Mick Shots: Zone Coverage

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This is Mick Shot screaming live on Dallascowboys dot Com and the official Dallas Cowboys at now Here are Bill Jones, Everson Wolves, and Mickey Spagnola.

And it is a Monday here inside the SWBC podcast studio, and all my things are starting to shake in the National Football League. This is Mick Shots, brought to you by Miller Lite without Everson Walls. He's on assignment today.

So I figured out where he's at.

Oh did you yes?

Where the HBCU Draft combine?

Oh?

This week?

And they played the game on Saturday.

All right, that's funny because Everson just tells us last Monday that I'm not going to be here next Monday, right, and didn't tell us why. We didn't pry.

Because I always say business however, secret government.

So you made it your mission the last week. Okay, let's figure out wherever.

So I'm assuming because they have practices, and I'm they bring guys like him there to help.

Out, that's right, Not just to help out, not just to run the practice, but to tutor some of these young Draft prospects. And speaking of combines, the NFL scouting combine is underway in Indianapolis, and Mickey.

It's out here. It is.

It's a fancy green note it's.

The big green notebook there it is.

He didn't buy that at Walmart.

This is where we find five star prospects in the NFL Draft fight and we've been doing it for twenty years now. It goes back to the old Cowboy Channel when Mickey and I discovered DeMarcus Ware and Marcus Spears. The Cowboys had two first round draft picks in two thousand and five. And for the loyal, long time listeners to originally Talking Cowboys, this is the original Talking Cowboys,

Five and we got them in the right order.

That's right. Unlike Bill Parcells. They got it.

They must have been listening to us, right.

That's where it basically all started for me twenty years ago, diving deep into the draft. Wow, you know, And what it coincided with was I've thought about this, Why has the draft become such as Parcels would put it, such a cottage industry? And it really I think started with the advent of YouTube and for fans to be able to easily access video of all these players in college.

Oh yeah, you know, and where.

You could spend hours just looking at And it's gotten obviously over the course of twenty years, much more advanced than what it was in two thousand and five. But I really think that is where the NFL draft, the interest in the NFL draft just skyrocketed, is because of the easy access to videos of these players.

And then I think the NFL made a really good decision to move.

The draft around.

Yeah, different places.

It was here.

Twenty whatever year it was, it would have been vander.

Esh's twenty nineteen rookie year.

I think twenty eighteen, yeah, okay, But moving it around like that in different spots you engage more fans from different places.

Yeah, I think but that's once it got to draft day.

But yeah, it's when it's the whole combine and all that stuff. And obviously, and it was about that time that the NFL network got started. In fact, I think the Cowboys channel it was actually the precursor to the NFL network. You know what happened They couldn't and the Cowboys channel was on Comcast.

Cable and twenty four hours.

Twenty four hours in fact, we used to do during the Cowboys season, we would do an hour long sports center type Cowboys show Monday through Friday from our little closet at Valley Ranch. And it was after that the NFL network was born. In the the teams had to do away with well, the one team that had its own cable TV channel, the Cowboys had to do away with the Cowboys chann I.

Remember that year somewhere we were on the road and so they had told us, or I guess it would have been the next year that the NFL basically went to the owners and said, look, there's no sense having a TV channel competing with the other channel you already own. So we would appreciate if you didn't.

Have, especially as widely viewed as the Cowboys.

Channel was.

So we were in the middle of the season when that happened. So it happened the next year and Jerry saw.

Me, I don't know where we were. We were on a road.

Game and he said, you know, he goes, when we get this this this stadium thing settled, We're going to get this this channel back.

I don't care. What that said never came back, well, not TV, you know what.

It came back as what you're doing right now came back as podcast and basically you've got twenty four hour access to all the Cowboys information that you want through the podcast.

And now with all our cameras in here, right, we're back on TV.

Go's right, all right?

So much to get to since we last convened, In fact, last Tuesday, which was the last time we got together after the President's Day holiday, the Cowboys coaches were all assembled for the media to talk to and so we got to get your take on what came out of that. And then we had the breaking news on Thursday where Zach Martin made it official informing the Cowboys that he is calling it a Hall of Fame career, and I think he worded it that way when he went into Jerry.

