Mick Shots: No Offseason

on inside the SWBC podcast studio. He has some technical difficulties, but we didn't want to talk to Mickey anyway, because it is the day after a Cowtown marathon in which Everson Walls ran through the streets of Fort Worth and came away victorious. Ladies and gentlemen. You just don't know how tough it was yesterday. It's like World War two out there. You know, it's twenty six point two miles. There's a long way to run. Ever, so it's thirteen point one, which is where I went, and it was

brewed told. I don't know. As much as you can train, it just never seems like it's enough training, because when you hit the paid pavement, it's it just it just wears you down from from step one. You're like oh okay, here we go. You know, you can just feel it in your bones. See do you start going too fast? No? No, no, you don't have to worry about that. No, I was. I was. I started off slow, but I ended even slower. Yeah.

It was pretty bad. But but when you start running, you know, it's almost like you have this grudge against someone because there's always that one person. You see them all the time. You know, it's like, oh, they got me and there, Oh how did they get past me? And I got to pass them? You know, so it kind of becomes this little thing, right, And so I had to I had to file a complaint on this one dude fight. Yeah, I mean you know, he had an unnecessary advantage. I mean he was, he was, he

had wheels, he was on the wheelchair. Can't you know when he goes down the hill, bro, I can't catch that guy, you know what I mean? But up the hill, you know, it just so somebody to catch and he goes down the hill, here is flying. You know. That's an unfair advantage. Not a flat course, Oh no, it was. It seemed to do this the whole time, the whole time, And like I said that that got in the wheelchair. He had an unfair advantage. That was not cool at all.

It was nice running weather, though, wasn't It was good running weather? Yeah, and you had a toboggan on he had at the end you tweeted out a picture. Oh some headwear. Yeah, no, no, that was just a pullover. No, it was just Duncker Bill Dunckerville, the Dunkerville Panthers that the state champions up. Okay, well, because I didn't think, how long does it take for you? Because it wasn't that cold yesterday? It was not. But this started off. Yeah, it was like it was in the forties once you

started off. But I just know back when I could jog, I mean it would have to. I'm taking off the pull over everything. That's what you drop people undressing as they run. And then there was one long at all. You start heating up, and she she's collecting those people that throw things. And then I guess she must have brought it back to the finish line of something for the guys actually do that. I saw one lady doing that. She was dressed as a daily cow. Yeah, so it

was pretty cool. But I mean, you start you start doing I got that, you start you really started competing against like certain individuals. You know, the wheelchair dude. He pissed me off, and then you had the matt dude. This this lady ran by me. She was old and she had to be like fifty five and that's young. She looked at them but a hunchback and she's run and I'm like, I can take this chick, you know what I'm saying. And she left me. Everybody's going up hill.

She's the only one that didn't walk going up this particular hill. I mean, dude, I joke, but she had to be close to seventy years old and she was killing me. So, you know, for a moment, she and I had that Chris Paul moment to where you know, she looks like she's just fast walking and I'm actually jogging and she's still kicking my ass. So no, jogging is very humbling, brothers, very very humbling. I don't know how many people passed me with baby carts twins, even like, okay,

I never saw him again. They kept going and they kicked my ass. Maybe they were only doing a half marathon. I mean I was too half and a half of like that were only two races at that time and half and I'm like, damn, I never saw him again. Shows your time better than last year? It was okay, but but yet I walked more this year. You're like, when I did walk, it was like a really serious you know power. I could walk about fifteen a mile, you know when I'm serious. And so that's kind of

how I was doing. And sometimes my walking was faster running. So that's my story there, right, all right, So, uh, mickey, did you have a nice offseason? I did, because the season is starting now right now, right, probably started on Friday, right, it was Friday when they finally announced the complete coaching the coaching staff. Yeah, wow, wait until Friday. Okay, but it's combined week this week, yes, and two weeks from today is like Bill's big week and a big green

notebook is here. There's my big green notebook twenty twenty three, big green NFL Draft scouting. Like you upgraded? Did you upgrade? Oh? No, it's just like there's a line of empty pages in there. Are I mean, because it doesn't it starts this week, I mean, all the other stuff until you get these combine times, I mean, you're just wasting time. You are wasting time. Okay, that's the beautiful thing about the combine

we now have and everyone can access it on the internet. Okay, we got twenty years of comparisons that we can make and understand that. Okay, Michael Parsons is a top ten pick because he just ran out four three, eight, and so anyway, this is it. And two weeks from today free agency starts the negotiations between the players, and a week from tomorrow the Cowboys have to and all the other teams have to make their decisions on who gets

franchise tagged. So we got another a little over a week left on that decision, and here it is a business season is starting now. Speaking of Michael Parsons. Thursday night, Jason Garrett at his annual Collegiate Man of the Year or yes, did I say he was there? The way Jason Witten sorry U award banquet and m one of the guys that was the finalist, Sean Clifford, the Penn State quarterback. And so when he got done duing his little interview, I went up to him and I said,

so help me with the timing. Here was Michael Parsons there when you were there? Oh? Yeah? And I said why do you say it that way? He goes, He goes that guy, he goes. All he wanted to do is be a running back, right, And he would come in and always talk to me, like come into the huddle and say hey, not during games, but practice. He goes, hey, go tell coach that I need some carries, right, And he goes, I told him, you go tell coach that, then don't come and tell me he's the big guy, right,

