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This He's Talking Cowboys, springing live.
From the Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters at the Star in Frisco.
Six past second, Pascot tizonasdown and now.
Your hosts Isaiah Standback, Patrick Walker, Josh Rodriguez and Kyle Yeomans.
Welcome into Talking Cowboys, presented by Black Rifle Coffee Company, live from the Star in Frisco, Texas, in the SWBC studios.
It is the bye week, everybody, and we've got Brian brought us, Barry Church and Chris Beam in the back, back in the fold and game. You're on this Talking Cowboys a wonderful Wednesday edition.
I'm Kyle Yeoman.
A little bit of chilly outside.
Right baby, everybody's got a little fleece action.
Going on, and Barry's looked like he's ready for eighteen today. You see, that's gotta be able to swing. That's a movement, that's gotta be able to turn on that ball.
Yes, indeed, if I started a timer from when I sign off and I say we'll see you next week on Talking Cowboys, Yes, sir to the point where you t off on whole one. How what would the time be today?
That's gonna take me probably about forty get under an hour.
I'm on.
I'm not going to tell the.
Fans where you're playing, because then there will be a line out the door to see Barry Church to me.
Off, He'll take your money, he'll take your movie playing with today?
Who am I playing with?
A guy by the name of Ali and Broderick. Ali played for the for the cardon Us for a while. Projects just stick out there, mad dude's unreal on the golf course.
So you got to play with What is your handicap right now?
What are you shooting at fifteen? I'm a fifteen okay, So I'm just trying.
To get better than when we were just talking about around that year.
We were like mid forties along the way brought us when you when you pulled out.
That jacket today, this fleece today.
How how many times have you pulled that out of your closet period?
But the l issues, Yeah, I got more LSU gear. That's my love right there. I mean that that I live and die with my school there and yeah, so yeah, it's it's a but yeah, I enjoy I got a lot of a lot of my head. I was telling you about my We were talking about Starter jackets. Yeah, I was telling me about stuff we used to wear in Green Bay and it was like a sleeping bag. I had to still have this long like jacket that went past my knees that you wore in those games
when it was like, you know, ten degrees. Starter used to make some badass jackets. They still do. We were talking about today. You break them out, they're like and I have a bunch of packer ones that I kept. Always kept my rain suits because of the playing golf, for going fishing in them. So like there were a lot of times like I would take all my gear when I was leaving a job and I would just leave it in my locker, just bag it all up and okay, it's yours, but I take the rain suit.
So you might be burying on me, be playing golf, and I'll have on a Jacksonville Jaguar, Jacksonville Jaguar rain suit all black with the little logo on it, you know, and you guys could mention that Jackson Well, I used to when I was in Jacksonville Bury. I understand this I used to live in Panda Vidra. I lived at TPC and matter of fact, I lived on the at the eighteenth Green. There was the team doctor of the Jaguars.
He let me rent his house. Oh wow, yeah, and so it was like it's kind of a little bit of a funny story. He goes. He goes, hey, you have a place to live, Brian, and I'm like, no, I don't. He is, I got this place at Sawgrass, Doc, I'm just a scout. It's a scout. He goes, two thousand bucks this nineteen ninety eight, and I said, two thousand bucks. Wig, what's the hook? He goes, I don't want the wife to have the house and the divorce
in this house, I mean this house. So like I had pro golfers living around me, and doctor said, I don't want the wife to have the house. So yeah, he rented it to me.
While I was that's awesome.
That course is unreal.
It is. I used to walk out the back door and literally had like my little carry bag and I played nine holes of golf every day after work. I drive. But you talk about yes, Barry was time from the time from the old Alltel Stadium, the Gator bowl to where I was living in Ponavidra there. I mean I could time it. I mean I was just twenty minutes cammera down and I got as soon as I walked in the house, I threw my keys, walked out the back door, had my club's waiting at the door, and
went onto the course. That's what we were playing.
So when you were playing every day, what was your handicap?
What were you Yes, I got the would I would shoot in high seventies. Wow, I got to the point where I was playing and then and then it's so funny when I left. Matter of fact, when I got the Cowboys job. You know, when Larry Lacewell called me in nineteen ninety nine, it was the summer of I was working in Jacksonville, but I was angling for this job, is what I was doing. I was standing in the eighteenth fairway at TPC when Larry Lacewell called and said, hey,
we want to bring you in and all that. I said, great, Yeah, I really do appreciate look forward to seeing it. And then it hit my shot to the green and made the butt and that was really but.
Like everything's finally coming again.
But when I came to Dallas. When I came to Dallas, I was like, you know, it was like I stopped playing, which was weird being from here, but having the ability to walk outside and play every single day, you know, at least to get exercise. I walked nine holes and carried ten clubs and played those ten clubs the whole day, you know. And so but yeah, when I came to Dallas, and then I was we were laughing about Terrence Newman and golf and stuff like that, and playing out a TPC.
So it's a great, great game.
It is the second day in a row we've had a golf reference. In the opening segment yesterday we were talking about we were talking about the Cowboys want a mulligan, and today we're talking about the strokes and the handicaps and all sorts of stuff. It definitely is fun, but no such golf this weekend for the Cowboys. Maybe somebody will play some golf, who knows. But right now it's really kind of a time to focus in and try
and fix some things. We talked in depth yesterday about what a realistic expectation for a bye week should be.
Sure, it should be.
