Talkin' Cowboys: What About Earl?

Harrison and Isaiah stand back, our residence super Bowl champion. We are the Talking Cowboys crew as we get you set for an hour worth of Dallas Cowboys coverage over training camp here in twenty twenty, and really what is probably one of the more storyline filled weeks of Cowboys offseason into preseason so far. We've got live game action, actual hitting, Rob today's practice, and then of course Earl Thomas news to talk about as he is now a

free agent. We'll get to all of that coming up in the next hour, but Rob I mentioned the live practice and exactly what's been going on here at the Star as of wait, was there anything that really stood out to you today before we get into some of the Earl Thomas talk. Well, I didn't get to see a whole lot because of the Earl Thomas talk. I was socially distanced in the hallway trying to listen to Jerry Jones on the fan and figure out what the

Cowboys want to do with ET. But you're right, they're starting to ramp up a little bit, and I believe they're just now getting through their installation period, which you think about how compressed this camp is. You normally installation

offense defense in the spring, so they're trying to do that. Now, review it the next couple of days, and then we've got what looks like a scrimmage on Sunday at at and T Stadium, and then we'll start to see more of the live stuff and really see these guys compete. It's getting excited. It is getting exciting, and you're starting to see some of the hits. I know previously on some Talking Cowboys Isaiah and Heckman, both of you mentioned how important it was for Layton Vandersch to get that

first hit after his neck injury. Well he got it to and flatten Tony Pollard on a run he wasn't supposed to be a See what it was is he laid the hammer on Tony Pollard. But let's go into some of this Earl Thomas news. We'll get to plenty of practice later on here in the show. But Isaiah, this is a former teammate of years who's kind of going through some times in his career where it's a really a turning point. Of course, he was in Seattle for the majority of the start of his career. That's

where YouTube played together. He was then traded over to Baltimore for what was a huge deal where he ended up signing with the Ravens and playing only a year there before he was cut earlier this week. The biggest question mark now is where does he go from here? Is he somebody that Cowboys could potentially go after? But I want to hear first count of somebody who's played

with you want on your football team. Absolutely. Earl Thomas and myself we played together his rookie year, him and Camp Chances actually back when the legion boom was was nice and it was fire back home in Seattle. But I played with him my rookie year, and I can tell you guys firsthand, this is one of the most competitive, hard working, loyal, dedicated individuals that you guys could ever

hope for to be on your team. Over over his past few years, he's went through a lot, right, And I don't make excuses for anybody, but you take somebody, you think about the characteristic of somebody like that, who works hard, who gets everything to organization, who puts it all out there in terms of, you know, being great teammates and a loyal and then all of a sudden for Seattle to kind of do them the way that he did them, he was hurt, right, So you saw

a kind of his exit after he got hurt. Right, he was mad the whole middle finger thing he was. He was he was deeply hurt because he had he was fully committed to that organization and he didn't feel like they were committed to him. So that he leaves there, right, Um, he goes to a whole new team. He goes out there,

he does what Earl does, right, he balls out. But then he has some issues obviously off the field, and then in terms of his latest thing, it sounds like it was almost an excuse just to get rid of them. So I'm gonna be rid with you. It sounds like it was almost an excuse just to get rid of them.

We all don't know what was going on internally within that organization, but I can tell you, guys what this It sounds like the Gallboys have a great opportunity to get one of the greatest players in the league for a discount. Double check. You heard it here, first discount, double check. Earl's gonna bring the fire. I can tell you, guys, he's working his tail off at home. I bet you he probably goes on the toilet with a him. That's how serious this dude is. I been playing ball. That's

the line of the day. Nobody can shop that one. No, we might as want to just go ahead and cut it out. We might as well just end the show because nothing can top with Isaiah just said. But I kind of want to take something that Isaiah just said. He's one of the greatest defensive players in the league right now. Is that still true? Is this still the same player that we were, at least as Cowboys fans were looking at last year as a guy who is

an instant game changer on the defensive side of the football. Man, I'm gonna start off what I have to say with saying et phone home, we need you. It's not even the question of what Earl Thomas brings to this team. If you just go if you've ever been in a meeting room and you're looking at the depth chart and you have guys lined up, a seventy percent of Earl Thomas gives you more than what you have right now.

