Talkin' Cowboys: The Deadline Looms

various streaming platforms. Of course, it's a fans on the fifty Tuesdays and in your fan questions, whether it be on the Twitter, on the periscope, find a way to get your fan questions in right now and we're gonna answer them over the course of the next forty five minutes.

Is asked. Stand back as always in the house here on Tuesdays, we've got heck Ma Harrison and Rob Phillips at home, and guys were a couple of days removed from that twenty three to nine loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, but there's a lot of other things on the line today as trade deadline day in the NFL is upon us. We're gonna talk about maybe the Cowboys potentially making a move one way or the other and maybe stay and put.

We heard what Jerry Jones had to say this morning, and we're gonna break that down here in a minute as well. But I wanted to hear I wanted to break something else down on what we heard on the fan this morning, and the it doesn't have to do with Cowboys front office personnel. It has to do with one of our very own and that's mister Rob Phillips. And Rob, I heard the end of that interview you had with Sean and RJ just a couple moments ago. It was played for the entirety of the group here, Uh,

explain the regulator what was going on there? Come on, I don't know what happened when right before I came on, I couldn't tell which member of their show was doing some kind of pop karaoke and I just I just said in passing and that was a big mistake. I said, we all need some karaoke in our lives right now for a lot of reasons. And so then it went

down the road of what's what's your go to? I'm old, I haven't done karaoke in years, but I'm a nineties guy, So I said, Warren regulate, that's my favorite, one of my favorite songs of all time. So they had me do the intro on the way out, and you did you. You did it fantastic. I thought it was awesome. I mean, Isaiah was impressed wide I had impressed that. I didn't know that you had that that that that gangsta and

you hrop. However, that was unfamiliar. You like that. I didn't like, Hey good, I thought I made a total ass of myself. But apparently not. No, no, he said you brought it. That was what what the het was. Words were, man, I just I got I don't even I don't even know rob Just. When you think you know a guy who pulls out Warrengy and Regulators and Nate Dog, I mean you even did the whole intro. He did that. He did that. I think we have

I think we think we call him. I think we have to call him rob P like Warngy, but rob P. I think that's what we have referred to my mess from now on. Can you go with that. Yeah, that was awesome. That was awesome. Rob. Yeah, I'm glad. I'm glad they stopped me there because I could have gone like one or two more lines of Oh More. You know, you know they're gonna bring that back too. They're gonna

bring it back next week. You're gonna pop on on Tuesday, and they're probably gonna intro the segment with you with with a little rob p And that song makes you feel better, you know, And we don't need to We all need to feel better these days. We don't, don't. You're not wrong about that stressful day for everyone involved in I guess the States. For those of you listening in nationally, you don't have to listen to this. But everybody go vote. Of course, Election day today, Go get

it done, do your civic duty. And everybody love each other. I tweeted that out at this morning. No matter what ends up happening tonight, love all of you guys. This is gonna be a ton of fun talking football. But of course there's the other things out there today. But that's all we're gonna say on that because now it's

a nerve wracking day for the NFL. It's a nerve wracking day because of the trade deadline and some of these moves that are going to happen for every franchise over the next couple of hours and robbed this morning. Jerry Jones on the Fan in his weekly interview with Sean and RJ before you went on, said pretty much the Cowboys looking to stay put. Now, you can take that with a grain assault, seeing that you don't want

to give up what you're trying to do. But what did you think about Jerry's answer and really the mindset of the Cowboys here in the trade deadline day? Yeah, I mean I think Jerry said improbability to try to get something done, at least something done. That's a big

splash before three o'clock Central. So and I thought Stephen illustrated it well too on the Fan with K and C yesterday when he said, you know, he kind of went in a little bit more depth and talked about how deck Jerry did two in terms of the cap

but also, um, you know, from a roster standpoint. You know, I think Steven talked about that they have needs, I mean defensively defensive tackle and they traded for how do you pronounce eli uh and and and Coo, I think is so yeah, so they've made you were right, they made They made a minor rock to move there before the deadline. But I think they're kind of looking at it like play play the young guys. Let's see what some of the young guys we already like on this roster.

They've made moves last week to move on from veterans to open up that playing time, so they want to focus on that. And the other thing is too I just the vibe I guy from Steven and we kind of talked about this one move defensively. I don't know, is everything at this point, and so they're taking more of a long term view, not that they're not trying to win games, but I think they're taking a long term view of the cap and just kind of where they are with the roster right now and trying to

be competitive with the young guys that they have. I think that just seems to be the approach right now. Pat, what do you think about that mindset? I think that's a smart mindset. With the fluctuation of the cap for next year, we're just kind of in a no man's land of knowing what that's going to be. But you know, you just have to think how the mighty have fallen.

