in that game, but he was playing in the nickel a lot of times. They matched him up one on one with Kelsey and he had a real good game against Kelsey. And he played some deep safety as well for the Raiders in one of their sub packages, so he's got some ability to

play the same position. Also, you know, Bill, be clear, guys before we go on spat, excuse me, you are not just looking at these guys for being maybe starters or contributors defensively. You're looking at some good special teams

prospects as well. And the Cowboys really fell off as for special teams last year, so you could see that as they're picking these these studs here at defensive back, wide receiver, I think they're also looking at them to contribute all over the field, not just in the defensive part of the game. Well, and and Everson, good point on Reggie Robinson because he did play special teams at Tulsa. A matter of fact, he basically said he had been on all of them. Whatever special team there was, he

was on it. Uh. And I think if I remember correctly, Billy finished his career with four block kicks at Tulsa. So yeah, special teams important a key thing on unworthy. UH. And I was talking to Will McClay about it. You know. He he did move inside and took took on the tight ends at times. Uh. And towards the end of the season this past year, UH, they the Raiders had problems at safety with injuries, and then they released Dj Swearingen, and the last couple of games he made the transition

to safety. And he started at safety. Uh. And and I saw an article he was talking about, uh playing cornerback, and and he thought that, you know, playing quarterback cornerback and preparing for games is difficult because now you got to you got all these things you gotta worry about. He goes, but he felt like the transition to play in safety was a lot easier to be able to pull off. And I was gonna ask Everson, because you had to do it, did you ever play safety before

you went to the Giants? Yeah? I played safety in high school. I was cornerback until I got to Grambling. I was just trying to give a spott Grambling. They have me at safety my freshman year at Grambling as well. But when it came down to it, if you're gonna make the team at Grambling, you gotta keep up with these jack rabbit wide receivers that I had to deal with. So I was forced to play cornerback because finally I got good at it from just going one on one

every day. So yeah, going from that immediate confrontation face to face, you're sometimes you're breathing right in each other's faces and having to deal with the chaos, the quickness, having your back to the ball, all of those things can be very stressful as a cornerback. But as you moved back away from that and going to safety, then all of a sudden, there's no immediate threat. You have a chance to survey the situation. Sometimes you can really

decipher what's going on offensively. So yes, playing safety is very good as long as you don't have to hit somebody. So that was my problem when I went to safety with the Giants. That's when all my injuries start to pile up. So yes, going the safety is easier mentally, but physically that's a whole nother issue, you know, And I think the other thing we need to point out, Bill is the fact that you know, they like Xavier

Woods at free safety. You know, I think there was this idea that boy they had to draft a safety. They got to get better at safety. But they like Woods and then they did, you know, a one year deal for Haja Clinton Dicks. So to me, he's sort of a bridge for these other guys possibly moving back there and providing some depth and they needed. They did lose a Cavon Frazier yesterday in free agency, and obviously

they weren't in a hurry to resign him. So again, when we're talking about moving these guys, I think everybody thinks you're moving them and you're gonna start them right. Well, you know, they paid Dicks three and a half million a year for this this coming year, and I as soon they brought autom in with the idea of starting him.

Now there's going to be competition, and you know that doesn't automatically go to those guys, but they do have those two guys there, so whatever they're moving there, you know, it could be more for a depth situation than anything else. And then you know, let's not forget Donovan Wilson. He had a pretty good training camp and then just didn't get many opportunities once the season began. But they really liked him and liked his ability to play special teams too.

So from a safety standpoint, even though they didn't draft somebody, it looks like they're in pretty good shape with guys being very versatile, able to do different things. You know a lot of people we focus on this year, but why they had such a need at the cornerback position, and it's safety for that matter, it is because you got so many players are going into the last year of their contract, so many starters going into the last year of your contract. Let me ask you this, Everson,

what do you think, right? You got Whirley who started fifteen games last year for the Raiders. You got Trayvon Diggs, the second round pick, who was a wide receiver, mind you, as freshman year at Alabama and has two years of starting experience in college at a very high level at Alabama, but just still just two years of experience at cornerback. And then you got the starters coming back in Cheeta A Woozier. You got Jordan Lewis, you got Anthony Brown

at safety. You've got Xavier year Woods, you got Haha Clinton Dix. My question is if they were to trot out there here in a couple of weeks with OTAs who is your starting cornerbacks on this team? If I would if I were to pick the start the cornerbacks, I would have to go with the Woozier. I'd have to go with Dicks and then including the Nickel in there. Also, if I'm going to include Nickel, then yes, I would go with the experience. I'll probably go with Brown in

the slot and Jordan Lewis. Jordan Lewis, that's a tough one. The only thing about Jordan man what great experience in the slot, but maybe so small. I think if you're gonna look at the experience he has, that's one thing. But if I'm gonna go with the intimidation aspect of it, I want more physical cornerbacks out there, physical cornerbacks and safeties.