And that's not a disc to these other guys. You're looking at the NFL All decade, an NFL All decade guy, guy that has thirty interceptions. What he's gonna bring to the Cowboys, please bring to the Cowboys. It's gonna be a guy that we've heard. This word hybrid, interchangeable is another word that we're gonna add to the words of twenty twenty. He gives you all of that. You can

play him anywhere. If you think about what we had with Chris Rashard last year, and that's why it made it so attractive, because we played Cover three the majority of the time. But look, most NFL teams, they show you Cover two and they play Cover three. That's what they want to do anyway. And this is a guy

that you can disguise all of your looks. And I have to say this as well, if you sign Earl Thomas, what that's gonna do is nullify the injury to Gerald McCoy because of all the things that you can do on the back half of your defense. That is just something that we have to look at as a team

because he's gonna make us that much better. Rob, do you agree while Isaiah said about being a great teammate, that's really good to hear because I think the biggest question people were asking, maybe the Cowboys were asking too, is is how the locker room would fit with Earl coming in because of what happened in Baltimore and because the reports are the players decided, players were part of that discussion that you know he needed to move on.

So you know, but we've got to play a former player right here that says he's a great team I think that's important to factor in. And you know, the Cowboys have done their homework on Earl Thomas before. I mean, he was a free agent a year ago. There was a trade speculation before that. Chris Rochard has heck mentioned been here for two years. They have an idea of what kind of player and what kind of person is. We all know what kind of player he is for sure on the field, and I you know what Jerry

said on the fan not closing the door. It leads me to believe there's still some discussion going on internally on what kind of fit would be on the field off the field. And the other thing about it, too is what I don't think it makes a good business sense to come out and say on on on public radio, Hey we're not interested in somebody. You always keep your options open. They're in the middle of padded practices at

training camp. Even if you're maybe leading in the other direction, Guys can get hurt, things can happen, and your your needs can definitely change on a dime. So I think we just all have to stay tuned on this one and Rob before Kyle comes in. I know he's about to come in on us, but I want to just ask this question as if we were all playing GM.

Let's all play GM, all right, if you have some If you have money, first of all, which we now have right because McCoy's gone, right and we had the injury waiver, so there's money there, and you have one of the best players, not even it's not even a question in the league, right, and you have him available at a position that you're trying to fit somebody into.

Why would you not take this opportunity when he's only had one stop where he had an issue with somebody, and that's obviously with the Ravens, right right right, Why would you not You're a go ahead. Heck, it's not even a question. It's not. Don't I really don't. I don't understand where people are coming from when they say that, oh, this guy had he's a problem in your locker room. Maybe he was a problem for the Ravens. I don't

know what their culture is like. And I know I respect the heck out of Ozzie Smith, Ozzie all of those guys and knew some excuse me, Obsie knew him in Baltimore. I think he's one of the greatest of his time. But you have to understand that sometimes when a guy wants out of a situation, he may do everything in his power to try and get out of that situation. Hey, I've been in some bad relationships where I've done a lot of things to get out, and I'll make it your idea. And the Baltimore Ravens just

made Hey, we gotta get rid of you. We have to get you out of town. And it doesn't look good as far as the esthetics of it to hear the leadership counsel when to management to say that we have to get rid of this guy because he's toxic in the locker room. But I'm not gonna use that

as an indictment. On a ten. You're a veteran who has played at the highest level his entire career, and then you and then you factor in the fact that you you have a team right now that is still a relatively young team and he has thirteen playoff games under his belt. That's that's a that's ten more than Dak and that's eight more or six more than Haha has.

And this is a veteran guy that tells you the kind of experience that he has, it's going to help you later in the system and deep into that playoff run. I claim in it, and I'm telling you he's the guy for it. And how many Super Bowl rings do we have on that side of the ball. Oh my god, not a zero. We don't have nothing on that kind of the ball. I'm just gonna have everboded any value there. I just just wondering. Zero. One of the biggest things to me whenever it comes to the Earl Thomas signing

is whether or not he fits football wise? Does he really fit what the Cowboys want to do. I know, understandingly we're getting it from a former teammate. He's saying that he is good in the locker room. But just like Jerry said in his interview with one h five point three the Fan today, was this is something that it has to go with what we're doing. It has to go with exactly what we have at safety. That's