The coaching staff in the front office, doing some self scouting, doing some self reflection, and trying to turn some things around. But from a player standpoint, you're off and there's not a whole lot you can do other than your own personal training and your own specific routines that these guys go through. But it gives us an opportunity to kind of reflect on the first third of the season as well. And you guys remember getting a report card every six weeks back in the day for a little this six
week report guards. He either got a good grade or a bad grade, and you didn't want to show your parents either.
Way, learn how to sign their name exactly.
I love how Chris is chiming in on that one. He's like, yes, sir, got it. I want to give some six week grades the.
Report cards for the first start of the season, and I'm going to split it up defense, then offense, and then I'm going to categorize the last one as quote unquote leadership. Sure in the final segment, but we'll start with and these are individuals. I don't want to do units. I want to do individuals based on what you've seen so far this year.
I'll start with Trayvon diggs.
Berry Church I'll let you start here.
That's grading.
What would you give Trayvon Diggs in his first year or first couple games back from a huge injury last year.
I was thinking about this a lot, you know, coming in on the draft, I saw the rundown. I'm looking at the dig situation there, and to me, it's tough.
It's tough because.
I played with a lot of good corners who gave you both physicality and was able to cover as well. And Diggs has made, you know, plays on the ball. So far this season, he has done that. He's gotten beat as well and get up some passes as well. But he's made some plays on the football. But the reason I'm going to give him got to give him a C plus on this one. And the reason I do that is because I've seen too much consistency as far as not being able to come down and make
a play on the run game. And now I know that's not you know, the cornerback's primary role, primary roles to be able to go out there shut down receivers and take the football away. I understand that. But with the corners I played with, the great ones, at least they were able to give you both you know, the
Jalen Ramseys of the world, the AJ Boyers. When he was at the top of his game, they were able to lock down wide receivers, make plays on the football, and if the ball ended up coming their way running wise, they weren't afraid to stick their head in there. And you know, so far this season, I've seen too many, you know, inconsistencies. I don't want to say turning it
down or making business decisions. I don't want to say that, but there's been times where hey man, you got to stick your nose in there.
You got to make the play.
And if you do that, it turns a ten to fifteen yard game to maybe a five yard game, maybe a six yard game, and you're able to rally as a defense. But to me, I've just seen too many instances Baltimore Detroit, whatever game you want to call it, where the guys were getting ran down, where teams were leaving him on an island saying we need you. We're going to see if you want to tackle. We want to see if you're want to stick your nose in
there and do this. And there's just been too many times where I haven't seen him come to the calling and make the play out there. Now, if there's one thing, if you want to stick your nose in there and you missed the tackle. I mean everybody, there's nobody's perfect out there, but you know it's another thing to where you know, the effort just isn't there.
So to me, I'm gonna give him a C plus on this one.
You know, I still like his ability to make plays in the passing game, but to.
Me, he just has to be a little bit more.
I want to call it physical because that's not his you know, it's not his cup of tea. But just give me a little bit more effort in the run game because your defense needs.
It's a C minus because his technique is not really good right now. And we mentioned yesterday about the routes that Williams got behind him on the midst of the jam. We talk about the third down play against Baltimore where they got the to kind of get the first down to to keep the to keep the drive going to Dallas, could have got the ball back, they maybe win that football game. You know, Uh, it's unfortunate his technique has
not been nearly good enough. There's been too many times where, uh, where he's had, he's trailed, he's missed with his hands, things that he is generally pretty good at. Is the knee injury? Is it one of those comeback things where we've seen this before with guys like Pollard and Steel and guys like that, where all of a sudden they're trying to play their way through some things. You know. Yeah, you talk about the the stuff with the tackling and all that. I mean, I've seen this guy make tackles.
I saw him in a game against Cincinnati, I believe a couple of years ago, maybe last year, where he where they ran a third down play on a crossing route tackle, the guy made it play on fourth down tackle, the guy got the defense off the field. He's capable of these things. When he plays good technique, he's one
of the better cornerback in the league. When he doesn't play technique and he doesn't want to stick his nose in the action, right there, he's just a guy, and right now he's playing like at a C minus level. If he approves the things that we've talked about here, you're going to get a much better football player. But through the first six weeks of the season, I've seen a guy that looks pretty average right now, Yeah, or below average.
I'll split the difference between the two.
I was gonna say, see right up.
So I agree with you and everything that you said when it comes to Trayvon Diggs. It's been that way before, where there's been parts of his career where he doesn't want to come down and hit.
Yeah, but like you said, the ability is there.
I've seen him do it before going into the injury last year. That was a huge key for him, and how well he played through the first three weeks of the year was because he was showing physicality and he was going downhill.
That didn't lead to the injury, no doubt about it.
That was just a freak thing on the practice field and it just was unfortunate the way that it happened. But his physicality in the game was apparently better all the way across the board than it had been the year poor. We haven't seen that. I'm seeing twenty twenty two physicality, not twenty twenty three physicality from Trayvon Diggs. And I think there's there's ways that he's been good. He's had he's made some plays, he's been decent in coverage.
He's only allowed eighteen receptions, which is top twenty five in the league right now. But the thing you got to remember, their teams aren't necessarily throwing that direction. They're throwing toward Kaylin Carson, They're throwing toward Amonioliwara.
You also see those explosive plays of the eighteen go back and look at him. Those are you know, the big plays and stuff like that. So you got to be careful.
With nearly two hundred yards receiving allowed, so that's yards per reception about eleven. And he gave up some big plays against New Orleans thirty nine yards per reception and then last week against Detroit twenty yards per reception.
