Talkin' Cowboys: Is Amari The Missing Piece?

by Kurt Daniels and Nate Newton to discuss Cowboys Redskins. Brian, anything happened in the meantime since yesterday? Not that I know of? Yeah, and Micky when then Rob went to the museum, right, that's right, y'all got back from Washington. Very safe flight he did. Yeah, it was great. Found out some breaking news about halfway through, did you How did you guys find out? Was Mickey holding the phone

or the radio up at thirty eight thousand feet? Vicky was on Wi Fi on the Internet and saw breaking news. So who who reported it? Internet? On the plane? What that's new? That's k Garrison. We usually don't have internet on the plane. So that's nice. The ship, well, things have moved up here greatly. So who stood up and made the announcement to the plane the Cowboys flying back

from Washington, DC, that a trade had been made. It took a little hang on, It took a little It took a little doing because really funny, I want to hear it him Mickey voice, Real funny guy here, I want to hear I want to hear it in Mickey voice when he when he saw no, I don't know if it's up now. We had started, we had started hearing stuff before I saw a break on the internet. Yeah, all right. Was a lot of people were asleep because it was obviously they played a game the night before

early morning for that museum trip, which is great. Uh huh. So yeah, it took a little doing to get that thing. Mickey didn't stuck in the gallus. You guys act like the flight attendant up front, Susan goes attention, attention, please. The Dallas Cowboys have just traded for Amari Cooper, and one of you poor guys on his flight is not gonna have a job tomorrow. And he found out right when he got off the flight yeah. Actually, all right,

so the trade has been made. Amari Cooper is yeah, headed to Dallas to become a Dallas Cowboy, and the Cowboys give up their first round draft pick in two thousand nineteen. And so we want to start going around the horn. Your first reaction when you heard the news, let's go to Brian. Brian, you know, did all this matter? In fact, we should point out Brian in the last twenty four hours has now gone back and looked at every single Lamari Cooper place. He was Teddy Bridgewaters primary

receiver at Northwestern High School in Miami. You deserve the first word with that one. I'll tell you what though, thank you for the first word. The thing that I was in, I you know, you look at my first thought was good, good this, you know, you know, I've just got to the point now where I'm thinking, Okay, the is this wide receiver by committee? You have one guy that's really really playing well, you have one guy that's trying to emerge. Okay, let's go try and find

a way to help this quarterback. Let's go try and find a way to evaluate him better before you have to give up twenty million dollars a year to see if he can play or not. You know, why don't you give him some weapons. Why don't you allow him maybe to make a throw or two where it's a contested ball and HiT's gonna be caught, or there's gonna be a big play, or there's gonna be a big run after the catch. You know, go out and try

and make a difference here. And I think that to me when you look at your football team and you say, okay, where are we deficient? Mickey's been very adamant about the offensive that's been a big problem. But you look at this receiving corp. It has not been good enough. And so when you sit down and you evaluate it and you say, what's the best way that we can help this receiving corps right now? It is to add a player that is a dynamic player, like a Marii Cooper.

That is that now. If it works out, great, you have the evaluation you have a great player in a Mariy Cooper. If it doesn't work out, it's probably because of a the offensive line didn't protect well enough, be your quarterback can't make throws. You're going to figure this out real fast. Now, it's not about Okay, blame Dak or blame the lack of talent on the outside at wide receiver. This is that you went out and got a legitimate football player. You had to pay a premium

price to do it. He's a young player. He will come in here and he will be a difference, a different player than what you have, and that's exactly what this offense needs. Rob Phillips, two things for me, if you want to argue that it's a good trade and

see both sides of it. He's twenty four years old compared to the guys that are coming out of the draft next year, and you guys are gonna have a draft show later this week players right now, compared to the receivers that top receivers that will be available, he's not much older. And he's got four years in the league. This is his fourth year. They think he's on the up rise. So you're not trading for a thirty something

wide receiver to help. You're still trading for a young guy, yes, and you have him at least for a year and a half. The other thing is I appreciate this front office saying they haven't said it, but actions speak louder than words. This committee hasn't worked. Its wide receiver committee has not worked. Now they've spread the snaps around pretty evenly. So these guys aren't going to have major production, I don't think. But again, one guy could have risen to

the top, and so far it's been Cole Beasley. The three guys they've brought in Hearns, Thompson, Austin who's injured, thirty two catches, three hundred ninety one yards, three touchdowns. The next two leading receivers after Cole are you're running back and you're tight end. They haven't gotten a lot of production out of the wide receiver position. There's no

question about that. My question about this trade for as much as you're giving up in a first round pick that's high value, I mean that that is a premium that's the lifeblood of your team, is your draft. I just is he going to make a big enough difference down the stretch, because particularly on the road for me, because you know, I think we all thought they'd play more efficiently this past week in Washington. The matchups seem better for them, and again they they haven't been able

to function well offensively. And I'm with Mickey, it starts up front. There are other things besides the wide receivers that need to be better and be more consistent for this passing game to have success, and we haven't seen it. And we'll bring in one really talented wide receiver make that much of a difference. We'll see Vicky Spagnola. I

like the talent acquisition. I wish they could have done it for a second round pick, not to first round pick, because there'll be a point next year when you're in April and you're sitting there going, boy, I really need to fix this and you're not going to be able to fix it with the first round pick. But having said that, I guess if you're gonna get something good,

you got to give up something good. And uh, they at least took the step going forward, Uh, sort of admitted that this committee thing is not working out the way it needs to and if nothing else, this guy's going to command the tension from posing defenses and no longer are they going to be dropping safeties in the box and saying, Zeke, you know what, you're not beating me, Zeke. The last two road games had thirty five carries for eighty eight yards. That's not even three yards to carry. Yeah,