what it has to go with it. Because but Mike McCarthy kind of answered that question indirectly when he said the other day that the safeties are interchangeable. So if that's the case, he can play anywhere. And I think we know he can play anywhere anyway. You guys make a compelling case. I mean, I'm just saying what the reports are out of Baltimore. I don't know Earl Thomas at all. I'm just saying that's what's out there. But you know, from a perspective of what this defense needs,

they need takeaways, he can do that. He's got thirty career interceptions. The other thing is too that jumped out and in and Jerry didn't speak to this, but Jerry's got a long memory. Right ninety two, they needed one more piece to win the Super Bowl, and it was it was Charles Haley. It was one missing piece. And the Cowboys are built. They have built this team to win. Now, you do not hire Mike McCarthy if you don't think you're close. You would hire a younger coach and try

to rebuild. So I wonder how much is that is the thinking, like, are we really just one piece away defensively from from getting this thing done? Right? Right? Hey, let me ask you this qua this question. If you're coming off of the domessy violence stuff that Earl has, right, there's no question going back into a locker room setting understanding what you just came off of, you're going to get clowned. You're gonna get clowned. Right, we all know

the situation. We don't have to dive into it. You're gonna people are gonna talk about it, laughing about you. Every little joke's gonna be about you. When you're in practice, You're gonna it's gonna get heated. And let me let me just in case people don't know, there is a fight every single day in training camp, at every training camp. You guys don't hear about it. If you guys don't see it, but somebody's getting their haid and taking off

and somebody's getting punched every day. Okay, So if that happens, So that's what I said, it's kind of a scapego. So I don't know what's going on in the locker room. But what I do know is Earl Thomas. As we look at our secondary that we have right now, he would be the only name that you would need to know every time you come to the secondary. You need to know where he's out on the field. As we stand right now, there's nobody that's that threatening in the

secondary now. You have to know where they're at as a defensive I mean, as an offensive players, as a quarterback, when you sat up to the line of scrimmage, you better identify where the hit Earl Thomas is at. And that's where he provides to his team. And the other part about what Earl Thomas provides if you look at yourself, if you look at your rookie Diggs, and let's just say the Cowboys coaching staff that saying when loser draw, he's going to be our first day guy, Earl Thomas

behind Diggs. Oh my god. It gives that rookie just the opportunity to trust his eyes on everything that's in front of him because Earl Thomas would have his whole back. This is a situation where if you bring Earl Thomas the air that that puts you in in the NFL, I mean the San Francisco forty nine ers, the other other like the Tampa Bay defenses, Dallas would be right

there as far as championship level defenses. On paper, all I'm saying is that it to me, it sounds like the Cowboys are in a win win situation with a guy who's already gonna get ten million dollars from another team of as far as their cap it, and so his bank account is on Charlie West. You gotta sign him.

That's that's he's gonna happen. You do bring up the financial component of it, though, and we don't know, you know, how much money the Ravens are gonna get from him based on you know, there's gonna be a grievance probably and they're gonna try to say it was violation of team rules or whatever and try so it may change

what he wants from a team. However, I will say this, if this is the place he's always wanted to be running up to Jason Garrett said, come get me, he's you know, if he comes here, then he's gonna do what I would imagine, whatever he needs to do to be fit in. So discount a check. I to tell you when Earl's happy, right, Earl was a leader of that. When you guys talk about the legion of Boom, who do you think head at that up? We hear, we

hear about Richard Sherman all the time. But seeing this internally, if these guys were Kim Cam Chancellor, Richard Sherman, right Brown, or all those guys, Earl would be the one that would call those guys together and say, hey, we're going here to work out. Earl would be the one that say, hey, come over and let's we'll watch the film in my house. That was Earl. So that's why you saw him so angry when he left Seattle and how he left, because he did he did that. He was the founding father

of that of the legion of boom. So I'm just saying it right here. If they miss on this, they will regretted. They will regret it because that is the only missing piece. They have a great defensive line, they have a great linebacker corps. They need somebody who's an absolute dog in the secondary. And that's why we talk about it so much, because we don't have a dog in the secondary. Whether it was Jabal Adams or now