So that's not cut it.
Not that he's not an all pro right now. He's not playing at an all pro level.
He's he's certainly he's baited at all pro level before level before. He's just right now, he's not Chris Games.
About what we see so far.
Always in saw films, see across the board, all right, Eric Kendricks, Bryan, I'll let you see Eric Kendricks.
You know, I felt like they really missed him in the game last week. I mean, he every week you look up with the tackles and where he's at that to me is a C plus level right there. Every week he leads the team in tackles, but you're kind of seeing some things that some a little bit you thought maybe there's gonna be a little bit better coverage stuff. You thought maybe there was gonna be a little bit of downhill play. There's been times where he's been fooled
on plays. There's been times where he's missed. There's been times where he's been late to the ball. You know, he does, he does find his way to the ball. Some of the finish hasn't always been great for him, but he is, Like I said, it's nine ten tackles a game, but he's getting a lot of opportunities to do that. And so I kind of feel like that that level right now is right about a C plus.
Okay, yeah, I'm in that range as well.
I'm gonna go see when you talk about Kendricks out there, and like me said, he's all over the field as far as making these tackles.
But and I know he's you know, a year level. I get it.
You know, you kind of lose a step as you get there, as you get older. I was a part of that as well. But there was just times in previous years where you would see this guy knife through the line, like he.
Would just get through there, get low, get skinny through the.
Blocks and make plays. We just haven't seen that. We haven't seen that so far this season. And I get it. It's tough when you got you know, offsive lineman on the second level like that and you got to shed them to get downhill to make a tackle.
I understand that.
But I've seen guys with worst defensive lines make those same plays.
I played with the Orlando mcclaim.
I've played with a Shawn Lee where our d line was nowhere near the level that this Disney line for the Dallas Cowboys had.
They had guys in their lap.
And you still believe that right now with Tyrus whet and and.
Well, if we're talking about of the season, you know, I gotta go about what we've seen from the entirety of the season. Yeah, so to me, you know, he's not shedding, he's not shock loocking releasing as much, and he's and he's the finish like but Brian is talking about this guy I'm used to seeing, all Right, you're gonna hit a guy and you're driving him backwards. That's what I'm used to seeing from m Kendricks, not a guy falling forward and getting leaky yardage. Those two three
yards falling forward, they add up over time. So to me, you know, I'd like to see a little bit more thumb from him, and hopefully when he comes back from this injury, you know, we'll see a little bit of that old Kendricks.
I think I'm a little higher than you guys are.
I'm going to say a bee just a straight B, not being minus just because one, I'm taking in account what you got.
Him for in the offseason, which is what not much.
And you went out and you got a guy that could be this centric part of your defense with the green dot, the leadership ability, and a lot of times he's trying to do those things where he's trying to get skinny, he's trying to shed blocks, and he's trying to do all these things, but the entire defensive line is getting washed out. He's not getting a ton of help from the interior defensive line. And when he did it was in one game, specifically against the New York Giants.
For Mazzie Smith's in his.
Best game of his career.
Eric Kendricks is a very capable player, very capable and heady player. I think he's probably the best linebacker you have in terms of football IQ athleticism. It's just not there because he's in year eleven, and so I'm gonna give him a little bit of a break there. I'll give him a B. But I'll start this next one since I went last on the first two, and I'll start it.
Off Mozzie Smith.
So this kind of goes hand in hand to me D for Mozzie Smith, straight up D. And the only reason I don't give him an F is because I've seen improvement and I think from training camp on the expectation is you want to see more from Mozzie Smith.
Check the box. He's done more. Has he done enough as a former first round pick? Absolutely not.
Has he done enough to make me solidify or make me think they've solidified the interior of the defensive line, Absolutely not. So I'm going to give Mozzie Smith a D. I want to see more from the Giants game. What he did against the Giants. That's Mozzie Smith I need. And that's not even really the be all end all for Mazzie. I want it to be higher than that. I want that to be the floor, but instead that's been the ceiling so far.
Yeah, it's a d and it's and you're absolutely right about the thing that always scared me as a scout was a flash player that every once in a while flashes that ability and then flashes and you talked about the Giants game, and you know, there's something there. There are there there are say there's twenty five plays. There are four to five plays where you go, he gets it,
that's what you have to do. And then the other plays are kind of not negative plays, but they're not you know, it's not you can grade him on twenty five plays and maybe maybe sixteen of them are just neutral plays where you just he didn't really do anything. It wasn't you know, it wasn't. He wasn't a he wasn't a liability. Last year he was a liability. He's far less the liability, but there the expectations for him probably were really really low coming in. He had a
great game against the Giants. You kind of saw that ability that he has that they saw at Michigan, but we haven't seen that nearly enough. And and and that, and that's a big, big problem for them right now.
Yeah, give me a give me a D minus.
And the only reason I'm not, you know, going to that F is because, like you guys just said, we saw a little bit of it in the Giants game. But you never want to be a flash player. You never want to be that where you just show up every now and then. You always want to have that consistency.
And that's what makes the great ones the great ones, you know, the consistency no matter what happens, no matter what's in front of them behind them, no matter what the team is looking like, they're going to play great.
You know.
So when you talk about a Masi Smith, this is a first round pick. Now, this is not an undrafted guy that you know, came in he's a project, none of that. This is a first round pick. So I have to grade him on that, and from what I've seen so far, it's a D minus because you know, he just hasn't solidified that interior that you know, we thought he would be. And there's a lot of pressure because he was supposed to be the guy to come in and this guy right here is.