And when we at the beginning of the season, we were talking about how talented this roster is, and now we're at the point where we're talking about trading away guys to get picks or if there's anyone that could come in from outside of the organization to help us. Now, I just feel like what Jerry Jones said was was absolutely correct in the mind state of staying paton on what we have and trying to develop the young guys that we have, because we have a bunch of those,

and so I don't object with it. I don't think that there's any ask trades that you can make that would come in and actually make your team better, So and I think that would be the thing that you would do, or offloading a guy to get more picks. And so it's staying the course of where we are right now, and right now it's starting to look like we would probably be in a top ten pick. I'm hoping not, but that's where the course is taking us. But if that is. If that is the case, that's

then that's a smart place to be. And also, I heard you ask the question about Aldon Smith and not wanting to trade him a way that that may be just us wanting to offer a guy that's given us all that he can an extension, and we'll get to that coming up here in just a minute, but I wanted to get your scions on that as well. Yeah,

I don't see any trades necessarily happening. You guys know my thoughts and my sentiments on free agents that are out there that can help us immediately, but I don't see I don't I don't foresee any any trades taking place.

And you know, they're obviously smart to think about their cap space going forward, but ultimately, you know, you're you still you still have a great opportunity this year, and I think that you need to focus on trying to make sure that you have the best, you know, the best opportunity in this year to grasp all your all your wants and dreams, and that's that's still a reality. So do what you can to control the now. Obviously

plan for the future. So you're still buying at the trade deadline based off of what you just said, but not trading. I think there's free agents out there. I think there's free agents out there that we can grab. I think there's some you know, I think there I think we probably could trade a couple of guys a way to grab acquire some pictures for the future. I don't think there's any players out there that would necessarily

you can go grab. I don't think you're gonna get that much value for the guys that we currently have, But I think you can grab some some low end picks. But you go out there and grab a couple of free agents that can come come in and help you right now, No, I agree, And I think that's kind of the biggest thing right now is trying to find value in the guys that you're willing to trade right now. Who are you going to dangle out there that is going to get the value that you want back for him?

Even right now Michael Gallup, I know he's been thrown around that I wouldn't be on the train of trading Michael Gallup. But even with him right now, that's a guy who, at least over the last couple games, his value hasn't been there at least the same that it has been in the past with Dak Prescott. So I don't know what teams are gonna be willing to do there. But heck, but you brought up Alden Smith, and I

do want to get into him a little bit. Jerry confirming the report that Alden Smith was not a part of trade talks with Seattle or I guess they were a part, but they rejected the trade talks with Seattle for Alden Smith. And yes, this is a guy who's thirty one years old, who got off to a really hot start, who found a rhythm early, but has since kind of slowed down, at least in terms of the sack numbers. He's still putting up a little bit of

production in good film. However, this kind of shows a little foreshadowing the fact that this means they're probably gonna try and extend this guy, right heckma, heck yeah you are, and he's giving you everything that you could have wanted. I think going into the season, you really there was a big question mark around Aldon Smith being out of the league for four and a half years and not knowing what that production was would look like. My god,

did he trend up really quickly? And to give that away on a guy that could be he could probably give you some really some more good years. I don't think that's something that the Cowboys interested in doing, especially with where you get what you got him for, right. And so with Randy Gregory coming on, and obviously I'm hoping that Alvin Smith can mentor that guy because man,

Randy Gregory also has an incredible motor. And you see why this franchise has put so much belief in him just by his first game, then actual action and seeing the kind of pressure that he's getting on the quarterback. But no, Alvin Smith is off of the list. Don't even bring his name up again, Rob, Yeah, I mean, I don't think you ever trade that's pass rush is a position where if you've got some depth and some guys you like, hold onto him because they're hard to find.

It's a it's a marquee position. And I think you know you mentioned Gallop earlier to Kyle and how obviously they don't want to trade Gallop. That what we're talking about leading up to today's deadline is like it's a it's a micro view. They're they're looking macro long term. That especially on offense, they have sighted the injuries, all the injuries they've had, and I know people don't want

to hear that at some point. It's not an excuse, it's facts, and I think it has impacted them, especially offensively. They're they're I just I said this on Sean RJ. I think that the vibe we're getting is that they plan to run this thing back next year, especially on offense. You know, get healthy, bring Dak back, hopefully to resign him long term, and shore up your offensive line with your vets and you have all your all your talent

at receiver and go play football. And then defensively, you're probably gonna see some changes, and there's gonna be changes because there's there's a lot of guys up in free agency next year. Albin Smith one of them, think X right,

They're they're gonna try to resign him. We'll see if it turns out being a Robert Quinn type deal where you know, maybe the market prevents them from doing that, but certainly they want to try, and so having him as part of that rotation there, I think is wise at least to try to get that set for twenty twenty one. No, I don't have no no, no, no no, no said, I think you guys are absolutely correct. Um, you know, I think Gallop Gallop is probably on the table.

