The following he's a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. This he's Talking Cowboys, screening live from the Dallas Cowboys World Hours at the Star in frascol A busy week ahead for the Dallas Cowboys from Oxnard, California. Practices each of the next three days and five of the next six is training camp. Rolls on here from the West Coast, presented by American Airlines,
and we are talking Cowboys. Kyle you Almen's Mickey spag Nola raising his hands because he got his Sunrise bike ride in today. And then Rob Phillips as well as well. It's a it's the start of the Sprint. I guess if this week in the marathon really of the NFL season. We're just underway. But Rob, I mean this is a crucial week for a lot of these young guys on the roster. What are you looking for as we head into practice number four today? About to get to some
good stuff. We got one more practice I believe without pads today and then yeah, Wednesday is everything. All the questions we get about guys, I think you have to you have to couch it with where they are right now in practice starting Wednesday, and then leading up to that first preseason game. I think the evaluations hold a little more water when you're seeing guys not tackle each other, mick, but just a little more physicality and more more like
real football when they're in full pass. What's those pads on? Yes, yes, let's see what happens, and yeah, it'll be interesting. You know. One of the things that I like to point out is, you know, when you playing underwear football, wide receivers are real bold going over the right. Now, let's see if they have any anxiety that knowing that when they catch the ball or try to catch the ball, there's somebody who's going to knock the snot out of them, especially
going over the middle. And these guys have been running over the middle care free, so well, they're not going to get the snot knocked out. Well, but they'll get hit. They'll get out there up guys that have numbers like fourteen and fifteen and sixteen and seventeen seventeen. Yeah, he'll start getting hit. You know, they're not hitting thirteen and
eighty eight and nineteen, but these other numbers. That's fair game. Uh. And then the other thing today I want to see, is you know, after you have a day off, how do you come back lethargic? Are you're ready to go? Because we've seen that here before where you get a day off or two and it's almost like being on vacation, right and you come back to work and you're like, oh, okay,
I gotta get back in the routine. Well, there's no walk through to get back in the routine because they have the main practice in the morning, so to be interesting to see how at ten of they are or if the coaches have to work hard to get their attention. Well, and you've also mentally just look three straight practices. That has not happened this camp, and I'm not sure it's happened. Well,
I guess it happened in OTAs. But now with pads coming on, you gotta get your mind right because this is kind of the start of a mental grind here with three straight days and in pads and that games around the corner, you know, and it's it's probably gonna be most young guys playing, but it's that's an opportunity for guys to stand out on this ninety man roster. Yeah, we're now in the single digits until it's single digit days, I should say, until the Cowboys do travel to Canton.
I think that's a great point that Mike brought up about the lethargic nous of what could happen today. This may not be the best practice we've seen so far from the Cowboys. If they're not if they're not careful, you gotta go back out there. You gotta have that same kind of energy intensity at dan Quinn of us has been doing that on the defensive end. But is
this a good thing for the Cowboys? That practice is five of the next six days, kind of get not only into a routine, but just out of the pitter patter start and stop that we saw from the first really week of camp. Yeah, no, absolutely, And you know you'll get your regeneration day on Friday. It's mandatory, right, it's in the CBA. How many days in a row you can practice, But yeah, you know, get it, get into a routine, get into the grind and and and you know see, if guys see what happens a lot
of times in practices, you'll see Rob mentioned seventeen. Malik Turner, right, the wide receiver had a good day the other day right. Okay, a good camp. Now, can you do it two days in a row? You know, you can't just flash and then the next day you fall back to, oh, who's that guy? Right? So now you got to put these practices consecutively together if you're gonna make an impression on this on the coaching staff. And there's a lot of young guys that you know, we we see somebody flash
and then the next day is well where that guy go? Right? Um? So um, yeah, this will be a really telltale stretch here. I think these next three days. The other thing, too, is when Mick mentioned the number of young players levin draft picks, a lot of undrafted rookies, guys that are in their first NFL training camp. When the pads do come on, Okay, we want your intensity, but we also want to protect each other. Keep everybody up, nobody on
the ground. Um, there's a reason Dak Prescott was held out of team drills in the offseason because they wanted to protect him. So let's be let's be intense, let's get our work done, but let's protect each other too. That's that's when Jason Garrett was here. That was a message to the young guys when the pads started was just you know, let's let's be get we're teammates there, let's be careful. Stop and stop me if I told