Yeah, I think I've done enough since trying.

And then now we fast forward to this week and we got the combine going on this week, and we're two weeks from today. It's basically the start of NFL free agency.

So I've got two of my tablets here full of stuff everything that's going on. So I guess we should start with the coaches questions that they made.

As a group.

And I know I haven't coached a game yet, right, but a very personable group of coaches.

Very easy interviews.

And when I started listening to everybody and how they put this staff together, I got a feeling that there was And I said this to Schottenheimer. Now he didn't do an interview, but I caught him off to the side and I said, there seems to be on this staff heavy emphasis on the offensive line and being able to run the football.

And he goes, I think that's fair.

And if you look at the number of guys that are or have been coordinators offensive coordinators not just him, but not necessarily in the NFL, but between Clayton Adams, Connor Riley, they added Ken Dorsey, who had been an offensive coordinator in Cleveland and Buffalo. There's a lot of guys that have had their hands into coordinating the offense

He goes, it is and it will be.

And I said, now all you need is a running back and he laughed, but yeah, it's I don't know if that made an impression on you, but it made an impression on me.

No doubt, no doubt.

And in fact, as we've talked about, you know, Schottenheimer's team with the Jets, I mean, they made it to the AFC Championship game with the number one ranked rushing offense in the league back when he was the offensive coordinator there and Mark Sanchez was a rookie quarterback coming into the league right and then when he had Russell Wilson with Seattle, they were also the number one rushing

Yeah.

And so it's an open season, open market for running backs starting in free agency two weeks from today or maybe even prior to two weeks from today. If because they've got one that they can go ahead and negotiate with right now in Rico Dawdle and we'll see what happens.

And it sounded like from what Stephen Jones said at the combine on Sunday where the competition committee was already meeting, that Rico sounds like one of their priorities to resign, along with Jordan Lewis and OsO Diggi Zoo, who may be the hardest one to try to resign, but maybe the top priority since they don't have many are hardly any defensive tackles under contract.

Mazzie Smith and maybe there was somebody on.

The practice squad Justin Rodgers Okay, it was back.

Okay, Justin Rodgers the seventh round pick last year, and then he came back at the end of the season. And Denzel Dackson is the other one who is on the roster.

So and Osa had a really good season. And I think that I don't know that they do a franchise tag on him. It's twenty three million, but they can do a transition tag, so at least you reserve the right of first refusal if somebody else.

It's rarely used. Teams don't normally use transition tags, but sometimes it can be used. Effectively the issue that the Cowboys and the transition tag. It's a little less money than what a franchise tag would be.

But you don't get any compensation.

And who's the guy, and you can match whatever offer that player might get on the open market. The problem for the Cowboys is from a salary cap standpoint, if you're gonna have Michael Parsons playing on his fifth year option at around twenty four million dollars a year, and obviously you know all the other salaries that are taking up from the high dollar players on the team, can you afford a even a plus twenty million dollar a year transition tag on a on a defensive tackle.

And that's why that's why it's you try to do a long term deal where the guy gets his money up front, but you can spread it out and it won't cost as much every year.

The interesting thing as far as you we just talk running backs and we talk defensive lineman defensive tackles, and if you listen to the so called experts on this dret the deepest positions in this draft might be running backs and defensive linemen.

Right, And so you know you can't get both in the first round. But you got to figure out if I get this here, there are enough guys at that other position in the second and third round to help me out.

So yeah, that's the stuff that.

We'll talk about going forward in decisions the Cowboys made. But and the one person I can't believe I forgot this. I think we talked about it last week, the secondary coach, David Overstreet. Yep, I forgot that he had played in Missouri. Yeah, he was a two time All Big twelve.

And that's his connection with Ibraflus, right, because the Eberflus was the defensive cordon over Street played.

For him, and he had them with the Bear Yeah, he's with the Bears.

Also, maybe with the Colts too.

But I I and I think when he was playing with Missouri, I didn't realize it was David Overstreet's son running back or the running back from Oklahoma who ended up He was from East Texas Big Sandy, Big Sandy, Lovey Smith's hometown and ended up first round.

