The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.
Cowboys.
This is Mick Shot screaming live on Dallascowboys dot Com and the official Dallas Cowboys apt now Here are Bill Jones, Everson Wolves, and Mickey Spagnola.
No fight song today, despite the fact it's our last show of the week. Oh now you can be get fired up for another NFL weekend. And this is Mick Shots inside the SWBC podcast studio with the star of the show, Nick Harris, joining Mickey Spagnola and me Bill Jones.
Hello, Nick Harris, I'm just ever sound just looking a little bit different today, that's all. It's gonna be on fella.
It's gonna be on love having Nick Harris looks like something ever Soon would wear.
I'll get on leave that hoodie around here because I love that. That's a great look.
He has to give me a grambling hoodie and I'll give him this, all right, all right.
Good exchange.
Actually, they got Raider Scalers on today. I do too.
Oh yeah, yeah, White.
They're in the They're in the news right now. There are a lot of moves being made in the last twenty four hours around the National Football League, and we can get into all of that and much more on this edition of Mixed Shots. So, Nick, what's on your mind? As I love the fact that you have made the successful transition. That's about an easy as to transition as you could make from Dallas Cowboys dot com to start to the Star Telegram when it's you're covering the Cowboys for the Star Telegram.
Yeah, we were just talking about our pre shows. It's been a smooth transition. Fortunately, it's the same job in essence at the end of the day, so you know, staying on top of the same things that I was staying on top of before. But yeah, I'm blessed on I'm a blessed individual to to still be around the building and to be on with you guys.
Today and to maybe save the Star Telegram. That's exactly right, moved in ages.
Says an old newspaper guy who still takes his newspaper paper copy at home.
I appreciate that I was out there to smart and grabbing it.
Yeah, very good, all right, So make you what's on your mind. I can't believe it's already Wednesday. I know, it feels like the bye week is going quickly.
It always goes quicker than he was gonna.
I wasn't gonna say first place, Dallas Stars unbeaten at that? How about that?
That is incredible? What a shootout?
I went last night? I was there?
Are you?
Yeah?
Okay, I watched on the Victory app. It works, it does?
So is that their own app? Have they developed it or is it just kind of.
They actually one of the either Anaheim or l a Anaheim Okay, Anaheim is on it, and uh, they're there's a room I guess where other teams can join it whatever. So you just select the team of your choice and then and so there are three games that have been on Victory so far. They're all archived on there too, and so and there's team shows also.
It's almost like going to Dallas Cowboys dot com. Yeah, but you get the game.
Cowboys app and yeah, that would be the Cowboys now please Cowboys?
Now?
Would can you imagine that was? How fun would that be? You can spend all evening? Got it?
Yeah, I'll tell you this is the age of streaming is going to be very fascinating. How it all eventually, you know, settles in the next five years. How everything kind of trends to because you look at Amazon potentially having opportunities and teams starting their own apps. It's going to be very fascinating.
What I love saying about it is that it's free. That Victory app is free. That's why I was tuned in last night.
There's not many things on TV anymore that are free, That's that's right.
And for myself not able to get Bally Sports Southwest because I never did. I never did convert over to Direct TV or wherever it is. I needed to find Bali Sports and I.
Didn't do it out of principle, but go ahead, uh huh.
And so it's been like four years of isolation for us when it comes to Stars, Mavericks, Ranger games.
To be find these bootleg websites.
That's right. It's nice to be able to without charge actually watch the game.
And it's a good thing too because you you have multiple TVs in the house. Yeah right, I don't have to dominate the television. Yeah yeah, just go and watch it.
On my own and I love watching it on my iPad.
You know that I probably told this story before. When I was growing up in Chicago, the Blackhawks away games would be on TV WGN to start, and and I would commandeer the television to watch the black Hawk games all the time, right, And my parents got so tired of it they bought me a black and white nineteen inch TV to put in my bedroom.
That's a wink.
Then people didn't have two TVs.
The nineteen inch television in your bedroom was the was that equivalent of an iPad? They gave you an iPad? What's your game.
On the rabbit ear antennas?
Oh see, that's what I'm hoping. I'm hoping this will get us back to where games are on free TV. That's all right, free app and let's do it advertiser, you know, generated revenue.
So we got the whole thing figured out here on mix shots, that's right.
We got well that's what we figured out on the Cowboys now app.
Too, that's right. And now we're going to take care of the Cowboys.
Okay, all right, we only have to say how much.
We only got fifty four minutes and that's when Beam starts kicking us out.
So all right, So what was your take on the story of the day yesterday? Nick?