you guys this before. But you know, thirty some years ago when they had training camp practice in Thousand Oaks, a lot of a lot of those years early in the kind of the late seventies, early eighties, they would bring the rookies in two weeks ahead of time and kind of get their exuberance out of them. That way, when the veterans come in, you're not sitting there going, Okay, I'm gonna lay that guy out right, I gotta make
an impression. And they would they kind to tire them out a little bit early, and they wouldn't come They would come in here with all their draft choices, and you know, back in the day they were drafting sixteen rounds, and they would bring in all these free agents and they'd bring them in early because there was really no offseason, so that was the start of the season and they'd
they'd work them out and start weeding guys out. You know, I could remember Cliff Harris talking about, you know, when he got signed as a rookie free agent and they told him, yeah, he was the number one guy, and you know, and he's gonna be one of their top dbs. And then he gets the training camp and there's twenty dbs there, you know, and it's like, wait, I thought I was the guy, you know. And they did the
same thing. A wide receiver, Drew Prison will tell you the same thing, getting signed as a rookie free agent and you show up and oh, there's twenty other rookie wide receivers here. So they used to try to do that. And I remember one year, Um, they had signed a somewhat of a veteran running back. So it had been nineteen ninety EMT's Emmett's a rookie year and Stan Smegala wipes out that veteran running back that they brought in and tore as acl and it was a cheap hit
on the sideline. But it was like the first day pads were on, and it's like, hell, you got to get that out of these young guys because they're all trying to do something to gain some attention. So um yeah, but it's good. Now they've had this lead up and when the pads come on tomorrow, they'll at least kind of been uh, you know, acclimated to for a couple
of days. Yeah, you throw, and that'll be something watch, I think throughout the early parts of today's practice and then of course tomorrow whenever the pads do come on. But we've mentioned the wide receivers and kind of the extra confidence that some of these young whiteouts have had over the middle of the field and having some success. We saw Dalton Schultz have a really nice day, Malie Turner,
Oh serious, Mitchell. A lot of these young wide receivers fighting for a roster spot, trying to challenge guys like Noah Brown Cedric Wilson below the top three wide receivers. But I want to flip it to the defensive side of the football. The safety position has been on and off right now. They haven't had the pads on, like
we've said, so they're at a disadvantage already. However, the Cowboys, after a couple practices, said, hey, let's bring in another veteran that we've already looked at, already decided against, and Malik Hooker, and let's at least try him out and see what's happening now. Jerry talked about it the other day rob One. What did Jerry say about the current
situation of bringing in MALIEK. Cooker, a former first round pick, a safety, to maybe challenge for the starting job at safety, and then is safety that big of a concern right now? His comments on Malie Cooker reef. I mean, he's not signed yet, so he said, you know, if he is signed, to your point, he can bring some experience to the group. He's got their required COVID nineteen protocols for coming in and working out and possibly getting signed, So I think
they're almost through those. So in the next day or two we might hear him being signed, and it sounds like they're very interested in doing that because of his experience. You know, he's They brought him in in March and the same time as Damantez, and they signed Casey because I think probably they felt better about his medical situation in addition to the fact that he's been a Dan Quinn guy in the past. But obviously they like what he did in Indianapolis. Hooker did in a former fifteenth
overall draft pick coming out of college. So I think the biggest thing that stands out is what does Mike McCarthy always talk about Dan quinto taking the football away. That's the one part of the defensive identity Mick last year that they kind of got going was forcing turnovers. Lee Cooker, when he's healthy, has done that. And I think they're I don't think they're panicking about the safety position, but they're looking for competition and and really in that
aspect as well. And I think he can bring that if he's healthy, and if he can get back to where he was a couple of years ago. Yeah, and I think that. I think his five day protocol is up. Uh. So I think they can work him out today because they haven't worked him out yet, um, you know. And when they had him in the spring, my understanding was he wasn't ready. You know, he tore his achilles last year. Uh and he wasn't ready to go. So they're gonna
see physically where he's at um, you know. And let's face it, you know, he ain't been sitting there for three months and saying well, I'm waiting for the Cowboys to bring me back and work out. No one else has touched him, right, Um, So I think they want to see where he's at um and then physically, and I don't think they're panicking at safety. They're just saying, hey, this guy was pretty good when he was healthy in Indianapolis.