he's better than that. Right. The offensive line struggles, but not that bad. Defenses are saying, you're gonna have to beat me throwing the ball. Well, now they've got a second thought coming when this guy, I don't know what number he's gonna have, number nineteen. Yeah, they're gonna look out there, you know what, I better keep an eye

on number nineteen. Then, yeah, and so, and aren't you glad that you ended up with a bigger need than using that first round pick for a free safety, because had you done that, you're not trading for this guy. I don't know a lot of people of initial reaction is they think Joey Galloway. They think Roy Williams. Eighteen years ago, the Cowboys, of course, gave up two number ones for Joey Galloway, which was a twenty nine year old Joey Gage mistake. Yes, ten years ago, they gave

up what essentially was a first and a third. They also gave up a sixth and got back a seventh. But let's say a first and a third for Roy Williams, who was twenty seven years old, And now they're giving up one number one for a twenty four year old who just turned twenty four in June. In Amari Cooper, I think that they had made up their mind after watching seven games this year they were going to have to use a first round draft pick on a wide receiver up or they would have to sign one in

free agent, see exactly. And if they decide that, you know, we got a mid round first round draft pick based on our early projections of the receivers coming out. Nobody's gonna be better than this guy, I mean Calvin Ridley. And he's about Calvin Ridley's age. Hell yeah, how much? Yeah, Calvin Ridley was an older guy too in this draft, if I'm not mistaken. So there were some questions about that. Now,

look on what you said about the previous trades. The Roy Williams trade was a bad one and the bad The bad part of it, though, was they paid him all that money because they had to redo his contract right away too. I don't know if he played a game before they redid the deal and gave him that. It was part of it was part of the deal,

the trade. Yeah, and I know you don't give up two first round picks for one player, all right, we were stupid, Mickey, But he got hurt the first game, all right, and he only played what another year year or two years years without a quarterback? Yeah, by the way, and then he left. They traded him to Tampa Bay or do they cut him? I think they traded him to Tampa Bay. And he had consecutive one thousand yard

receiving seasons. Yeah, so you know, you got this guy for Troy Aikman, and then Troy Aikman is injured, he gets injured, and then there's no Troy Aikman in two thousand and one for Joey Galloway. By the way. On Calvin Ridley, he turns twenty four in December, there you go, and Amari Cooper turned twenty four in June. Yeah, so six months difference in age. Cooper's six months older than Calvin Ridley. And you know what everybody's looking at next year?

Fourteen million. Yeah, And that's the other thing I wanted to point out. The Raiders picked up his fifth year option, and so he is due thirteen point nine million dollars next year. Okay, but they're only paying four hundred thousand this year, so they're looking at it as a two year fourteen point four million dollars deal. Yeah, So for if it's a top flight wide receiver and he plays

like that, then it's a steal for two years. But having spent a first round pick on him, they are I would imagine they are looking at him as being a long term cornerstone player for this team. Now he's Garrett said that this morning. Basically better hope so, because they use their first round picks on those cornerstone players. The difference being this is one that you're going to spend a lot of money on salary wise, even after the thirteen point nine million next year. But they need

that wide receiver. And now the whole question is going to be is he the same receiver that everyone thought he was when he was the fourth pick in the draft four years ago and was a Pro bowler. I think this is going to be a great move for him. I really do. And again I'm I'm I'm saying this because I think he gets out of a situation in Oakland that you know clearly that the head coach didn't

want him there. Okay, he comes to an organization here. Now, yes, you have some things at quarterback, you have some issues at quarterback, but he's going to have every opportunity to be the featured guy. And the one thing he's proven out is when he's been able to be the featured guy, he's been able to have some success. So I think the talent is still there. I think the ability is

still there. I think the desire, you know. I mean, there were some questions and one of my best friends, Michael Lombardi in the league, said, hey, there's some questions about whether this guy really loves football. You could watch the tape and watch him run the football and tell that he likes to play football. You can get that and some of the drops that he had, or him trying to catch the football and get up the field

as fast as he can. Yeah, and there's a report today about the Raiders and Derek Carr and a fractured relationship in the locker room. I don't know if Derek Carr has been the same guy the last couple has neither. So, you know, it's not just the wide receivers in terms of trying to make plays and putting the same numbers up the reference. But he had a thousand yards season each of his first two seasons in the league. So the thing that jumps out at me and I haven't

watched nearly as much as Brian has. For sure his catch radius. He will go up and make tough catches. And we saw it again in the Washington game. Dak is putting balls in play that can be caught and they're not all caught, and they're catchable balls, and quarterbacks need that. All quarterbacks need that. M Deshaun Watson got it in an overtime at Houston from his top receiver. That's that's what they need. When these games that are this close and one or two plays makes the difference.

Maybe this this guy can be the differences. He's a number one wide receiver. But what I saw is a number one wider re saiver. And you think Jerry believes he's a number one absolute absolutely. Jerry definition that he gave last week of being a number one wide receiver was there's basically a handful of guys he considers number one wide receiver. Give a number one mentioned Hilio Jones, DeAndre Hopkins. Yeah, you give a first round pick, you think of guy's the number one wide Yeah you're not.

You're not messing around here, you know. And again I applaud them because there's so many times that we sit there and everybody out there says, oh, they don't do nothing, they don't do anything. Oh why how can they make that trade? And we can't make that trade? And then when you make the trade, when you're a little bold on making the trade, then you're like, oh, I wouldn't have given that. You know, I don't subscribe to that at all. I talked to general manager friends last night.

They were like, going, you know, I wouldn't have given it up. I'm like, I'm like, yeah, you know why you wouldn't have given up Because you're afraid you're gonna lose your job. That's why you don't do that. You know, everybody wants to. I applaud people that want to be bold and try and do things. I really do. When you see something as a problem and you try to go fix it, you know, if it works, great, he fixed it. If it doesn't work, then you figure it out.