But he said, yeah, he was. He was an amazing athlete. Um and he goes in. He always wanted to play every position. So I told him the story about calling himself mister Football. He was, oh, yeah, that's it. That's it. So that was a nice, nice ceremony. Thursday night, they do it here at the Star and Things in the

Ford Center. The guy that won, by the way, was Deslin Alexandre Pittsburgh born in Haiti and the parents moved him to here and got a scholarship to play at pitt and turned into pretty good football player and the one guy that I didn't know much about alex foresight. He was an offensive lineman from Oregon. His dad was one of the people that got shot and killed in an Clackamous Town Center just outside Portland when they had

a shooting. Geez, it was just like listening to you know, they do a profile of all the guys ahead of time, and that was part of his profile, having to deal with that, And I was like, oh, my lord, think about that. You're thirteen, fourteen years old. But anyway, n nice ceremony. Uh and uh yeah, Jason Witten. I think what he's trying to do is take this thing nationally, making a national award and just sort of you know, maybe ESPN actually broadcast it. They actually getting close they

actually did. No, they don't get it to that point, get it to that point. But yeah, when you hold stuff here, I mean that that's a good stepney Stone two credibility, right, holding it here at the start. I remember they had the uh you know the Landry Awards that was on the NFL network. It was delayed you know, tabe lay or whatever on NFL network. So that's once you have it at here at the Star, that's always a good, good platform. Yeah, he goes would pick this thing, yeah,

because they need content, right. Uh. They go to like they contact like ninety eight schools, the sports information director and have all the schools, uh, submit a guy's name, and then he's got a committee and they go through all this stuff and come down with the final three. So yeah, it's pretty neat, pretty pretty nice award. Uh yeah, yeah,

I mean all the great stories. And in fact, last year's winner, Josh Pascal, I didn't know anything about him before he won and then started doing research on him after he was here for this award and then a really good player too, and uh, he's going to have a good career in the NFL. Yeah. So yeah, it's kind of neat because it's not just what you do on the field, what you do off the middle serve like the NFL Man of the Year. So anyway, yeah,

it was good. And Witton pontificated about the Cowboys too. He did he was asked about the current situation. I thought it was interesting. I mean he was talking about the change in on the coaching staff and when you think about it, with Kellen Moore no longer the offensive coordinator, and of course it was Jason Garrett's offense going back to two thousand and seven. As Witten said, this is the first time in sixteen years they haven't been running

this same offense. Yeah, and Dak mentioned you know, it's probably going to change twenty to thirty percent difference from what they've been doing. But it's still not what they've been doing since two thousand and seven because it's been handed down from you know, Garrett to what Lenahan. Well, Garrett Garrett even when he was head coach, then Lenahan and then Kellen Moore. So yeah, they've been in the

same offense. I wonder if that makes a difference when teams prepare for you, although other teams coaching staff's change so much, it's not like, oh yeah, I remember in

two thousand and eight they were doing. You know, those coaches aren't the same, and it's it's not as if McCarthy did have any input, yeah, the last three years to what I think people miss, right, Like I keep saying there was a reason he had a headset on and a play sheet in his hand during the games, right, I still I still hope that there are some visible changes, uh, in regards to our play calling habits. Uh, there are

times when you know things are pretty obvious. You don't you don't want your quarterback sitting back in the pocket today. You know, your your offensive line, they're having some issues, you know, blocking of the run. You know, in this particular game, we're not we're not getting any movement up front on the line. I wonder if those uh decision makings, that the decision making plays that he calls are going

to be have a different pattern to it. In other words, uh uh you know the offensive coordinator we had, he may have a certain tell every time he gets in this situation. Oh, I'm gonna continue to pass the ball now, or continue to go on the ball. You know, the the you know, the the uh, the happenstances might be a little bit different this time. And hopefully instead of uh, cow towering, I would say, and going for the the meager yards, sometimes you might want to go for it.

You understand what. Everyone has their own DNA. Yeah, there you go, right, that's what I mean. I mean, uh, And I think that that Kellen's DNA was more throwing the football, you know, so that when it comes down to, all right, a crunch time of a game, or you get in the in the heat of battle, you're gonna go for four easier than I can run for four. Yeah. Yeah, And that he did hang his hat on that that's

part of his DNA. I don't know if you know Sattenheimer, you know, whatever he does when he comes in, or if McCarthy might be a little bit, uh have a little bit more different pattern. Well, Witten finished that with saying, so if those changes, or he said, if that changes meaning the system or does it change, um, you know, or what it feels like you know. Uh, There's been a lot of top offenses in that system through these

different coordinators. So he did point out that offenses have been pretty good over the years with this with this Cowboys team over those sixteen seasons. All right, so, uh, did you catch any XFL this weekend? Last night we had a matchup of Wade Phillips against Bob stoops the Houston Renegades or at the Houston Roughnecks winning over the Arlington Renegades. And Mickey has a uncle, Wade l head coach, first first wins as a as a head coach since

his days with the Cowboys. He was acting like, this is no big deal. This is what I do deal. I'm gonna put pressure using quarterbacks. Yeah. I tried watch and I went back and forth to what American idol was much more. Wow, I just knew you were to say something like Eric and Idol was more competitive. The offensive lines and the quarterbacks just spray the balls all over the place. It was. It was hard to watch, about as hard to watch as the second half of

the Mavericks game. Yeah, so I want to I want, I want somebody to point out this stat for me, it's just like everybody's pointing out you know, when you have a twenty seven point lead. There were one hundred and eighty something And oh, I want to know how quickly a team in the NBA had established a twenty seven point lead, Because that's twenty seven point lead was in a quarter and a half. Yes, it was right. Yes, that's a long time to hold the lead in the NBA.