But let's remember he missed an entire season I think it was twenty eighteen, would have torn acl and then he missed last year. He's tores uh killies September twentieth. M miss him time in twenty nineteen as well. Right, and so you know you're right at Farmer first round pick um. Yeah, he's got seven interceptions in his career, so I'm not gonna go crazy, ooh, this guy's in ballhawk whatever. But he's a He's a classic free safety
that can get them. And I think what they're looking for is, Okay, let's see if this guy's better than the other guys. It's not like, oh, these guys are terrible, we just need to bring somebody in. So we're at a consensus here that this is not a panic set. Yeah, this is a depth signing of anything. Because I mean I even asked the question. I think it was Mickey that I was asking you to a practice the other day. As outside of Casey and jayren Kurr is the next
guy up. Do you feel comfortable with that being your free safety combo or your safety combo in general, I don't necessarily feel that way. I feel like there's a really thin spot right now at the safety position, and I think this could help out. It doesn't necessarily mean he's going to be the starter, but if he comes in and play significant snaps and is able to have a rotation where you're not afraid of letting something go over the top of your defense, I think it's gonna
help out a lot. And then you would think they've already talked about this with his agent about this is what we can afford. You're not coming in here to get Yeah, you're gonna be on a one year deal, maybe two, but the second year is probably gonna have some sort of option in it or something like that. And you're not gonna make much more than the than the minimum veteran minimum, and you might get a little bit of a signing bonus. But yeah, you're not coming
in here to be rich. But again, you don't have a job on July twenty seventh, Right, No, you can't get too choosy, No, you can't. Right, you know there's thirty one other teams out there. They got ninety guys on their roster and no one knocked on my door. Think back to the first week of training camp last year. Ah ha, Clinton Dix just demoted from the first team to the second team, didn't make it out of training camp. I think I think they're looking at that from look,
we want depth. I think when that happened and they decided that, you know, he wasn't going to be a fit, and they were kind of counting on him being a fit potentially when they signed him. They were left with some issues depthwise at safety last year. And they haven't overspent to sign Kzy, they haven't overspent to sign Jayron Curse, and they haven't overspent to sign Kean O'Neill. So I would imagine this guy's you know, not going to break the bank here because there's much left in the bank
under the salary cap. Well, fans are clamoring for them to spend at that position, and they just haven't. They haven't done it. You know, they've they have really been availability out there with some high name safety free as outside. I mean I guess names, sure, Yeah, I mean Amas is out there, we got that. But yeah, it's a little while back, and he's a different player than he was in the legion of Boom. Different different story. There hasn't been that big name safety that's been on the
market to be able to spin like that. Yeah. I have been quality veterans that maybe have some injury history, yeah history. Yeah. And look, they were fortunate last year that Donovan Wilson just kind of I wouldn't say came out of nowhere, But I don't know. I don't think they were expecting him to be this viable starter last year, and they were lucky he came in and played as well as he did, and I think to a certain extent they're going to count on him to be a
starter again. Yeah, you know they. To me, safety is an important position. It is a position where, especially in today's NFL, if you can have a guy that can be a matchup problem and you can move him around, I think there's value there. If they can be better in the front seven though front seven, pass rush your linebackers better, that'll help the safety position, That'll help the
cornerback position. So you know, find some find some veterans who can come in and compete and be solid at that position, so solid and and and let's put it this way, from safety tell me your I'm trying. I'm trying to rile him up. Put put put me your position priority on defense, and then tell me where safety comes in. I know it's right. Yeah. So if you tell me I didn't get to the super Bowl because my safety position, I think you've had other problems. So yeah,
you can. You can look if you find a good one, boy, that's great, But I don't think you have to just break the bank to fill the safety position. Give me a guy that's solid, that doesn't make mistake. But they haven't found that guy yet. And I think that's the biggest issue for Cowboys fans. That Jeff Heath was good, he was serviceable, he didn't cost him games. They what cost him games last year? What did they have thirty one sacks? Go spending money on a deal. I don't
disagree with you there. I do think they've had opportunities to address it. They haven't. Tyron Matthew went somewhere else and kind of helped transform a defense in Kansas City. I mean it can that position can be valuable, but look, they've looked to address other spots. You know, I'm okay with addressing pass rusher and defense defensive tackle. I was fine with that defensive line, spending three picks on that line.