Oh? No shortage of headlines? Right, I certainly with Jerry Jones radio availability yesterday. That was a special one. I think that one's gonna be one of the more memorable ones we think back to over the course of the next few years. I think more so than anything, I think there's just there's pressure around this team right now. You look at it at three and three going into the bye week, and it's not a confident three and three.
It's a pessimistic three and three. And the injuries have mounted, yes, and have that Have they played a role to some extent, absolutely, But I also think at the end of the day, there are there is talent on this team that has not really proven to play at the level that they've been expected to. I mean, look at Ceede Lamb specifically, he's been a guy that definitely looks like he has
not had a training camp. You look at Dak Prescott and he has had a couple of games where he's kind of willed the team to the finish line Pittsburgh as an example, But at the end of the day, he probably could do more. I talked about it yesterday on Hanging with the Boys. Is there hasn't necessarily been a win yet where one of these guys just takes over a game. We haven't had the CD LAMB game like we had in Detroit last year. We haven't had the Micah Parsons game like we had a couple of
times last year. And I do feel like there is some confidence moving forward into the season with that, because you will get those games eventually. But up until this point, it's definitely been a cumulative effort. And when one of those guys is not holding up their end of the bargain, you see what happens against New Orleans, against Baltimore, and
then against Detroit when nobody shows up. So I think it's more so than ever, this has been a needed to be a team effort through these first six weeks, and sometimes you're just not getting it.
They haven't been able to really put an entire game together. They were really good the first half in Cleveland, right, and then kind of no show the second half. They were good against Baltimore for one quarter, the fourth quarter right, Pittsburgh kind of close, and then this one not so much. So, you know, and the weird thing is you but we discussed this the other day. Bill. You know, you win
three on the road and you lose three at home. Well, a lot of times it depends on who you're playing where you're playing them, because they've played pretty good competition at home compared to you know, on the road. On the road for sure. So and the other thing you touched on it you got injuries. There's a reason why
we haven't had a Micah Parsons game. He hadn't been on the field for you know, two of them and left the third one at some point in the third quarter maybe, So we spend all week talking about injuries, and then guys don't play, and then they lose and it's like, well, what happened? Well, it helps if these guys are on the field now at some point, the majority of them are going to get back, maybe sooner
than later. I would imagine DeMarcus Lawrence is out for giving to say Thanksgiving Thanksgiving probably, but you're gonna get Brandon Cooks back, You're gonna get Michael Parsons back, You're gonna get Doron Bland back, Kalin Carson back. Uh. So that'll help that you're not just depending on rookie after rookie after second year guy who's not played to try to win against teams that are pretty darn good by the way.
My biggest concern coming into the season, and I think for most people, it was the depth of the team because you're depending on so many of the either rookies or first or second year guys who haven't done it before now, but they're expected to make that step, and so injuries was going to Injuries were going to happen, because they happened with every team. The problem I think it's has been is that the injuries have occurred so early in the season, and those guys have had to step into those.
Like a media media.
Yeah, there was no no time ramp up so to speak, you know, and so they were gonna you were gonna have growing pains with the young guys to begin with, and then you get thrown into the fire against really good teams. A Baltimore team that made it to the AFC Championship Game, a Detroit team that made it to the NFC Championship Game that was virtually fully healthy and looked right and and so those were not good matchups for this team and Baltimore.
So when the Cowboys played them, were they owing two and two coming in? They haven't lost since right, right?
Correct?
They're four and two now, right so they're still pretty good, right everybody.
And they yeah, they they're sitting there looking at their Raiders game that they lost, like we were looking at the Cowboys Arizona game last year that the Cowboys lost. I mean, that was one they had. They were up by ten in the fourth quarter and then somehow blew it. So they're more like a five and one team there. But anyway, that's that was the bed that they had to lay in because of the salary cap issues and that sort of thing, and the lack of activity in
the off season and free agency. They tried to make up for it once they got to training camp, signing veteran guys who if they had signed those guys back in March, everyone would say, okay, that they filled needs there. Well, it turns out that there's a reason those guys weren't signed back in March, some of them, you know. And so here we are. But they're three and three and they're one game out.
And I think there will be some advantages to playing this young talent so much early on. It's just you're not going to see the benefits of that until you'd be lucky see it this season. But more so in the next couple of years. And if you're looking at this season in a vacuum, they get the experience, yes, but it's going to come with all the vacuums.
The vacuum that's sucking them up right now is their schedule, absolutely, and the next five games in particular, and well six if you counted Detroit last week, where you're playing, uh for the next five opponents of first place teams, and the other one is Philadelphia.