It's it's the quarterback, it's the receiver. It's now you start figuring out why. You know, don't don't just sit there on your hands and let this thing just continue without a rudder, you know, go find a way to try and make it better and I think they made this football team better. They had to sacrifice something to get a player that can help them make better. I think it's funny the people that are critical. We're all for paying whatever they wanted for Earl Thomas, and now

that you do this, that was me. I'm not critical to get this guy. It's like, well, what are you doing? You can't do that? Yeah, you know which would be a better fixed the wide receiver or the free safety from what we've seen, and I go back to it could have been easy for the front office to just not basically admit that their direction didn't work. You know, that's that's an admission of we tried something. From a

personnel standpoint, they parted ways with Dez Bryant. They haven't found the production outside of Cole Beasley at the wide receiver position around him, and they're trying to do something about it. Mid season. They look at the standings and say, all right, we lost this close game, but we still have four division games left. We're tied for second place. We gotta buy We got an extra week to bring this guy in and get him up to speed. Let's go,

let's go win this division. I mean, I absolutely credit them for at least trying to do that. We'll find out if if they gave up too much, but this was probably the most glaring need on their roster right now. You find out, though, really about this quarterback you find out about him is it is it the fact that they made the decision for a committee hurting his development?

That is that, you know, That's what you're gonna find out, because if this guy, this guy has the ability to get open, he has the ability to go make plays. If they can't get him going, and it's because of the quarterback, then you've saved yourself a long term of paying this guy one hundred million dollars or so. It's gonna be worth it to give up that that draft pick in the first round to figure out what this

quarterback really is. You know. One of the things I forget that, Yeah, for sure, we talk about the reports that he doesn't have the desire to play or whatever. One of the things that and I didn't know a whole lot about him until just starting to research him here in the last twenty four hours. He's not his personality as such, He's not the type. He's not a

real outgoing type. He didn't love the cameras. He's kind of a quiet guy, which I think he could mesh very well with Dak Prescott, who has that leadership quality. I think Dak takes him under his arm a little bit. But the Cowboys have terrific knowledge about this player on their own coaching staff here with Doug nuss Meyer having done the offensive coordinator at Alabama, yes, when Amari Cooper

was there. Scott Lenahan is very close with Todd Downing, who was the offensive coordinator and before that the quarterbacks coach with the Raiders, I'm sure, and he's now the tight ends coach in Minnesota. I'm not saying that he had consulted with Todd Downing, oh he did, but he has heard the good things I'm sure that Downing has

said about Cooper over the last four years. And so they in their relationship with the Alabama coaching staff absolutely where they feel very good about what type of person that Amari Cooper is. Might be refreshing that he's not your normal wide receipt. Now that's right, that's true. Yeah, yeah, So go do your job, all right. What do you think was the tipping point on Jerry and Stephen and the organization deciding, okay, we need to go ahead and do this right now. On the heels of that game

in Washington on Sunday, thirty five carries for eighty eight yards. Oh, I mean, you look into deep in the fourth quarter and they've got ten points once again on the road, struggling to make things work, and they got a couple of late drives going almost brought themselves back into that game. But again, it's a struggle in the passing game, particularly on the road. And I'm the one who said last week, can you bring in another guy to add to this?

Is it gonna work? Maybe Michael Gallup just needs to be more involved than he is, sort of getting more involved and that's really encouraging, but clearly they felt like it we needed more more if we're gonna go try to win. Basically needs a little help out there too. And Michael Gallup is doing I think the best he can and I'm all four keep throwing him the ball five, six, seven times a game, because if he comes up with four plays, you know, this kid's finding ways to get open.

I mean he is. If he could just keep running the routes the way he is and keep finishing the way they'll get him the football. But I'm like I said, I you look at this and you have to say enough enough. I'm getting tired of why and Thompson hit the ball, hit between the one and the five on his chest. You know, I'm getting tired of some of the things that I'm seeing, you know, a third and a third down play and Alan Herns drops the ball which would have been a first down. I'm getting tired

of that. I need somebody to go out there and make a play for me other than Cole Beasley. I'll tell you another thing ahead, Robin Well and look Tabon. Austin's part of this thinking too, because I don't know when he's coming back. You know. They said wouldn't count on it. They said no surgery at this point, you know, but this could be a several week thing. Probably will be. And that's a guy that they haven't featured a lot.

But in terms of speed and potential game breaking ability, you don't have him, then that's another piece that you're missing offensively. So they just keep wishing there. Well, yeah, keep I keep wishing out five to six weeks. And that's the that's the meteor schedule. Trying to make a run here, Cooper, Gallop Beasley, that better be the committee. There you go, He's right about that. You know again,

we're gonna figure this out real fast. We're gonna figure this out because it's gonna it's it's it's either gonna work with this guy starts to make some plays and helps this offense and they score more points, or it's gonna go it's gonna go south, and then it's gonna be Okay, what do we need to do now? Then it's now on the front office, then it's now. Then they have to look at themselves and say, okay, we tried this, what do we need to do now? You say, oh, well,

they don't have a first round pick. Now, well, okay, you do have cap space. You do have ways to go out and manipulate some things, you know, and do some of the things. You still have the draft to work on as well. But they but they you will figure out really what needs to be done offensively by the end of the season. I promise you that. All right, we're gonna take a break here and in a moment

we come back. And the effect that Amari Cooper might have on this coaching staff and on the game management at the end of games when we come back. I'm talking Cowboys in a moment has been helping Cowboys fans see better since nineteen seventy two. He said, they don't miss a moment on the field. Get glasses with l's best vision, clarity and protection with the Ultimate Lens Package. Three innovative tech knowlogies in one lens for a limited time.