And if you're gonna talk about the safeties, and I know you didn't ask me, but if I'm gonna tell you anyway, I'm looking at how hot Clinton Dix is moving closer to the line of scrimmage, I really am. I'm looking at him being what Woods was for us last year. When you have that kind of experience in that position, you have a chance to make a lot of plays. Especially making for plays that are behind the

line of scrimmage. You're also looking at trying those those situations where a why a cornerback or a safety can really be important on third down. I just from where they're going against the slot. I'm looking at cornerback being on the slot. But when you have a veteran safety, he can be filled in in so many places. Yes, he could play the tidings if he wanted to. He could play free safety if he wanted to. You're looking at a secondary right now that could be extremely physical,

but also extremely smart, extremely ball conscious. And that's what I'm hoping they were going far when they win the draft. And you know, Bill, you mentioned, you know, talking about three starting corners. I think what they've done here is they've strengthened their nickel defense and given them a more opportunity to be better playing dying with slot. Of these guys that can play in the slot along with the guys that can play outside. So I think that improves

your path defense. And you know, as they were talking in post draft press conference, Will talking about the guys they saw the defensive lineman they brought in, he said, you know this, this is no longer. You know, an NFL that's three yards in a cloud of dust. You gotta be able to be athletic. You gotta be able

to get to the quarterback. And because of the passing game, you know, you got to have three starting corners, and if you can put four guys out there, including the safeties, to play in the slot the way the Cowboys did back in the nineties when they had Darren Woodson, a safety playing in the slot. And I'm not saying these guys are Darren Woodson, but the ability to put a big guy in there that not only can cover, but

can stop the run. You can say, Okay, I'll go dime here because it's almost like I got another linebacker in the slot. Me another point of what Belichick did with us when we were in New York. He brought me in. Even though I came in and started a corner. You had three big corners there because I took Perry Williams spot. But when he came to third down, Perry comes in and plays his regular corner spot. Then I

went into the slot. So you that diversity that you have, you know, that can do a lot for you when it comes down the stretch. Plus, we have a lot of depth in the secondary right now, so if we have any type of injuries or something like that, you've got some guys that can just step in right away and be able to play ball. These young kids nowadays, they're ready to play now. They're ready to play now.

This is not one of those things where you've got some guys coming from some small school, you know, and he might make it or he might not if somebody drops off. No, a guy like Diggs, he's ready now for NFL. He's ready right now for the start of the season. A guy like to me, a guy like Robinson, he's ready right now for the start of the season.

I don't care where he played in college. This guy's a stud and he is one guy that can make an impact for the Cowboys as well as long as this training camps good and he's able to make some plays. He has just as much potential as Digs does to make some plays on his team. And on one other point, that one other point to factor in this year though, since they are not having workouts at the facility this offseason, and this is I think one of the beauties of

this Worly signing. Who who started fifteen games last year for the Raiders. If Diggs isn't ready from a mental standpoint to start the season as you're starting cornerback, You've got Worley there who has starting experience, and so that could factor into things as we get into training camp in August. They these rookies haven't had an offseason program to get acclimated into the national football like. All right, we continue with more mix shots in just a moment.

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 Stepson. You can look just like how the flag guys do on field at every home game. Stepson heads the official crown of all self respecting Cowboys and your favorite football team. Get yours today in the Stadium Pro Shop or at Stetson dot com their new apartments.

Big such a great deal, that's okay, just okay? What's not right above the subway? Well, I bet you don't even notice it after that's my neighbor. Ange the deal, that's just okay, it's not okay. Get a great deal with America's best network. Come into an AT and T store to find out how to get one of our popular smartphones for zero dollars down based on GWS one score September twenty nineteen. Or is a proud sponsor of the Dallas Cowboys, helping fans see more and do more

with our best vision solutions. Our lens technologies reveal a world more beautiful than you can imagine. For a limited time, get the Slur next Gen offer for you by the latest generation of Transitions lenses. With select Slur lenses, you can choose a second pair of clear lenses for free with qualifying frame purchases. Restrictions apply. Find a participating eyecare profession by visiting slor usa dot com. See More, Do More.