I'm good with it. Yeah, yeah, linebacker fine, you know, And maybe Israel can develop into a safety at some point. I wouldn't expect that this year, but maybe in the next couple of years, maybe he can develop into a guy that's part of a rotation. He certainly has a foundation for it, and he looks the part out there. He's running with the threes right now. Israel mcguama, who we're talking about right here, So maybe he does fit that mold and he kind of works his way into that.
But I think he does, like you said, have a long way to go. But we mentioned the defensive tackles. We've got a fan question surrounding those d tackles. How does the interior of the defensive line look so far through camp? And have they improved upon twenty twenty. We'll hit that next when we come back on Talking Cowboys. Honey, big news, Gary, Are you okay? Oh? I'm not Gary anymore. I'm Jackie Flash. What see? I want the latest smartphone,
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a good job. Heckma hosted yesterday which I heard was a lot of fun. For you can see more with those glasses, see more, better peripheral vision, and and do more and more. See, we've got this down. Mickey's got to get a pair of lenses. Okay, we've got some fan questions. Chris is getting ready with the sounder in the back, because it's time now for some fans on the fifty fans on the fifty boom as always here on Talking Cowboys. We're gonna start things off with sting Ray.
He asked a great question the other day, very simple one today. Any comments on the defensive tackles, of course, they're gonna have a lot of eyes on them, Mick, anything you see sticking out with the interior of that defensive line early on, asked me after tomorrow, Okay, when the pads come on. Okay, it's a little very fair thing. But what they're doing right now on the first team, they've got Carlos Watkins out there along with Neville Gallimore,
and they are really high on Neville Gallimore. He was one of the guys that won the offseason Workout Award, and evidently he is really all in. I'm trying to get better and remember he ended up starting what the last eight nine games last year. Yeah, and there was a reason why he did that, because he really improved.
And and again here was a guy that you probably had high hopes for, no off season, no preseason, and just kind of got thrown into the fire right like all the rookies did last year, without any lead up, And it took him a little while to get going, and understandably because he was kind of playing a different position than he played at Oklahoma. At Oklahoma they were in a three man front and he was playing defensive end.
Now he's in where he should be at the three technique defensive tackle with a four man line, and I'm expecting big things for him, but again, let's put the pads on and see what happens. I mentioned him the first show out here that I think you can mark him down as a starter. That's how they feel about him. That's what he showed last year. I talked to him at minicamp back at the Star and he said, I'm trying to be dominant. I'm trying to be a dominant player.
They think he's got that skill set because he is a good athlete at that position and can be one of those pressure player, disruptive guys. Inside, I'm with Mick. I mean, I think offensive line defensive line pads help you tell the story a little bit better. But also Diggi Zooa had a sack or would be sack in practice oppressive one too. Yeah on Sunday blew up the
offensive line. Yeah, you know, he's He's one I really want to watch in the preseason and when pads come on in terms of can you how much can he crack the rotation? Can he be a guy that gets twenty snaps in the rotation as a rookie per game. I think that's possible because he's He's also got some flexibility. He can kind of play along the front, so he's
won in particular I want to watch for sure. Reminder, olso Diggi zoo was taking seven spots higher in the draft than Gallimore just a year later, so I mean they probably have similar expectations going into it. Now you forget about oh Diggi Zooa and just how high he was taken, because there were eleven draft picks through this draft class. Whereas Gallimore was the third, Diggy Zoola was also the third. But still some pretty high hopes on
their end. And one thing, one more thing on Neville Gallimore. Even with the limited access that we had last year with players, I gotta has to talk with him at the Senior Bowl. Got a chance to talk with him over zoom after the draft, and then I had a chance to talk with him the other day when we showed up here in Oxnard. And every time I've talked to him, I've seen a considerable difference and a considerable
raise in his confidence. And you can see it just in the way that he talks, in the way that he's been around other people. And now that's different, of course, because he's had more time to talk to the media and he's been around this team longer. But if that's something that translates to the field, which I think it will, that's something to watch out for for a guy like
