Talkin' Cowboys: Big Week 1 Questions

piling up. Man, what you get when you're dealing with a bunch of old men, you know. So I will say this though, and you know that's it. It's uh, it's nice though that you could. You know, we were talking about, hey, we're not gonna have Bill for this time. Mickey, you know, is dealing with some things and and you know it's like, well, can we do the show just a two man show? And I'm like, yeah, let's we do two man show for half the show half the show.

Yea studio at some point, yeah, yeah, he's got TV obligations. Mickey's still out, So we've got a couple empty chairs. So yeah, we're good. Now we'll figure it out. We have so much to talk about it. We do, we do. It's got a game week, as they always say, Yeah, for the first time in uh almost nine months, this is a practice day for the regular season. Yeah, Cowboys on a Wednesday, get practice day too. By the way,

a big one. Why is that? Well? You know, and I mean you interrupt you there, but I was gonna give it a little emphasis on this, uh this practice day because the first week you kind of want to figure out where guys are gonna play or who's going to play. And then the Rico Gathers story. We've talked about that him, Dalton Scholtz. Who's going to get the most reps? There? You know, how the wide receiver rotation's

gonna work? You know, I mean we kind of any camp it was it didn't seem like we were able to get any type of a pattern to how things were going to work out. A receiver, who's going to be the starter? Where's hey, where does you know where does Michael Gallup fit into this? Is he going to be a starter for Terrence Williams that they could open eleven personnel? You know, there's all kinds of things. This

is now the first week we'll see Ezekiel Elliott. I mean he's looked good in training camp and all that, but hasn't No, not one opponent's hand has been laid on him, you know this time. So a lot of really interesting stories, storylines going into the first week. You know, the questions about the safety spot, how they're going to practice safety, is a campbell? The new guy gonna be over, say Robinson? You know, I mean, there's there's just so many things that you kind of kind of keep an

eye on it. Practice. They only give us twenty five minutes. It's not like we get to go out there and stand there for the whole day and say, oh, this is what they're gonna do. But you know, there were some indications how special teams line up. So I just kind of went through a litany of things we need

to think about. No. I think you bring up a good point in that it is to me one of the most fascinating starts to a season for the Cowboys that I can remember, because of the questions, because of the changes that they've had at so many spots, right, and the first one you mentioned I think was wide receiver, and you're right because you had Joe Looney, didn't I I forgot Joey. There's that too. Yeah, got a new offensive center, right, So that's important. Zach Martin talked yesterday

to the media. It looks like he feels great. He should be ready to go back to swell that last day here and before the Texans game. You can count on him at right guard. But that wide receiver spot, you had thirteen or fourteen receivers in camp, and you're right. They basically just shuffled nine ten guys in for first team reps throughout training camp, and guys played a lot of different spots and they were trying to figure out

who does what the best. And I don't think we've seen that rotation because we have seen I don't think we've seen all these receivers on the field together yet because Austin's missed type, Austin's miss time, Deante Thompson's miss Beasley. So yes, I am. I continue to be fascinated by that position now, you know, it's it's one of those things where you go in, do do you feel great? Is there a Bell Cow guy? Is there that number one guy? I think that they're going to try and

find a way to develop a guy. There's a lot of people that believe that, you know, Cole Beasley is your number one guy. Okay, well that's right now. But you know, could somebody emerge, Could Hearns emerge? Gallop? I mean a lot of people are betting on Gallop, including me. I'm betting on Gallop to be that guy. But he's yet to line up and play in a you know, you know, a meaningful NFL game. Yeah, he's He's gotten a lot of work in the preseason. I think that's good.

I think the report that he's built with Dak Prescott, I think is good. But you know, it's Cole Beasley is your number one guy. You better figure out how to get Cole Beasley open because you didn't do a very good job of it last year, you know. And and and if it means just keep playing him in the slot and letting other people, you know, I mean we've seen Alan Hearns playing the slot some that might be

the way of kind of getting things around. But if Cole Beasley, in fact, it's going to be Dak Prescott's best friend, like I think he will, you better figure out ways and and hey, let's you know it's also the the mantel was also laid at the feet of of of Scotland. Ahand about Tavon Austin, Jerry Jones made the trade and said, you better figure this out. You

better figure out a way to get Tavon Austin going. So, uh, you know, two shorter receivers, two shorter receivers could play a very big role in the in the the the fate of this offense this year for sure. Um, and we're you know five two two nine seven is the number. By the way, we're going to get into, uh, the Cowboys defense more so, this this show focusing on the Cowboys facing the those Panthers offensively, right, and Cam Newton and all those guys, and how they're going to handle

that Kaffrey McCaffrey. That should be that should be fun, right, not going to be easy? No, no, And this is you know, rob if if you want to jump into that a little bit, I don't even yeah right now start yeah, I'll throw that out there. You know, this is a team that's dealing with some injuries along the offensive line, and you know there you know, Corey Robinson was brought in to to try and kind of solidify

some things at the left tackle spot. Uh, they've used you know, Taylor Moten has been a guy that's played a little left tackle there. Uh, you know, they they lost Khalil, they lost him to the injury, so they they've had some problems. They've They're really good though at right guard. Trey Turner I think is an excellent right guard. When you start talking about those guys, you know, with the best guards in the league. You know, the guy at Baltimore, you know, Zack Martin, I think you have

to talk about Trey Turner as well. So you know, we'll see how the fact that they're able to do some things. Darryl Williams, I think their tackle is a good player. But they've got some questions along that offensive line for sure, and so how they're able to mix and match and line up. Dallas has got to take advantage. If you ask me, hey, Brian key to the game,

how does Dallas take advantage? Now, Dallas has had a history of not taking advantage of bad offensive lines, you know, when now it's been one of those things where okay, this is a beat up, banged up giant offensive line all of a sudden then they get no sacks, they get no pressure that you know they can't allow that to happen. Now, I feel like this is a game where it's going to be important to keep Cam Newton in the pocket where he makes mistakes is in that pocket,