Going to solidify this run defense and it just hasn't been there so far.
So to me, can he improve? Of course he can, but right now, from what we've seen so far this season, I gotta give my guy D minus.
See. The thing about what's happened with Mazi is the run defense overall. It's been so bad. Yeah, well for you know, for three games, especially all three games at home, but it's been so bad that it's overshadowed that his inability to really make plays. I mean it's like, well, take your pick. You want to blame it all on Masie, Well you can blame it on We talked about Kendricks, We've talked about Digs, We've talked I mean, everybody has kind of taken a turn at not doing a very
good job playing this run defense. And Mike Zimmer included. You know, it's a defensive coordinator, I mean trying to figure out ways to to stop people, slow people down, but they have not had the consistency that they need to play really good run defense.
Well, and I think the grades that we just gave for all three of those players, I mean that's a player at each level. Defensive line, linebacker, corner. I did that on purpose, but the the it was C, C and D. It is kind of the if. Then let me tell you of average yea, the only player that I would give an A two on defense is Jordan Lewis.
Absolutely, that's what that's. I mean, you could you could say, you know, with Tank, you're probably a C plus B minus maybe there uh Micah Parsons, you know, you know me a B I yeah, I think so maybe yeah, C plus maybe there too. Uh. You know. It's but if you if you said, hey, give me who's your who's been your best, well, your most consistent defensive player
throughout this whole thing, it's been Jordan Lewis. So if you said, hey, throwing a who's your best, give you an A, Jordan Lewis would be my guy.
Interesting, I agree with him on that one. Jordan Lewis has been playing his butt off in the slot. What about the safeties real quick?
Too many mistackles for me, too many mistaples.
I mean, I know it's it's one of the toughest, you know, jobs in the National Football League when you got a guy running at you in the open field and you're coming down. But that's what you get paid to do. You got to make these plays. And it's just too many mistackles and I see too many shoulder dives, Like I don't know what happened to, you know, just hitting and wrapping up and coming up with a body part.
But everybody's going in there trying to just blow up everybody and you can't.
It's kind of been Donno's calling cards.
He reminds me about Guy will Cox, who I played next to.
I mean, when he connects, hit.
But you gotta but man, just you know, have you ever seen Berry You remember that practice in Oxnard where JJ went after Dez.
He knocked his block off.
I have never seen. I have never seen a player throw hands as fast as he did. He hit Dez like three four times.
Was this the fight.
I think I got? I think I got the picture on my horn phone sweet like because I took it when I was watching tape. I'm like, god, dang, he hit him. He hit him four times before Dez even knew what happens. I've never seen. I was like thinking, pro boxer, pro boxer hands. It was like, you know, like ye, I mean, he was it was crazy, but will Cox was a nut. That game was crazy. But I've never seen I've never seen a guy fight that fast.
It was quick.
Yeah, yeah, said he had the bow. Bullcock's got his helmet knocked off.
See okay, I mean he's like you see these dreads just flying.
It was crazy. I love it.
I love it. So there's the defensive side.
We'll give Zimmer a grade here in the final segment, but when we come back, we're gonna get to the offensive side.
What's the great for CD Lamb right now, gentlemen?
Is it?
Is it higher than passing at the moment. We'll talk about it right after this with more talking cowboys. If you're looking for fresh American roasted coffee that gives back, you need to head to your local grocery store and pick up a bag of Black Rifle Coffee. That's right, America's coffee is now available in the coffee aisle of a grocery store near you. Black Rifle Coffee Company is veteran founded with a mission to give back to those brave men and women who have served our nation. Every bag,
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To the Talking Cowboys. Back here on Talking Cowboys. This portion of the show is brought to you by Quaker.
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Got the bowl?
Yeah, eighteen seventy seven. Yeah that crazy watch You get your oags this morning?
Are they yes? Quaker Battle Got Battle Creek Michigan? Or is that kills good? Quick question? Battle Creek, Michigan. I just want I just always remember companies where they're is that like a headquarters. It's a Chicago in Chicago, Okay, but I think maybe it's kill Ogg's is Battle Creek, Michigan, So I'm sorry. My apologies to Quaker Oats. It is Battle Creek, all right, Well, my apology.
Dallas Cowboys.
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Don't blame him. He's not on our show every time. It's fine.
He's got blockchain dot Com on the on there, there we go. Brian brought us my apology, Barry Church. Sure, I'm Kyle Yeomans. Barry was funny when when Brian in that last segment he called Manzi, he said, you fear.
A flash player. You don't, He's not.
He wasn't calling Mansei flash player, but you fear that as a stout. Were you ever called a flash player in your career? Or is there a worse in soult because you kind of reacted like you kind of like shuddered a little bit, like I mean, yeah, what was the worst thing anybody ever.
Called you in your career?
Like a legitimate you know, any disrespect to you know, my guy d Mac and anybody else who cut their teeth doing you know, the teams, the team stuff, because that's you gotta do it, you gotta do it. But yeah, man, I was you know, he's just he's just a special team team and.
You know, no disrespect, no disrespect.
But to me, that was extremely disrespectful because I felt like I was better than the guys that were in front of me at the time. This was year maybe two, so I was playing heavy on team your team, but I didn't want to get labeled as that because then they put you in that category and it's like, oh, he can be nothing more than a special teams guys. So no disrespect, but you know, to me, I found that extremely.
Just like being called a one trick pony exactly.
That's no disrespect to TJ. Goodwin, just everybody.