By the way, that's the status. I got it down to fourteen by half time. Half Yeah, absolutely, yeah, but that's I know, you're not giving them a pass, all you No, No, But I'm saying, not everybody has a twenty seven point lead in you know what, twelve or however many minutes, but you twenty minutes. The mentality is you don't want to maintain the twenty seven Yeah you're out of the game, but chances are a professional foot of basketball teams not going to continue to shoot down exactly.

That's why. That's why they w down. They were all for fifteen. Defense came through. Yeah, that's how it happened. The defense made them shoot shots they don't want to shoot. They made the threes more difficult, and all of a sudden you got to make the adjustment, and they decided maybe we should just go inside. And big Man was working. Yeah, big man with both of them, yes, they would anyway. I know, how do we get on conside? It was me. I consumed part of it, and I didn't know about

that Vanderbilt guy. He was a difference in the game. My son knew about nothing. He's a Lakers fan. And when he when they signed him, when they signed him, yes they did. He said, this guy's a Swiss army knife. That's what he called him. And he did it yesterday.

I'm looking back after when you're talking about how quickly did the team establish a twenty seven point lead in the NBA and immediately thought a game seven between the Mavericks and the Suns, you know, and no, it was a I think it was a thirty point lead at halftime. But last night or yesterday afternoon. It was they got to twenty s quicker than fourteen point lead in NBA's nothing right when you got a half to play. It was fifty seven twenty seven at halftime of that game

seven and they held on to that. Yeah. So so anyway, Kyrie and Luca are now one and three when they are playing together. But boy, they are exciting as him that I can tell you I like watching them more. You know. The losing, that's a whole other thing. There were some faces in the crowd yesterday afternoon too. You saw that. That picks up now, yeah, that picks up that afternoon there was a two time Super Bowl MVP in the crowd. Getting it back to footballs who was

in the crowd? All right, So here he is. Mickey has filled up two note legal paths. He's got the marker out on a bunch of notes, and so we're going to hit all of that when we come back here in just a moment here on mix shots. The Medal of Honor is our country's highest military award for valor in 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 moh museum dot org. We paid how much for those lessons? She's doing great? Oh yeah, totally. Can you pass me a Pepsi zero sugar? Great job, honey, Oh look at that. That's not the end, No way. Now it's time for

the encore. You know what, You're right? Five times? Not enough times for everyone who traded in rock concerts for their kids recitals. You've compromised enough. Pepsi zero sugar. That's what I like. Nobody protects you from mayhem like All State. You hear that I'm a torrential downpour? Torrential? What does that even mean? It means you can't see out of your windshield, and if you have the wrong car insurance, you might have to make it rain to fix your bumper.

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and Catch the insurance company in affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. What do you call a group of grown men and women, their faces painted silver and blue, who get together every week to share a three hour long ritual of jumping, sinking, and toasting Miller light and Tim Gallan hats while yelling how about them cowboys? You call it Miller Time in Dallas. Here's to the cowboys, Here's to the original light beer. It's Miller Time. Celebrate Responsibily twenty twenty one. Miller Brewing

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Maybe I can tell you exactly when I was driving home from work at eleven thirty through one fourteen through grape Vine about one eleven thirty last night is about got blown off the road, I would imagine, and I came out of nowhere. I left a TV station where the weatherman said it's fine, trust I mean, I'll try, yeah, and uh, I was like out of nowhere. All of a sudden got windy and rainy, and it was but it didn't last long, No, about fifteen minutes. Maybe my

truck shows it today. Though it is rather dirty. It was a dirty win. And that it was my daughter's car is filthy right now, that's right. It came from Amarilla. They showed the West text texts. They couldn't they couldn't see. There was so much dust in the air and bad tornadoes up in Oklahoma. Yeah, last night, in fact at the OU campus. Uh, there's a bunch of damage around Norman. All right, what is on your legal pad? Well, you've got you've you've got a coaching staff over there that's

all marked up. It seems like there have been some changes here in the last month on this coaching staff we need to talk about. I've got ten changes, either newcomers or repositioned guys like Jeff Blastco, who was the assistant offensive line coach. He is now the run He's now the running backs slash run game coordinator, so he moved from the offensive line to the running backs coach takes Skip Pete's place. Also Chase Haslett, who was I think he was one of the oh, what do you

call it? Quality control coaches? He is now an assistant tight ends coach. We've talked about Brian Schottenheimer moving from analysts to offensive coordinator. Mike Solari, who was coaching when Everson was playing for the Cowboys, is now the offensive line coach takes over for Joe Philban And Scott Tolzene, who was just kind of an offensive assistant, is now the quarterbacks coach taken over for Doug Nussmeyer. So those are the main changes on the offensive side of the ball.