you know you've got to make him. It's a little bit like Russell Wilson, when you play a quarterback that has the ability to buy a second and third chance with his legs, make him have to stand there and make throws. I don't think he's as accurate throwing from there when he is on the move, and you tend to see him make some mistakes. Cam Newton doesn't really read defenses all that well. And I don't know how much Chris Rochard and Rod Marinelli are going to disguise

some things. You know they'll probably it's pretty so much straight up. This is a team that uses a lot of eleven personnel and they've got a tight end that plays as a flex player or as a as a detached If you talk about Greg Olsen, he plays more of a slot type. So you know he is an ancient guy but still makes big plays. Yeah, he's the new Witten he's he's going to be the next broadcaster for some but because he's really good at it by the way he does the combine and does stuff and

infil network's really good. But I feel like, though, how do you play? How do you match up against Olsen? Do you treat him like a receiver or do you treat him like a tight end. It'll be interesting to see if and we always say this word a lot, it'll be interesting to see how they do they use. Does Jeff Heath does that become his new rule where we've seen the Byron Jones rule of Okay, big tight end, big body, guy that can that can go with him. Maybe Jeff Heath will be that guy. So they got

a lot going on with this offense. Comfortable that if that's the case. Jeff, I love Jeff I love Jeff Heath playing down. I love Jeff Heath, and I made a big argument about that yesterday on our show on Happy Hour, and I hope folks get a chance to go back and watch that. It was a lot of fun to get every week, just kind of a little bit of thought, but we kind of got into I want to see the Cowboys play Jeff Heath in more

of a down position. I don't want Jeff Heat to be Xavier Woods where it's run up, run up, run up, run up, and no plays, you know. I mean we see that a lot of Xaviers, and that's nice. I mean I want to see somebody in and the thing with Jeff Heath. If you play Heath down, you can use him in coverage if you if you can also use him. We've seen Jalen Smith be an active player in tackling and then Sean Lee. That's three bodies, three

active tackles going to the football. I don't want to see Jeff Heath play at depth and have to keep coming up and not being able to make any plays. I think Jeff Heath has had some good coverage skills throughout training camp. I think he's proven that he can cover people. He could be physical, he doesn't get bullied. So yeah, if you have to, if you have to have a guy run with Greg Olson all over the field, this is not Greg Olson like smack the linebacker and

run a hook route. This is these are routes going down the field. So they're gonna have somebody to kind of take care of that. Looking at this Panther's offense. Yeah, what they did last year. Now, this is a Carolina team. I think they made the playoffs four out of the last five years. I mean in a tough division division. But you know they're statistically last year not as solid,

not as great of a year for Cam Newton. He's taken a lot of hits in his career, hits, and some of that speaks to not just the offensive line injuries they have. Now they've they've been kind of shaky at times before that. M Norv Turner interesting now the offensive coordinator in Carolina. How that replaces Mike Schula has been the long time guy there, a long time guy there. And I know you're familiar with Norv right going back years. How do you think he can bring the best out

of Cam? Well, he's gonna have to make and this will be interesting again I use that word. I'm interested because Norv's offense is timing based and he's got receivers. Though he's got receivers like in Tory Smith, uh funches that kind of guy. Dj Moore is a new addition. You know, he's got guys, that big body guys. If you remember, Norv Turner has always had success when he's had a big receiver and big body guy. Looked back all the way back to when he was you know,

calling plays with Michael Irving and people like that. You know, I just have always been impressed with the with that timing based offense. But you got to get you know, Cam Newton to to buy into that. I think Newton has, by it has bought into that. Excuse me. They've got a running back that's a little bit of a dynamic guy too. When we mentioned McCaffrey that, you know, he don't let the appearance fool you though. He's a He's a guy that um can run between the tackles, you

can hand the ball to him outside. He's a finisher. There's a couple of times in preseason where he had some really long runs just you know, because the threat of Cam Newton pulling the ball and running has kind of given him with some lanes. But Norv Turner does have weapons to work with. I mean, I do the offensive line is a problem right now for him, But

what's north Turner always dealt with good things. If he has a good tight end, if he has some good receivers and he has the threat of running the football. You know, Norv Turner could present a lot of problems to you that way. Yeah, for sure. One thing that stood out to me throughout camp in preseason is how fast this Cowboys defense looks yes sideline to sideline and

a lot of that. Maybe a little bit of a surprise that Jalen Smith has really appeared to take another step physically, right, You feel like they're better equipped to face a Carolina team that present, like you said, presents different matchup problems in terms of versatility both with your quarterback and running back. Shouldn't worry so much about the speed on the outside. This is not one of those teams that I feel like where you have to worry

about this team throwing the football is Cam Newton. He will launch it down the field. You have to you have to be ready for that. He's going to throw the ball up to Smith. He's going to throw the ball up the funches. He's gonna try and hit these guys down the field with some plays. You know, that's just kind of his mo He got a strong arm, great arm talent, always had great arm talent. But yeah,

you're gonna have to deal with it. The speed on the outside is not going to worry these cowboy cornerbacks. It really should. Now, playing the ball vertically in the air should worry. But these cowboy cornerbacks in the way they play. So yeah, are they better equipped to handle the screen pass it's gonna go to McCaffrey, you know, yes, you know, they're better equipped to get Sean Lee there. They're better equipped to get Jalen Smith there. You know, they've got to find a way to get bodies to

the ball. They've got to find a way to get a body bodies into Cam Newton. And we talked about making him play from the pocket, but don't bounce off him. You know, you know, Tank Lawrence, if you're there on the sack, you beat the tackle clean. You're around the corner, you know, you have to make sure that you wrap up Cam Newton. You cannot just go in there with an arm tackle and expect he's too strong. He'll bounce,