I mean it by no disrespect, but you know, hey, I couldn't there.
There are a lot of terms that scouts well and you know, and scouts deserve sometimes for evaluating players need to be called the same thing. But when you call a player like stiff, oh yeah, you say this guy's a stiff player. You're thinking this guy can't move, he's not athletic. You know that, that to me would be that that would be that would be a bit now there there's some other words too that we can't pronounce.
We can't do that, and they send in a meeting and when you hear that word, you just kind of go, okay, you know, let's move on to the next guy.
I feel like being called slow, but like even then, like if your forty time is slow, then yeah you're slow, you know. I feel like that's a huge disrespective, Like I could play faster than that.
I'm not a track runner. I'm a I'm a football player, you know, Like.
I feel like that.
See that's about that, you know. I knew I wasn't a fast guy.
That was all top.
Right because I'm not gonna be able to make up with it my speed, so I had to be in the right place at the rights ad.
I was just curious.
I was curious because you did you kind of you were like, oh, like when you said flash player, like you don't want.
To but yeah, you don't want to be that. You really don't. You don't want to be a guy that like you make one play and then you disappear for six. Yeah, you don't. You don't want to be that guy.
No, not at all. Is this guy one of those guys in twenty four.
Oh no, I mean he just said it, make one play and then disappear for six ce D.
Lamb, what's your grown?
You don't wear that. I don't want to go first.
Brian, you want to start it.
Yeah, he's playing at a sea level right now too, and you know, C D level.
D level.
It's unfortunate, you know. And this is this is where I need to maybe reevaluate what I thought of CD Lamb. And I was believe I was the belief veteran receiver, veteran quarterback, and people were trying to tell me that, like, well, hey, they didn't have training camp together, they didn't do this, they didn't do that. And I was like, it's too veteran players, they've known each other, they've gotten better every year, every game they gotten better, they got better. There might
be something to that. There might be something to not having a training campaign. Now, okay, we're six weeks into this thing, right, We're six weeks into this thing, but we still have the mistakes of wait a minute, I saw that safety standing over the top and I threw the ball to the out and you still ran into that safety. You know. We see we've seen the red zone turnovers. You know, there's something that veteran quarterback and veteran receivers should not have to go through. And that's
the unfortunate part of it though. What's amazing is that And I was just looking at metrics. I'm in this weird mode now in my life where I look at metrics, so I like to look at the film and I'm like, Okay, wait a minute, you see this, But does it really that the story Ceedee? Lamb's in that mode right now where an off coverage, he doesn't have as nearly as many,
he's less targets and less receptions than he's had. His number against against press coverage and man coverage are still the same, and what and he's still having the same production that's been on track. Where he's fallen off a little bit is off coverage when people give him state they haven't they haven't targeted him and they and he hasn't hadn't had the number of receptions that he's had in the past. Now, maybe that's because you got some other guys that are kind of maybe some step up,
some guys stepping up and getting other opportunities. But that's something to me not getting the ball to Ceedee lamb is. There's no excuse for that. You know, if there's off coverage, we saw what he could do in off coverage that rowdy ran the other day. Whereas one hand across the middle, we saw that. So there needs to be more of that involved. But right now, he's not playing at a level where he was with Jefferson and Chase and those
guys that were accustomed custom to see Hill. We're accustomed to seeing him play at that level. He's not near that level at all.
Yeah, I'm gonna go see minus on this one.
And for everything Brian had just said to me, like, I don't know, I'm not in that locker room, you know, I don't know if it's not the amount of targets he's getting, if he's not winning this, that and the third. But he's just not the player that we've come accustomed to seeing so far this season.
And I can only go back. You know what I saw last year.
I mean, this is a guy who had seventeen hundred plus yards fourteen tds.
And no matter what the situation is, there was no excuse.
I mean, we saw this guy get triple team double team safety over the top and they were still getting them the football. He was still winning on rounds, getting the ball in the open field and making guys miss. We just haven't seen that so far from Cede Lamb this year. The explosive plays, getting the guy to the ball and letting him do work his magic as a YAK receiver yards after the catch.
That's his biggest to me attribute out there.
Once the ball's in his hands, he's one of the best at making guys miss and getting those explosive plays.
We just haven't seen that so far.
So to me, I'm gonna give him a C minus just from what I seen so far this year, and knowing that the player we saw last year was that good.
I mean he was right, like you just said, this.
Is one, you know, Suggs almost like Zach Martin with the level of like you've set the bar at the sigh you can't get out, and now if you're not getting there.
I was kind of curious just in the middle of the segment. I look this up and I was kind of seeing where he was at the bye week last year. Right, I'm going to read these two stat lines and then I'm going to tell you the difference between the two. So this is twenty twenty three seed LAMB at the bye week thirty four receptions, four hundred and seventy five
yards and a touchdown. Okay, thirty four four to seventy five in a tudy this year thirty two receptions, so only two less four hundred and sixty seven yards, which is only eight less and two touchdowns, which is one more.
So in terms of total production.
Right around the same. Not the same though between the two.
Last year his yards per target nearly twelve yards per target eighty one percent catch percentage the comparative to this year under eight and a half.
Yards per targets at sixty so.
The catch percentage significantly less. He's been targeted fifty five times this year as opposed to forty two going into the bye week last year, so he's had thirteen more targets and two fewer receptions. So even though the total production as a whole microcosm you look at yard stats, touchdowns, whatever, it's there, the production in the efficiency of CD LAMB is not.