Earl Thomas, it's it's been a topic of conversation. But Isaiah, I'm gonna tell you right now, I'm not sold yet. I'm not Honora Old Thomas on the acquisition. I want to know. I want to have more information. I do, I really do. I want to know exactly what went on in Baltimore to the point where it's not worth the risk anymore to me, because you've got the momentum right now, even though the secondary, of course, you brought in a guy. You brought in a veteran and haha,

Clinton Dick. So we're gonna talk about him at coming up here in this next segment. But seemingly there's some discontent there already. Would it just explode that discontent? That's my question. Would that be something that could be a trouble some move later on if you bring an explosive guy like Earl Thomas, Hey, hey Kyle, let me let me, let me, let me do this. There's there's been there's been a there's been a lot of attention on Haha Clinton Dix. He's a good pick up, no differencepec. He's

a good player. He's a good player. We're talking about great player, right, So we're asking a good player in Haha Clinton Dix to take the throne of being rate and to be this magnificent leader all of a sudden of all these young guys that are he surrounded around. Now, you take somebody like Earl who's already done this before, right, name another secondary has been called legion of boom or anything of that in that category right when he helped

heat created that. So you take somebody who was taking leadership in that regard before and brought a whole youth, a whole young group together before and made them super duper effective within the system they're working in. Oh and by the way, you give him already a veteran safety to play Alongsidely, what are we even talking about? Well, I think Thomas can I Tommy wearing a yellow jacket one day, gold jacket exactly. Will Here's my question back

to you, Yeah, Hm to be worth the risk? What makes him so special to get to that point because I'm not sold. He's the same player that was the legion of boom that was back he went to the promo last year what are you doing last year? What are you last? And we all agreed that that probably wasn't that the best thing? Man? They're not handed out

free tickets to Hawaii. I know they're not going to Hawaiki anywere is not just a they don't give those guys no. If you disregard Earl Thomas's Pro Bowl and you better disregard Jalen Thomas, I mean j j Jalen Janna Smiths. That the window. That's That's how I appreciate Kyle. Listen right now, right now on the defense, I can tell you if Earl Thomas walked on this team right now,

how ready will go down? He would be the most feared player on his defense right now, right now, most feared over Tank, Lawrence Everson, Griffin, Layton vander esh Absolutely, you know why I could you would chip on those you could chip on those guys. I could put an extra tight end right there, and I could chip on those guys, and I can I could affect. I can, I can have an effect over how how productive they are. Earl's sitting back there looking at you running around. I

guarantee you Earl still runs a flour or four. Guarantee you, at the very least he's running four to three. I bet you if he fell off, he runs a four or four now, and guess what He's going to run around sideline the sideline and he's going to hit you in your chess cavity without any regard of his body. You need that, and you need that on your team. We want that on our team because Earl Thomas is a scud missile from the free safety position and you

don't have that. Right now, you were talking about comparing apples to apples or ours however you want to put it. Earl Thomas is not none of that. He is a whole other category. And so if we say, oh, father time, which is undefeated, has caught up with Earl Thomas and he isn't what he was when he got started in the NFL. Well, even at seventy percent, Kyle, He's better than what we have and you cannot disregard that. Don't talk yourself out of it. Don't let nobody trick us

out our spot right now. I made you all bored with this coast side it dog, don't do it. Talk to him. So if I if I hear this right, Robin and Henck and obviously Kyle a rusty and washed up earl Thomas can still make the Pro Bowl? Is that what I'm hearing? He still made the Pro Bowl? Still did and and he had and you know, PF and the metrics guys said he had a good year. Still, how many how many safeties going? I know, Rob, I know you know how many safeties go to the Pro Bowl?

Just a couple? Right, Yeah, it's not a lot. Yeah, okay, I was just gonna let that one sit for a little bit. Similar a little bit. I see exactly what you guys are doing here. You're teaming up on me. But I hear, how about no, No, you got to learn. You got to learn, don't don't you do it take for you to say yes? Number wise? And what would be that that definitive for a comment? I have no idea. I mean, I think Isaiah made a good point in terms of they have space and I and look the