bounce off him. And then now it's a scrambled drill and all of a sudden he's looking to throw the ball down the field and there's Tory Smith waiting is you know Byron Jones has dropped coverage. So you've got to be able to get bodies to the ball, get bodies to Cam Newton, be able to handle McCaffrey with your speed at the linebacker spot, and don't let greg Olsen be a killer on third down. Those are going

to be really really keys for this defense. But to your point, the speed is much better, the toughness is better, and they're getting a lot of guys to the ball. We've seen that when ones verse ones in the preseason. The Cowboys have been really really good in that regard. Yeah, and secondary too physical, playing physical, aggressive at the line

of scrimmage with their corners. You mentioned Dj Moore. That's a guy that you and Dave Hellman loved him, loved him coming out of coming out of college for the draft. See anything from him on preseason, Yeah, they've what they've what they've done with him rob is They've they've thrown like screens to him. You've seen some tunnel screens to him. You've seen some just straight receiver screens. They've tried to

get him the ball a little bit downfield. But everything has really kind of been underneath for him right now. And the like I say, the majority of the passes that have gone to the outside that have gone downfield, Tory Smith, you know, Funchs. I keep mentioning those guys names. Greg Olsen's name gets mentioned right there, but you know, don't don't be surprised because this guy is an acrobat when it comes to catching the football. He was at

the University of Maryland. He was one of my favorite guys in watching the draft, one of my top receivers in this draft. I thought the Cowboys would have an opportunity to grab him. A matter of fact, he went right after very quickly after that, they took Layton vander esh here. So he was in that discussion with oh the terrest, Calvin Ridley and Ridley. There were all kinds it depending on who you liked better. Yeah, Ridley. It looks like Ridley will be a fine player in Atlanta.

So yeah, if you needed a wide receiver, those were the guys that were clearly the names to be mentioned. But he hasn't had that explodes at least the games that I watched this preseason, he hasn't had that explode. If game that we've seen, he's capable of the six catch, one hundred and forty yard type game if you get him going down the field, you get him going, you know, throw him the ball in his hands. He's got a little bit of that running back mentality the way he

runs the ball. So yeah, you have to be careful with all that. How do you feel right now about the interior part of the Cowboys defensive line? Because they let a guy go Brian Price that maybe they could have gotten back if he cleared Waiversum. That hurts him a little bit because there's a there's a one technique. They're small inside, right, you know, and then when you're talking about him McCaffrey, a guy who can run between the tackles as well as be about, you know, kind

of an airback outside. Yeah, it's interesting issue because I think defense on the on the outside, the edges, they seem deeper than they've been maybe in a couple of years. Right. They kept you know, all those linebackers, you know, they and they and that's they kept all those linebackers without

really practicing at all. With Layton vander Ish, right, so he was supposed to practice this week this week, Yeah, we'll see if Layton vandersh It's gonna come down to the final spot if they dress vander Esh or they feel better about Covington maybe playing special teams. One of those guys will probably not dress. But I feel like though that a lot of this early defense front seven talk hinges on the linebackers, hinges on the defensive end. But you brought up a great point. What can Woods do?

What can Intwine Woods do? He's going to be your primary, you know, one technique. What is he going to be able to do? We asked Jason Garrett the other day, where do you see you know, Collins, elite Collins, where do you And his answer was more of a three? You know? So okay, well, more of a three? Does that mean do you move him to one? Or the nose tackle? When you kick you know, you kick Crawford inside.

I mean, this is another one of those spots you keep a watch on practice because you know, Carolina very likely to open in that eleven personnel set, which means you're gonna have to match him with your with your nickel passage, which means you'll have, um, you know, he'll have Anthony Brown on the field, but you'll also you know, have to probably Randy Gregory on the field rush in

the passer. So there's a if there is a little bit of a concern is Brian Price at least could have been a rotational player that was maybe a you know, an eighteen to twenty four twenty five kind of a play guy, and now you don't have that. So there's more questions there about how you play the inside rotation. You need to keep an eye on practice. Who the backup guys are inside for sure. And Dayton Jones still out with a knee injury. He has not been moved

to IR right now. They're keeping I think, yeah, they think he's gonna be back sooner than later. So we'll see how that goes. All right, let's take our first break. Eight eight eight five five two two ninety seven is the number. We'll continue breaking down Carolina offense, Cowboys defense, anywhere you guys want to go too, as we get into the meet the heart of week one of the

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and warranty limitations apply. So you love for details. Better to talk in cowboy feeling of freedom where it counts with a contour pouch Brian that nestles the boys. Yeah, like that's your favorite word. With over three million pairs sold, we put in the hustle to make sure your Nestle shop exclusive Cowboys Underwear at Tommy John dot com spord slash Cowboys Welcome back. We got one segment down to to go on a Wednesday as the Cowboys are it's getting set to get back to practice for the first

time in the regular season. Jason Garrett will address the media at ten thirty five. Can listen to that live on Dallas Cowboys dot com. By the way, single game tickets versus the Giants, I know we're talking about Week one in Carolina, the home opener September sixteenth at eighteen T Stadium. Tickets are only forty bucks. Still available single game tickets, get them now before they sell out at Dallas Cowboys dot com. I'm gonna grab a phone call Bryan.