Nevill Gallimore. And let's not forget Bohannah, and he would be the type of guy that you got to see him in pads and see just what he can do in the middle of the line to kind of hold up. And you know what impressed me with him in the mini camp and OTAs was the fact we're talking a six or four guy that's three to thirty or least that's what they got him listed at that moves like he could be a tight end. So I like the fact that he's got good feet and and and he's
and he's mobile at that size. So when the pads come on, let's see what if he can make an impression and earn him some snaps. When they drafted him, I just I immediately thought of don Terry. Poe just immediately thought because just a huge guy inside who can help plug the run and and create you know, create less space in the run game. Poe did not do that. You know, he's done that through about to say, Bohannah, right now, I'm not making a direct comparison. I'm saying
what the role is. And Okay, I think and Mickey's point is right, Like he's for his size and he's been listed at different weights throughout his college career. I think he's like you said, three thirty here, three sixty was one listed weight at Kentucky. Whatever he is, he doesn't move like one one and less meal when he when he's not a tree stump, this guy can be active defensive line. Yeah. Yeah, So I'm be interested when the pads. Come on what he does? If he's not
a tree stump? What was don Terry po Don Terry Poe was basically a broken downfrigerator. Okay, could I was about to say, could could we say it on air? I think that's a pretty good one. Okay, here's Ernie switching things to the offensive side of the football. He asked, this offense has struggled with slow starts in the past. Have you been able to see and this isn't just really around training camp, but he maintain individual games. I'm
getting correct in games? Have you been able to see the differences in areas of growth of Kellen Moore's game when it comes to tempo, execution and situational football going into his third year. I don't know. That might be overthinking it. I don't disagree that they've had slow starts, even when Dak's been healthy. They've and I don't know if I can put my finger on it why, but they have had trouble going back to twenty nineteen kind of getting out of the gate. It's not every game,
but it does happen. I will say, situationally, what we've really watched the most is the two minutes stuff, and I think Dack's been really good there so far. Um. I think all all three quarterbacks did a nice job in the two minute Mick the other day, really well where Nucci and and Danucci was working with the seconds too.
But yes, because Cooper Rush has the back spasms. But it was a situation where it was either a tie score or they were down by two with minute and change left, had to drive the length of the field for a field goal to either win it or tie it. And I think all three quarterbacks they stopped the drill by the time they got in field goal position, so it was it was a good It was good work
for all three quarterbacks there. Yeah. Yeah, I'm you know, slow when he said slow starts, and I guess he meant in games because correct, the first five games they averaged thirty two points a game. So you know, I don't know what happened in the first quarter, but you know, uh, if they didn't have slow starts, they might have averaged forty a game. I guess, good point. It's a good point.
Maybe that's something that Kelly Moore can work on. Speaking of kellw for touchdowns, right, yeah, go, I'll see some sixty yard passes right out the gate point of the game right find the end zone. They did have some games playing from behind and they and a lot of turnovers. Yeah yeah. Uh. Emilio asks any new updates for Amari Cooper and DeMarcus Lawrence. There possible return dates. I believe
Jerry spoke on this, right Mickey. Uh. Jerry said after Arizona UM, DeMarcus Lawrence can go out there and play a game right now. Okay. I watched him do his rehab this last practice and he's he's running like his hair's on fire. Uh, doing all the drills uh and moving really really well. They're just being overly cautious with him, uh, knowing that he doesn't need these mini camp practices. You know, you didn't have him in mini camp before. He doesn't
need mini camp practices. When the pads come on and they feel like it's time to go, he will be ready to go. We'll see an Amari. H. I at least saw him, um what days today, Monday, Tuesday, Tuesday, So Sunday he was out on the chords. That was the first time I had seen him on the chord. It's always a good son. He might be able to do being doing that and just didn't do it when we were around. But again, I think with him and he's pretty particular, so I think they're just being cautious