Can you go five hundred?
Well, and then if you're that's that that's not the goal, but I think they should be. If they are, what would that be? Well, you can't go.
How many games did you leave out?
So you go at San Francisco, if you are right in.
Philadelphia, Houston, and at Washington. And if let's say you went two and three during that time, then you're looking at five and six headed to Thanksgiving and then okay, to give you the Giants on Thanksgiving your six and six after Thanksgiving? Should they be okay with that?
No?
I think you need to win at least another game in there.
So you need four and two. You need four and two and be seven and five.
Look, is Philadelphia set in the world on fire?
That's a one.
Okay, So Atlanta, so you're putting the two ws.
There, Washington. Look who they've played and look who they've lost to. When they've played a good team, they've gotten beat but they've played better though.
The tough part that I look at is does does the opponent have a running game? And if the answer is yes, I almost immediately throw an L on the board. Look at Atlanta, they have two guys. San Francisco. If McCaffrey's back, then they'll have two guys. Philadelphia's got they've got they've got back at guys tough and that's fine, But then you've got to play well offensively.
That's where all your talent is, where the majority of your money is. So you got to play well offensively. They got to get that going. Yeah. Otherwise, Yeah, if they're at the mercy of their defense, they're in trouble.
The offense is not holding up. It's into the bargain at all, right, especially with the defense needing the extra help with all of the injured starters that have been out these last couple of weeks, the offense has been needed to step up. And when you look at it, yes, you are two and one in these previous three games. But you scored twenty twenty and nine, right, that's not the offense holding up there into the bargain.
So the best offense they had fourth quarter against Baltimore, the first half against Cleveland, I agree, I agree, And then at the rest of it they struggled. And go figure with the talent you have, you know, and I know they were without Brandon Cooks in this game, and there will be since he's on IR, but I don't know that at that point. What he was doing at that point was a major deficit. You can manage with these other guys. You cannot manage when your offensive line
is playing the way this offensive line is playing. Until they get that fixed or better, they're going to.
Struggle, all right, And when we come back on mix shots, let's talk about fixing the offensive line.
Star Sports Tours is the only official fan travel partner of the Dallas Cowboys, offering exclusive game weekend travel packages with pregame, sideline access and photo ops with current players, cheerleaders, and Cowboy legends.
You want to stay at a.
Team hotel, attend the best tail game party in Texas, tour the Star and talk ex'es and o's with me Everson Wallas. With Star Sports Tours, you can visit cowboystravel dot com to book your travel package today.
Hey Cowboy fans, I'm Dak Prescott, quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, but lately I've been learning a new game. Crypto sound confusing, Don't worry. Even US pros were rookies and crypto once. That's why I trust blockchain dot Com. They make crypto easy, no confusing jargon, just the tools to help you win.
Ruscott kits it slides for the first down.
Invest like your icons where everyone is a rookie in crypto. With blockchain dot Com.
Perfect throw My goodness, Wow did he ever thread the day.
To visit blockchain dot com slash Cowboys to get started.
Hey y'all, Matt Pittman of Meat Church here with football season kicking off, I'm already gear enough to bring the smoker back to AT and T Stadium for some epic tailgates. But with that Texas heat, it's crucial to keep my beer handcramping cold. That's where Yeti's insulated colster Canholer comes in clutch this year. You can even get them with the iconic Star engraved on the side. Licensed Yeti Cowboys gear is now available at stadium pro shops, concessions, and
on yetie dot com. Check it out today. Yeti official cooler and drinkware of the Dallas Cowboys.
Miller Lite is brewed with great taste and only great tape.
The Miller Brewing Company would like to issue a correction.
Miller Light is brewed to be less feeling.
What are you doing here?
Miller Lite tastes great.
Look, I'm just reading the script.
It says less filling.
That's not what my script says.
Hell mindset. We'd like to apologize for the previous announcers Little Lighters in fact less filling and taste great.
I'm a shine legal guy. Celebrate responsibly. Milwalky Wisconsin Beer ninety six thousands, three point two grams cards for twelve ounces, fewer cowsand cars than premium regular beer.
Demict shuts.
Hey, patience, Oh bad start take two? Hey parents, Oh goodness, gracious it was covered with my paper clip. Ah ah, all right, Chris said, go hey, parents, get ready for a spooctacular time at Little Stars. Presented by Nuna on Wednesday, October thirtieth, this free Halloween themed event is perfect for your little punkins age five and under. Join us from ten am to twelve pm for fun activities, silly games, and lots of treats. Visit Star District dot com for
more info. Who would have thought at my age, I'm reading this about little stars and pumpkins and punkins.