Sounds good, just on the road from where we were a few days ago with our feet of strength driving home from Houston. Josh in Htown. What's up man? What's up? Guys? A longtime listener. I'm actually really happen to be on the show today. Thank you, thanks for joining us. What's up? What's on your mind? Brian? I want to think your brain about something you said yesterday. You made the comment about how I know we're on the topic of Oarl Thomas a lot. But how Arl Thomas is going to

be worth the first round draft pick? Now, what's love we've seen from vanderash this year? Do you think that his pick was worth it? Or do you kind of feel like if we could go back, we would use that first round pick to take you t that's so good? You know, I don't. I don't think I said he would be worth a first round pick. I think where I said he would be worth it. And again I hope that we're not I'm not confusing people. Yeah, I personally think that Dallas needs to give the second round

pick for Earl Thomas. I know that there's been some reports now about they're offering a third Seattle wanting more. Of course that he's still not show up. Yeah, start not showing up. So the problem you're running into now is you play Seattle in week three. Seattle is not going to give you Earl Thomas, you know, the week of the Seattle game. So if you don't get this steal done, Yeah, you don't get this steal done this week or next week, you know you're gonna you're not

gonna probably get Earl Thomas until week four. If that's the case, if you know, if you're in a situation, because I don't see John Snyder giving him up for you know, Seattle week. He's not going to put him on a plane back to Seattle and have him find a way to beat him. Yeah, so I think that that. I think timing is going to be real critical here. But I don't feel like that. The thing that I the thing that I kind of was talking about with

Earl Thomas. I think the most important thing about Earl Thomas being here, and I brought this up yesterday is who is the glue to whold things together? Something happens to Sean Lee. Is it Jalen Smith? You know who is that guy? Who is it to Tank Lawrence? Does he hold the defense? Because we've seen what happens when Sean Lee goes out. The defense tends to drift and fall apart and makes mistakes and doesn't tackle well and all that. You know, that's a great point. I just

don't see. I don't see right now. And maybe I'm will be proven wrong with Jalen Smith as far as being that guy, or maybe it is Tank Lawrence. But when Sean leaves out, they just don't have somebody in the secondary or right now that I think it could be that I used the word glue guy. It's more to me, it's more intangible than it is just him running and making tackles. It's it's the pre snap communication.

I mean, it's like when you watch him get into pads and Oxnard after taking you know, resting early in camp, It's like the practices were louder. The communication just seemed better. Right, he's he is like a quarterback on the field. Is now to his point, If you said first round pick, you know I would have I would have surely entertained the opportunity for Derwin James. I had Derwyn James is

a is a one of my top players. So if you're talking about a safety instead of vander Ish, you know I had actually had Connor Williams ahead of Vanderish on my top fifty by one spot. And then you know with also with Michael Gallup, I believe at thirty seven. So I had three in the top fifty. Either they're gonna be really really right or I'm gonna be really really wrong with my with my assessment of my guys. But yeah, if you would have said, okay, you want

to use a first round pick. Yeah, I would have taken I would have taken Derwin James maybe moved up. There's people will say, well, if you would have just tanked the last game against against the problem, you wouldn't have had this problem that you but you know Jason Garrett's but yeah, but Jason Garrett's jobs to win games. It is you know, he it's his job. And you can't fault a man for trying to win games, especially when it's his job. And you don't want to go

into the offseason with another eight and eight. He didn't want that. He didn't want that. But but yeah, I me personally, I moved the pick. And I know that's a great conversation on TOK Radio on our partners one oh five three, they go back and forth on you know, they're like, I wouldn't do it, you know the three I would hold it. You know this guy, this guy could mean a lot to your defense. He can mean

a lot too. He could solidify the safety position. He could allow Jeff heat to play down like I want him to. He could he could be the glue when things kind of fall apart. He's could be the one guy could stand in the huddle and get the respect of his teammates. You know, he's been there, seeing that, done that, all that stuff. So I to me, it's worth that it's worth to have that guy like that. That is a And people say, well, the money and

the years, and he's old and all that. Go back and look at some of the best years that Ed Reid had, you know, go back and look at those guys. Go back and look at Troy Palomala when they got to a certain age. These guys are difference makers. These safeties are rare players, and especially the elite wines. Darren Woodson, an elite player, probably didn't get the credit did he

deserved for what he did. But you get to a certain point in time, Darren Woodson still was playing at a very high level, even though he was banged up. And I think the same thing. I don't think you have to make this huge financial commitment. Yeah, people say, oh, the fourteen million years. No, I don't think that's the case at all. I think I think with no state income tax, I think you can you can craft a deal that could be very conducive to to him coming

here and playing. You know, I don't think he yeah, he wants to be the highest paid player in this position when he's at Seattle. I don't think that's necessarily the case here. We don't have Mickey here to discuss this, and he'll be back soon. Yeah, I hope so. Um we miss you man, Yeah, we miss Mick. I know he's probably listening right now. You all have gone back and forth about the safety position and fair points. Well,

how important it is to winning a championship. And I look at the great defenses in football that have had that had safety play. That to me is where you know, I want to take advantage of two young corners. I want to take advantage of Jeff Heath's ability to play down and I want to take advantage of Jalen Smith's uh just rebirth as a football player. I want to take advantage of Sean Lee, you know, in the few

more years that I have with him. You know, I want to take advantage of Tank Lawrence rushing the passerd and and Randy Gregory. You know, I don't want to be handicapped back there and no offense to I hope that Cavon Frazier and and Campbell and Woods and all those guys play Gray. I hope. So I hope I'm wrong about that. But I know what that I know

what this guy can do. I've seen this guy. I've seen this guy take a defense that had a really good pass rush and had guys that can cover and make it one of the elite defenses in the National Football League. He can do that. He's got that kind of ability. Yeah, he does. Um, I would still be surprised. And now he can show up by Saturday, I think, And sure he could still get paid for the leak if you know he reports and then plays on Sunday for Seattle. Yeah, I just know in human nature, I

would be surprised if he didn't show up. But see, I've I've gone all along Rob that I felt like that he wouldn't leave game checks on the field. I'm with you. And but you know what, maybe Earl Thomas has enough money put away to where he doesn't need the game checks. Maybe he could sit there in Austin, Texas or you know wherever he is and see out sit there and just say, you know what, I'm just gonna I'm just gonna let it ride. I'm gonna let