David Overstreak would have been high school teammates with Lovey Smith. I'm pretty sure back in the because he played at Oklahoma in the late seventies, he was part of maybe a year or two younger than Lovey, but they would have cross paths in Big Sandy for sure.

And in the same backfield at Oklahoma with Billy Simms.

And Kenny King and Thomas Lott.

And Thomas Lott right, which should have come up on It was Saturday. The ticket did their ticket stock. They had Switzer as a guest, which is another uh segment I need to go. He was he was unfiltered as.

Always in person.

Uh oh yeah, yeah, he was there that they must have talked to him for an hour, it seemed like.

Uh.

And he had story he had stories going with different antennas off of it that he never got back to the final part of the stories.

He was amazing.

But yeah, I and I talked over street and I forgot to point out that, you know, it's like, oh, we got some Missouri connections here.

But anyway, and.

He believed he went to Samuel High School.

Yes, he did, so, he grew up in Pleasant Grove, he said, Uh. And he has a yearly uh camp here for uh some of the underprivileged type players kids and uh it's uh, I think he said, July June twenty first, Okay, and he's got to find a spot because ever he was having I think he was having it at the stadium, maybe at Samuel High School and it's under construction. So he said, I got to find

Yes, that'd be fun, that'd be a good way of doing it. Yeah. But otherwise on the defensive staff, Aaron white Cotton is another guy that I'm interested in who was with the Jets defensive line coach, and he's got a history. Of course, he was with Robert Solo with the Jets, and he was also with Solo with San Francisco,

Right, and you know, and they did a decent job. You know, no one gives them credit. Eric Kendricks was a hell of a free agent signing, right, and for basically what you've just said. I think it was like May three and a half three million, something like that. And so, and they tried to get the nose tackle that ended up going to Seattle Jonathan Hankins Ankins, and everybody said, how could they let him get away?

They offered him a contract.

I was told he wanted to go to Seattle because the defensive line coaches getting hired there as the defensive coordinator, and he felt like it goes to what you just said. Sometimes these guys decision is to go with a coach they're familiar with and have some insurance that they're going to get a chance to play.

And real quickly, I was just looking up Jonathan Hankins last year with Seattle, seventeen games, eight starts. He had decent. It was the same type season he's been having. He had thirty tackles, and you know, he was a big run stuffer in the middle of their defense at thirty two years old. And as it turns out, the Cowboys had to you know, they brought they wait till training camp to make moves to try to enhance their defensive line.

Right right, And so so yeah, we'll see that how that turns out. But you know, with with a defensive stat Matt Eber Eberflows was able to bring in guys he knew for that staff. So yeah, and everybody was, you know, really high after talking to him, and I said, yeah, this is great until you lose a game. You know, you get smacked in the mouth and it's.

Like, okay, how's everybody doing.

And among the guys that he brought in from Chicago, Andre Curtis the past game coordinator, secondary coach, Dave Borganzi linebackers coach, and you mentioned David Overstreet as well as secondary coach.

So.

You know, and Nick Sorenson the spell teams coach. He's he's quite a talker and there's another guy. He was a defensive.

Courton last year with San Francisco.

Right, and so he's been a special teams player. They brought back Carlos Polk, who had been here as a special team's assistant.

A couple of years ago.

So I think they've done a pretty good job putting this staff together. And there's a lot of it is who knew who right, and and the thing with Clayton Adams, the connection that Schottenheimer had with Clayton Adams. He was at Colorado when Mike McIntyre, the Cowboys' former defensive secondary coach, maybe right, he was the head coach at Colorado. Schottenheimer knew McIntyre and so he got he kept hearing from McIntyre that this Clayton Adams is pretty good.

Now I'm sitting there trying to think, Okay, where would Schottenheimer and McIntyre of cross pads And I'm gonna have to go look through both backgrounds on them and figure out where they But it could be they didn't. They never worked together. There is a possibility that guys connect with each other right outside of being on the same staff together.

I remember my McIntyre coach.

Tire you know what.