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very good, and we'll take your phone calls. Some reaction on this big trade the Cowboys mate eight eight eight

eight five two nine seven. But all right. The effect that Amari Cooper has on this offense, you touched on it a little bit, The effect it has on this coaching staff going forward, What do you think with nine games left in this season, and before we get into the big picture of that, I think it will have an effect on the way Jason Garrett approaches the end of games, because I think it's going to have an

effect on this offense. And I think, as we touched on yesterday a little bit, I think he hasn't had confidence in his offense to be able to score a touchdown in the last minute of a game at Washington in order to get a yard in Houston, whatever, and he felt like the defense was the strength of the team in that situation, and that's why he'd elected to

punt in overtime. And I think it just opens up It has the potential of opening up things on this offense where he will be more aggressive in his approach at the end of games. What do y'all think? I totally agree. I was thinking about writing about that later today actually, because you can point back to that last drive and say, yeah, where was his confidence level on

his team? Now you can agree or disagree with the decision to kind of play for that field goal, but maybe if you have a again, a true number one, you're a little more aggressive in that situation with a time out in your back pocket. What I'm getting at, I guess a little bit, is what effect does it also have on the offensive line. Okay, you had a

weapon and you've got more opportunities offensively. Maybe they're not putting it in the box from kay because they've got to bring a safety over to account for the speed factor that Amari Cooper has on one side, and you're looking into a situation where you're in field goal range and you don't make the extra plays to try to get further down field because you're afraid you're going to get a holding penalty and knock yourself out of field goal range, which I think was a factor in why

they settled for kicking a forty seven yard field goal At the end of the game. No one considers the downside. With twelve seconds to go, you're at the what twenty eight yard line? Thirty one yard line? Excuse me, yeah, thirty one yard twelve seconds. Okaya, your quarterback had already been sacked four times, it had been hit nine times, fumbled twice, and they had three holding penalties in a

chop block. So four penalties on the offensive line, one bad play, and now you're not you're kicking a sixty yard field goal. No one considers that. Everybody, Oh yeah, let's throw the ball into the end zone. Well, who are you throwing it too? Who do you trust? Who do you trust? The ball is not going to bounce off their hands and get intercepted. You know, there there's

a downside. And do you think they were if they lined up like they were going to throw the ball, that those safeties weren't going to drop off, They would have said, okay, you know, catch the ball. Underneath, we'll tackle you. Well, what if he had to scramble around? How many times did that happen? And there it goes your twelve seconds. So I don't know who you're trusting to throw it too. Either. By the way, I think that's the bigger question. I think you know that it

you know. To me, I look at the situation though you did have Cole Beasley available, because they lose Fabian Moreau on the miraculous catch that Beasley makes on third down, you just gotten hurt. He got hurt, so now you're kind of they're a little bit compromised there. So I can understand if if you wanted to play with Cole Beasley as your featured guy. The one thing I will say is the protection managed to hold up better in

those last two drives. It wasn't great, but you know, and I know Prescott had to run a couple of times, but I think that was run by his own want to just try and make a play. But I think that to me, it's this guy clearly is going to help you at the end of games because he is gonna get it's going to give you another option to throw to. You're gone. Numbers He's gonna give you a guy that can can can go get the football. He got another guy in Cole Beasley that could go get

the football. Before you just had one guy that can get the football and of the field and so you're taking twenty two seconds in between plays. This guy is better than Alan Hearns when it comes to getting down the field. Alan Hearns takes forever to get down the field and then and that maybe that helps you in pass protection because he's not having to hold the ball

to wait for Alan Hearns to clear outs. So yeah, I think that you know to to your point this is it helps you with a big time player on the outside that's capable of playing in a very small area too. This guy's a good small area player. The closer you get the end zone, the better this guy plays. So I'm all for that. Anything to do to get that, like say, to help the quarterback to give him more options and to potentially score more points touchdowns not field

goals and things like that. But to end the game, you know, you need a guy that can go get it and make plays. And this guy's capable of doing that is Cole Beasley, and hopefully the development of the Michael Gallop will be the same way. Now you've got you got three guys in the field that can actually run Beasley with his quickness, Gallop can separate and then Amari Cooper can surely get down the field and separate two. So that helps at least to get the ball out

quick enough and in the two minute offense. And yesterday we pulled up Aaron Rodgers against the Cowboys when he last year in the last minute where he matriculated down the field whatever and scored the touchdown. There was he did it a couple of weeks ago, but we just compared, Okay, how much time does it take for Aaron Rodgers to

work at two minut at drill? Well, he completes a pass to Martella's been it in that game and if you look at the play by play, it took twenty two seconds because it got caught in bounds for them to run the next play, just like it did with the Cowboys after they completed the pass with whatever, went from fifty two to twenty eight before they snap the ball again. Well, the difference that Rogers has is he's

got receivers on the outside. He can throw outside the numbers they get out of bounds, and now you're running plays every six seconds instead of your only receiver that you have any confidence in being Cole Beasley, who works the middle of the field, And now you got to clock it every time that you've complete a pass, and you lose your opportunities in terms of downs to be able to move the football. You said it, I mean nothing more to add to that. You're absolutely right. It's

just one more weapon, one more weapon. Yeah, wait to Terrence Williams returns, throwing some sarcasm at the end too. All right, as far as the the bigger picture of the coaching staff, all right, they've added this receiver. There are there no excuses now the rest of the way this year. I think it depends out that plays. Yeah, you're assuming you're getting Amrie Cooper from the previous two years, right, I'm not, okay, not what I'm assuming. It's what Jerry

is assuming. Yeah, okay, but how are you going to get it? I wouldn't say you've invested in it now. I wouldn't say no more excuses because, again, especially when they're not at home, the upfront has to be better. They've got the numbers still prove it out. If Ezekiel Elliott isn't running the ball, well they're not going to win the game. And it may not matter who. You know,

Dez Bryant was still drawn attention last year. I think when Brian said in our podcast yesterday, you know, Martin Cooper is a better football player than Dez Bryant was last year. But you still had a guy that could threaten defenses last year in Dez, and teams were kind of plaining the same way down the stretch. So and a lot of that had to do with protection up front.