it ride. I'm gona let it ride on principle. I'm a prideful man, and I'm gonna force them to do something with me. See, I's got a couple of choices. They could take Dallas's third round pick in two thousand nineteen draft, or they could wait and take get a compensatory third round pick in twenty twenty. That's that's really what their options are right now. Or they can give him an extension and keep him. Yeah, and and it also could gain but there's been no significant negotiations at all. No,

it's a huge Stealema. It's that they're not they're they're both sides are dug in. And yes, do you feel like they missed their chance of it at the draft? Like they if they wanted this deal to be done, it should have been done then. But they said, you know what, would rather have Connor Williams? And that's pretty much. Yeah, Yeah, that's a great question, Kent. And to me, it was more important to them to make sure that they had

a solid offensive line than it was a safety. If that particular player wasn't available, would they have done it? I had a first round grade myself on Connor Williams and he was taken at fifty, So you know, that just shows you that they're valued, that this club has proven one thing they can evaluate drafted offensive lineman. There used to be a time where that wasn't the case at all. But if they have a first round grade on a lineman, it's it's proven to them that they

need to go get that guy. And I and hey, I am all one of the best matchups this weekend or are really a key lynch pin matchup for the Cowboys this weekend will be how well that Connor Williams is able to play against short Kawan short for Carolina because if he has problems, he could wreck this running game.

He could wreck this running game. So you know, whether it's Connor Williams or you know, Jonathan Cooper, whoever that is, you know they needed that spot to be But to your point, Kent, I think yes, it could have been done right then and there. And Stephen Jones was on the phone, and Stephen Jones called back in the third round and they basically said, yeah, we'll get back to you. No,

we're not going to get back to you. A kind of a thing like, what incentive does the Seattle have to reignite the talks of Dallas right, well, that the Seattle needs to figure out the guy's not going to report, Yeah, Seattle needs he's not going to report, right, But he can go to thirty one other team. That's exactly right. That's John Snyder would not be doing his due diligence as a general manager if he didn't call the other

teams around the league. If he didn't call the Raiders, or call the you know, call any anybody else, the Rams, the Buccaneers, whoever else. He he owes it to his club to try and get the best deal he can. No, I wouldn't be surprised if someone gave up a you know, if if if, in fact, John Snyder said this, if he said, you know what, this guy wanted to go to Dallas, I'll take a third round pick, but at another place. Just now, well, yeah, the whole come give

me thing that did not set well in Seattle. That did not set well at all. And he doesn't owe Earl Thomas anything. Earl Thomas gave him some of his best years. But this is a this is a bit. Look you want to ask Dan Bailey about owing you anything. Dan Bailey got a big dosea reality the other day. One player told me. It's a tough business man. It

is a tough stuff and players know, but yeah, still stings. Yeah, you know absolutely, but yeah, you know if if if Earl Thomas, he could end up in a you know, some other town. And John starts say, oh, well wait, you took a third from you know, look what the look what the look what the Raiders did. They had some good offers. Green Bay had a really good offer. But you know, you see Aaron Rodgers playing quarterback for Green Bay? Is their offer better than the Bears offer

if you look at where they could potentially pick. No, No, So the you know, he shipped him off to you know, he shipped him off to the where Gruden shipped him off to where he could get the best value for the picks. John Snyder doesn't owe like I say, he doesn't owe him anything. One more thing about the draft. When you make a good point about Connor Williams and that, yeah they got to that pick. They had a high grade on him. They know the formula that's worked for

them when they've been healthy. That's badass offensive line running game, that's gonna help your defense. And they wanted to fix that, and they wanted to fix the Atlanta Nightmare from last November two. Yes, they absolutely did. That's the route they went. Yeah, And and Connor Williams has had a good camp. Now I'm interested to see, as you mentioned, how he's gonna work with Joe Looney, because I think it's Joe is a good player. But I was looking forward to seeing

Connor with Travis Frederick and Tyrann Smith. He got two veteran all pro guys. Yeah. Now, now he's got to turn around and build that rapport with Joe. Yeah. So one of the one of the strengths of the Carolina Panthers is their inside too. And you look at Short and you look at Don Terry Poe, you know that

that is a that is a strength for them. And so you know when you Connor Williams is going to have his hands full, whether it's Poe or whether it's Short, He's gonna have to deal with power, he's gonna have to deal with some quickness, and he's gonna have to play with some outstanding technique. And you would feel much better about this if, in fact, that Travis Frederick was able to keep that left eye over there on Connor Williams, Now Joe Looney has got to keep that left eye.

I mean Travis Frederick is excuse me, Zach Martin will win his battles on the right side, and hopefully that will allow Joe Looney to to play a little bit more heavy to Connor Williams side. We did see Travis Frederick in the locker room yesterday, um did. He's speaking tomorrow as it hurts some rumors. I heard some rumors you were speaking tomorrow. That'd be great. Yeah, I kind of figure some things out. Yeah, he seemed to be

in good spirits. Has not talked publicly since the diagnosis well yeah, beret syndrome, but obviously they feel encouraged by him, although no timetable for him to return just yet. I wanna grab another phone call absolutely Joel in Dallas. You're up next on Talking Cowboys. What's up, Joel? Hey, guys, I want to talk a little bit about the offensive side of the Cowboys, and specifically, I think I'm throwing

this out as a as a theory here. I think the predicate for the offense we're going to see this year was sort of set in three games in twenty sixteen. Those were the three that dev didn't play. That was against the Niners, the Bengals, and the Packers. In those games, Dak was anywhere from two thirty to two fifty a game through for six touchdowns in the three games, and no receiver had over one hundred yards none, and that was Bryce Butler playing the X, which is generally supposed

to be the prime ry. But my point is, other than Witten now being gone, I think we've sort of upgraded around that, and I don't see any reason why this offense wouldn't work. So I don't know your thoughts on that. Thanks for the call, Joel. It's hard for me to say other than Witten being gone, just what he's meant to this team and as as a safety blanket for Dak and the experience they have behind him. I keep going back to the I keep going back