Tyrant Smith restructure. I think that was more of a coincidence. It happened to be the same the same day. I guess that he got cut from Baltimore, that they restructure Tyrant Smith here, But that does create more space. I think they are looking towards twenty twenty one and the potential of having to franchise dak possibly at thirty eight million, but they do have cap space to do something. I look, I mean these guys, Isaiah has swayed me. I think I feel like in terms of what he can bring

on the field and the other thing. If you just look at this big picture and we'll see what happens here. Obviously they have not reached out to him yet. But Everson Griffin was just sitting out there, Seedee Lamb was just sitting there at seventeen in April. It's like the stars are just aligned for the bastliest man. It's crazy. It's crazy. And Stephen even said in an interview last week where he was referred to the Everson Griffin signing, and he said, we look at player acquisition to be

three hundred and sixty five days a year. However, we didn't talk about Everson Griffin until after it was done. There was no lead up. There was really no look into Everson Griffin. Sure Cowboys fans wanted him, but you didn't hear You didn't see the smoke where the fire was coming from. You didn't hear that from Cowboys camp

until it was done. So the fact that they're laying low and the fact that Jerry says, hey, the door's not closed on Earl Thomas yet, it doesn't mean it's happening, but it doesn't mean it won't happen at the same time, And just a reminder for all of you out there, safeties at least or across the board average in the NFL make the second least about the money in their contracts, only trailing tight ends. And that may even change because you see the contracts of Travis Kelsey, George Kittle in

a couple more to come. So safeties ultimately could be pretty cheap on the open market, and whenever you have a guy like Earl Thomas there may end up potentially being that enticing for the Cowboys to make a signing. But we come back we'll talk more about this safety group because did haha Clinton Dix lose his starting spot even without the signing of Earl Thomas. We'll talk about

that and debate it next here on Talking Cowboys. Since eighteen sixty five, Stetson Hats are American maid with pride right here in Texas, and Stetson is proud to be on the field with America's team. Want to show your Texas and Team pride two You can by purchasing your own Stetson. You can look just like how the flag guys do on field at every home game. Stetson hats the official crown of all self respecting Cowboys and your favorite football team. Get yours today at Shop dot Dallas

Cowboys dot com or at Stetson dot com. Want to use what the pros use? How about the official men's skincare brand of the Dallas Cowboys, Jack Black. Right now you can get the Jack Black Starter, a curated collection of Cowboys locker room favorites, for just ten bucks with free shipping. The starter includes four Jack Black skincare favorites, plus a full sized and tense therapy lip ball. Go to get Jack Black dot com. Slash Cowboys and use

the code word Team JB. That's get Jack Black dot com Slash Cowboys, the Jack Black Starter ten bucks free shipping. Laura is a proud sponsor of the Dallas Cowboys, helping fans see more and do more with our best vision solutions. Our lens technologies reveal a world more beautiful than you

can imagine. For a limited time, get the Slur next Gen offer for you buy the latest generation of Transitions lenses with select Slur lenses, you can choose a second pair of clear lenses for free with qualifying frame purchases. Restrictions apply. Find a participating eyecare professional by visiting slor usa dot com. See more, Do More. We're back in a tasty treat that's sweeping airwaves and taste buds. It's new Doctor Pepper and cream Soda. Let's take a listen,

Doctor Baba cream Soda? Is he a Newcombonlet's music to my ears? Okay, doctor the Time, Music to my ears and mouths new Doctor Pepper and Cream Soda to talk in Cowboys? Oh okay, it looks like it looks like we have lost Kyle and we're gonna trying to get We're gonna get through this guy's because Kyle Yeoman's is in the studio and he's supposed to have the best WiFi in the world, but he is the one guy

that cannot find the connection. What guys in this segment, we had talked about doing a stock up and stopped down and we started this what do you think, Rob, maybe ten or so episodes ago where we were saying, whose guys, what guys stopped would be up at this

point or down at this point? Up and so a couple of the names and one of the names are gonna we're gonna throw out is stock up stock down on Haha, Clinton Dixon, Rob, I'll start with you, Well, if Earl Thomas is on his way to town at some point, definitely down right and that now, and there's obviously there's restrictions of what we can say about practice obviously, Darry and Thompson though, is off to a really good start in training camp and he's part of that rotation.