The protection has to be better. That's you can have receivers running routes all day long, but if Dak's getting hit and hit and having to go into medical tent for you know, a potential concussion as he scrambling around, you're not going to be as efficient as you need to be. And so there's other part. I guess that's my question about this trade is there's I don't feel

like they're one player or a way right now. I think there's more that's got to be fixed with this offense Before you say, hey, all they gotta do is get a receiver and they're good to go. They need to go get a tight end. Now, well, we'll see what Swain's injury situation is. Yeah, he's got an extra. Yeah, all four were actives. Would you say it was Mickey a bruise? It looked like it was. He thought it was a bruise. He said, I got hit on the knee.

So he didn't say that's encouraging. Yeah, he you know, it was a ligament or anything. And I could see his knee and swallowing up. And he was supposed to get an MRI probably today or after. He walked around that end. But he walked around the museum. He was there. He went up the steps to the Lincoln Memorial for the picture. So hey, he just put some tape on the play guy. Though he is a guy. He is a tough guy. Those guys were coming up the steps,

Taco Dragon. It's like, come on, you're twenty four years old or whatever. Really, I'm tired. Really, yeah, did you play the football game? Did you play the day before? H did you play the day before? Hey, I'm forty years older than he is. Doesn't compare no problems walking up the steps? Can I can I finish your point for YouTube? Right? You know? I think that there's I

think that everything will be evaluated at the end. I think that the decision the front office will have to look at themselves for what the decisions they made earlier in the season. I think they'll have to be evaluated for the decisions they're made right now. They're they're trying their best to not just sit on their hands, like I said, and make a make a bold call to make this work. I think they're trying to help the quarterback. I think they're trying to help the head coach and

the offensive coordinator as well. I think they're trying to more importantly help the running back so he can have an opportunity. They can't be as one dimensional as they are because we've seen what happens there. So you know, this is one of those things that you know as a coaching staff, you know, Okay, management made a bold move for us to try and win games. We have to do our very best to try and win those games.

So whatever game plans that they can come up. You know, there's been some times where I think they've done a great job, you know, putting players in position to make plays. Just haven't had guys make a lot of plays. Maybe that's why you go out and add Amari Cooper because you're tired of watching guys not make plays when you get them set up. Now, have they had their faults or absolutely have had their faults. But this is an evaluation,

an ongoing evaluation. I don't think anything's changed. I don't think anything. I don't think it's any more pressure or any more or less pressure. I just think it's like, Okay, this is what we have to do right now to see if we can if we can turn this around to having some some offensive success. And if they don't at the end of the day, then they're going to have to say, all right, this didn't work. This didn't work, this didn't work. And then that's where you go, as

a general manager or on office. You go and say, Okay, we need to fix all these things. And I can hear people right now in my ears saying, well, the general manager needs to be fixed, you know, I can I can hear that. Okay, it's not going to happen that way. It's just not. So you know, whatever you have to do to make this work, you know, figure it out. Here's a question I have, and Bill, you brought this up last week, and I thought it was a good point because we were talking about the opportunity

possibility of trading for a wide receiver. They play Tennessee out of the bye and then they play Philly on the road, and that starts a stretch of four games in eighteen days, and that's you know, that's a lot packed into a month. Do you feel like a veteran receiver like Cooper can come in and you know, pick this thing up and there won't be a transition. Keep it and keep in mind the schedule because a lot of people think, well, they got the bye week this week,

and then Nick, well here's the schedule this week. They're practicing for one hour tomorrow and one hour on Thursday and then they're off all weekend. Yeah, the Maori Cooper will stay around and try and think, now, let's he's coming in today. Yeah, what to your point, Bill, what

you said about he's in Scotland Hahn's system. If you look at what you know Downing and those guys, yeah, he's been and then you know that that's where Doug Nusmar knows the player, and then you get you know the fact that this guy has started played through his early part of his career. This new system with grew and I mean three years prior to that he was playing in Scotland. Hahn's system basically is what he was doing. So I don't think this learning curve is going to

be huge for this guy. And I think I just I just see this as being a where he gets out of Oakland, a very toxic situation there right now, where that locker room clearly is looking at each other and saying, Okay, who's next, Who's next? You know, that is a hard way to operate. Here, he comes, it's a second chance, it's an opportunity, you know, to come in here and be a number one receiver, which he can be. And this team is playing for something still,

even though he's three and four. Absolutely, if he can play, he can play. There's no question. I don't want to hear. Oh we're not on the same page. Yeah, yeah, that that's that's what you say when the guy can't play. That's what you say when the quarterback done. Well, he just got here, you know, and he needs time to get on in the same page. Yeah, Matt Castle, Yeah, he needs time. No, he was terrible, Well he was, it's not he's not incorrect. Yeah right, I mean, what's

all what's he done since? See that's what you say. That's your evaluation that you make as still in the league. Yeah, you make your evaluation. Yeah, these guys that they can act like they can win are always going to be in the league. But that's where you know, your evaluation overall is. You know, it's the front office. You have to say, Okay, did we do everything. If I'm the coaching staff, I'm at least I'm at least happy that

they tried to do something. You know, if it doesn't work and then they make a change at coaching on the coaching staff, you can walk away and say that's not my problem. You know, when you're when you're in another team and you know you're sitting in a draft room and you're like, well Dallas didn't have a one. Well, that's not my problem. It's somebody else's problem. So that's why you're on the table saying, Jason, should you know pound the table and say I get I was arguing.