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

treat you. Back to Mick shots. Hey, we all know that we need to tackle age like a prose. So you need to go to get Jack Black dot com and this week's special you get a free pro series set with your sixty five dollar perchase, and one of the things you get is protein boosters in serum. This little deal right here will revitalize your face. The other part of the free gift set you get is the protein booster I rescue. If you got lines or bags,

this thing will tighten you up. So go to get Jack Black dot com and get these products free with your sixty five dollar purchase. Making you've been using any of those products, I've been trying. I don't know if they're working, but I think so. Yes, I gotta tackle aging just like the rest of us. Hey, so I didn't know spindle could be virtual? How did you? How did you do that? Did I get you? All? Right? Well? See virtual can be real? Right? All right, let's talk

about more about this draft. Let's get deeper into it, And how about let's let's fast forward to what they did trading up to the late fourth round to take a center from Wisconsin. Tyler Biadas is a Dallas Cowboy

and he was the Remington Award winner last year. I thought that was a shrewd move giving up a fifth round pick next year, Okay, lust Lust By hearing there for minutes, I think Bill was talking about the center beads and uh boy, yeah, right there you go going into this draft when everybody was giving their needs, and I kept saying, well, what about center? Uh? And when you looked at the center position, the guys that are

on the roster right now. And I understand Joe Looney did a nice job starting for Travis Frederick in twenty eighteen when he missed the entire season, but he's kind of a guard center, okay, and he's a really nice backup. But and then there was all this talk about moving this guy to center and that guy to center, and Adam Redman coming back. And I kind of looked at it and I said, Okay, fine, did any of these guys were talking about being the Cowboys starting center actually

start a game at center? Last year? And the answer was no, So to me, they needed to go out and draft a center, somebody who played center last year. And they found the guy that was the Remington Award winner at Wisconsin. And okay, I know three centers went ahead of him, but they had a high grade on Tyler, and I think that was a wonderful move to give up a fifth in twenty twenty one to move up into the bottom of the fourth round and get a center.

And by the way, that fifth is not going to mean anything because the amount of guys they lost in free agency, they're gonna make it up with compensatory picks. And I saw one story last the other day that's already projecting who's gonna get compensatory picks by what they lost, and they had the Cowboys projected to get a third, fourth, fifth, and a sixth, so that that fifth doesn't mean anything.

But to have a guy that played center last year on your team, and especially if there's no offseason for these guys to make a transition from playing guard like Connor mcgovernn or Connor Williams to center, or Adam Redman who spent the whole season on ir to have a guy that actually did it, I think is huge to me. It's kind of like taking up a safety and saying, hey, you go play corner. You know, we realized that the how shorthanded he might be in a lot of different

situations because that's just not his true position. When you're playing center, I mean, obviously it's it's it's simply selanatory. Your position is the s two of everything that's going on on the field offensively, and so that center has to be extremely intelligent. He has to know the system back and forth, and it has to be something that he's been instinctly doing for at least four years. It's a lot of new houses that go with being a center that a guard or a tackle or a backup

may not be able to take care of. But when you have a true center there, then it's just a seamless transition from going from college to pros. I truly believe that, you know. And the thing on Beata is he played at a very high level at Wisconsin, which of course has produced so many NFL offensive linemen. Really, Saysaruz, the center from Michigan would probably be the guy that's ranked number one on most everybody's board. He was a parade all American five star guy coming out of high school.

But Beatas was right there with the other centers that went ahead of him in the draft, Lloydbury from LSU, Matt Hennessy from Temple. The knock on Beata's was the medical because he had a hip surgery a year ago. He had a shoulder surgery this year. Obviously, the Cowboys

doctors passed him. They felt good about him. Otherwise they would not have given up, even though the price is not that high, as Mickey mentioned, with the fifth rounder next year, with so many compensatory picks coming, but for that, they wouldn't have traded up to try to get him if they didn't clear him medically. And so I think they feel good about it. And I think he's got a good shot of coming in here if he's healthy.

Because of all the reasons Mickey sits right there, his experience at center to be able to start as a rookie in this league. How about Neville Gallimore the third round pick, Robert and I the fifth round pick. They improved the defensive line there. Well, Bill Gallimore is your guy, right. I like Gallimore and especially where they drafted him with the eighty second pick yeah, absolutely, and it seems like a very athletic guy on your defensive line. Uh. They

like the fact that he's got very good lateral pursuit. Uh. And and he's a guy that's he's on the come. Uh. You know, he played football raised in Canada and they got to college here and uh, so this guy's got a lot of room to improve. And there's an example of his lateral pursuit. Uh. And he's got a great motor. So uh to combine him here with McCoy uh and you know, and we'll see where Tristan Hill lines up.