If I had to put anybody on the table of one of any of our premier guys to be Gallop, uh somebody, it's not, and not for the reason, not for the fact that you actually want to get rid of him. It's probably you don't want to get rid of them. But in terms of the guys that you can actually get some value for right now, Um, you know, and where you can afford to lose somebody, you can afford to lose a receiver right now. I think we

have a great trio. Um isn't necessary, no, right, and you can develop some young receivers right there's a lot of there's always receivers coming in out out of the draft. So I think you can get some good value for Gallop right now. Alton Smith, I don't think you want to get get rid of him, especially with your defensive line woes. Um, you probably want to try to hold on to the guys that actually have proven something. So I don't I don't think he's on the table by

any means. But if you had to make a move, if you're gonna let one of your one of your main guys go, I think it's Gallup. Why Gallup and not a Marie Coup. Well, Cooper, you just paid them, so you're not gonna get rid of Cooper right because you just committed. That'd be the silliest thing ever. He just gave him a bunch of guarantee money. But Gallup, you know he's going to demand some money in the future.

He's going to demand amenting in future. And I don't think that the Alice is going to be in a position to pay him in the future, not with the way that their salary cap issues are lined up. Right, So if you know that you're gonna have to offload him anyways down the road, you might as well get him while he's kind of hot now in terms of adding talent, and I know that's still kind of on

the table as well. And Jerry didn't necessarily shoot it down whenever he talked about playing some of these young guys and evolving who you have as a part of it right now. But Rob, whenever it comes to his answer earlier and maybe the where am I going with this, I'm trying to talk about the additions that are coming in. It's because I don't believe this is going to happen. But do you see a potential of an addition at some point through before the trade deadline. And if you did,

where would you see what? Position wise, would you even remotely think about adding somebody. I really don't based on what they've said, I mean, I guess you can never say never. It sounds it sounds like based on what they've kind of indicated, they'll take calls, but they're not going to make a bunch of calls and be aggressive.

You know, maybe that changes before three o'clock. We'll see. Um. I know, I know Stephen referenced the defensive tackle position and we've talked about that one is you know, especially in the run defense, you know, moving on from Don Terry Poe, they're thin there. They've had trouble shoring up the middle of that defensive line. That's obvious. But as Steven pointed out, and it's kind of like I mentioned at pass rusher, you've got a solid, strong defensive tackle

for your front um. Those those guys are hard to find, so it would take a lot of draft capital to do that. I don't I just don't see them trading big draft picks to try to make or run this year. Not that they're not trying to compete but I just I just don't I don't see that this year. Yeah, trying to develop the guy. Yeah, just trying to develop

the guys that you have. Uh. And if there was a need, if you were going to go somewhere, college would be at the d tackle for sure, because that's where the production has needed to come from and we just hadn't got gotten anything from it. And you look

at guys like Neville Gallimore and now Tristan Hill. That injury also kind of amplifies because you get rid of Pole, you get rid of Everson Griffin, and so you need more guys and so Hamilton are the other guys that you have that are coming off of the practice squad in this whole youth movement and trying to get these guys from repping reps in Neville Gallimore has filled in,

you know quite fine. We h there are some few a few things that he does that you want to underline circle in highlight that you want to improve on. And I'm sure there's a defense they've talked to this guy about that. But that's where we have to get the push in. If we're looking anywhere, it's going to be at the d tackle. And also safety, and I'm sure Isaiah has a lot. Yeah, I mean I think they're I think the safety position obviously, I've been everybody

knows where I stand on this. I think that's a position that we can add and it would have a huge impact right now. I think that's a position that you get that you can have a drastic impact. And obviously the defensive line. Obviously you see Dallas trying to make some moves in that regard in terms of trading for for Eli Uma know how to pronounced his last name, m uncle, I would assume think, yeah, ads, something like that, Yeah, something like that. You know. So they're trying to get

some young, hungry guys in here. So they did do that. I know, nobody's really talking about that right now. Um, probably not a lot of film out, but you know, they're bringing in guys that are hungry at that position and they're hoping that some of that turns into fruition. Um. But yeah, safety, man, safety, If you get a safety back there, your your secondary warriors go away. UM. I think that, you know, a great communication on the back