I was arguing, and Mickey and I were going back and forth about this, and I felt like he made some really good points about the whole thing with you know, with Earl Thomas. I was from the art. I was from the argument side of the coaches, where I'm like, yeah, get me as many proven players as I can play with. And I understand what Mickey was saying, what what costs Brian and what cost? I get that I understand, But also I'm trying to look at it from the coaching perspective.

You know what, they could sit there and say we're not getting you anybody, We're not going to help you at all. And the fact that they sacrifice the first round pick to try and help us ought to make you get in your office and get your ass in gear and try and figure this thing out. Well, and how about the effect on the players. I mean, defense is playing at a championship level. You're showing, You're showing,

You're showing your team locker room. You are absolutely you're absolutely showing your team that you know what, A, we're supporting the coach, that b we're supporting you. If they if you know, players get on that plane and bus and whatever, and there's like, God, if we could just get some offense, if we could in Zeke's probably, if we could just get the ball in the end and Daks thinking if I just could throw it to you know,

I mean, this is a commitment. They could have just packed this thing in and said, okay, boys six and ten, here we come. We're gonna take this twelfth overall pick and go get somebody by everybody. They didn't. They're not doing that players. I think players recognize talent better than anyone else. They know question when they play against these guys who can play who can't. And I'll guarantee you

they're excited about this move. They played against him because they know and and you know, in the offseason, think about, you know what they acquired. Did they acquire anything that gave this offense juice? Like everybody got excited, and yes, boy, what did we bring in? You brought in a swing tackle? And I've seen it happen before when you don't know what you've gotten in the draft, and you didn't, you

didn't bring in any juice. Like everybody's fired. They'll say Tavon Austin though, no, and you know he has to be brought up because in camp everybody said, wow, this guy can make plays as an outside receiver, you know, and and but what happened he got fifth you know, maybe less than twenty snaps a game and then he got hurt. Yeah, but he wasn't he wasn't signed him. It was somebody. Yeah, and you know, right when they

signed ring was really excited until he got on the field. Yeah, but Herns, I mean, Jacksonville needed receivers and they didn't keep them. They let him go, you know, and they oh, well he's been hurt. Okay, he's been hurt, but he wasn't hurt all the time. The problem with Herns Mickey is he's got no juice. Yeah, he's he could see it in the game. Yes, he runs, he runs in mud. Now now you you there's some things that he can do. I mean, there's something we've seen him makes some plays.

He hasn't made nearly enough plays, but he's got no juice. Tavon Austin's got juice, but he doesn't make enough places or they don't put him out there to make enough plays. Yeah, he's almost treated as they give him a little package of plays every game. And you know, if I'm if, yeah, if I'm if I'm the if I'm the general manager, I'm looking at Scott Lindhand, I'm like, okay, listen, this is what happened. This is what happened this way. Okay,

I didn't help you here. I didn't help here. I try to help you here, but you know now I'm going to really try and help here. No, trust me. I've sat with Jerry Jones when he didn't have a first round pick for two years. I sat there and watched that happen. Okay, this is not pretty in that draft room. For him to make this decision took a lot,

a lot. And if you don't think he's trying to help Dak Prescott and help Jason Garrett and this coaching staff and this football team, then you're you're you need to follow some other teams, no questions, especially especially with Stephen Jones having more and more influence than Stephen Jones Love's draft picks. They valued the draft more than anything. Look at how young this roster is, and it's built largely through the draft, and it's built pretty well through

the draft. So yeah, you're you're parting with one of your best. You're saying he's given it five years of control for a chance to try and help this football team. Right or wrong? Is a cowboy fan If you're out there ripping their ass for this. Shame on you, you know, shame on you for thinking that way. They're trying to win games for you right now. They're trying to go out and get a player that can potentially make a difference and maybe help your quarterback from being like in

the dark ages throwing the football in the way. They're gonna look at it now. They just got their first round draft pick six months early, and that's the way they view it. Let's see, let's see at about for some guys the same age and the fact that he's got three and a half years of experience. It's not like a rookie receiver coming in. Nothing too kind of. I read all those names yesterday. I read all. I

read them all. Figure it out. DeVante Parker, Nelson Aguilar for Shot Perriman all right, Corey Coleman, I think he's on a practice squad right now. Will Fuller Houston really hasn't developed very much there. They've got a big tim Josh Dodson. How many years has he been having to try to develop? They're still waiting for him. The Kwan treadwell. Think Mike Zimmer's real happy right now with him looking at that big son of a gun standing they're not

making needy plays. They drafted him, you know, he's still hadn't made a play. Corey Davis will see him at Tennessee. Think I had his first touchdown catch like two weeks ago, you know, Mike Williams, John Ross, John Ross, I think he has played three games with Cincinnati. Okay, don't tell me about this, right And you did draft one in the third round this year. That's got some promise, probably better than everybody I named right there. It's got a

lot of promise, probably better than everybody I named. So you know, if you can find a way to get him going and get this guy that you traded for going and continue on with Cole Beasley, you have a chance. If it doesn't work, then at the end of the year, we could all sit down and say, Okay, this needs to be done, This needs to be done, and this needs right now. You're playing to try and win football games, all right, real quick. Let's go to NEBBI and Silver Spring, Maryland. NEBBI.