Schottenheimer lives in Nashville. McIntyre's father was a head coach of Xanderbilt. He grew up in Nashville and Bill was there, that's right, So I bet it's a Nashville connection on Odd McIntyre. I love Mike McIntyre. It's you know, when he was here and then he went on to Duke and then San Jose State and that's where Clayton Adams was first on his staff at San Jose State and then followed him to Colorado.

Yeah.

Yeah, there was a lot of connection. So it wasn't like they were just putting their hand in the hat and drawing a name out right. There was always some sort of connection or somebody vouching for these guys and how good they were all.

Right, And we didn't even mention Junior Adams, the wide receivers coach who has a great reputation as a college receivers coach and now making the step into the NFL. In fact, Cooper Cup just swears by him, said he no coach in his career had more of an impact on him than Junior Adams when he was at Eastern Washington.

And there's nothing wrong with bringing some fresh ideas.

I love it.

I love the energy because there's a mix of experience and youth on this staff. And as it relates to the draft, where you've got guys who have as recently as two months ago coached in college and they're very familiar with the players, either they they themselves coached, or they went up against or they tried to recruit the exactly and not only out of high school, but out

You know, when I asked people their impression of the coaching staff, and you just mentioned the word, they said energy. It's like, hey, we're here to prove ourselves and these guys are. Not to say the other staff wasn't fired up, but a lot of energy and emotion on this staff. And one person told me when I asked about Schottenheimer and one of the other's assistants what they knew about them or what they felt that they did best, and the word was teacher.

So and I think that's a big part of it, is being able to connect with the players.

Right, Yeah, so so having to put together almost an entirely new staff, it looks like at this point they've done a pretty good job.

All Right, We're gonna talk Zach Martin when we come back here on mix shots in just a moment.

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Oh, it sounds like Producer Supreme has not only been there, but planning to go again this weekend.

Probably not going to go this weekend. I do have plans.

Uh, yeah, I can't miss theater. Okay, okay, all right, Before we talk Zach Martin, A little item that's making news is the interview that I think David Moore did with Stephen Jones at the Combine. I was in the Morning News this morning and as now making the rounds on social media that it looks like Cowboys moving on from Trey Lance, but they are Steven Jones indicating that they have thoughts of drafting a quarterback.

And obviously they were going to do that. I would imagine even if, well even if they keep or try to resign Cooper Rush, you need another.

And I think the quote on Cooper Rush is obviously, if you're paying the starter what the Cowboys are paying Dak Prescott, the money is tight as far as signing a veteran free agent. They love Cooper and it's just we're just gonna have to see where where the market goes on Cooper.

Rush market value.

And you know, and I think when teams understand the importance of having a backup quarterback that can at least hold down the fort if you lose your starter, and who knows, somebody may look at him and say, well, if we don't get somebody in the draft, we like, maybe he's our starter until someone else is developed or comes along. So yeah, market Valley is gonna decide a lot of things for the Cowboys.

And when you look at this draft and so what we're talking about here is a third day quarterback you would imagine, but when you now it's not out of the question, and you can make some moves whatever, pick up an extra draft pick, and if there's somebody that you like in the third round, whatever, because when you look at Dax contract, you need someone you would love to have a situation like what Detroit had this year where they had Jared Goff, they had drafted Hinton Hooker

But you would love to have.

Someone who you're grooming to be the eventual replacement once your starter gets up there in years and gets even retirement age.

But if you think that was the Cowboys philosophy when they drafted Dak Prescott, right, yeah, that's right. They had Kellen Moore as the veteran backup and it's like, Okay, maybe this guy can developed to be the backup to Tony Romo and then lo and behold.

Everybody gets hurt and Dak Prescott. So you're and what was he?

He was the number one thirty five pick in the draft in the fourth round, so I think their second fourth round behind Charles Tappan. And so that is the area you're probably looking at. And when you look at this this quarterback draft, there could be someone like that in the fourth round. So we'll see.

And you've got basically two quarterback coaches with Ken Dorsey also to help out, so that that certainly, you know.

I would I would think they're somebody.