Patience, like doctor Yelly, get that in the lobby patience.
That's one of those ways quiet out there.
When it was coming out, it was like, no, that ain't right. I had to do a double take.
Little Stars, Okay, do we need patients with this offensive line?
What a transition.
That's a true question. Very good there, bill a boy Daz. Yeah.
I think with the offensive line, specifically patients is actually funny. I think it is probably one of the trades that's needed. Whenever you look at.
It, they don't have time, they don't have time for patients, and.
They don't have time for it this season. And I think obviously you could look at the two most important positions on the offensive line center and left sackle. I know arguments can be made for other spots, but those are mine and whenever you're putting rookies in those spots, that are playing those positions for the very first time for a full season, you're gonna have a lot of lumps and bruises. And I think you've seen it with Tyler Guidon, maybe not as much with Cooper Beb, but
there's they've still been there. He he's not getting into the second level as as as often as you would like, especially with the running game that has been non existent over the course of the first couple of or for the first few weeks. It's it's gonna take time. And I think also you factor in Zach Martin just had his worst game as a pro, I think by a mile against Detroit, and if that kind of trend is going to continue, then the rest of the offensive line needs to find room to be able to pick up
the slack a little bit. I think the only guy that is playing at the level that we have gotten used to seeing from that offensive line over the last
few years has been Tyler Smith. The other four guys, they're gonna need to step up, and I there's patients needed, but we don't really have the patients for the guys like Zach Martin and Terrence Steele, only because those are the guys that have been here those are the veterans that are expected to help kind of elevate that room whenever the rookie rookies do need some time to be
able to step up. So I think all in all, there's definitely got to be a different approach with this group of five upfront coming out of the by and definitely they're not going to wait around because it's San Francisco, so there's gonna be some big time defensive linemen coming out.
I think one of the big concerns as far as Zach Martin is he became a patient last week. Thank you, he showed up on the injury report. We bat back and a Lee McNeil was rewarded for his efforts on Sunday with a four year, ninety seven million dollars fifty five million guaranteed contract from the Lions yesterday.
We'll say what that does to their depth because they've got all the answers. By the way, Yeah, heped both days in practice, actually three days in practice, because he really didn't hardly take part in the walkthrough, and it was a walkthrough, so he's got a back issue. We look at that and then we go, oh, it didn't play well well at least he played. If nothing else, I thought before that, I don't know that he was at the level that we're used to seeing, but he
was still good. But then I think the back got in a way, so they got a hope the two weeks off helps him out. They got a hope that. Look, if you're having trouble at the tackle position, I get it, but you can't be stubborn. Help them out when they're playing against top defensive ends that rushed the quarterback. I don't care if that takes somebody out of the receiving
the route tree or whatever. Help him out, because if you don't protect the quarterback, you're not going to get any You're not going to get any any production from the wide receivers. So I think they've got to make a significant adjustment, and you're gonna have to go with five guys in the same spot as best you can.
And that depends on the health of Tyler Geyton.
Right, and if Guidan's ready to go, then okay, put them back out there and go through the growing, praying pains. But at least get five guys functioning together.
Not this chess. You know, one of the keys on that too, is getting Tyler Goyton in practice.
Right, and he's got a practice, That's.
What I'm saying, he said. As Mike McCarthy said in his press conference on Monday, he said, he had to tell Tyler that you got to practice. Yeah, the importance of it.
You do have four tight ends on this roster for a reason as well, like you said, helping out, helping out these tackles.
If we got to go two tight ends, you know, if it's my team and we got to go two tight ends, put them out there.
It's not like taking Schoonmaker or Brevin span Ford out of the receiving equation would be that big of a loss at this point, just because we haven't seen the receiving production this season. So exactly, use that blocking ability that they that they do have or that they trust that they have and help out these tackles.
And if I got to take the running back out of it, let them chip right and just make sure Lipkey is getting the right guy well and there.
And they've got the Kyle Yustchek starter kit in Hunter Lipke right, and even with two backs, you know, there's he's got tight end traits and as well as running back traits.
And don't be afraid Dak to check the ball down if if that's what you have to do. And I think the mindset has to change a little to compensate for the experience lack of experience you have at those spots. I mean, you just can't be stubborn.
But the but the improvement that they anticipated having in the run game was predicated on the offensive line being improved.
This year, and so far it has not been right right, And to me, that's and.
So you're when you invest a first round draft pick and a left tackle, you're expecting that guy to be out there playing, And yeah, there is going to be growing pains when it's it's not a high first round pick, it's a late first round pick, and he was what the sixth or seventh offensive tackle taken in that draft, right, and then with the rookie making the line calls at center and a third round pick starting at a rookie, and.