end of your defense makes a huge difference. Um. And then it's in terms of upfront you just need effort. You need some effort guys. You need guys that are you know, they're and they're getting that right now and they're they're going to get better. Um, they're obviously not very good right now, but they will get better. And that's this position where you just have to have a ton of reps. When you're in the secondary, you need you need a lot of identification, right You need to

be able to identified you know, you need concepts. You need to be identify splits, you need to identify, you know, thrends. And that's where a veteran safety can come in and

help those guys out in Neverguard. Yeah, and I think we're gonna talk about the safety position coming up a little bit later on as well, because I want to hear all of y'all's opinions on Donovan Wilson and how he played on Sunday because he did have the turnover, he had the forced fumble of Carson Wentz early in the football game, but I want to kind of hear what you guys thought about him in general moving forward. Mike McCarthy had some really good words about him yesterday

in his press conference. But when we come back, it's officially nine fifty. We'll go to fans on the fifty answer your fan questions. Keep sending him in on the periscope and the Twitter got some good ones already, and keep bringing him, keep bringing. We're gonna bring the fire here in the next couple minutes when we come back here on Talking Cowboys. Since eighteen sixty five, Stetson hats are American maid with pride right here in Texas, and Stetson is to be on the field with America's team.

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So go get your tickets. And kind of a fun little side note, of course, Mike Tomlin come into town with the Steelers facing up against Mike McCarthy at AT and T Stadium. Remember the last time those two guys met at AT and T Stadium it was a Super Bowl. It was where Mike McCarthy beat the Steelers with the Packers for his one Super Bowl win. So kind of

interesting this week. A little side storyline. I know, Cowboys fans don't necessarily necessarily really want to hear a whole lot about the past Super Bowl, especially when you're two and six. You want to hear about how you're gonna get to the next one, but we've got some time for fans on the fifty. Fans on the fifty, I believe the sounder played in the background. Okay, Blade, Okay, cool, We're good. So we're moving on with fans on the fifty.

Continue sending in your questions. I'm reading the periscope stream and also in our Twitter mentions as well. Rob, this one's gonna go for you. This is from mister Dave a Ron and he says, will Cheeto be back this week? Of course he was supposed to be back last week, but what are the words around the building in terms

of Cheetahowoozier making his return against Pittsburgh. It sounds like they're optimistic about this week, and I'm like you, guys, man, I was surprised he didn't play and wasn't activated off of IR on Saturday, because I feel like late in the week Mike McCarthy was talking about not just whether he would play, but how many snaps he would play

against the Eagles. So they decided he just wasn't quite ready coming off the hamstring, and Sean Lee and Joe Looney were activated instead, But they could have activated him. They just wanted to wait another week. I think he was. I think he started the practice window on the twenty second, so they didn't have to do it over this past weekend. And I think there's probably a decent chance they'll be

back this week all right. And whenever it comes to Cheeto Heckman, you look at what he brings to the table, especially as just extra security in that secondary. What a week it would be back to have him back against Pittsburgh coming up this week. Well, if there's a week for him to come back and make an impact, it would be this one. Obviously we could have definitely used him in his strength last week, but this we we have some firepower coming our way at AT and TU

this Sunday and Chase Claypool, they Juju Smith Schuster. It's gonna be quite an event for our secondary. So Cheeto, you know what he gives you. He's a lot physical, He's a you know, physical corner for us. And I think with he and Diggs and Brown and people are not talking about Brown. Brown did really well versus the Eagles also. I want to make mention of that, But Cheeto would be a necessary addition to our secondary that's looking to get healthier and would definitely show up and

make up some plays for us. Do you think the same thing I do? I do it hurt that they didn't have him. And the thing about bringing Cheeto back is, you know, you take the pressure off of Digs of having to facial number one receiver. And I think that's absolutely imperative right now because Diggs is obviously he's not ready for that. He's he's getting better, he's getting better, but he should not have to bear that responsibility. So I think as soon as Cheeto comes back, I think,

you know, things get better on that end. Let's talk about potential position change. This is from Gary. By the way, Gary went and voted this morning. He sent a picture of the I voted today, so Gee went out and voted. He says Jalen Smith is downright bad at linebackers. So that's how he starts this question off bringing the fire and I like it. Wow, what would you guys think? What would you guys think about moving him onto the line of scrimmage as a situational pass rusher already with

a big no, Okay, that's the question. Why not for the same reasons why you think he's not a good linebackers. The same reason why he wouldn't be a good defensive man that he cannot get off blocks and he gets consumed by officeive lignement. So by putting him that much closer with less momentum, it's probably not going to work to his advantage. Okay, Rob, Yeah, he's he's too high. Just looked it up. He's two hundred and thirty pounds.