Any of that catch your eye, Well, you know, I know it's kind of old news, but when you have a running bag that makes the Pro Bowl and has a great year, you still get rid of the coach. I think here is my notion of what took place. So Skip Pete been in the league twenty four years, also a fact I believe as a fact, and I think a couple of things stood out to me. And

when we go through the rest of it. Number one new voice, Number two getting younger, and maybe number three getting less expensive because you've got a figure if you've been in the league twenty four years, your salary estably pretty high. Right. So other than Schottenheimer being forty nine and Solari sixty eight, the staff got younger. Um, blastgo, I didn't look up, but he's like in his upper thirties something like that. Uh. Hasselet's young. Uh, Scott Tolzine

is young. Um, so they got a little bit younger. But yeah, you're right. Um. But again this staff was pretty heavy too, with a lot of assistance to the assistant. Uh, and so some of that changed. So did we what was the was the final cutdown number? How many the positions did we do we save? Did we get rid of? Yeah? I don't know if they because they've got so many quality control guys, analytics guys that kind of boosted I'll give you. Because the special team stayed the same. The

strength and conditioning staff stayed the same. On defense, Um, they didn't resign Leon Latt, who'd been here quite a few years, but they brought in Sharif Floyd, who coached with him during training camp. I believe he was like a part time assistant from training camp, the guy that everybody wanted the Cowboys to draft, if you remember, and then they didn't do it caused an uproar um also, so basically he takes Leon's place, yes, and so he's

quality control assistant defensive line. And Leon h turns fifty five in October. Okay, so they get twenty five years younger there probably something like that. Yes, absolutely, Skip Pete turned sixty January thirtieth, and Blastco turns forty on July six. They got twenty years younger. There said twenty years younger there, right, they Tolzine is thirty five and U Smyer is fifty two,

so you're seventeen years younger. There. They got younger. And then they also brought in as a quality control assistant linebacker coach Darren Thompson, who had played here. Um just last year. Basically he didn't, I mean he didn't play. Twenty twenty one was his last year to end up playing. So yeah, they did get younger also linebackers. So George Edwards, I bet he's in his sixties fifty five six now, but he'd been in the league twenty five years, I believe.

And so they turned that back over to Scott McCurley, who's forty two, and he had the job in twenty twenty. And then when they got George Edwards, who had been a linebackers coach defensive coordinator, they called him a senior defensive assistant. They basically gave him the linebackers. So now it goes back to U for one year. Just for one year, just one year. Yeah. Actually that year I still think Sean Lee was coaching the linebacker just watching practices.

That see who was doing all the talking. It was Sean Lee. So anyway, ten ten changes. I wonder if they talked to Sean Lee about if he would be interested in coaching. Yeah. From him, it's because he's got a mansion in Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, Frisco. Working twelve hours a day or taking a walk on the beach, right him, it wouldn't be twelve hours a day. Yeah, right, you talk about someone's DNA probably sixteen. Yeah, he's probably going crazy. Yeah, probably, we'll just see how keep an

eye on that. Yeah, same thing with Witton. They asked Witten and his his response was basically, you know I'm making a difference here in high school, and my kids got a couple more. That was the key to go. I think his oldest is a sophomore, maybe going to be a junior, right, and then the other boy, I think he's a couple of years younger, probably going into his freshman year. Maybe ye maybe. Yeah. So he pointed

that out, but he didn't. Still, he didn't totally dismiss I think six years from forty five, six years from now, either a college job or once Tennessee goes bad again. Yeah right, because I bet he could put a staff together. I mean Doug Peterson. Doug Peterson did that. I mean Doug Peterson. After his playing career, he coached at a small private school in Louisiana and probably I don't know

his family situation. I assume maybe he had kid playing and then he got on the Eagles staff and within five years he's coaching in the Super Bowl, and now he's at Jacksonville. Jaguars. Love that guy Peterson. I always did. I always did they get ever in a coaching job? Oh no, hell no, Nick, And I'm good right over here. Well I could complain without having to deal with others that's a good point. So anyway, that's that's the changes

they made. And you know, we'll see, you know, how it turns out, because you know, you don't make all these changes without the thought of, okay, now we've been good, now can we get better? And there's no regression time here, right, there's no honeymoon time for a bunch of new coaches that got to get better. You know, it's go ahead. And I'm gonna say the only thing that concerns me. And you know, we've been we've all seen a lot,

been through a lot. I remember in the eighties, we lost three in a row, three championship games in a row, and Tom decided to start, Okay, we gotta do something different. Yeah, but what he did differently didn't help. It hurts. So the moves that he made after that, they were the wrong moves, you know, you know verse personnel, you know, versus the patterns that you use. And and like you said, the DNA that you have as a coach. I'm hoping that these moves that we made weren't the wrong moves.