They also have a couple of veterans regressing a little bit, showing.
Out show a nearly thirty four year old future Hall of Famer.
So until they get that settled this offense, I'm not sure how productive it's going to be. Because as we said going into the game, when we knew the injuries on defense were mounting. Nowheric Kendricks, you better score thirty something if you wanted to win. It turned out you needed to score forty something, but you needed to and you don't know how the game would have changed if your first two red zone possessions ended up in the end zone.
Yes, yeah, red zone execution has been so bad.
Right, You were good enough to move there and then you can't finish. It wasn't penalties this time, but you know, you get broken plays. You tried to run the ball, you didn't. Dak gets in a hurry throwing in the
end zone, it gets intercepted. You just got if they scored touchdowns there, at least you're sort of keeping pace and Detroit's not playing nilly willy, you know, because now it's a say it's a fourteen fourteen game or even fourteen ten, Right, you just got to score those touchdowns after you drive that far two possessions in a and then after that you get behind and now you're in trouble.
Yeah, you think about red zone turnovers. The fumble that Cede Lamb had against Baltimore. You flip that script, and there's probably an opportunity to come back and win that game in the fourth quarter. Right you look at a red zone turnover against Pittsburgh if you don't convert on that fourth and goal to Jalen Tolbert at the end of the game, you look at that as a as
a pivotal play in the game. And then yes, it ended up being a domino effect from in the Detroit game after the CD Lamb or after the Brian Branch interception on the targeted to ced Lamb. But you score on that play and things maybe look a little bit different in the first half and you can kind of get back in that game a little bit. But red zone turnovers have been awful for this team. Red zone
execution has been bad for this team. We talked about red zone execution around this time last year too, and so I wonder if how much approach and how much intention is taken into that. And I think whenever you ask Mike McCarthy, the number one thing that he is worried about is the turnover margin. Giving up five turnovers of this game and not being able to take away anything, only generating five takeaways so far this season. That's a problem.
You gotta be able to play complimentary footba all with an offense like this.
Do they have enough at wide receiver? Have they had enough going back to even the draft at wide receiver?
I think they have enough. If Brandon Cooks is out there healthy healthy, yeah, because I think he did not play in the first before the Giants game. I don't know how healthy it was with that knee, because we saw him in training camp, right. I have felt was the guy.
He was great up until he banged up his knee very late in camp.
I have felt all along they don't have enough at wide receiver. And you subtracted Michael Gallop and yeah, you're you're, you're And as much as you're promoting year, promoting from within, he was your he was your third receiver. You're promoting from within, you haven't added I'm Ryan Lanoy, a six round draft pick. You can't expect a sixth round draft
pick to do anything in the rookie year. And I think, and there's evidenced by what you're seeing around the league yesterday with Amari Cooper going no, I'm saying no. What I said all along is I wanted a wide receiver in that draft, and I thought there were wide receivers to be taken in that draft, and now you had other positions of need too, But in my estimation, there are enough positions of need. You take the best player at a position of need, and you go across the board.
With the exception of quarterback. You had positions of need throughout this team. And every year it's like that. And then we get to a point now mid season and okay, yeah, and one of those wide receivers gets hurt, and now you're down. You're down wide receivers. You know, you go back to two thousand and nine and you don't draft a wide receiver, and then you have to make a trade for Roy Williams and then you make a t rad for Amari Cooper in twenty seventeen because you felt like, oh,
we're fine at wide receiver. I think they're in the exact same boat they were though both of those years where they don't since you haven't added to the mix. And I'm talking a top one hundred pick. Okay, at the wide receiver position, then your weapons and when you compare it to what weapons are on other teams, you're down at that position. And yesterday Okay, you got Buffalo tried to go after losing Sephon Dings. They added a
high second round wide receiver and they're still down. Well, they also lost Gabe Davis and so now they've replaced him by acquiring Amari Cooper. Okay, and the Jets are the same way. They needed someone else to go along with Garrett Wilson to go along with Allen Lazard, and they brought in Mike Williams, and he wasn't the guy obviously,
And now they've got their guy in Devonte Adams. You look at the Packers and what they have, and the Packers one year they decided and two years ago that we are going to use all of our draft collateral on receivers. And so they just from the second round to the fifth round they were drafting tight ends and wide receivers and all those guys are are coming through for him.