They are in the market, just like it running back, they're in the market for a veteran backup quarterback as well as if it's not crack brush right and a veteran, I'm talking about a guy that's not making much money, right yeah, or needs a job all right, So Zach Martin, I don't think any of us were surprised with the announcement, and the Cowboys not caught off guard. But it you knew it was going to come eventually. Just the way

And the Cowboys had braced for this when they restructured his contract last year to save some cap money and push it down the road. And one of the things that I think got overlooked when they restructured his contract is they added a couple voided years, but the voidable year for this year he had a one point two million dollar base salary. So they did that because while he has basically told them he wants to retire, nothing's official.

And what the Cowboys are going to do.

Is release him once the league year starts and make him a June one cut. That gives them the opportunity to spread out the dead money that would take place in one year if he just retired and left. So his debt money's going to be significant. It's a total over two years of twenty six million dollars. So I think they take a nine around a nine year, a nine million dollar hit this year and the rest next year. So they were kind of preparing.

For this now according to over the cap. Now you tell me whether I'm reading this correct.

I know they've got it nine million in nine.

Million and then and then in Okay, so what they have is nine point four million in twenty twenty five. This is with Zach Martin being a post Une first cut, nine point four million again in twenty twenty six, four point four million in twenty seven, and three point twenty five million in twenty eight.

That's that all comes seven next year, goes seventeen million next year next year.

Okay.

That's the way it was explained to me. Okay.

So so yeah, so you know when when everybody says that, well, the Cowboys don't know how to manage their cap, well, when you restructure bonuses to keep your guys. That money gets spread down the road, and when they leave or the contracts up, you still got to account for the pro ration.

Uh.

And the same thing's going to take place with DeMarcus Lawrence if he's not here or if he decides to also retire, although he kind of intimated to me that he wants to still.

Play, and then let me correct myself on that. You're exactly right, and it says it on the over the cap website as well. The cap number, right is the cap number actually as a post June first cut is ten point six five million for this year and then it's seventeen point oh six million for next year.

Yeah, so it costs.

So now if you don't designate him a June first cut and it is twenty twenty six point four to six.

Million, yeah, I rounded it off.

So yeah, so I think, you know, good for him. A lot of guys when their careers are done, they either are told they're done or you have an injury that ends it. He's been able to make his own decision like this is what I want to do. He's played eleven years at an awfully high level, married three kids. I think he's very satisfied for what he did. And

Smith, could be an announcement from him coming soon.

Yeah, yeah, because he's probably close to the end. In twenty thirteen, they traded down. They got Travis Frederick, your starting center, and also to go along with the trade down, you got a starting wide receiver, Terrence Williams.

That same year.

And then twenty fourteen, and this is the part that everybody does it everybody remembers that, Oh, Johnny Manziel was there. Well, Jason reminded me that they were looking for defense in that draft. The first guy they were looking at was, by the way, Anthony Barr, linebacker out of Ucla. He went number eleven to Minnesota. Their next guy they were

What to do?

And Jason basically said, there was a blinking light out there. Zach Martin. Zach Martin. Zach Martin was the kind of the quote, he told me. And so after that brief conversation about Johnny Manziel, they decided that this guy, he said, there was a consensus in the room that you couldn't pass up Zach Martin, and they rebuilt that offensive line.

The last thing memory I will always have of Zach Martin is we've driven the ball down the field a mix of run and paths. We get down in their clothes, we run it in with Zeke Elliott, you know, right behind him and just his look when he comes running off the field, and the smile that he has on his face, and the love that he has for the game and playing and his teammates and all of that

Jason Garrett on Zach Martin, and I thought that pretty much summed it up, because you know, if you remember even during the week or after games, when you interviewed Zach Martin, he had this look in his eyes, right, and it's like very intentional he did.

He just loved playing football.

Now, the lasting memory I will have of not only Zach Martin, but Tyrone Smith and for that matter, Travis Frederick is a Cowboys training camp and they would all walk on the field together.

And it was like Okay, it was like the charge of the light brigade, right, all three together, Uh huh. Yeah, I had to be intimidating for the opponent when you have those three walking in together. And it was a pretty good offensive line that they added the next year Leale Collins, who ended up being, because of circumstances, a free agent signing, and they rebuilt that offensive line and what happened They were able to run the football right,

Right? It's still important.

It's still important, old school football, right, And then he had Ron Leary also on that offense.