Mike McCarthy was very complimentary of what he's been able to do. And really that Thompson that goes back to when Jason Garrett was head coached. He told us, you know, he's a really sharp safety in terms of getting guys lined up and making sound decisions back there. I'm surprised about Hah a little bit early just because of his history with McCarthy, But so yeah, I would say down a little bit right now, just because the Cowboys are at least exploring options at the safety position, and I

think Xavier Woods a spot at free safety secure. Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and say stock down a little bit as well. Um, for a couple of reasons. The fact that you're you're hearing in some of these younger guys, um,

you know, kind of get in the rotation. But at the same time, he's a vet, right, and you want to always take care of your vets, um you and you know physically, so you want to make sure that they take some reps off, especially with they're not being any preseason games, to go out there um and kind of get get a sense of what's going on. So you kind of want to give those guys a breather. So I don't want to put too much weight on what's going on in terms of the rotation at practice.

If Earl does show up, I don't see that as too much of a stock down either, Rob. I do see that more of as a complimentary position there. I think you. I think you automatically have two veterans in there that would that would play really well off of each other. And one thing is it's not one position that's going to be asked to do more than the other. In that regard, they would just be a compliment to

each other. So I think his stock is down right now just because nobody can see him play and nobody can see him practice and you're hearing. All you're hearing is the rotation is going through. But overall he's a event. I think he would be perfectly fine. If anything, these young guys are gonna bring that competitive aspect back down

of him as a veteran. You know, he Isaiah, you bring up a great point because I'll say, from watching in practice, I haven't seen Haha struggled really necessarily at all. And there are a lot of rotations going on right now. I mean, I've we've seen a lot of change at the defensive line, offensive line. I saw Blake Jarwin at one point working with backups and then he's right back in. They're getting a look at a lot of different guys. So I mean point, and I have to think about it.

We don't have a preseason. We don't have the preseason, right, So if you don't have preseason games and you can't see what guys like in different situations, the only thing that you have is practice. So you gotta cycle guys through to see how they're gonna respond. You got to see how guys are going to react to different situations and all those things. So not not stressing at all. Yeah, Chris, you got him new too, Mike, he did it, he did it, he did it. We're hearing everything double time.

But I would say, for me, stock up on Haha. And the reason I say that is because we haven't had any preseason games. Look, because of COVID nineteen, it is presented a different layer for how you evaluate players. And I just feel as though that experience that Haha has is evaluable to this team. When we look at Worldly at the veteran cornerback, everyone is talking about the value add that he brings with his experience. I think

Haha brings that as well. And I think you want to evaluate all of these guys because you don't have any preseason games. So Lenny Thompson run with the ones. I believe that it's smart. But at the same time, I don't think that because of that that says that you know, this guy is no good. Agreed, Mike, Mike McCarthy. If there's anyone that knows what he has in that particular player, it's Mike McCarthy. Now, I did hear we had Kyle back, but I don't hear him, did you

guys here? I don't see him or hearing you know, you know, fell off his internet because the football guys were so disrespected by what he said earlier in the show about Earl then they just they just canceled his whole internet over there at the Star. And I'm not sure he even meant it either. Yeah no, but but yeah no, I mean in terms of how how guys,

I think he'll be perfectly fine. So I said stock down, But I'm going ahead and say flatline because you don't need your events to having a bunch of reps at practice. You know what they're gonna be capable of doing whenever one week one shows up. Now the next player that we had on stock up stock down, and you would you would probably say that his stock is down because

Ceedee Lamb is putting on a show every day. Everything I hear on Twitter from what the rookie is doing is, oh my god, he did a some assault and caught the ball. And Almari Cooper amar Amari Cooper is also seeming is informed at camp as well. But Michael Gallup, which you say, Michael Gallup is a stock up or as he is stock down guy, Isaiah, you're the resident wide receiver, so we'll start with you. I think gallup stock is up. I mean, why wouldn't it be. I mean,

he has two other guys to playoff of. I don't think there's any question that he's still probably number two out there, So, I mean, he still has a speed as far as as far as I'm concerned, as far as I've known about him right now, I have been able to see practice, But I don't see a reason why his stock would be down right now. If anything, he's gonna have more one on one opportunities going into this season. If CD's anything like I'm like the reports

are stating, then somebody's gonna have to cover him. They're gonna have to bring a number three in to cover him, whether he's in a slot or outside. Somebody that's respectable is gonna have to cover this dude, and what does that lead Gallabat. You could talk about all these other receivers, Cooping and Guy and CD all you want to give me your third guy, I'll take your third guy all day long. He's gonna blow right by him, absolutely, Rob