How you doing uh uh uh uh, I'm doing well. Uh. Today's my birthday, Happy birthday. Well, no way to go, and you know what we we really appreciated you coming and visiting with us Saturday night at the hotel. Got a picture, We posted a picture with listen. I realized that we needed help at receiver, but I think we gave up too much to acquire u Amari Cooper because depending on how Dak Prescott uh plays the rest of the season, we uh uh uh uh we may uh uh uh uh uh uh to draft a new starting

a quarterback. I take care, thanks for being patient with me, and have a great week. Nebbe. That's a great point. Happy birthday, birthday. Yeah, that's a great point. And when we come back, I'm talking cowboys, we'll explore what Nebby had to offer in just a moment. If you're like me and you love I mean, if you have a thing, then cutting the court is scary. But then I found out I could switch it DirecTV Now and still get the live sports I love. No satellite needed, no bulky hardware,

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pros use? What these pros here at the Star used. Jack Black is the official men's skincare brand of the Dallas Cowboys. Get your Jack Black Playmaker for JBL faves plus a full sized lip bomb. How about that for just ten bucks and free shipping at get Jack black dot com. Use that code, cowboys, Mickey, when you refer to the pros here at the Star, are you referring to players or referring to the four people in here? You get your pros? Huh? You get paid to do

this job, then you're a professional. You're not an amateur. Amen to that first definition of the term pros from Mickey's Spagnolas. What depends on which category you're approach. Fisherman too, mister scout over here. Brian brought us this from Joe's

Alito on Twitter. From guys, I have watched Antonio. From guys, I have watched Antonio Brown, Amari Cooper and Odell Beckham are in a class of their own and route running, so it's a winning move when you analyze all the variables, how would you rank Amari Cooper among the best wide receivers in the league. But when you watch him play, though, the thing that stands out is his ability, you know,

the ability to go get the football. You know, whether it's in traffic, whether it's coming across the field, whether it's going down the signs. If you have an opportunity today, sit down and watch him play against Kansas City last year in late in season, in that game, and you get an idea. I mean, this guy, the opportunities that he's had this season or not as many as quality opportunities as he had last season when he was playing. I think the Gruden switch really hurt him as far.

But when you look at him as a route runner, you look at him as ability to come across the field, you look at his ability to get vertical, you look at his ability to separate, you know, the the way that he's you know, the inside routes, the things that he could do. He runs routes at all levels of the field. This is not a guy that's just going to run up the field and he'll throw the ball down the field and hope for the best. This guy catches screens, he catches slants, he catches digs, he catches

option routes. I mean, there's all kinds of things that you can do with this guy. And I and I felt like that the first couple of years, and especially again looking back at two and seventeen. He's a X receiver, I mean, but he could play like a Z where you can move him around and do something. So I

think the route running is fine. He the one thing he is, he's smart to know what coverages are because you'll see him when he when he's going inside and they're playing zone, he'll sit down and catch a ball. Or if they're playing man and they're trailing him, he'll take off running and just keep going on the play

to catch the football. So as far as I just I see a very talented player that you can you know you got, Like Micky said earlier, if you're going eleven personnel and you've put out there, you put out there Maury Cooper, Michael Gallop and then Cole Beasley. Now you're now you're creating some opportunity. Now you're creating you're giving your quarterback options to throw the football too. And I I just I just I love this guy and ability to go in and just go and get the football.

That's That's the one thing that bothers me about the receivers that they have here. Nobody's going and getting the football. Everybody's waiting for the ball to get to them. They need they need a mean sob to go in there and just take balls away from people and you know, and keep these chains moving. We're starting to see that with Gallup. You know, he made a contested catch early against the last home game I was Jacksonville. Yeah, that was a big aggressive you know, go up and get

it play, almost had a touchdown. But you're right, you need more of that. I'm curious to see what the rotation is now. You know who cares about the rotation? No, no, no, I'm just asking what you know our Hearns and Thompson gonna get much now at all? Or you are? You are we rolling with these three guys Thompson. Thompson does nothing for me, He's done nothing for me. I'm just

I'm just asking because we've talked your throat. I'm just saying we talked about trying to pair this thing down, and maybe this is the move that pairs it down. Mickey's right, play with those three guys and then play with Swaying. It tied in, you know, and yeah, you got four guys who can catch the balls. Maybe it Yeah. And by the way, that gaming against Kansas City, it was the first meeting between the Raiders in Kansas City last year. He had eleven catches for two hundred and

ten yards and two touchdowns, nineteen targets in that game. Capable, very capable player there. He was hurt against Dallas, didn't play and didn't play, No, didn't playing around that same time. It was the later game against Kansas City, which he must have got hurt in that game because he only had one target game. See the thing about it is he he got this concuss this year. He got a

concussion against Seattle. The game was played in London, and he got a cushion going inside catching the football and got whacked by the safety. But he went in there and got the football. You know. So to me, I'm trying, I'm trying to I'm trying to get offense. I'm trying to move the football. I'm trying not to be stuck in the mud and scoring ten thirteen points every every time I go out there on the road, I'm trying to go out there and find guys that can make plays.

This guy's a capable playmaker. If it works, it works. If it doesn't work, then again, go figure out what else you need to do. But it will say, oh, well, don't have a first round picks beer. Well, you know what, there's other avenues to help your football team. Two games this year he had a hundred yards. One was at Denver ten receptions on ten targets for one hundred and sixteen yards, and then two weeks later against Cleveland, eight receptions one hundred twenty eight yards and a touchdown on

twelve targets. We'd kill for a cowboy receiver to have behind. I mean, it's kill. It's a bad word. Sorry, Love to have, love to have a receiver that even gets close to getting a hundred yards. It'd be nice. Nice to have a guy to have a threat to has one hundred yards out there. Right, it's been just Beasley and that's it. And on a couple of occasions, and that's been it, all right. You alluded to it early

in the show. Nebbie just brought it up. The effect on the quarterback and the decision they will eventually have to make on the quarterback here in the next year and a half. What does this do. It's gotta it's either gonna it's gonna help him. They're gonna see that he can. Yeah, okay, we made a mistake and going by committee, we got a number one receiver. We can throw him the football. He's reliable. He catches seven to eight passes a game. He gets close to one hundred yards.