That's the only concern about just making moves for the sake of making moves. That's not the whole point. But if you if you have if if, what you're doing, you know makes sense all the way up into uh better victories in certain moments, you know, changing the way we react in in certain big moments of a game, you know, changing our our our habits. You know, once we get into a certain situation, you know if that makes it? Will this make us better or will it

make us worse? See, I think the key thing will be the changes on offense. Because defensively, with dan Quinn coming back, uh Aiden Dirty Distill the defensive line coach, Al Harris is still the defensive backs coach and Joe Witt still secondary pass game coordinator on defense, So those spots, those main spots have stayed the same. And remember dan Quinn, um, you know he's the defensive coordinator, but he can help

out on the defensive line or I think at linebacker too. Question, do you guys think the defense got better after we had that middle of season slump as we as we got towards the end of the season, do you think our defense got better? I think I would have to look at the scores didn't have I mean, they still led the league in takeaways, not as many as last year. But I think that in a couple of games that they lost that you know, kind of goes on Dak's ledger.

He put up twenty eight points in the overtime loss to Green Bay and thirty four in the over time loss to um Jacksonville. Now I understand it was the pick six that ended the game, but he still put up thirty four and that wasn't enough to win the game.

So there were times where the defense uh struggled, I think, and I think things got better actually after the Jacksonville game, and I don't I wasn't necessarily worried about points as much as you could see that the defense was really starting to take control of games and our offense built off of them. Even if you look at the Washington game,

you look at even the Titans game. Those two games, you know, the defense was really playing with one hand tipe behind the backs because we wanted to use nine time a playbook, and a couple of those games w were coming towards the end. Tennessee was playing with two hings behind their back right, and so then even the Washington game, they were playing the rookie Sam Howe was playing quarterback, and I think we've got somehow I think it led us, it gave us a better look at ourselves.

But I think the season but one of the things that did I think the injuries to the cornerback position kind of exposed a lack of depth there that they didn't have. You know, I um Bland stepped up played well, but they were still a guy short. And and with that, having said that, I thought they salvaged good performances through all of that. And I'm talking about maybe including the

San Francisco game. I'm talking about maybe the last five games of the season, including up to the San Francisco game. I think they they regardless of what they were going up against, they made all the goals, you know, to keep the game in hand for the offense. The offense just what wasn't doing much in a couple of those games, all right, you know, But it's a key thing for any NFL team to do is take an honest look at what you did during that season, and let's look

at the last half of the season. So this is something that goes on behind the scenes. He went on a month ago, you know, as soon as the season ended. Back second half of the season after that Minnesota win forty to three. Okay, went over the Giants twenty eight twenty Giants solid team. Okay, so that's a good win. Okay. Indianapolis, kay, was a turned out to be a fifty four to nineteen win. It was twenty two to nineteen going into

the fourth quarter. Basically, okay or whatever it was. Indianapolis is not a good team. Houston not a good team. Twenty seven, twenty three win, lost to Jacksonville, which was turning into a decent team, and make the playoffs. Okay, forty thirty four, it's a loss. Philadelphia forty thirty four win. Backup quarterback Tennessee twenty seven thirteen win, backup quarterback Washington lost twenty six to six in the last game of the season. Backup quarterback. And then you're facing Brady in

the Bucks in the postseason and then the Niners. So I mean you just have to take a ask a question, honestly, Okay, second half of the year, and then what's the other thing? The production of Parsons and pressure in the quarterback down the stretch of the season, right, and using him almost

exclusively a defensive end. I still like him better at linebacker, just you know, if you want to spot him as a defensive end, but I just don't know that first and second down he needs to be playing defensive end. I think he's more valuable at lineback. What can't. You've got to find someone that can hold it down as he's in the back, you know, playing against the run. Right until you find that person, then then Mickey Spagnola

will not be satisfied. And you might be right because Dorin's Armstrong started the season off like he was shot out of a cannon and then all of a sudden it leveled off a long season. Sam Williams all right and spots, but he wasn't like a full time He's a rookie event right, he was a rookie, and I think it showed, especially against the run. Um. And I just think it's hard for for Parsons the way he's built to play defensive end against the run, taking on

guys that are eight. There's a reason that most teams rotate guys up front, right, It takes a lot out of you. So after play interesting to see what they do. Um, you know, especially at defensive tackle. Now, they had young guys that I thought played decently, but you know they did have some struggles stopped in the run. You know, when you look at Parsons and you see him at

the end of the game, he spent. I mean, I'm sure all of them are spent, of course, but just to what you said, he seems to be just, you know, have nothing left down the stretch and when you really need him. You know, someone approached me about should he change his workouts, should he change the way he prepares for a season? You know, should he maybe become heavier and play defensive end if you're gonna be playing that a lot more right, you know, because he's getting caught

in space a lot. You know when he when you show his weaknesses on the edge. I just like him blitzing as a lineman because now they don't know where he's lining up. I thought early in the season when they were lining him up, they had a four man line and he was the fifth outside of DeMarcus Lawrence.