Yeah.

Line in twenty sixteen and Doug free was was the right tackle going back to the early time when they first came and.

Ended up being a holdover from that line ended up getting pretty you know, flows Al Adams got a little bit in age.

Kozier was there, koz are how's are yeah? So yeah? But yeah, what a career? What a career?

Put it Here's this puts it in perspective. There are three Cowboys in the history of the organization who were named First team All Pro seven times in their career. And those three, two of them are first ballot Hall of Famers, right, Bob Lilly and Randy White, and Zach Martin is the third one.

And the only offensive lineman they had with more than nine Pro Bowls was Larry Allen with ten. He had more than rayphiel Wright. And then I think the next guys were like Nate Newton, John Nylan that had six Pro Bowls.

And I asked it eleven time Pro bowler Jason Whitten about Zach Martin and the first words out of his mouth maybe the best teammate I ever had, which tells you a lot about Zach Martin.

And you know the other thing is, and I don't know if the thought was in the Cowboys mind. He was their nomine need for the NFL Walter Payton Man the Year Award, and he made it.

To the Super Bowl.

YEP. I don't know that that that you get to that, but I guarantee you that they knew that this was likely the end. Yeah, So all right, we got much more mix shots coming at you in just a moment.

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Okay. Twenty fourteen Draft Jack Martin first round and then what the Cowboys do in the second round.

They traded traded up.

For de Marcus Lawrence. That's pretty good. And that who's used the third round.

By the way, who.

Was running that draft for the first time in his career, Will McLay. That was his first home. That's first draft with him in control of it. Twenty fourteen.

Did we ever point out in one of the shows that they re signed Will for another five years?

That was the first big free agent. That's right of the office.

Absolutely, all right, So now we'll go, yeah, what are we doing at guard?

Well, if we look at what's there now.

And let me start with this. Yeah, Connor Riley new offensive line coach coach Cooper bb at Kansas State where he was in tackle. That's right, and as we all know, because he practiced shutgun snaps to his mom in his backyard in Kansas City this summer, this was his first time playing center. When you hear Connor Riley talking about Cooper Bebe, did you get any inkling about where he thinks Cooper Bebe might best fit long term in the NFL?

He mentioned it's always good to have flexibility, but then that comes down to if you move him to guard, then who's your center?

Because I think actually when they drafted Cooper Bebe in the third round last April. It was with the idea that eventually, whether depending on when Zach Martin retires, he would be plugged in at right guard for Zach Martin. But in the meantime he's now played center and now got that position versatility, which puts them in a good spot.

And I think when the Cowboys look at it, their other swing backup offensive lineman was Brock Hoffman, who had played center but could play guard.

And then you also have TJ. Bass, who is a guard.

And I think they liked Hoffman better at guard than they did at center.

And then is that based on the fact that he was then filling in at the end of the year at guard, or were they just did that be of course there's a different offensive line coach, and or did they do that because they're just not changing up.

To positions right, Yeah, exactly. And BB hadn't played guard, and you got TJ. Bass that got some work at guard, and then Awesome Richards who had done both as a backup guard and tackle. And I'm just wondering if they turned that left tackle job up for competition between Geyiton and Awesome Richards.

Okay, I'm just wondering.

I don't know if it'll take place, but it's a new staff.

Okay.

You alluded to this in the last segment that the Cowboys are kind of in the same boat, or have been for the last couple of years, really in the same boat that they were a little over a decade ago when they drafted a future Hall of Famer in Tyron Smith. Then they drafted Travis Frederick and a future Hall of Famer in Zach Martin. How does this rebuild It doesn't compare with that. You can't compare it with that. That was an ald timer. But where are they now

And I think that as good as he is, you had to be happy what BB did at center. I know Terrence Steele, He's not probably a pro Bowler at right tackle, but he's kind of entrenched there with a contract that he has, so you got to decide what's going on at right guard and left tackle.

And I think those are two things that they have to look at this year.

And you know, in the draft, and I'm going to beat Nate.

Newton to say this, but.

He will be a proponent of taking an offensive lineman in the first two days and properly prefevably the second the second day, or at least the first three rounds to help out and to create some depth if nothing else, and a guy for the future.