You know, we get a touchdown at him. Okay, now we can see, Okay, the quarterback can make throws. He can throw the dig, he can throw the slant, he could throw the vertical routes, he could throw the option routes. I mean you start to see, okay, he can make these plays. If he can't hit a guy that's open and this guy gets open, now it's about okay. We've saved ourselves one hundred million dollars on a quarterback. Hey, take forget about the two fumbles. Whatever. How did y'all

think Dak played in that game? Showed a lot of guts. I thought so too, I said last night when we did the show. He was the best quarterback on the field. He was the best player. He was the best player on the field, I thought, in the first half of that game, and he was swelve out of fifteen throwing for one hundred and fifty yards or whatever it was.

I think what they might have seen out of Dak throwing the football in that game also gave them that That solidified the thought that hey, we let's pull this trigger on this got to get protection though exactly, you know, I mean, he might not see everything down the field, but half the time he's having to look at the frigging rush right in his face. Look what happened when

he had time on the touchdown pass to gallop. He had time to look off the safety on the right side and then come back to the left and let that route develop. Those routes just don't magically develop. It takes time. And he had time to step into the throw. Yeah you know what, you want him step up and into Ryan Carrigan all the time. Yeah, he was trying to God Almighty, Yeah, he's gotta have some time. In the two minute drill. He was thrown over the top

of some people too, Yes, because it wasn't clean. It was not clean, and he made some throws that throw to Beasley. He had, he had Preston Smith right in his face. Now, if you want to tell me there's there's there's some issues now, left tackle, you know there's some issues over it. Right tackle, I'm gonna agree with you. I'm gonna agree with you. You know, we we we came out of here saying, hey, hang your hat on this offensive line. Hang your hat on the offensive line.

The offensive line is letting you down. Now in games. Why they thought they could go with the rotation that receiver they had and run the football was because of the line. Yeah, they thought Dak would have time to spread it around, and he hasn't, especially on the road. I think. Also, and you simplify the personnel groupings and everything, that's going to help the quarterback finding open receivers too.

I mean, just put guys out there that can get open, and put guys out of the field that can finish. That's the whole thing. Give me a guy that can finish, you know, me a guy that when you throw him the ball, it's he catches and he goes up the field. It's a you know, extra eight ten yards physical run. You know, that's what that number eighty eight used to do. In his heyday, he was a catch it finished, physical, get everybody going. No one wanted to tackle him. Nobody

wanted to tackle that guy. This guy's six one, two eleven. I mean, he's go back. I mean, I can't heer what game it was I was watching him. I gotta they were all he catches a ball on the on the seven yard line and he's now powering his way to the three. And now he gets all those big bodies behind and they push him into the end zone. Give me that mean, nasty s ob and I think this guy could be that if we just can find a way to get him the football. It's gonna be

on the quarterback to do that. All right, here's a little softball for Mickey as we wrap up, because I can't hit a fastball. I haven't I haven't heard him. I haven't heard his reaction into the penalty on lp lettuce are at the end of the game. The volume down on my head said, right, yes, I did. When I when I did my fan report, I called the guy number seventy four, I said number seventy four killed him. How does a guy see that far away and make

that call? That's his job. He is the line judge. Yeah, well there's a guy looking right in at the burner. I know that guy. He's number Yeah, that guy looking in his protectives or his last name is Burns. That guy right there was right on top of it. Yeah, and he could see what's going on. But no, this guy thirty yards away said, oh, so the question the question I got, and thanks for doing this. Keep that music going. If the guy hadn't jumped off sides, would

he have made that call? No? Absolutely not right, what do you have he even noticed it? No, no, not at all. So then why do you have to have illusions? You know, don't make stuff up? Call what you see? Ye, thank you? No, keep going, man, keep going. When you think about the prospects that the that the Redskins coach is alerted the officials ahead of the game that to be looking for this, well the coach, the official on the Cowboys sideline made the call. Yeah, that's what's amazing.

So he was standing right in front of Garrett. And you know what, if I was the head coach, I would have cost us fifteen more yards. They would have had to carry me off the field. You might have been like held for hitting the official. I might have been. It might have been like Switzer, I would have not left see this. I would have been out at midfield

chewing his But this is the problem. And if you go back and watch LP Latticeur throughout his career, and he's had a long, successful career, he always adjusts the football. He always you go back. I watched, and I even went back and watched. I watched what Sundberg, the Center for Washington was doing. You know, the only thing LP Laudisur did was when he when he puts the ball

on the point and then puts it flat. They moved when he put the ball flat, and that was to get his guide hand on and that's what usually does. And his argument was, you have to move it a little bit to get your hand underneath it to snap it. But as long as it doesn't leave the ground, which did he didn't pick it up. Yeah, you know, so that's it's never there's difference, and he's never been called for the same thing. He laid the ball down before he snapped it, and that's when the guy the jump.

He didn't jump until that secondhand came on. And I think during that time out with twelve seconds left, the Redskin coaches told the Redskin players to jump and think that they would get it because we don't care about too much credit. That was the only way they were getting the call is if they jump. Oh, it influenced

the refs, sure did, of course. Like I said, the guy who is responsible burns the official there in the birds, if you're watching right now with us, his job is to make sure that nobody lines up over the nose of LP latticer, then he and then he's protected. He did not, and he is standing four feet away from that and did not. And I guarantee you that gentleman has seen hundreds of extra points and field goals and

has probably never ever ever made that call. I might have strangled the guy when he get walking by me. All right. That does it for talking cowboys for this Tuesday, and we'll be back even though it's a bye weight. We're back to talk cowboys and talk more trades. Well, what do you know, ever know what's going to happen. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.