I can't ask him to do that line up on the edge and and and getting a three point stance and and take on blockers. I mean, I think I think role in agreement. His best skill is probably moving forward blitzing. That's different than than than playing the position full time. Heck yeah, definitely. And man, everybody's down on on Jalen, and rightfully so Taylan is. Man, he's making some misreads and it just looks bad on his part.

And I don't think a position changes the answer. And I think there's a lot of this this thing that you think that you can just plug and play guys, and it just doesn't work like that. And at two hundred and thirty pounds, he would definitely be on an island for some right tackle to feast on. So I don't think that that would be ideal for if you think he's bad, now wait until you switch him to

d end. Yeah. I think he would have to add a good twenty pounds at least and then also find a way to change direction at the same time learn how to pivot a little bit, maybe two forty but still yeah, yeah, exactly. I still think yeah, either way, you're gonna have to ask some way. And since Gary went off and voted, we're gonna actually let him ask two questions in a row. And that doesn't happen a whole lot on this show. So congratulations, Gary, you went

and voted, We're gonna give you two. Also, Luke Gifford showed some real promise this year before his injury. Is there any chance we see him or the undrafted free agent Francis Bernard anytime soon? Rob, That's that's a that's an interesting thought. Um, you know maybe. I mean, I I can't tell you I have a good feel for Luke Gifford just because of the injuries. I mean, he hasn't played this year, and he was really in and

out of the lineup last year. When he's been on the field those preseason games, he does have some instincts. You know, he's a physical player like what we saw from Francis Bernard in preseason. Um, but I kind of feel like, you know, there, Sean Lee is gonna be set for more snaps here. I think he had four in the game, uh the other day, and I think Mike said they wanted to get him probably like a dozen.

So I think they're still gonna try to work him in because m having Sean on the field will will help the run defense, the defense in general, just from a communication standpoint. I mean, he knows what he's doing back there, and I think they're still trying to shore that up and the best way to do that, I think is to get Sean Lee on the field a little bit more. Completely agree with you, Rob, Yeah, I

completely agree with you Rob on that. And Gifford came into the league from Nebraska with the injury bug and it's just continued. I know, he's a guy that's trying to get healthy and get on the roll, and he's a fan favorite because we just don't know what he can do. But Francis Bernard is another kid that's that's doing really well for us and special teams, and that's gonna be his way to get involved defensively. But Rob,

you're right, Sean Lee is back. He gives us that added leadership, you know, along with vander esh that I think we needed right and his injury and return, maybe it helps shore up some of the miscommunication that we've had in the you know, just in the front line, and you just see so much a weekend and week out just miscommunication and guy's getting lined up properly. That's

been a problem for the Dallas Cowboys defense. So you know, Sean Lee being back is definitely big, but that would be a hard pass on gift or right now, leave it the way it is, Leave it the way it is, Leave it the way it is. Sean Lee roll him in there, and he didn't look that good though he got he got hit stick a little bit when I saw him. But he has to get some reps underneath him him again. But yeah, I mean Shan Lee's mental capacity.

I mean, when you when you're smart, when you're a smart player in this league, especially at the linebacker position, it allows for you to play a long time even when your physical has gone away. And there's a perfect example that by a name of a guy by the name of ray Lewis played a lot of years, even when his physical ability started kind of doing the lean

going away, but simply because he was smarter. I mean, he was able to identify things we talked about the identity piece, and he's able to see things that he saw on film. He gets to see it in person. He's able to beat you there by getting there maybe a half step earlier. He's able to do that. Shan Lee's gonna be able to do that, and he's gonna be able to help his defensive lignement. These hungry young guys get lined up in a proper position, um as

he sees things that he that he saw on film. Yeah, and I think we're seeing the at least the example of if you have good linebackers, healthy linebackers. I should say, if you have healthy linebackers in the fold as starters, they usually don't leave the field a whole lot in the middle of the game. And I mean Joe Thomas is still in that conversation as maybe that third or fourth guy you still have. I guess Gifford would probably

be the next man up in that case. But even then, I mean he showed some flashes for sure, and I thought Bernard was better during training camp, and that's really the biggest chunk of time we've seen those guys actually on the field. But I mean, I also thought we had a good look at training camp for a lot of guys, and that hasn't necessarily panned out either, so

you can't really trust that. Yeah, I think there's I think there's a difference between you know, playing the young guys just to play the young guys, and playing the young guys because guys in front of them are not being productive. And I think, you know, look done Terry Poe, Daryl Worley, even Everson Griffin. I mean, they moved on because they wanted to see maybe more production from from younger guys we're talking about as Sean Lee, Ronald and Smith.