But they've got that spot now, I think, uh solidified to the point where if they need to at defensive end and you need a big defensive end on the right side, and Tyrone Crawford's your guy with experience over there, and I'm told he's ready to go. Uh he's his rehab is going greatly after the two hip surgeries, So that even fortifies that spot, not knowing if you're gonna

get Alden Smith or Randy Gregory on the field. So I liked the pick of Gallimore and he was another guy, by the way, Everson that they considered in the second round and saying, Okay, maybe we can get the corner in the third, and then they decided to do it the way they did, and then Gallimore was still there. You know what, I what I what really stood out for me with Gallimore was a fourth of your dash

four seven nine four seven nine. Yes, I read the four seven four and I was one hundred and ninety pounds at the time, and I'm thinking to myself, what if this big guy was chasing me and he had an angle, I'd be dead. So I liked the signing. I like the athleticism that they were going after. Uh. It wasn't just to speed. His maneuverability was very impressive, extremely active inside. This guy is amazing the way he

makes the play. But what I did see, and I know Bill's gonna cringe a little bit, that offense, that Oklahoma or defensive line just really fell off a little bit at the end of the season. And I'm wondering if his inconsistency had anything to do with that, because I would imagine if he would have been more consistent, that maybe that entire defensive line would have been more consistent. But I say, with the tools that he has, we can make this guy be something that he may not

have been in college. He could maybe be more consistent, maybe if you just teach him a couple of things here and there, because he's highly skillful at what he does, and that's something that I think we need inside and that kind of speed chasing people down the line, we could use that because, trust me, it was a lot of people going down the line last year and missing every running back that came through, especially after Thanksgiving. So yeah,

we're looking at trying to shore that up. A little bit light in the butt though, guys at three oh four, I think he was. That's I'm a small for an inside guy, but I guess that's why he's got some speaking of maneuverability, you know, I'd also like the fact that he comes in with Gerald McCoy similar backgrounds and being in Oklahoma where McCoy can be sort of a mentor to him as well. What about Robert to Night.

You talk about the contrast, you talk about Gallimore and his four seven nine forty, Well, here's Robert and Night and the reason I assume the main reason that he fell to the fifth round was the fact that he ran a four nine one at the combine and his other measurables were not great either, a seven four four cone drill and a four four three shuttle. You know, what I saw on him, Bill, is that he actually had a pro day at Utah and improved that forty to four seven nine. So I think I don't know

if anybody looked at that. The other thing that was pointed out about him, and Will McClay had a really good scouting report on him. He said, he said, some guys don't time fast, but they play fast, And he said, if you look at this guy's tape, he plays fast. He plays fast because he's got desire, and he plays fast because he's got football instincts. So again, that forty time didn't bother the Cowboys maybe as much as it bothered other guys. Hey, this guy was an All American.

He set the record at u TAK for sacks, so he did something on the field. So again, you know, ever since when we were talking about this virtual stuff, maybe sometimes all the measurements and the testing kind of went out the door and you had to rely more on tape. And this guy I saw he and I never heard of this award, but it was he was awarded them. Morris Trophy and it was for the best defensive lineman voted on by offensive lineman. And this guy

that's good stuff. Yes so. And the other thing I like about him is that in junior high, now he was raised in Hawaii, uh lei, uh Hawaii and uh he learned in junior high to cliff dive. And he says he can do a double back flip off a fifty foot cliff at two hundred and sixty pounds. So maybe that'd be another way to get to the quarterback, right, it's gonna flip up. There should be that should be part of the combine. See how many people can do that?

That's what That's what I like about this guy. And see when we went after on that in the two draft picks. Energy, high energy. These guys a possessed in every game. Their motors will never stop running. And that's good. That's a good thing for the Cowboys because Mike Nolan loves to an athletic defensive line. He's gonna be coming with a lot of blitzes. So this defense, if nothing else, it won't be boring. We're gonna we're gonna be a make a great defense no matter what happens. And hopefully

we can be more make than break. All right, Mickey, think we just got less than a minute here. You got any final words that you want to leave us with. Well, I did see a story in Bill you kind of alerted to me talking about Alden Smith, the fact that

you know, he hadn't played in five years. He's been working out and he's been working out at Jay Glazier's performance training site in La and you mentioned to me he became he moved up from a two hundred and sixty two hundred and sixty five pound defensive end to two hundred and eighty seven pounds. Well, it's not wasted weight.

Jay Glazier was quoted as saying, the guy has become monstrous, he's become he's put on strength, he's put on muscle, and that they got some training exercise they do with pulleys against the wall, and he said, we've had all these big guys working on this one technique, this one exercise, and he said he's the only guy that's pulled the entire contraption off the wall because he's gotten so strong. So all maybe two hundred eighty seven as a past

rushing defensive end won't be bad. All right. My assignment for you, Mickey is find out by next week if he's still an edge rusher or is he closer to a one technique. Okay, that'll be my workout, my workout and my assignment, right, all right, signment, all right. For Everson Walls and Mickey Spagnola. I'm Bill Jones, and we'll see you again next week at eleven o'clock Central Time for Mick Shots. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.