with him too. But I think by the time the season starts, both guys will be ready to going out. I think almost everybody that they put on pop UH should be ready. You know, it's hard to know on Gholston when you have a hamstring like that. Um but too. And Tristan Hill, they look he was working hard yesterday, I mean the day before UH, because he was working out with with Lawrence and he was doing all the same stuff Lawrence was doing, and he was running really hard,
and he's all in. Here's kind of their thought. I think on Tristan Hill, they got it. They got these defensive tackles, right, you got one that you put on pup. Now, do you want him competing with all these other guys that are fully healthy or do you say, you know, I don't want to cut any of these guys. Maybe I leave him on PUP for six weeks and then by time the six weeks are up, he'll be even further removed from his torn ACL I'll probably have an injury or so along the way and then I can
activate him. So I think they look at Tristan Hill as being in their hip pocket right now. He's almost like an unofficial reserve is basically what they're going to use that pup list as. And I think there's no
rush to get him back out there. And like you said, with the amount of defensive tackles that we've already spoken about, I think it is without And we didn't even mention Bret Urban, right, Brent Urban, Yeah, yeah, well he's look Tristan's also three hundred pounds, so it was coming off an injury like that usually takes a little bit longer than it would for a Blake Jarwin. So I want to kind of switch this back over to the offense
really quickly. A couple of questions coming in about Connor Williams taking the backup UH center reps yesterday and maybe being that reserve center should something happen to the starter Tyler Beyotish, is there a possibility and this is from Scott by the way, is there a possibility that Connor Williams could move to the starter spot at center and then maybe a Connor McGovern who played really well down the stretch last year move into the starting left guard spot,
any chance at all, I don't see that. I think I think they're looking for Joe Looney's replacement in house. Tyler Beotish is good. He is good. He's good. He was better than Joe Looney. So was that smoking the fire again? I think, so you did it this time? I did it? Yeah, I mean, do these guys watch the games? He was he he had won that starting center job after Looney went out with his sprain knee and then he got hurt right, and then he missed four games, and then you know, by time you get
back in the swing of things, it's two more. And I think they just thought, look, for continuity's sake, we're gonna we're gonna leave uh Looney in there. This kid would have won that job in the off season. If he was an off season I'd completely agree. Freak thing too, didn't he hurt his hamstring and warm up up that that was? That was twenty in a nutshell. So I don't want to to to ridicule Scott. I think he does probably watch the games, and he's probably not hating
on Tyler Ben. Yeah, I mean Scott name so, But I think maybe the concern that that Scott may have or maybe even other fans out there, is the availability. Connor Williams was the only player on the offensive line, starting offensive line to play all sixteen games last year. And if out of all of your offensive line coming off an ACL coming that which is extremely important, out of all the offensive line spots, what's the most important to have a rapport with center. Gotta have a rapport
with center. So maybe that's some of the thought process that goes into that question. But I agree with you both of you. I don't think it's ever going to happen. I think Tyler Beotish is the guy. I think it's his job to lose. Just you have to have a backup at center. They don't have a backup right now. They've had Connor Williams focusing on guard yep or Connor McGovern folks, excuse me, focusing on guard. H Brandon Knight is focused on guard. So they've maybe they've got that
position set up. Yeah, they don't have a backup center. And what tells what's interesting about this though, is if it works out and and it's it's an adjustment period for Connor Williams. He didn't really play the position ever. Um. They he said after practice coming out of college, they looked at him as teams looked at him as a tackle and a guard. Um. So there's an adjustment there,
see if he can do it. But it tells me they're willing to, you know, switch to positions in the starting five if they have to, which tells me maybe they're open to doing what they did last year before Zach's injury. Well at right tackle if I did, but or left tackle. But answer this question, if it's not him, who's the backup center? Uh? And don't tell me Forniac it's not we would be I think week one, but he is. Braylon Jones was the other one rookie free agent.