stock Up, stock Up. Yeah, CD's gotten all the headlines and look rightfully, so Amari has just been I think with Amari, Amari is just a Mari. You expect it from him and he's not outspoken, but he just gets the job done. But Gallops made his share of plays too. Dak had a beautiful back shoulder throw to him for a touchdown yesterday. I think he's arguably the most explosive wide receiver they have, you know, getting to top speed

and separating from from DB's he's been productive. And the other thing Adam Henry wide receivers coach spoke about it the other day with us, those top three guys have really started to bond they. You know, Amari has said he's an open book for CD, and I think it goes the same with Gallup. I think those three are really building their chemistry and the only thing Gallup needs for me is just cut down some of those drops. Last year he had some of those drops that he

blamed himself for. If he can do that, he's the sky's the limit for him. I think he's really got a chance to be a Paro Bowl receiver. It just comes down to the amount of touches you can get in this offense. Yeah, Michael Gallup has got to be tickled with that rookie, with the signing of Ceedee Lamb and knowing the kind of dog that he has and

Amari Cooper. The word is getting out to the rest of the NFL what Ceedee Lamb is doing in camp, and all that does is that make That's gonna make defense is the heightened sense of awareness of where these two guys are nineteen and eighty eight. Maybe, just maybe people are gonna say, oh, Michael Gallup, we can leave you one on one with one of our slot guys. And that's where Michael Gallup starts to eat. So all of the talking and he wants to probably stay as

quiet as he possibly can. But the rest of the NFL, not knowing schematically how the Cowboys are gonna line up. I'm saying, I'm saying stock up for Michael Gallup. But as far as our next player, and I think this is very interesting because as far as this seat the cornerback group, everyone is hearing the word on a Woozier in some of these plays that he's making in camp, Rob you had to write up about him about a Woozier stock up, stock down on Cheetah, stock up, stock up.

He has been you know, I think the most encouraging thing about practice so far for me, beyond the defensive line, is you see different dbs step up every single day. You know, it's been Anthony Brown some days, Dry Walley has been productive pretty much every day, it seems like,

and Cheeto's writing a mixed two now. I think he was limited today in practice, didn't do much after what appeared to be kind of strain in his leg in practice yesterday, but he was flying around before that, had had a leaping interception and team drills on Dak in a two minute situation where the offense needed a field goal to go win the game. He's been like that throughoute camp. He's been competitive against these top receivers. And

I asked Mike Nolan, new defensive coordinator, about it. A couple of days ago, and he said, look, they liked their numbers there and the fact we just mentioned out going against these wide receivers day today is going to make all the dbs better. And I think Cheeto's been really good so far. Rob. I'm back by the way, and I want to kind of go off of the point that you just made, because that was something I was really thinking about today, was you see the growth

in trey Von Diggs. You see the growth and Anthony Brown and what he's able to do with the DBS and in the slot. But I really think ultimately it's super encouraging to see Gallop and Amari and Ceedee Lamb had the success that they do because every time they make a spectacular grab, you know, those defensive backs are learning. You know, those safeties are learning to come across and find a way to give you that help over the top.

I think overall that's a super encouraging thing. And Isaiah, I know you could probably play this as a wide receiver who's been through training camp. Was there any given take from the offensive side to the defensive side whenever there were plays like that? Heck yeah, we got into it all the time. I mean, you gotta Remember we had a really way had Tarrell owens Um at the same time we had pac Man, Jones, Terence Newman, Orlando Scandred,

Mike Jenkins. You know, so we had a very mouthy group, should I say, And you know it was always back and forth, you know, and you might during one on ones, especially even pre practice, right, somebody make a grab, you know, a guy start wolfing, you know, TiO talking to pac Man. Tell M I'll come back to the lot of scrimmage. Now, let's go right now, you know. So you get that back and forth and it's and it's um, it's highly competitive,

but it's so productive. It's so productive because what better setting to have the highest level of competition than in practice? Right then? In practice, That's why the more stacked up your your your roster is, the more the more depth that you have at each position, the better the opposing side of the ball gets because they get better every

single rep. There's not such a drop off in talent. Right, So when I take this, I take these skill sets in these practice and I go to the game, guess what I've already been facing the best that there is, right, there was something equivalent to it, right, So I'm prepared, especially when there's no preseason, right, So these guys are going to be in there battling every single day, Louisia and all those other guys. It has to be the most highly competitive group on our team. It has to be,

right because there's so many unknowns. So these guys are out there not only competing because of the guys on the other side of the born in terms of Cooper at CD in Gallant, but also because of the fact of guess what, we have a lot of depth and if I want to play, I gotta show something every single day because I don't have a preseason to go out there to show that I can ball. I gotta show it in his practice rips And by the way, Trayvon Dicks, that was his best practice of camp so far.