to the Kansas City game. I was one of the best games that Cowboys played as a team all last year. Chargers was one of the worst. Kansas City one of the best. Terrence Williams had nine targets, nine catches. You know, they were able to run the football, got some turnovers on defense, created some problems for Alex Smith, didn't allow I mean they gave up the one big play right before the half, but other than that, they were really solid on defense. That was the closest thing to a

complete game twenty sixteen win Cowboys exactly exactly. You know, they were able to run the ball with some effect in this Dak made some good throws on the move again, found Williams along the sidelines. Remember they drop coverage, Peters drops coverage. What happens, the ball goes, Dak breaks pocket, throws the ball all the way down the right sideline. That's kind of where I think that this team is trying to be. I think they're trying to be a

balanced team running the football. I'm sorry it sounds very clichic to say, but this team does rely on balance. They do rely on that. The one thing that helps this quarterback more than anything is being in second and four and second and five all day. If you can do that with him and you don't put the pressure. And it's not that he's not capable of making a

third down in seven or eight throw. We just saw too many times last year where it was a third and eighth throw and they try and throw the slant and it gets knocked up in the air. Or they get a drop or he's not accurate. Well, what happens is you're taking Zeke out of there, totally taking equation as an option exactly. There's no threat there on third and eight. Yeah, so absolutely right, and so you know they need to find ways to be to stay ahead

added the chains. Carolina is probably not gonna let them run the football. So that's gonna mean I'll say, Okay, Beasley, Williams, Hearns, you know those guys Austin, these guys are all gonna have to come with plays. Somebody is gonna have to make a play because there's gonna be some bang in the head against the wall potentially, especially if Connor Williams is kind of a struggling with short you know, it might not be as pretty running the football initially. You

don't want to get in a situation. It happened in Denver Laret last year where all of a sudden they just could not run the ball, and then all of a sudden it just snowballed on him. They couldn't move the ball, they couldn't do anything on third down, they couldn't get anything established. They weren't winning on the outside. You know, they have a chance to win on the outside against these Carolina corners a little bit. You got a rookie starting, you know, at one of the corners.

You know I've written about the Dante Jackson from LSU. He's one of their starters. So you know, you got you gotta take advantage of the things you can. But you don't want the situation like I said to have in Denver where you just could not get anything going, no traction running the ball, and then that put Dak in some terrible, terrible spots. Do you have any concern about Zeke? Not concern, but we haven't You've mentioned earlier, we haven't seen Zeke take a hit. Yeah, all preseason

he didn't play. Yes, that bother you at all because I'm of the opinion and I could be wrong about this, but given him five carries in preseason one appearance, yeah, what's the difference. Well, this is where it's going to come down to. We talked about block in short, I mean mentioned Luke Keekley as well. You know he could be a he could be devastating in the running game as well. With Zeke, you know it's gonna be about that. We've seen a lot with this the way the scheme

has been running the football has been pulling guys. It's been angle angle pull. You know, angle angle pull pull. You know I mean when I say angle, I mean down, block, down, block, getting guys around the edge. You know the thing that it's that that right there could help That could help Jeff Swaying, It could help Jarwin, It could help Schultz or Rico when they get in there. You know, they've got to find a way though, to kind of get

Zeke going where. Not only is it just I don't know how good inside running is going to be in this game, Rob. I don't know if the if just slamming it in there, slamming it in there, slamming it in there, it's going to be necessarily the way to go. I think they're gonna have to move. And the one thing we've seen about Zeke is when he does get behind those blockers, you get Travis on the out, or

it's gonna be Zach on the outside. You know, his ability to kind of make that cut fall for four yards even when it looks like even when it looks like it's a short field, they're short, narrow sideline. All of a sudden boom, he's out on the marker. It's a first down. You know, his ability, he's got a sneaky way of kind of making those plays. So they're gonna have to do that. They're gonna have to And this is where I feel like arrested fresh. You know,

he's practiced all the snaps. He's done everything he's been asked to. It's not like they're they're sitting him out and they're saying, Okay, we're not gonna practice you at all. He's lined up at first team tailback every single time. And we've seen it long runs. And there was a couple of practices there an ox start where they kind of took a couple of shots at him, you know, here and there, and he kind of gave a shot

back or two. But I think I think that he will be I'll think he'll be ready for to go of this one again. It's just about blocking, blocking those two defensive tackles and then making sure that Luke Keakley doesn't make every single tackle because he's yeah, he will make every single tack. He's a sideline to sideline. Yeah, he's there. Sean Lee for sure. Absolutely. All right, let's take our final break, come back, continue breaking things down. I got some questions for you. How about that? I

got some questions from Brian broad Us for Rob Phillips. Next, I'm talking Cowboys. Cowboys fans know that the second best of anything simply won't cut it, and your skincare should be no different. A long time locker room favorite of the players and the official men's skincare brand of the Dallas Cowboys, Dallas based Jack Black is the number one best selling men's skincare brand in the country because we make products that help guys look, smell, and feel better.

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to Talking Cowboys. I want to use what the pros use. Jack Black is the official men's skincare brand of the Dallas Cowboys. It's your Jack Black Playmaker for JB faves plus a full sized lip bomb for just ten bucks with free shipping at Jack Black dot com. Use code Cowboys. Welcome back to Dallas Cowboys dot com and Talking Cowboys inside the SWBC Mortgage Studio. We've only got about fifteen minutes left and let's grab another phone call. Brian. Okay,

Frank in New York. What's up? Hey? What's up? Guys? Um So, I had a quick question Xavier Woods. He was playing cornerback for US a lot last year. Do you think our lack of depth but do you think our lack of depth that like cornerback is due to that? Do you think the team values him as a cornerback? I think that the team. It's a it's a good question. He played. He played more as a slot player. That's

what he really really was. They liked him better in coverage than they did and that's why he's you know, he was a free safety at Louisiana Tech. When we evaluate him, I know the draft show guys had him, we had him in the third round, and I was kind of one of those guys that always thought like that he was a better tackler in college than what we've seen in the pros. I'm kind of hopeful that he can kind of develop that a little bit better. But to answer the question, I think that they let me.