And that's what we're talking about. So I'll give him, I'll give him a c he can get better.
Oh yeah, And honestly, he's still your best receiver, he's your he is your best weapon.
So I'm not going to give him a D or anything close like that.
But if we're grading on a curve here, like we kind of have been already, he's got to be better as your number.
One guy you want to CD.
Lamb should be nothing less than an anus at any point in a season.
And he's got a C right now. All right, Moving on.
To the rookie Tyler Geydon. I know we missed last game, but we're grading on five games here. I want to talk about Tyler guid In. What's your grade so far?
Bury?
You you skipped on.
I'll go first on this one, and you know Brodles will be able to break this down a lot better than me. I never, you know, played the offensive line, but I.
Could just go bay from very good at it. But I could just go back from what I see.
And I understand he's a rookie first round pick, but I'm gonna give him so far.
Uh.
I don't want to do this to the man, but I'm gonnave him a D plus and and it's tough because he's gone through a gauntlet of pass rushers from you know TJ Wide, Cam Jordan out there.
I mean, you got the guys over in Baltimore.
So he's gone through a gauntlet of guys. Miles Garrett, I mean, he's gone through a gauntlet of guys out there. But from what I see, you know, the pressure is giving up, the sacks giving up, and more importantly, the penalties that have become Dravet killers at times. To me is why I give him the grade that I've given them.
You know, from from training camp to this point right now, he's shown those flashes like he has the ability, the feet there sometimes you know, hands here and there, but he just hasn't been able to put it all together. And maybe that has to deal with the gauntlet of guys he's gone against. But like I said, I can only go by what I see on tape, and for me, I'm gonna give him a D plus.
Okay, Yeah, it's a D right now. And the problem that we're running into is we're so used to the Cowboys taking first round offensive lineman and plug and play and they're all b's or a's or that kind of stuff. You know, we saw it with what you go back with Tyron Smith and then Zach Martin, and then you know, Travis Frederick, and you know, and then Tyler Smith. I mean, everybody you've ever drafted has been a plug and play and probably been at B plus to an a player
right off the jump. This has been a real struggle for him. And you know, and I think he missed a lot of time during training camp. He got sick, he got injured, a lot of time on task, a lot of practices. There were times where he was going up against Michael Parsons and Tank and looked really efficient, hands feet. Everything that Berry was talking about was on point. He's in survival mode. He's yet to play and I've said this on several platforms. He's yet to play somebody
that he's better than he is. You know. You mentioned the gauntlet of names he's had to go through, you know, and a lot of times they haven't helped him. They've thrown him in the deep end of the pool and said, swim, you know you're going to play, You're going to be single blocking seventy five eighty percent.
Of the game.
That's so true, Swim.
Yeah, And so to me, I think that it's we're spoiled. We're spoiled with plug and play first round offensive lineman around here, and and and unfortunately for him, the transition, the learning curve from right tackle the left tackle has been really really steep for him.
And I think it was anticipated.
I mean when when you guys were wrapping up the draft show out on paternity leave, but you guys were talking about how it's not going.
To be plug and play.
This is not a plug plug and play play. We're accustomed to it around here.
Correct, So there was going to be a curve. There was going to be an adjustment process. You think it's steeper than what.
It was anticipated atteper I think a lot steeper. And it, like I say, him missing basically weak or two of training camp is big. I mean those were practices. Those were padded practice, I mean, and we started to see it a little bit when he came back and he was, you know, working and you're like, okay, that was a good rep. The one on one stuff was good against you know, tank or parsons when he'd get the opportunity.
And then we saw Jared verse against the you know, against the rams and you're like going, oh oh.
I actually said that audibly on a I think it was training camp, I think no, for real, Jared Verse beat him on a on a drill, and I was like, oh, this is not good.
Yeah, and so you started to kind of feel like though, Okay, this is going to be a little bit of a problem. And then you watched the preseason game against the Raiders and uh, the the Raiders were getting into his body, hands were outside, hands were outside, the feet weren't right. And then you know, week one it was a survival mode. I mean, he did everything he could to keep his body between him, you know, and Miles Garrett. He did everything, you know. I mean, he made Miles Garrett run over
him to get to Dak Prescott. And he just hasn't had a breath when it comes to just you know, it's hard to work on technique and get things right in the season when you're when you're just you go from practice to a game and you're really you're just working on steps and you're not really you know, it's kind of like, you know, two steps, Okay, we're done.
Two steps, you know, you're done. You know, getting the playoff, he hadn't had a he hadn't had a time where he could just completely drill on his feet and maybe he's doing that this week. Maybe he's going over with Duke and those guys and trying to figure out some technique stuff that he needs for the second half.
I'll give him a D plus because we've seen.
Parts of it.
We've seen why Yeah flashes again, We've seen why he is that pick.
He's just got to put it all.
Together and he hasn't had a chance to to a significant instinct, whether it's injury or sickness or whatever. The competition level I think is significant, but he's got to have a chance. He's got a click and it hasn't clicked yet. Ye, it has real quickly. Jake Ferguson, I'll
start it. I'll say B minus with Jake Ferguson. He's been better up to this point than he was last year as a receiving possibility, even without one game in the fold, I still think he's right now your number two or number three weapons, depending on the day, in terms of your offense.
I'll give him a B minus.
I'm gonna give him a C plus. Like you said, he's starting not a little bit better than he did last year. I just thought he would be more of a red zone threat. So far this season, and when they got that't had a touchdown, you know, spread him out there. He would be able to be a mismatchable safeties and linebackers, and we just haven't been able to see that so far this season.