I think they feel better about getting production from those guys when they're healthier when they're on the field. That's there's a difference between just trotting out the young guys just to play the young guys. I don't think they're in that mode yet. I think they're just trying to feel the best guys they can to help try to get something going. Defensively, They're still in that mode. It's not it's not a tank mode. It's just not. Yeah, it's just it's a tryout mode. It's honestly what it

kind of feels like. It's come prove yourself right now and find a way to get some of those reps later on in your career. Now, speaking of making moves and clearing way and doing something crazy, how about this? This is from Darby on our periscope stream. By the way, keep sending in questions, but does it make sense to deal one Ezekiel Elliott while he still has value? Why are you shaking your head? Isaiah? Answer the question? No? Um no, So I mean why where do you find

another Zeke? Do you not have one in the backfield? No? You don't actually, um, I mean Paula's are good back but he's no Zeke. Let's be let's be honest about it. Um. Zeke's down right now. Just because somebody's down for a couple of games doesn't mean that you just ship them off. He's been good to this organization for a long time. He has a lot of juice left. I don't think there's any question about that. He had a couple of fumbels this year and he has an office, a line

that's that's um, that's playing musical chairs. Things were settling and he'll start getting back to being the zeke that everybody knows. But it takes more than just a running back and getting the ball from the quarterback to be successful in this league. Now, I mean, and once once the Cowboys figure things out out up front, you know, I think he'll fix it. I think him pretty sure he's fixed his fumbling woes. Um, then it's just a't

matter just finding the holes. But you know, it's it's not just it's not easy as getting the ball and running. There's there's guys on the other side of the ball that are getting hate to do what they do and their jobs to stop you. And if they're better than your guys up front, your chances are getting a good yard is just not gonna happen. But you, I mean, he had he had an okay game the other night. Uns. Yeah, it was better than the first two games or the

last two games, I guess in that regard. Yeah, heck, when do you agree? No, I agree with it, And it's just Man twenty twenty, and the council culture of Mafia is a trip. Man and you know, I get it. I get it. I think a guy has a down year. You start if you start listening to people say, you know, the running back position is down, and all the analytical people that say you really don't need a running back to win, uh, you start to kind of buy in to those. I just don't believe that. I think that.

You know, I'm a I'm a guy watched football boxing and I'm big time boxing fan. I think a lot of times when you watch a boxer take some some big shots, it changes who that guy is. And some time off, you know, getting in a good training camp, you see your whole another guy returned to the ring. I'm looking at his Zeke just like that man. He's taking some shots. Man, I don't care if you watch the tape. Just like the blitz from the linebacker from the Riskins, that was a shot, and he is taking

a few just this year. And so I'm not saying that he's gunshot. I just think that he's a running back that's looking for that contact to be on him once he gets the ball. And you're seeing that repeatedly on tape. Zeke will get get the hand off, and there's a guy already on his hip pocket. So just for him, I just I just really want for him to finish this year off as strong as he can. Um. I think now in the NFL, a thousand yards is nothing, but at the same time, if he could reach that,

that's gonna be a positive for him. I didn't know you're a boxing fan too. Heck, that's cool, we got something to talk about. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's a good analogy I think. Um, I'm in agreement with you guys because I mentioned running back next year. I think they're absolutely gonna running back offensively. It's a It's been a

really weird year for Zeke because of the score. Some of it's been his fault, and he's owned up to those mistakes, those turnovers that have put the offense in deficits along with the defense that have limited his opportunities. And then the line is a factor too. There haven't been the big explosive runs the last couple of years. That's well documented. I know people that are critical of

Zeke have cited that. I continue to look at the ten plus yard runs, which do count as explosive runs in the NFL, and despite the lack of carries, he's going to have probably the lowest carry total he's had since twenty seventeen when he missed six games on suspension. He's right there in the top eleven and ten plus yard runs this year, he's right there. I think he's got twelve. He's tied with James Connor, he's tied with the Kamara and Derrick Henry's got seventeen. So I think

he can he can still be productive for them. They just need to take care of better care of the ball. They've got to get healthier on the offensive line and have some leads every now and then. God for every now and then, when you're not playing from behind, it's it's wonderful when you can do that. It happened a couple of times last last week and it actually helped Ben d Nucci. So that's that's kind of where they're at. And I look, I would like to see more Tony