I'm surprised that he played as well as he did in slot because I thought he was a good cover man, but I didn't think he was slot worthy of as that. But he's got a little bit he's got a build that would make you think he's kind of got a corner build. Yeah, he's not a tall, rangy guy. He's he's slender and he's got really good feet and so you know that's something that you when you look at corners, their ability to stay in position. You know, they could

be a little bit physical if they have to. But I was I was really impressed because when they put him at corner or when they put him at slot, I was like going, oh man, this has got this has got recipe. They're gonna wear him out. Did they do that in the Hall of Fame game from the very beginning, and it was remember the Rams games. It was a Rams game. We were yeah, we were the Rams game and in the Coliseum in preseason, and all of a sudden, he's covering a lot more and I'm going, man, okay, yeah,

I didn't expect this. And then and then after that, the after the the Los Angeles Charger to Baccle, you know, they started, they just switched everybody around and and and they'd had enough. They'd had an enough of you know, with Brown, they'd had enough of Scandrick. You know, Scandrick got hurt, but they've had they had enough. They just kind of played those guys in spots. And I don't think they view him as a corner. I think they

view him as a safety. But he's got cornered traits that you would you would you can use at certain situations, especially you're playing dime that you know extra the six defensive back might be a reason why two that they only carried four defensive or four corners. That the fact that he could play, he could play a little bit of that Semett slot corner. They did add a fifth corner. He's listed as a corner to coup on the practice practice squad yesterday, so that's a little bit of insurance.

Um Cavan told us yesterday in the locker room he's good. We'll find out how much practice time he does get, though, but they're not counting on Xavier for at least week one, it doesn't seem. So we'll see about how the safety mix shapes up. Who needs to have a bigger game in this in this coming up this contest, Rod Smith or Joe Thomas. Who Rod Smith is a change of

pace or spell zeke back Special Teams, Special Teams. I'm gonna go with Joe Thomas because of what we talked about in the first segment of having to contain that versatile Panthers attack run to the ball ye Cam McCaffrey, and we touched on vander esh and we touched on Jalen and I think having Joe Thomas makes you feel better about something. If something happens to Sean Lee, you feel a lot, yeah, because I feel like, um, well, they had Hitchens last year and there was concerned about

him leaving. But Joe Thomas has quietly had one of the best camps that we saw defensively just I don't know, just being around the ball, just making plays and a guy who can play multiple spots. But I do see Rod getting in there a little bit, yeah, series series two and like you say, helping on special teams. Maybe he makes a tackle. Maybe, and they're gonna they're gonna have to find a way to create some turnovers in

this game. I think, yeah, you know, and I think you have to be ready when Cam Newton throws you the ball, and I mean throws you the ball like okay, he didn't read the defense correctly and now the ball hits you right between the five and the zero. Sean Lee or you know, Joe Jeff Heath will come up, you know with the ball. But you know, like I'm saying, uh, Barn Jones, you have to be able to come up with the ball when when Cam Newton decides he's going

to throw it to you. So I feel like that's kind of the way they need to go some you know, go with some direction. There. Hey we got we got three fourths of the crew back Bill Jones and studio. Yeah, this is when this is when you know he shows up in coat and tie. Yes, and this is why this is why this is why uh TV guys make so much more money than radio guys, because that you break out the nice white, clean shirt, the start not

on the ties perfect. But Bill, we were talking about guys like you know, we were kind of going through Carolina, you know, offensively and the problems that they present. But were I asked Rob this question just in a way of who needs to who do you think needs to have the better game? And I kind of did it in a backup form of Rod Smith or Joe Thomas. If you think about who as a backup player, maybe in minimal snaps can be that difference maker of a player.

M interesting, Um, I'm thinking you know Rod, I think rod Smith, assuming there are no injuries, right whatever, I think rod Smith will have a bigger opportunity because Zeke, as much as they want to give the ball to Zeke, give the ball to Zeke, give the ball to z R, rod Smith's gonna have some opportunities. And so I think I think i'd say rod Smith on that. Okay, what do you got? I had Joe Thomas, Okay, I want to know what Brian has. I think it's I think

it's going to come down to Rod Smith. Okay, I do, and I'm there's a side of me that's kind of like thinking, Okay, you know, he's they're gonna put him out there in some situations, maybe in some nickel package stuff he's been playing. I think the linebacker is gonna have to all play really well in this game. That's yeah, and I and I think yeah, and I'm with you.

I mean, but I also think though, that there's gonna be a time or two where they do for those three four or five opportunities offensively that Rod Smith gets that he if if he goes in there and no game, no game drop pass, you know, maybe they throw the ball to him one time and it's a it's a big play. I'm kind of feeling like that he's gonna have to play a role on this, on this this attack because you don't want to go in there. And what was the biggest problem we had when they took