I thought that was awfully effective. Now maybe they're looking at matchups to see, oh, he can take care of advantage of this or that, But it's it's when he's got his hand underground is one of or not hand on the ground, but standing in one of four on their front of the defense, the running backs over there, the tight ends over there, and it makes it difficult. I mean even you know someone said when they interviewed

him at ticket Stock. You know they said something about, you know, defensive ends getting their hands on me or on you, and he goes, no, they don't get their hands on me because I'm around them. But sometimes getting around is further, right, And there ain't nobody rolling out to his side either, by the way, you know, it's always a way. So now he's chasing backs, but he's

still had thirteen and a half sacks. All right. When we come back here on Mick Shots, how about we take a look at what truly are this team's needs as we go into the new season of building a team with the combine on this notebook. Free agency coming up right after that, when Mick Shots continues, and I'm ament we paid how much for those lessons? She's doing great? Oh yeah, totally. Can you pass me a pepsi zero sugar? Great job, honey, Oh look at that. That's not the end,

no way. Now it's time for the encore. You know what, You're right? Five times not enough times for everyone who traded in rock concerts for their kids recitals. You've compromised enough Pepsi zero sugar. That's what I like. Nobody protects you from Mayhem like all stand you hear that I'm a torrential downpour. Torrential What does that even mean? It means you can't out of your windshield and if you have the wrong car assurances, you might have to make

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time for the team that performs on any field. United egg In Turn with John Deer zero turns for mowing, pack tractors for loading, many excavators for digging, Gator utility vehicles for hauling, implements for grading, ay tools for bailing, United agg In Turf for winning the official Aggin Turf equipment supplier of the Dallas Cowboys. Visit United Agginturf dot com for more. Back back to mixed shots. Get ready

for twenty twenty three DCRB auditions with Dallas Cowboys. Rhythm and Blue prep classes every Monday night at next Step Dance at the Star in Frisco from eight to nine pm. Learn proper stretching technique, choreography, drills and tips from the DCRB director and dancers. Learn more on Instagram at DC Rhythm and Blue or Dallas Cowboys dot com slash DCRB Rhythm and Blue. Rhythm and Blue. No, no, it's not

a song. It's not rhythm and blues. It's rhythm and blue because blue rhythm and rhythm and blue prep classes every Monday night next Step Dance at the Star in Frisco eight to nine pm. It could have gone either way. No, it's not blues. I mean they can still be blues. No, it's blue because they are there. The cowboy blues say blues. It sounds like it's a song. It's it's it's a it's a It's a plu of blue. That's all it is. It's a plue of the color. The dance team has

rhythm and the color is blue. Blue. It's what you're saying. But to play on words, it's what that is. Thank you, rhythm and blues, but it's not blue. And then blues can also be sad, and so you don't that's what he's saying. But I'm saying you could. It could be plural of the color. That's all I'm saying. Okay, all right, let's make things happy with this roster. All right. Biggest

needs going into this offseason. As the combine starts, as you're watching players workout and then and the workout's actually the on field TV presentation will be starting on Thursday. As you watch the position groups work out, get your first taste of what's available in the draft, and then you got free agencies starting two weeks from today. What is it? What positions of needs or cowboys looking at that they really need to film. I'm gonna give you

right off the top of my head. Yes, cornerback, wide receiver, tight end, linebacker, quarterback. Con that won't show, That won't show. They do need a quarterback. They do need a quarterback. So can you find one better than Will Greer in the like sixth or seventh round. You always got to be looking. I'm not saying right now he's better than Will Greer, but I mean that's what you're looking at. If you can resign Cooper, let me ask you this. Let me ask you this. If Patrick Mahomes is in

this draft. If Patrick Mahomes is in this draft, you're Mike McCarthy, Scott Tolzine, the scouting brain trust, Aaron Rodgers. They love this player. This player is has a potential to be a Patrick Mahomes. Wow, would you well? Are you more brilliant than the other? Andy Reid apparently was because they traded up. They trade it up up and they gave up draft picks. Okay, and move up to number eleven or whatever it was to take Patrick Mahow

Alex Smith. Alex Smith was their quarterback, okay, and they weren't happy with him, but I mean he was at wherever it was in his I mean, let me look back up Kansas City what they were doing then, how Alex Smith was doing. But keep going. I think they had problems in playoff games, all right? Or take it back to Green Bay ged Bret Farve and he was

ted Aaron Rodgers, but he was getting close right. Yeah. Well, here it's more and I'm not proposing this, I'm just saying it's a it's a contract deal with with Dak where he's got two years left on this deal, and the amount of money that you're paying for the quarterback

has nothing to do with his age, right. Yeah. So basically, if if you're not trading up and I'm not saying that this player would supplant Dak Prescott, Dak Prescott may play great the next two years, but then you have this player either as a backup or guy that you can trade. So how's that working out in Green Bay? Right now? Yeah, I hadn't got on the field basically, yeah, and are you in? But he's not Patrick Mahomes. Are you in a win now they keep talking about the

way they talk about them. They're putting all their eggs in this basket. So are you in a win now situation? You're winning now at DAK, right, But if you take up first round is Kansas City? What's that's what's Kansas City? Were gonna move on from Alex Smith? Okay? Are you moving on from DAK? That's what I'm asking because you're giving up a first round pick right next year, So two firsts. I'm looking up Alex Smith right now. So so yeah, you give him up, then I don't get

you don't have him for anything else. You don't have any money for another wide receiver, right, I don't get a first round wide receiver or a cornerback or a tight end. All right? What, okay, Ma Holmes is twenty seventeen is that theory came in. You think people around here will stand for well, we're looking at the future, the future in Dallas, and then you bring in these players that they look okay, you know, and just okay until the moment comes and then they look horrible. And