I'm going to give him a C. I My expectations for Jake Ferguson were huge, and you know, it's unfortunate we've seen he hasn't made those spectacular plays that he made has made in the past. I mean those catch the ball that could say the ball that they set up for him to run across the field and he was out, you know, and he went up and he missed the ball and misplayed the ball. It's kind of to me it was a microcosm of how the season's kind of gone for him. That's a catch that Jake
fergs easily makes right there. So I don't think, like I say, the lack of some red zone stuff, the la missing some passes. You know, we haven't seen that tremendous run after the catch when he gets the ball and he's leaping over somebody or he's running through three guys. It's a it's a seven yard route that turns into a seventeen or eighteen yard play because of run after catch. I think that he's been steady. I just don't think there's anything spectacular from him.
Sure any offense, I don't think I have one. The closest would probably be Tyler Smith.
I'll tell you. I'll tell you what if you want to just say consistent play throughout a Hunter lip is right now. Hunter Lifkey is a guy that they they last week. They didn't hand him the ball, nor throw him the ball, but he was used as a blocker a couple of different times. To me, anytime you don't get Hunter Lipkey involved four or five snaps, get him the ball, hand him the ball, do something with him with the ball, I think it's a wasted opportunity. I
think he's one of your better skillful players. He might not look that way, but he has size, he's got athletic ability, he's got really good hands, he's super tough. You know, when he's not involved in the game plan, then to me, it's just a wasted it's a wasted weekend for him. I would give him a B maybe B plus for you know, for how you know if you talk about the guys that you're really like, Wow, this guy's really getting it done. I think Hunter Lipkey is right up there. Yeah.
Good, good call, good call.
All right, when we come back, it's leadership time.
We're going to talk about Dak Prescott, Mike Zimmer, Mike McCarthy giving the grades in the first six weeks of the season.
When we come back.
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Fd I C.
To Talking Cowboys.
Back.
You're on Talking Cowboys presented by a Black Rifle Coffee Company with Brian brought us Berry Church, Chris Beam in the back. I'm Kyle Yeoman's. This segment is brought to you by and viz Line, the official Smile of the Dallas Cowboys. All right, gentlemen, this is the tough one. This one's gonna be a little bit deeper than I think all of us have.
But we don't have a ton of time here.
So we've gotta we gotta blow through.
Okay, here we go.
All right, Berry, We'll start it off with.
Dak Prescott okay, and we're talking about leadership. We ain't, you know, not play or anything like that. We're talking about.
No, no, no, no, all of it all empassing grade of the first six weeks, all right, I just I just tabbed age as leadership.
Give me for Dak Man, give me a B plus. Give me a B plus.
I know, you know, so far he hasn't been playing as great as he was last year. But to me, you know, he's been that that guy that's been able, not in his entire career, but at least the parts of this year, that's been able to lift those guys around him. I mean, I know, Ceedee Lamb and that connection may not be where we wanted to be so far this season, but look at guys like Tolbert, I mean, look at guys like you know, all the younger guys
Hunter Lipkey's getting involved as well. Tolbert coming into the season was supposed to be your fourth option, you know, and he's been playing pretty well so far this season.
So give me B plus for Dak Prescott.
I like him to take care of the football a little bit more, but I feel like sometimes in those games he's pressing a little bit to get back into the game, so he has to take care of the football a little bit better. But give me a B plus overall.
I'll do be minus in that same sense, just because there's a lot of times where.
Dak has helped you at least stay in the game or helped.
You win three games already this year. That's true.
I mean the Pittsburgh game, you don't win without Dak Prescott. You also might not be the way situation without Dak Prescott. That's the that's the thought process behind to B minus. Red zone turnovers got to stop. There's been three in the last two weeks by the same significant contributors. I'm not even counting the Rico Doubtle fumble that almost gave
the game away in Pittsburgh. You got to take care of the football, Like you said, If you can take care of the football better, I think this offense will be in a better way if they can.
Finish drives too.
That's the second thing that's been a real knock for me, and Jake Fergus plays a part in that. Offensive line plays a part in that. Dak is a B minus to me.
He's playing good football. He's not playing great football, and there's a way that he can play grate fuot.
Yeah, that's a c effort right there. To me. I mean, there's expectator. What's really funny is if you look at metrics, his numbers are very similar to Pat Mahomes. But we feel very different about Pat Mahomes as we do Dak Prescott. You know, we feel very different about Jordan Love. He's another guy that has very similar to numbers and his team looks like they're playing very well. There's more things that Dak Prescott could probably do. I think the pocket awareness.
There's been times where I feel like he's really not feeling totally comfortable. He might not be totally comfortable with this offensive line. I feel like I've overrated this offensive line and it's probably not helping him a whole lot standing there and he just hasn't been able. He hasn't been accurate on some of his throws, you know, but he hasn't also had the opportunity to step up and
throw the ball. I know, the ball that went down the sidelines to Tolbert, if it was thrown a little further, that's a touchdown. I think he's missed on some routes. You know, that's the unfortunate thing with Dak The red zone turnovers are alarming right now, that is an alarming situation. I mentioned him Maholmes. They both throwing six interceptions. I wonder if mahomes interceptions or is as alarming as bad the past he overshot in the middle of the field.