And again I'll say.

It like I said when they drafted Tyron Smith or Tyler Smith, is that I want to tackle that can play guard and then eventually end up as a tackle. I think that's the best way to go. And I think they'll need one of those among all the other things. And we can do that next week on all the decisions they have to make that will impact what they do those first two days of the draft.

But they really need Guidon to be.

Yes what they got drafted to.

And they the coaches talked highly of him, and I want imagine I think it was Connor Riley pointing out that and he knew Guidon's background and pointed out that he just hasn't played that much tackle. What fourteen games at Oklahoma I think it was, And then on and off here trying to start as a rookie, got hurt a couple of times, missed games.

You just hope you're just not in the same position that Kansas City obviously is in, right, And they drafted the guy juan Ye Morris, who started ahead of Tyler Geidon at Oklahoma.

Uh.

And then they also spent a second round draft pick this past year in twenty twenty four on a left tackle from BYU who wasn't able to get on the field, and they wound up having to play their Zach Martin and Joe Toney out at left tackle in the Super Bowl. And you saw how that made what happened.

There, paid the price for not hitting on those draft choices. And again we got to point out, and I think, you know this another discussion for another day to get into it, but when you're they were at twenty and they traded down to twenty nine, that's a second round great r right. Everybody looks at well, that's a first round game. Did you bust on a first round pick? Well, and he was like the eighth offensive tackle taken right. Yeah, they were all taken by them, right.

So now that's why they were in the same boat when they drafted Tyler Smith where it was the last tier, you know, the last of that tier, and they hit on that. Okay, but the.

Percentages of hitting after probably twenty it goes down.

But the key on guiding is that potential. Yeah, and tapping that potential. That's why this is such a big off season. But it's in the weight room as well. It's the whole it's getting his body to where he can play a full seventeen game season plus, because that's the other concern that I had on him coming out is that, as you pointed out, in his two years at Oklahoma, it only played in fourteen games and had a problem staying on the field, and that surfaced again

Yeah. Rich McKay, who's the chairman of the Competition Committee, said that they did discuss moving the touch back on the kickoffs up to the thirty five yard line because there had been so many touchbacks kicking the ball into the end zone. Although the kickoff returns there were three hundred and thirty two, he pointed out, and it was a thirty two point eight percent returns and it was like almost ten percent more than the year before, So

On the field.

Well they're thinking of expanding it to potentially penalties two, so that was interesting.

Interesting. The other thing is.

That they're probably going to be some sort of discussion on on side kicks on what to do there to kind of put that back into the game somehow, some way, you know.

It seems like it would it should be something where teams have the option of doing it whenever they want to do it, I know, And it's like it's kind of like the two point conversion, but how do you.

Change where you're at.

Or you just have to It takes out the element of surprise, right right and so.

Oh and by the way, also moving the kickoffs back to the thirty yard line to try to make it a little bit more difficult to get touchbacks.

To move it back to the thirty and in addition, the touchback rule right out to the thirty five.

Yeah, my golly, we're going.

One way or the other words, we're going to get kick off returns. The other thing that I think brought up when I talked about the on site thing, there was a discussion of adjusting the on side kick to the fourth and fifteen or fourth and twenty conversion.

So I don't think the owners. I think the owners. Let's see, that's a little too gunked up. That's my word, gunked.

And you could just do that in the fourth quarter.

It didn't go that farre.

It just said let the UFL experiment with right, see how that works, sort of like the automated ball and.

Strike thing and the major experiment.

All right, got anything else?

No next week?

Man, can you imagine how full this green notebook is going to.

Be after I'm buying and you get all the numbers, the real.

Height and start watching workouts on Thursday. Now that it is and it's a prime time event now, oh.

Really though, so better not getting away of any of our basketball our hockey games. Well, you can record it our college or college basketball by the way.

All right, so that does it.

Everson says he'll be back next week, and we appreciate you joining us here. Four mix shots brought to you by Miller Lit. And at the end of the when I quit talking, Mickey's gonna say go Cowboys.

We're going to leave that to Chris.

See you next Monday at eleven.

Go Go Boys.

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