Yeah, I think some of it falls on play calling too, though I have a little bit more confidence in this receiving core than most just because I have seen these guys do it whenever there is an opportunity to you. You look at Tolbert last week in Pittsburgh. You know there was an opportunity for him to step up, and
I feel like he did. You look at Cooks last year whenever the buzz started to get hot, that he wasn't getting involved in this offense and he was a waste of a trade, and then he explodes in that game against New York and he finishes the season really strong. I've seen these guys do it, Ceedee Lamb last year the season that he had. But I do feel like this team, and it kind of goes back to the red zone issues. They have not had a big target
since Daz, a reliable big target since Dez. And if they could go get a guy that can be that red zone the threat that can be six to three plus and just go jump up with anybody in the league, you can allow these other guys to be so much more spread out. They can run these West Coast concepts a lot more freely because you're always going to have that guy who can break off the top of the defense with a big, possession skill receiver like that.
So should have kept Racy McMath. Yeah, that's what it was. That's what it was.
You know, Kelvin Harmon's waiting on the practice squad.
So and since you brought it up. No, you probably didn't want Amari Cooper back, right, and it wasn't going to cost you much because they had already paid his base salary, so it was going to be less than a million dollars. So everybody's jumping on, well you got to go get Devontae Adams. Well here's the part, and I read about it, and it's inexcusable to write twenty five thirty inches on trying to, you know, get those wide receivers and not making a move without explaining that.
Number one, the rest of his base salary this year is eleven point six million, and he's under contract for the next two years with cap charges of thirty six point two five million. Pay You can't do it right, but no one wants to point that out. It's like, well, the cowboys aren't doing anything. They're not trying. Well, okay, you're trying within what your salary cap allows. Now the Raiders, and here's what happens when you miss on those things or you decide to wash your hands. Their cap charge
this year thirteen point sixty seven million dead. Next year fifteen point seven million dead because he didn't finish with guaranteed money. So you make mistakes like that are costly. It costs.
I think the mistake for Vegas' perspective was not putting anything around him. And yeah, and you're like a quarterback anything, yeah, quarterback specifically, but anything, no running game. You talk about one of the worst backfields that I've seen in a long time. I mean, they don't have a quarterback or running back. It's tough. I think that's eventually what drove him out.
And then the other question that keeps coming up, well, why don't they try for Hassan Reddick. Well, he's on a team, by the way, even though he's not on the team.
And why is he not on the team because he wants to get paid, right, So.
Can you have two receivers making thirty million a year? Probably not though, and so, but you're right. The way you solve that is through the draft. Now, they did spend a third round pick on Tolbert and he seems to be coming along. If you got Cooks out there, okay, then the other guys are fourth you know, fourth rotation at the fourth wide receiver spot.
But now Tolbert was twenty twenty two. So you've gone two drafts now without taking a top one hundred wide receiver.
Yeah, and you've taken this year, you've got a linebacker. And I had four picks.
And I'm not saying you had needs at.
Every single one of those third round yeah.
But in your top hundred picks, you had needs at all four of those positions where you made picks.
Let me let me ask you, guys. Let's pretend it's the MLB and we're doing the draft in the middle of the season. If the draft was tomorrow and you could guarantee, hey, you can take this player at this position and it will that this player will contribute right away and it will fill your need. There, what position are you taking it out?
Are we talking about next year's drafts? And where just right now?
If you could place a player on this team right now in the middle of the season, you know, but I'll take.
A college player like college player.
Yeah, he's not draft eligible for another two years, but I'll take that Alabama wide receiver, seventeen year old Ryan Williams, that too, I'll take you don't you don't want Hunter.
There?
You go because he plays stupid.
After the game, that's true, and then he can't get hurt.
And then he's not available to play the fourth quarter of the game, and that's right, Or we'll let you think about it.
Why, well, it probably would be wide receiver because you needed the linebackers, so you already did that. You needed the center, you did that, you needed the defensive end. You did that. You didn't plan on him getting hurt, right, having to go on.
I R who do you have in mind? Nick?
I'm thinking, I'm thinking either running back or receiver. I honestly, I'm that Ashton Genty.
He is fun. I just don't.
I just don't think this franchise will ever spend a first round pick on a running back ever. Again, I don't, I truly.
Do not, although it seems to be working for the Lions, true, and there are some other teams now that we talk about the importance of the run game. You know, it's funny how it all goes in cycles as long as you don't have to spend the big money for the running backs. And now it's come down where you don't have to spend big on the second contract. You don't have to spend the big money on the running back, and so now it become more in vogue to go ahead and take a running back in the first round.
So could a running back behind this offensive line make a difference? No, I don't think so.
Defensive tackles another option. Yes, you do that two out of three years. Who I'd be tough to swallow.