Pollard the rest of the way too. It's not so much about Zeke. It's just look the way he ran last week, and they need that type of balance back. They need both guys to help out the quarterback, whoever's in there. I've got a look at us Rob learning a lot about each other. You know, I didn't know you were Warren g fan. That's Rob Pe coming at you live from the SWBC Mortgage studios, Rob P. I've got a I've got a very bold thing to say

about Tony P and mister Ezekiel Elliott. I think Zeke is by far the better back, and you don't get rid of him. So I'm an ingrediance of all of you guys, but I think Tony Pollard is a better suited back for your current situation with the line that you have up front. Ezekiel Ellie, it's a guy who you want one on one tacklers against. You want him to break a tackle. That's what springs his long runs. Tony Pollard's a guy that's gonna run around you. He's

not as physical a back. He's more of an elusive back. He's somebody who can break a tackle and then maybe make the second man miss. That's never been Zeke's game. It never has been. He's been a physical back of bellcal somebody who's over and over and over again gonna get the football. Whereas Tony Pollard is one of those lightning in a bottle type of players. I hear you Okay,

I hear you. And if if, if running back only, if your only job as a running back, your soul, your sole purpose was to simply get the ball and run it, I might agree agree with you. Okay, however, um, there's a game called passing. I agree completely. These guys have to block, and if anybody's been paying any attention, Ezekiel is probably one of the best blocking running backs in the league. He saved multiple songs as he's done a heck of a job this year picking up blitz.

As we know, we've seen a lot of it. He's just go back and watch the film. He's picking dues up left and right and knocking him. He's putting his head in there. When he hasn't been able to run the ball effectively, he's blocked effectively. Mean, he's gotten himself embarrassed a couple of times as well. I mean as that you know their professional sky is gonna happen, but

he is. He has stuck his neck out there for these quarterbacks, all three of them, and I think that has something that you know, they have to give him respect for it and never regard you guys agree, Yeah, he said it. He laid it down on the table. No, I'm glad. I'm glad you brought that up, because there is more to the tailback position than just running the football. I'm talking specifically running it. You could go either way, but I think Zeke's definitely the more and it's not

even close. I don't think the more valuable back, and you don't necessarily move on from that when you have a talent like him in the backfield. We got a couple more questions. We're gonna go and answer those later on on Twitter, but we do have to take our second break. When we come back. I'll ask I'll answer this question from mister Chris. It's a good one. It's about Mike McCarthy. We'll answer it on the other side of the break. You're on talking boys. I'm Jay Novachik,

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curtain a little bit. I guess. On the way that we do these virtual shows, we have like a side channel that we all hear each other on and see each other on. And then basically Hecma and Rob are looking at themselves the whole time. I mean, that's the only thing they see, so they don't get to see us at all. They're just looking at their own smiling faces. And it is talent and Kyle, I'm in heaven and I'm in here. Wow. Okay, yes, forget the sultry voice

about the white spot. We did have At some point somebody asked who his dentist was on a chat stream and we all lost it. Oh, it was so funny and he didn't even say the answers. Yeah, yeah, it's just a big old toothbrush as all it is. Okay, So we have one more segment here, a couple more minutes, and Chris asked this question. I wanted to bring it up anyways, because it was a topic of conversation yesterday following the loss to Philadelphia, and it was definitely on

our show talking about the play calling. And Mike McCarthy was asked yesterday during this press conference, why won't Mike McCarthy take over the play calling from Kellen Moore? And he said it's a non issue. He said, it's not even a question. Hadn't even crossed his mind, not even a thing that they're talking about doing. But we even

talked about it yesterday. There were lapses in play calling whenever it came to that game on Sunday night, Rob and what do you think about what McCarthy said at the table, I enjoy the fact and I respect the fact that he didn't throw his man under the bus. But at some point that's to be a conversation to be had, right I don't Now, I don't think he's planning to do that. Okay, he's you know, he's he wants to empower his coaches, and I think he wants

to show faith in his coaches. And I feel like in order for him to do that, he's am I still off, No, you're we can hear I'm hearing myself twice. In order to have success offensively, I think he wants to empower his coaches, and to do that, I think he's got to show faith with them, even when they're having injuries, when there's problems upfront, and you know, they didn't have these same problems with the injuries before the injuries. So I think really with the issues they've had have

been situationally. The fumble near outside the red zone in the third quarter, you know, and some of the things they've dialed up in the red zone. They've just got to be a little bit better situationally. But I think overall, you've got a point to the injuries more than anything than what Kellen Moore's done from play calling standpoint at this point. HECKMA, you know, that's a difficult one for me because I've always respected my coach Mike McCarthy as

a play caller. That's, you know, as I'm used to seeing him standing there with that laminated play sheet calling his plays. And I guess when he during the hiring process or and he won't admitted because he was said that he wanted Kellen Moore on his staff. But it's hard for me to fathom a guy that's gone his whole career calling plays now all of a sudden just giving that up. But if that's the case, there has to be some questions, especially last against Philadelphia with just

the double reverses the play call. I just thought that was a horrible play call, and I guess you could question through the season just multiple things that have happened. But I have always thought that Mike McCarthy would have been the better play call for this team, but we just hadn't seen it. And I understand whether that energy is coming from from my fan base. I think that Kelly Moore was just I think this was his first test. I think this past week was his first test, and