To believe it's the Brooks that was just a horrible pass that that you know, the safety you know grab there for Detroit was just as it was a horrible pass. Now, So yeah, I think right now he's not playing at a winning level. Sure, the level that you kind of got him at the Pittsburgh he was a big part of that. But some of these other games they need him to be better and it just hasn't happened.
Hasn't happened yet, all right, Mike Zimmer Brian brought us.
You know, Mike is really really struggling right now with the lack of personnel. Mike I thought was going to be more buttoned up. They haven't been more buttoned up. They've given a big plays, They've given an explosive place that's been a real problem. It's a d level right now with Mike. You know, I felt like that they were going to be more sound, more on the screws, you know, not make mistakes, not make mental mistakes, not
be at a position. It's very alarming. It's some of the things we saw in the in the Green Bay game that we blame Dan Quinn for. Still some of the things happening here. It might be a lot of your personnel. Mike's a good coach, but right now, that's not a it's not a winning level there.
Yeah, give me a D plus as well. Like rous, it's just not at a winning level right now. And what's alarming is the explosive place that we've seen from this team. I mean, you go all the way back to the Saints game where you know Carr was able to carve this secondary up, you know, and that's not even including what they were able to do on the ground game.
So to me, it's a D plus.
You know, I look at the Steelers game where you know, they were minus a couple of other big time players and they were still able to grind out a good win out there.
And understand that offense isn't the greatest.
Youre talking about fields and everything, but they were able to get pressure on fields and and help this team win.
But overall, to me, it's a D plus.
I'm right there with you.
D plus.
And the only reason I think it's a D plus and not a D is because he has had so many injuries.
He's had a lot of injuries. But he'll to you that he has to do a better job. He's said yesterday in our media availability, he might have panicked a little bit and some of the stuff that Detroit was doing to him.
I don't want to give him a pass.
But at the same time, like that's a lot of decimation on your on your defense.
So you're missing your top linebacker, top four.
I mean you have to hold him to understand. You have to figure out scheme. You have to figure out if I'm down, guys, I have to do other things to make it work. And yeah, you know, Mike wouldn't ask for a pass. No, he would say, Hey, we have to be better. That's the thing I love about Mike Zimmer.
I like him. Mike McCarthy. Final one, gentlemen, Uh, give me give me a D on this one.
Your teams have started out slow on too many of occasions, and you know the previous years that was one of his can cars starting fast and making sure you get on teams quick and you are you know, calling plays offensively if I'm not mistaken correct. So the lack of balance there, to me is alarming. When you're you know, you're relying on Dak Prescott to throw the ball forty sometimes a game. I don't think that's a recipe for success. So I have to get my man a deal on this one.
Yeah, it's almost a D minus, maybe an even F. Because every week there's been a bad loss, They've talked about lack of preparation and practice and things like that. That's reflective on the head coach. He's the one that sets the schedule, He's the one that makes sure that practice has done the right way. He's got to make sure this team is listening, learning and implementing things that they're trying to do. As a play caller, I think
he's failed them too. I think there's we've seen, you know, you've seen flashes of plays where you feel like though that was a creative way of moving the football. They haven't been good in the red zone, they haven't been good scoring points. You know, it's been a struggle for them.
Their offense looks like at times it's just a it's a fight just to get at a yard, and so to me as a play caller, it's almost an f As a as a head coach, it's a D minus because his team hasn't been able to get they if we keep hearing every week that their practices haven't been good, that's reflective on him.
That's a problem, and that's.
Reflective on the players as well, no doubt, but reflective on him for allowing it to happen.
Well, you mentioned the Green Bay game and some of the same problems that are popping up from the green Bay game. Same can be said for Mike McCarthy as you can for the defense, because the problems of running the football, the problems and protecting your quarterback, the slow starts, the preparation, all of these things. Checheck check check, check check. It hasn't worked this year. It's worked in the past. He has three straight twelve win seasons for a reason that it's tough to do in the NFL.
There was going to be a.
Drop off at some point.
You didn't expect it to be this year, especially when you're paying these guys. You've got talent, got all pros on every level of your offense and every level of your defense.
You got to be better.
And I think we talked about it extensively yesterday. The preparation side of things that bugs me.
That really bugs me.
If you're talking about preparation and that's.
It's it's hint his words and other players words. Absolutely, and you know, and so you know players, Barry no offense. Sometimes players are they're left trying to explain things they can't explain, and then they talk about we've got to be better at preparation. That is a crutch. But if it's a number of guys are saying, it's very telling, it's very telling.
Yeah, all right, those are our report cards offense, defense, leadership before we go.
Brian.
Of course you're on the break. Yes, you're on the Draft show as well on one O five through the fan g Bag Nation two o'clock to seven o'clock every month, Monday through Friday.
Check out. We have a job left if the owner got rid of it.
I think so. I think we're good for now.
We're good for now.
We're good, Barry Church, you're on the players last especial pre opposed game post name average check them out if you don't follow their podcast, They're do phenomenal work as you can see here over the last two days. And since you are on the Draft show in April, if the season ended today, what would be the position group that you would draft for the Cowboys go?
I think first round. I think you have to continue to look at the defensive line. That situation. You can't pass on a running back. I don't think they wanted to pass on a running back. I just think it didn't fall the right way for him in the draft. That's unfortunately.
I agree.
I agree Ashton gent Boise State, all right for Frisco. Frisco lone star baby, for Chrispy and for Barry Church. Brian brought us check both those guys out on Kyle Omens. We'll be back nine am Central Time with a full cast and crew of Talking Cowboys on Monday.
We'll see then.
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