then what if you miss? And that happens with quarterbacks a lot, right, because how many how many how many good quarterbacks do you think are in this draft? Like first round guys? Four? All right, here's what was happening in Kansas City at the time that they made the decision to draft Patrick Mahomes in the first round, gave up picks to do it. They were coming off in twenty and sixteen. They were eleven and four and Alex Smith made the Pro Bowl eleven and four. Why four

fit two games? No, I'm sorry Alex Smith, as I'm looking at Alex smith stacks. He was. His record was eleven and four, good point, all right. So Alex Smith as the starting quarterback was eleven and four and he made the Pro Bowl. All right, They draft Mahome and he was thirty two years old. They draft Mahomes, and in two thousand and seventeen, Alex Smith as the starting quarterback went nine and six and he made the Pro Bowl past for four thousand yards. He had twenty six

touchdowns and five interceptions. All right. Then Mahomes became Alex Smith bye bye, and so he when they when they drafted Mahomes, he had Smith had one more year at in Kansas City, and then he went to Washington the next year, So Mahomes did not play his rookie years, sat and then started the following year. So actually into the city at that point was a year we'd be looking at the twenty twenty four draft like going into

next year with Dak's situation. Difference is Dak's got two years left on his deal here and the age and so yeah, but the money is the issue because the forty million dollars a year is what straps you from putting, which gives a team in more incentive now to go looking for that quarterback. Because if you can get a quarterback who can come in, even a second rounder like Jalen Hurts, you can look at the team that you can put around a guy that who can man, that's

what started a super Bowl team. So you you bring in Mahomes, does the wide receiver position change? Do you bring did someone else come in along with him? You know, who could make a difference for Patrick Mahomes that maybe Alex Smith didn't have. I don't know if their running

game was different. Did they bring in better lineman? You know, things of that nature, Because you know, if it's just Patrick Mahomes, based on what I've seen I can get that, but everyone's not going to come in like a Patrick Mahomes and make a difference, right, you got to bring in somebody else with him. If you're receiving coil, your office a game plan up to part. Bottom line is if you do something like that, you better be right

on that quarterback. Well yeah, but then you elect at San Francisco and they traded so much to go up and get Trey Lance, and Trey Lance hadn't contributed yet, and yet the forty nine ers are in the NFC Championship game. And what if you're the Chicago Bears because you got the first pick in the draft, but you already got fields, right, what do you do? Are you? Are you sure he's your guy? And that's what makes

it so fascinating? And who are Like I said, who do you think are the top four quarterbacks in the draft? Because I saw a list and C. J. Stroud was not on it really and I was like, really, I was thinking, well, maybe I'm wrong, Maybe he's got another year. He's got to be He's gotta be on that list, right, h It must be an interest. Maybe I've misread the list.

Maybe he was first. And then they missed him. Yeah, because it's no way you can say, I mean, he's to me, he and Bryce Young y. Yes, that's the top two. That's what I thought, the way it goes.

And I'll go back to Bryce Young how he handled his UH interview the Davey O'Brien Award when he had to fly from Tuscaloosa to hear UH and he flew right back and they interviewed him the next day on the ticket and and I think it was Kirby said, well, I mean, did you have to go to class that or that work out the next morning after you were here. I'm sure coach Saban will let you pass on that. He goes you obviously don't. No, you don't assume anything. Yeah. Yeah.

And in that twenty seventeen draft, there was one quarterback taken before Patrick Mahomes, and that was your Chicago Bears. Mitchell Trubisky went number two overall. That's great, and Mahomes went number ten overall. I mean, for just a second, Trubisky was heralded. So the teams that passed Cleveland had the first pick took Myles Garrett. Chicago took Trubisky number two. San Francisco took Solomon Thomas number three Jacksonville for Leonard Fournette.

Tennessee took wide receiver Corey Davis, The Jets took Jamal Adams, the safety out of Hebron High School, Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams, Carolina running back Christian McCaffrey, Cincinnati wide receiver John Ross, and then the Chiefs Mahomes and they gave up what um does it say? Yeah, I've got to look it up. I really would like to see what kind of changes they made along with it? Was tyrenk Hill there yet? Not right or tyweek Hill like persons

you know, someone close? I don't know. Buffalo traded number ten overall to Kansas City in exchange for Kansas City's first and third round selections. Kansas City had the twenty seventh and the ninety first pick, as well as a first round selection in twenty eighteen. I dare ask, do you know what those two first wash? Okay? The um? Okay? So what I say? Twenty seven? Let's say Buffalo and that took trade Avious White cornerback from LSU in the first round, and then the third round pick was where

they I say ninety something. Where'd you go? Don't tell me they traded? Oh the oh they did? It gets too confident. So what about the next year's first? Since you got it, it's very easy to get there. No not worth from where I am. Okay, Well, if you'll just talk for two, I'll get there. When did Tyrake Bill get there? Brother? You should have done this reshirts ahead of time. I didn't know what it was. I

was going to ask the question ahead of type. All right, and then the next year Buffalo took shoot, they took Josh Allen in that draft. The next year the seventh pick, but that was from Tampa Bay. Well maybe they where was the Kansas City? And they took Tremaine Edwards linebacker that was from Baltimore. How many picks they have in this draft, I don't know, but they did pretty well. Hmm. Yeah, So he was in the two thousand and sixteen draft.