I think he failed his first test. I think he's always had a lot of weapons at his disposer. I think he's always had a great office, a line, he's at, a great quarterback, and this is the first time he's really facing any real adversity as off as a coordinator. And I don't think that he stepped up to the plate in that regard. I think that he's a competitor at heart. So I'm pretty sure as any competitor would, I think they'll come back and try to bounce back.

It's just unfortunate that he has to try to bounce back against the Pittsburgh Steelers team. Yeah. Well, even whenever you talk about being his first test, I mean even the week prior against Washington, you wouldn't call that a test. I don't. I don't call that a test because I mean, you bring in an all pro quarterback, I mean against

that defensive line. Though I guess that defensive line. It is a test in that regard, But nothing changes in terms of your play calling, right, your your quarterback, your capability of your quarterback to be able to handle the situations ain't the same. Um, I mean obviously now there's a there's a there was a drop off in production because because he's not Dak of course, and I don't know, I've eating that up on Twitter, but um, you know, Annie Dalton can handle everything that you throw him in

terms of the playbook. So there's no question mark there. And the question mark, you know, comes in when you are dealing with a quarterback who you have to dumb the playbook down for it, right, who you have to simplify things for how you have to scheme things up so that he understands it and he's and that he can read the defenses and you know, it doesn't really

matter what the defense is. This play is gonna work no matter what or whatever you see because you don't have the knowledge or a confidence to check out of a play, right. So that's where the test was. And I think he felt that's a that's a big one, man, because he was trying to get a rookie ready to play the Philadelphia defense. And look, I know we're gonna be harsh on him, and I was harsh just with the reverse in the red zone. I thought that was

a bad place to try that. But you know, I mean, look, we just got to pull it back a little bit because you know, the NUCI just was overwhelmed with what he saw last week. Period. Yeah, I think the staff from ESPN was he was like, oh, for nine in passes or over eleven something like that, passes ten yards or more of they just you know, the pocket awareness and just reading the defenses. It was. I think that was just a real challenge just trying to be functional

back there. So I'm a little more hesitant to put it put it on the play calling at this point. I think I didn't even really have a problem with some of the trick stuff. I think I think situation, Like I said, situationally though, like that one drop, I mean the one with the ten yard loss with Cedric Wilson, don't dial that one up. At that point, you're running the football, you're having success, you're taking the pressure off your quarterback. You know, you just gotta watch being tricky

in that in that situation. Just stick with what's working. And that's kind of what we had talked about previously, was we expected the trick plays. We expected something different, A new wrinkle, is what Mike McCarthy said it as yesterday. He wanted the new wrinkle in his fence, and they brought that it was the situational of that one third down or excuse me, third quarter play that ended up being a loss of ten on it, and just it was odd. It was it was odd placement for that one.

And I think that's where maybe the learning comes involved, and maybe Mike has more say than what we're what we're leading on to believe. I mean, he's still got a play sheet in his hand, he's still got the headset on. He may give that that extra little bit of guidance for Kellen Moore, a young padawan, more on the sideline of making sure that he knows what's going on and knows that, hey, we've got this in the bag at some point whenever he comes to running the ball,

let's not necessarily do this right here. Maybe that's something that's kind of put on the table for next week. And hopefully Dalton's back next week too, and you might get him back and there's still a chance that he doesn't clear concussion protocol, but all signs pointing to him being ready for Pittsburgh. But hopefully he's ready to go and healthy in doing so as well. But that's going

to do it here for Talking Cowboys today. Thanks again for a fantastic Fans on the Friday Tuesday every Tuesday at nine fifty or I said, fans on the Friday, Fans on the fifty on Tuesday. It's been a long day. Go out and vote if you haven't already been nice to each other tonight, no matter what ends up happening. But we will be back tomorrow, no matter what. When that sunrises in the morning, you know, Talking Cowboys is

going to be there for you. But for Isaiah stand back, Rob Phillips, Heck Harrison, and the great Chris Beam in the backup Kyle Yeoman saying so long from the SWBC Mortgage stud Studios. 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.