Can have anybody other than Beatish on this ninety man roster that took a snap at center in the NFL last year. I know that's That's that's what's worrisome. That's why with that question, it's Tyler Biadis's job. There's no questions about that because of what they haven't done at that position. Connor McGovern played it at Penn State. He could play center. For whatever reason, they're leaving him kind of guard, letting him focus on that. But the last
time he did that was forty years ago. I know. I'm just hey, we're just digging down here. Who Who's who? Has snapped a football? Yeah? Yeah, side, Oh, I've snapped a football before. I have to get in there, Mick, there go gunning snaps didn't go five feet over the
guy's head. Goodness gracious. I think week one you see Tyler Beotish as the starter, Connor Williams is the backup, and I think after the Cowboys going get a win on the road at Tampa Bay on that Thursday night, that Friday, I think you see seventy three getting a call. I think Joe Looney will be in there because by that point there's no guaranteed veteran deals along the way, and maybe that's what they're waiting for him. Maybe that's
what they're waiting. I think he as long as he hasn't eaten himself out of an opportunity and he and he's ready to go, I think it's a possibility that they look like he's in their hip pocket if they need him. I think that's exactly the thought process right now. All right, I've got a game for you guys when we come back on the other side of the break, it's a little this or that. I'm gonna give you some questions. The way you have to drink beer to do this? Uh, if you want it's some Miller lights
that'd be great. I feel like there's got to be something around here, Chris, let's hook it up when we come back here on Talking Cowboys. Hi, I'm Clid Tillison with United aggin Turf. Before you can park yourself in front of the game, park yourself in a John Dear and power through your chores. Our land Run package is a ten twenty five R twenty five horsepower tractor with a loader, rotary cutter and a box blade for two twenty nine a month. And the price you see is
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at AT and T Stadium this season. A limited number of single games, standing room only tickets are on sale now. Get yours today at Dallas Cowboys dot com, slash tickets to Cowboys returning back to AT and T Stadium week three of the NFL season and get a chance to uh start on the road this year. And plenty of time until the regular season. But man, we are right in the thick of things here in Oxnard, California. Rob Phillips, Mickey's bagnola. I'm Kyle Yomen's I got this or that
game coming up for you guys. Oh, Mickey loves games. Mickey, first time I asked, these are like things you do at the bar when you're drinking beer, right, you play these games to play these as brought us and he had the best time. That's fun. Let's do it, Okay, what Unich can have the biggest jump from last year? Well, no, okay, so specific position groups, So I'll give you five. I'm giving you five choices defensive line, cornerback, running back, offensive line, linebackers.
So four of the five choices are on on defense. So can or needs to can? But most likely to have the biggest jump from last year to this year? Most likely linebacker? Why is that? Because they drafted one in the twelfth pick in the in the draft, it's pretty good. Do you think that will happen? Do you think it will be the biggest jump? Yeah? I think so, because Layton Vanders is going to be healthy. Uh, and there's gonna be a lot of competition on who's going
to be on that on those top three. But if if, if Micah Parson is on the field where he will be, uh, they'll make the biggest jump. Offensive line. Why is that? Because everybody's healthy right now? I would say offensive line can and will needs to. Defensive tackle, They've got to be better on the interior defensive tackle. That's why they spend all those draft picks. That's why they signed Britt Urban,
That's why they signed Harlos Watkins. That that was a huge emphasis in the off season, and that's you know, they really need to be more effective there especial scifically against the run. Yeah, you can't be thirty first again against the run in the NFL. You can't do that. That's not a not a thing. Okay, So so who you got? Oh I got? I would actually agree with you on linebackers, Okay, I think because I do think Layton vander esh will have a healthier year hopefully everybody
on that word. Again, he was a Pro bowler. He very year, very good, but that happened. Happened in like forever with the Dallas Cowboys to have a rookie linebacker go to the Pro Bowl. And he's got a chip on his shoulder that declined his fifth year option. He's got to find a way to either one go into a contract year with a good season or to try and stick around and get a long term extension. So either way, I think he's got a chip on his shoulder.
He's got a mentally focus off season behind him, because he even talked about that a little bit, and I think he's somebody that could take another jump. And I think the rotation with Michael Parson, I think they got a plan where he belongs on the week's side. Yes, I agree completely, all right, what positions have the best odds for regression? Going the other way? Who do you think could see a little bit of a downgrade this year? I put I put four here. You can add one
if you want. Quarterback, wide receiver, safety, cornerback. Um, it's kind of tough, right because I feel like on paper, you feel like you've improved in a lot of spots. Yeah, it is tough and maybe safe. I don't think there's anything that just sticks. Safety is gonna be worse than last year. That's what I'm saying. It's kind of what I was thinking, is it's gotta get better. And really, even those positions at corner you drafted a guy in
the second round. Yep, you had some injuries. It's it wasn't season ending, but Anthony Brown missed half the season, Like you have depth there, Yeah, digs should be better. Missed almost the entire season. Yeah. Um. I talked to Trayvon dig I asked him yea the other day about things that you you see. He said he missed some opportunities. He said, I got my hands on fourteen balls last year and only got three picks. Not good enough, he said, he got He said all of them were in his
mind interception worthy type player. And let's see how Nishan Wright plays with pads on. Yeah, yeah, agreed, they might be better. Name were the four options again? So I put quarterback, wide receiver, safety, cornerback, well, quarterback. If number one doesn't stay healthy, yeah, you know there's an other position. Who's the backup? Yep, That's kind of why I put it there. I'm not necessarily saying Dak's gonna see a regression.