There was there were too many trades. Hill was sixteen sixteen. He was there already. Okay, so there you go. All right? More needs, um you said, cornerback, cornerback and wide receiver. Yeah, tight end and it maybe running back, depending on where they go and what they do that's the most confusing to me. I mean, right, yeah, that's the one that's most up in the air. But I think we do know that wide receiver's got to be one of my

top two needs. But you just said in an earlier segment that you needed somebody so that you could play Parsons more linebacker. Well, I don't have I mean, I can't get all these guys in the first We need another offensive lineman. Do we need the right guard? I left guard? Do we need a left guard? You see? But I don't know if I needed in the first round. Now there you go. See that last year though you needed that guard. It was last year. We can't bring

up last year. It was a tackle that played guard. He's not playing tack, I mean guard, he's playing tackle. Huh so, um, well, you can't have a first round pick at every position on the offensive line. Why not? What do we do with the last decade? Come on? We we concentrated on the offensive lineman. I mean what get Sometimes? Can you develop a guy? Was Zach and it didn't work. You didn't win a Super Bowl? Oh right, but you established a culture around here. You had some

running backs with some good numbers behind that offensive line. Yeah, the running numbers weren't as great last year, that's true, But this the offensive line I'm talking about that we almost had in front of him that you know, was that about Murray had in front of him. I'm gonna come on, well, what are you? What are you doing there? Though? Are you keeping Tyrn Smith? Are you giving him another shot? We'll see that's sighting himself. And whether he's gonna tern

still ready to start the season. I think I think if if, if he'll if Tyran and Smith was Gonnas gonna quit, I think he would have done it already. Don't you think you think he would be that person that would drag something like this out and then all of a sudden, I'm out. You know you gotta have some communications. Well, well let me don't you don't know what's been told behind the scenes, right whether they publicly

said or Travis Frederick retired in March. Let me put it this way, if he stays his base salary thirteen point six million, I don't know that. I'm walking out the door on that. And so yeah, I would say he'd be here, you know, I don't. I don't think he's that person that would drag something like this out. I think we would have known by now what he was gonna do, and the fact that he hadn't done anything that means he's gonna be hire. That's that's just

my opinion. And if they can somehow convince them to reduce a little bit of that um and give him guarant because he's out of guaranteed money by the way, Um, you know, that's one of the things that they're gonna have to look at. You know, it's the same thing with Zeke. He's out of guaranteed money. So so it could be a situation where there's negotiating going on and then the player has to make a decision is it worth negotiations? You got it? Psychological games like hey man,

how do you feel? Are you okay? And then got to know what your market value is, Like if I'm a free agent, they cut me, is somebody gonna pick me up? And how much will they pay me? And I think that's where the agent has to earn his money. I was gonna say, that's not as hard as it

used to be back in the day. Right, That's something he can find out very quickly, right, yeah, because as an agent, as an agent because someone someone said, I read someone pointed out that market value for Tony Pollard's eleven point nine million a year, and it's like, okay, are you sure about that? What would his franchise be ten one? And it's somebody gonna pay him that coming off his injury sight unseen, you got a factor that

in too. The other fallacy I see and some of this stuff where they say, okay, here are the top people that need to either be reconstructed contracts or cut. They point out what the cap number is. I don't care about the cap number. I care about the base salary because the cap number is going to be some of it's gonna be dead money if you let him go. So it's not like, oh, his cap number sixteen, And if you cut him, you know you're gonna say no,

you're gonna save the base salary. You're still gonna have probably eight million in dead money. Interesting, and you know there's only so many so much dead money you can account for that. We need to have a class, a SPAGS class on dead money and how all of this work. You need to come in with the apologists or maybe we need to we need to get we don't get

that we need to get Todd Williams in here. We'll recruit Todd Williams, right, the guys that keep trafting that money, and you come in and just explain it, not to say this is what we can do or can't do. Just Okay, here's how it's gonna work. Yeah, because that's what they have to do. That's what we'll right, That's that's what they're doing right now. Right, they're getting ready for not only the franchise tag, but then free agency.

What March fifteenth? Would we at twenty Well, it's free agencies. The negotiating periods March thirteenth, thirteen, But you can't do anything officially until I mean you don't become a free agent until the fifteenth. You can negotiate, but the signings are going to be that's at Schifter's Big days March thirteenth, right, and then twelve, which is two weeks from today, twelve o one a m. On the fifteenth, when it all

becomes official. Yeah, because they'll have these But you gotta know, you gotta know what market value is before you make some of these decisions. And the player needs to know that too, because you don't oh no, I'm not taking that. And you go out and somebody signs you to less unless you have two teams bidding on you. All right, we're two minutes past no, yes, okay, Mickey is going to continue talking, and you will not throw at the combine.

Oh by, there's breaking news from the combine. Bryce Young will not throw. And I'm gonna be filling up my big green notebook this coming week and i'll have some of those reports for you next Monday. And I want to know who's throwing and who's not here. You go, all right, next Monday, eleven am. Here on mix Shots, Go Cowboys. This has been a production of US Cowboys dot Com Canda Dallas Cowboys Football Club