Right, And you tried bringing in a veteran and he's on ir Jordan Phillips. You tried to bring in another veteran, Lynnville Joseph.
And he's now thirty six years.
He may have aged out. Yeah, yeah, all right against thirty six.
But we continue with more mixed shots in a moment.
The Medal of Honor is our country's highest military award for valor and combat. More than forty million individuals have served in the armed forces since the Civil War. Fewer than four thousand have received the Medal of Honor. The National Medal of Honor Museum will be a place to preserve these legacies and inspire America. It's being built right next door to the Dallas Cowboys in Texas. Help us honor our country's greatest heroes. Learn more and get involved at mohmuseum dot org.
Hey y'all, Matt Pittman of Meat Church here with football season kicking off. I'm already gear enough to bring the smoker back to AT and T Stadium for some epic tailgates. But with that Texas heat, it's crucial to keep my beer handcramp and cold. That's where Yeti's insulated colster can cooler comes in clutch this year. You can even get them with the iconic star engraved on the side. Licensed YETI Cowboys gears now available at stadium, pro shops, concessions
and on Yetti dot com. Check it out today. YETI official cooler and drinkware of the Dallas Cowboys.
Hey, Cowboy fans, I'm Dak Prescott, quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. But lately I've been learning a new game. Crypto sound confusing, don't worry. Even US pros were rookies and crypto once. That's why I trust blockchain dot Com. They make crypto easy, no confusing jargon, just the tools to help you win slides with the first down, investigate your icons where everyone is a rookie in crypto with blockchain dot Com.
Perfect throw my goodness, wow did he ever thread the needle?
Visit blockchain dot Com Slash Cowboys to get started.
Star Sports Tours is the only.
Official Fan Travel, partner of the Dallas Cowboys, offering exclusive game weekend travel packages with pregame, sideline access and photo ops with current players, cheerleaders, and Cowboy legends.
You want to stay at the Team Hotel.
Attend the best tail gay party in Texas, tour the Star and talk x'es and o's with me Everson Walls. With Star Sports Tools, you can visit Cowboys Travel dot com to book your travel package today.
To mixed shots.
Cowboys Nation Dallas Cowboys United, presented by Globe Life, is now exclusively in the Dallas Cowboys App. Join the Official Fan Club today to receive access to all the new Cowboy Drops features, team news and pre sale access.
And fan and kid of the game.
Download the app now to join.
Ten out of ten.
I don't know there was something right in there where it's received access to all the new Cowboy Drops feature.
Oh I see, Okay? If for that all right, we got a precious a few minutes left this week here on Mixed Shots. You know, Jimmy Johnson wrote a book Once upon a time. The name of it was Turning the Thing Around. Right, Okay, that's going back thirty years ago. If you look at the Lions. I just came across this how quickly the Lions turned it around this season as far as scoring points. Their first three games of the year overtime went over the Rams. They scored twenty
six points. We just talked about how the Cowboys aren't scoring enough points. So the last three games, even though they're won two out of the last three, it's what offenses scored twenty twenty to nine, all right, So in regulation the Lions scored twenty sixteen and twenty their first three games of the year against the Rams, Tampa Bay, and Arizona. And then they come back and they get forty two against Seattle and after a bye week they get forty seven against Dallas. So how quickly can you
turn this thing around? And it brings me to the Cowboys in last year. And you go into the bye last year coming off a game at San France Go and then squeaked out a win against the Chargers and then come back played the Rams, and then the second half of the season, so to speak, the offense was clicking. So how quickly can you turn this thing around?
It's certainly possible. We've seen it. I do believe that the offense will get back on track. I do have belief there. It's the defensive side of the wall that I'm worried about, but different conversation. Offensively, Dak and CD are going to get it figured out. I have confidence in that. I think this bye week will be huge for them to be able to figure that one out. And CD had even said, this is a really good opportunity for us to get reps outside of.
The building, except yeah, it's going to have to be outside.
Exactly exactly outside of the building. Last year, after the bye week, we saw a lot more creativity thrown into the offense, a lot more pre snap motion, a lot more personnel changes in the backfield. Now, granted we've seen that more so in the front half of the season this year, but there was more creativity. There was more of an approach on getting guys open in space, and we haven't necessarily seen that in the first six games this year.
You're almost trying to throw guys open.