That's the only thing I could see is if there's injuries corner, they've got to be better, you know, they got to be healthier. They need Kelvin Joseph to step in and be able to play. That might be the closest one or safety. Just because we just talked about it for a segment, there are questions about who's gonna start. Yeah,
how's that rotation gonna look? And if Donovan Wilson doesn't have as good of a year as he did in twenty twenty, but maybe that safety spot is a worse, worse off in the world worse, I mean, who it was, it was pretty bad. But he could definitely get word just trying to answer the question, what did what did they lose? Uh? Oh they did? Yes? Yeah, okay? And and and I still think he was underrated. He was misused last year. They were playing him like a linebacker
in the nickel defense. What he should have been He should have been deep Wilson should have been the box, the box safe instead. And they were using him as a linebacker at what skinny two hundred and fifteen pound maybe twenty two fifteen maybe maybe. And the other team's playing two tight ends and he's playing in the box. Seriously, I can't disagree with you there. Okay, I'm gonna move on to this final question. The Olympics are happening right now.
It's been a hot topic of conversation. I watched the women's some girl named Tops thomsonmas Is Thomas. It was Thompson unbelievable. She was nuts. She can go up, she got these long arms. And when she goes up to spike the thing, man, she not missing. No. They swept China three straight sets in China's defending champions. Nice about that. You got a USA Olympic shirt underneath three cowboys, don't flash anybody, but I mean you got the you've got
the shirt on underneath who who? There? You go from Olympics. Spratt and I bought these, uh twenty sixteen the mall when you went to Camerario. No, oh, okay, everything was on sale because these four years ago, yeah, four years after that. Okay, who would be on your podium for best Cowboys of all time? You've got three minutes to tell me why you got a gold, silver and bronze. Best players ever? Yeah? Ever, just for fun, I just if you want to find a different topic, you can.
Mean it's pretty I mean you if it's easy, tell me. You're gonna say Roger Stobuch right, yep, hence the gold, right, unless you want to argue with Troy Achman got heath on there, Jeff got heath on there. Maybe he's a bronze the goat David Ellman's shout out, Yeah, goodness, gracious, I would I put Roger, Yeah, Bob Lily's got to be on the podium. He was, he's mister cowboy. I put him bronze. I'd put Roger gold, I put Emmett's silver. That's my exactary. I didn't turn out in our little pole.
I actually went back and looked at it. Roger was one, Bob, Lily was two, Emmett was three, Akman was four. Yeah, that's that was pretty good. But I flip flopped Lily and Emmett. That's that's my only change. I put him as silver when I voted on it, I had him silver too. I missed the pole. I didn't see the pole you voted on it didn't. It was a while back. It was like last year, long time ago. Oh yeah, to sixty of all time. It was like the sixtieth
anniversary thing. I thought, you mean you put it like a Twitter Okay, yeah, yeah, top sixty. Yeah, Roger, Emmett, Bob Yeager. I agree, Bob good with that. I think I had Roger, Troy, Emmett, Bob. Oh, that's pretty good. I'm Troy with it. You can you can substitute Troy and Roger, right, I think they're I mean, it's a default, right you go to Roger. But I think there's an argument there. There is definitely Rogers there. Yeah, Captain America,
all that stuff. I mean, people somehow even you know, when it started coming to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, voting Aikman for Granted, he was good. He was good, and they weren't there without him. I guarantee you that I don't care if they had Emmett and Michael and that offensive line. If Troy's not there, they were not there, no doubt, just simple as that. Well, he's fourth on the list right now out of the ones that we've mentioned.
He's not like fourteen or fifty. No, that's why I said he was second, and that's why I said it's a good argument him or Roger. Well, there you go. I love that. I just kind of wanted to pick your brains for a little bit. I haven't been around very long, so I'm trying to see where i'd stand up, and I thought catching up. I'm trying. I'm trying to get there. But that's gonna do it for us here
on Talking Cowboys. Busy week ahead. We've got practices in each of the next three days, five of the next six. We'll be back on Thursday to break it all down for you, and then again on Saturday for Rob Phillips Mickey's bag. No, I'm Kyle Yulmans. We'll see you next time on Talking Cowboys. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.