Zeke off the field? Why are you doing this? You know, why are you putting Alfred Morris out there? You know, if he's not gonna you're dictating that. Okay, now they're they're throwing the ball because Zeke's not on the field exactly, So I mean, I feel like that they just cannot. I don't think either one and I hate ride the fence because I don't want to ever ride the fence. But I feel like that both guys and that's why I mentioned it. But I think both guys are gonna

have to play. Is there a guy, another guy that we're not thinking about besides the kicker? We all understand the pressure. There's no there's no more pressure that you could put on somebody than what this kicker is going in dirt. I can't wait to see the reaction to you guys on the plane. You know, when he's when he's you know, see how he looks. He might be

sitting there, but he might have the airsick bag. You know, he might just have the airsick bag in thirty one A just you know what I'm saying, there's a lot on there's a there's a bigger spotlight on him than maybe anybody going into this game. But is there about it? Maybe as much as Dak give me, give me somebody in the forty six, it's not a starter or something like that that you kind of feel like, not a starter,

not a starter. But this guy has got to This guy's got to come up with something about you mentioned about coaching staff. Is there a on the coaching staff that's got to come up with something? This is huge game. I mean they're all huge. But because I'm on a hand comes right to mind. Lenihan. Yeah, yeah, Lenihan has got He's got to outduel North Turner here, doesn't he I'm moving the ball for sure, for sure. And you talked about tavon Austin, He's got to have a role

for him. I'm on that offense. So not to say they have to be you know, I think that's overrated sometimes, the creativity aspect of it. But what I'm interested to see what role is Tavan gonna have on this team? You know, how how is he going to be? I've talked I told you you guys. I've talked to so many NFL scouts around the league and they're like, hey, what's Austin doing? And I'm like, man, they're using them on the outside. They're doing this, that and the other.

And they're like, huh okay, let's just see it then, right, you know, there is a lot of skepticism. Use that word right, Yes, can't spell it, but I used it and I just I just think there's a lot of people around the league that don't believe he can do it. That he was he's always been just a gadget player. Unless you come up with a gadget plan that he's

not going to have any role in what you do offensively. Well, I, hey, that's fair if that's people's opinions based off of what five or six years in LA and he really didn't have much of a role there last year, he says risk bothered him that right issue. Yeah, I do think before he tweaked his hamstring in camp, we saw signs of him being a solid outside receiver for this team.

Can he carry it over to the regular season? But I thought he was productive and he showed a little more versatility than I thought he there's some doubt in that man question. Yeah, someone that size on a consistent, consistent whoa whoa, let me let me. Can I give you another person then? Or you concerned about Cole Beasley outside on a consistent basis? Yeah, but I can. I can see you line up and then there's different things

they can do, but the traditional what an ex receiver does. Sure, let's not be stuck in the nineteen seventies, especially when you're talking about jump ball situations where you're asking a guy who's five eight to go get a ball that may not be perfectly placed. Yeah, giving up a couple inches or more about Thompson Thompson. Can Thompson be the Can Thompson be that? But I always always say the X factor the X factor guy? Can Thompson be that boy?

Better than Bryce Butler guy? It was just one practice, but what I saw from him last Tuesday opened my eyes said, oh okay, yeah, they may have something with this guy. And that's why I said the other day that I thought it was a shrewd move on the part of the organization flipping him exposed. You're able, in fact, they kept basically all their receivers this way. You know that they knew the market on Lance Lenore, that he wasn't gonna get picked up, making and he would be

able to get to the practice squad. They knew Deonte Thompson wasn't gonna get picked up because nobody saw him do anything in the regular in the preseason. Right, you're going on pro tape Buffalo Chicago exactly, and not a huge it's coming out of that, right, the free agency, he didn't get a lot of play and but I saw a little glimpse there that oh, okay, that's what he might be all about. We'll see, you know. Yeah, but it's just gonna be interesting to see the allotment

of Okay, who's doing why? And I think it may be very from week to week, depending on matchups and stuff. Shoot down my tweet from yesterday Rico gathers as the third tight end Dalton Schultz in active potentially. I mean I could see it now if they know he said shoot it down, shoot it down. You shoot it down if you want, shoot it down, if you want. No, I agree with it. You know the thing that that changed it for me because I might have shot it

down before. Jason Garrett said Rico has done a better job on special teams and that that's if he can do that, that can get him to the game. Yeah, we need to walk out there and see if he's practicing,

you know what I'm saying, Yeah, that kind of thing. Yeah, you know, I mean you need to see if he Okay, is he is he is he wearing the beanie as a scout team guy, or is he is he is a part of the game plats when you know, yeah, that's when you'll know, you know, and the other thing is okay, And it may go a week to week matchup to match up. Okay, But maybe they have a role that's different for Rico than what they would have

for Dalton Schultz. Dalton Schultz is a duplicate of what they've already got active and Rico might provide something in a situation that they can use and that may be the difference right there, mating red zone Rico might have. I think Garrett made a really good point in comparing

him to Martellis Bennett as a blocker. It's not pretty, but when you're two hundred and eighty pounds or whatever and you get into somebody, if you just get into him and hang onto him, it's hard to throw any two hundred and eighty pound man out of the way, especially they're athletes. As long as you don't miss the assignment. Yeah, if he if he whips completely and get somebody hurt, then you'll kind of know what all these coach has felt all along about Rico Gathers. I've said this before.

I think Rico Gathers really benefited from a new coaching staff offensively. I know it's Scotland a hand still the OC, but his old tide end coach is no longer here. And so with that being said, he's got a fresh look on life and then there's really a fresh start and I think that helped him make this football team. How much ten personnel do you think they'll use? I don't see that a whole lot. I don't see that a whole lot. That's one back, just put them all

out there. Yeah, one back, no time. Yeah, I think that that's that's kind of where maybe that's a I don't know if they'll get to that much. I am watching Carolina play. Captain Mummerlin, great name the league, is the starter at nickel corner, and boy he is he's survived being a big, heavy looking guy. But he could play. And so I'm thinking, okay, matchups, how do I you know, how do I get Captain Murmerlin on you know, Underland Munderland?

I would say Mumerland captain Munderland Underland. Yeah all right, mum, it's mun it's mun Munderland's extra him in there somewhere down the line, maybe two extra ms captain the cap anyways, good player, yeah, good players, all right, South Carolina? I think yes, absolutely right out of time? Oh for ten minutes. Yeah, that's good though. Yeah, you offered some insight. That's good. First time for everything. We'll let your host next time, how about that. Okay, let's do it tomorrow. That sounds

good about it? Get us. I'm gonna wear a baseball cap tomorrow, now time. Okay, all right, John from the owner workout here tomorrow. We'll see them all sounds good. This has been production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club