Exactly and you're throwing it into tight windows and routes that are being run are not allowing for a big separation. The Cowboys rank amongst the worst in the NFL and average arge of separation from their receiving group, and I think that's more so a reflection of the scheme and what they're being called to do. I don't think it's necessarily a reflection of their skill level, because you look at a guy like Brandon Cooks, that's one of the
best separators in the league. You look at a guy like Ceedee Lamb, he was he was getting separation last year at will. So I think it's more so just trying to scheme these guys up in one on one opportunities and allow them to beat a guy one on one, and we haven't seen that.
By the way, another bit of injury news or in the division, Andrew Thomas lost for the season, had Liz Frank surgery yesterday, which brings me back to the Cowboys
offensive line. When you are trying to get continuity on that offensive line and you want Tyler Smith, who made the Pro Bowl as a left guard, if you don't want to move him around every time Tyler Goeyton needs to take plays off or games off, is there a thought that you would try And also with the issues that Zach Martin might be having health wise, okay, and where TJ Bass is your swing guard? Okay? Can you
I'm just throwing this out there. Can you go with a combination of Tyler Geyiton and Awesome Richards at left tackle, Leave Tyler Smith at left guard if Geydon can't go, and you put Awesome Richards at left tackle, put.
Austin Richards at left tackle. They had an opportunity to do that, ye know, they didn't do it this time. This time, yeah yeah, And they were thrown into a situation where they needed to throw in a left tackle in Pittsburgh. It made a little bit more sense to go ahead and put Tyler Smith there because to task, you know. But then he had a week to prepare. And they still put Tyler Smith at left tackle.
Right and uh and uh, and they had success, the best the best game running the football against Pittsburgh with that combination, which it made sense to okay, let's keep this thing going.
And that was intentional, by the way. That wasn't not a.
Desperation, the intentional that they left it the way it was after the Pittsburgh Yeah right, And.
I think this conversation has the caveat of Chumley Doga is coming back there you go, and this just sucked his teeth. This staff still believes in his ability as a left tackle. It blows my mind. I have always stood on the table camp he is a better guard, and I think he would be a great depth guard. I don't understand the force of putting him at tackle,
but that's what the team still believes. And I firmly believe that if Gotton were to go down and eat Doga is healthy, they'll keep Smith at left guard and they'll put Doga at left tackle, just like they did last year.
But I just think that they've got to They've got to figure out the three line. They've got to get the offensive line going in order to get things.
What Awesome out that that's basically three rookies in your offensive line exactly. I mean, from an experience standpoint.
Has Awesome played a snap?
He didroit game he did.
That's right, that's right, And as it turned out, it was the whole fourth quarter, I mean basically in a blowout game he got.
Well, they moved the ball, yeah, just turned it over. Which, by the way, when we keep talking about the five turnovers, what two or three of them were after the fact.
In the fourth quarter Flinoyd fumble, rush interception, turp and fumble absolutely so.
They had two turnovers if they want to refer to turnovers getting in the way, those were the two that really hurt or added to what was going on.
Awesome had eighteen snaps in that game.
Eighteen they moved right down the field. Good for him with rush in there. I don't know what Detroit had in at that time before that.
He had forty one career snaps offensively and then eighteen in that one.
Yeah, those would have probably been all mop up time.
Absolutely rookie.
So the Giants now going with Evan Neil. If there was a seventh pick in the draft who didn't make the starting lineup at right tackle, that.
Life could be worse up front.
That's right, life could be worse.
Oh, nobody makes mistakes.
Left Leatherwood. That was another one out there. I thought he was going to be good to that was that was an Alabama guys. Yeah, something something in the water.
Yeah, all right, Well that was fun.
And we didn't even bring up Jerry, did we slightly?
I tried to, but Nick did not go there.
I pivoted.
That's right.
It was fun. Crushing the party, fellas. Thanks for letting me come on.
Yeah, I heard at the NFL meetings. He doubled down.
I did hear that? Mickey apparently wants to talk about Jerry here he said.
I said what I said, and I stood on it. He put his foot on the table, and.
I have a mixed shot. Mickey.
No, we probably ought to leave well enough alone. Yeah, all get going. At some point I would offend somebody.
Okay, somebody though at the end of the show. And I know you are a journalist, Nick Harris, Mickey, you have tried to be a journalist too, but some one at the end of this show has to assume the role of Everson Walls and saying, go cowboy.
May we have a drop.
So we have a drop back there, beam.
So get ready, producers Supreme, There you go, and we thank Nick Harris for joining Mickey Spagnola on mix Shots.
And we're back on Monday, Monday at noon and ever since out Monday and Tuesday.
Oh really, so, Nate and Frisco. This is a call to you to join us here call the arm on mix Shots Monday at noon. Enjoy your bye week, everybody, go cowboys.
There you go.
This has been a production of Dallascowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club