One was everywhere today. Yeah, he had a couple pvus, was in great position really all the way through. Looked comfortable in zone for the first time. I think yesterday was really the first practice that I looked at him and said, Okay, he looks comfortable. He looks like his footworks there, his decision makings there, finally kind of finding a groove for the rookie out of Alabama second round pick.

Now you talk about sink or swim, we kind of saw that last year whenever it was Tony Poler thrown into the mix with no Ezekiel Elliott at training camp. He's our next stock up stock down because I want to hear what you guys have to think about Tony Pollard, because seemingly from what we've heard from Kellen Moore, from this offensive staff, from Skip Pete and really the entire coaching staff is they want to get Tony Pollard involved, not as a backup running back, but as an added weapon.

Robin start with you. Stock up, stock down for Tony Poler through camp so far stock up, I mean, I think, you know, I think they have an opportunity and they probably they should not Probably they should get him more involved. I think there's a way to get Zeke and Pollard involved,

sometimes together, sometimes spelling Zeke. Because we talked about versatility on defense, Tony Pollard can give you a little bit of everything on offense too, and Zeke's trying to do the same thing as Zeke has proven he can do it in terms of a pass catcher, a blocker, complete back. Pollard gives Kellen Moore so any different options as a compliment to Elliott, and I think we've seen it in practice. He's explosive. I think he has a better grasp on

the offense than he did last season. But you know, I always when we talk about Tony Potter, I always go back to what Isaiah said, There's just there's certain guys that have so much talent, but you got to

find a role, You got to find certain snaps. And I think the biggest thing that will help him is if they're just a better overall team and they build leads and they give more opportunities for him to get in the game, because I think they were in a lot of situations last year where they were in trailing and trying to make make things up in the scoreboard. Yeah, rob so Ezekiel Elliott is no longer a spring chicken,

all right, I'll put it that way. We need to take some reps off of him, right, You want to preserve your number one running back. And I want everybody to think back to when the Saints were absolutely bamming out.

They had two dogs back there, one by the name of mark Ingram, one the name Alvin Kamara, and they had two totally different styles of play, right, And it really reminds me of those guys in terms of what these guys have now here in Dallas, what availability they have to them right now in the forum of Ezekiel Elliott, right, and Tony Poler. You got a guy who's gonna be your every down back, who he knows always gonna fall forward. Right, He's not necessarily gonna run away from guys all the time,

but he's gonna give him. He's gonna gi him the hammer. He's gonna give our first down, he's gonna give us our first and second down efficiency. And then guess what, then you bring in your curveball right, and all of a sudden, you got to due name Poler, who can obviously be your third down back. He could swing out, he could run routes one on one on linebackers because you're going to have one on one because you can't play zone with these three receivers that you have out there.

Plus you got this dude named Jarwin. They can kind of run a little bit fast super his position, So you're gonna have man coverage from the running back position, and how many linebackers can really cover running backs not that many, So they're gonna include him as much as possible. As we talked about in the pass on the show, Zeke will get his screenplays, but Pauler is gonna get

worked in or. I think it's not only smart si antically, but it's also smart in terms of persevering and bray certain terms of preserving Ezekiel Elliott as you want him to be on your team for the next six seven years. Now, Kyle, you wrote a great article about Tony Pollard and him just basically pointing out that he's in a better mental space coming into coming into two a days simply because

he's more aware of what's being asked of him. It sounded like to me, just cutting to the chase, I know my plays now, you know, and as a rookie, are those are some of the things that these guys struggle with. It is just learning the playbook. And you saw that from Tony Pollard. It's just some of those plays. It looked like he was out there and he was clueless asked to what to do. Guys, I'm on the other end of this and this is stocked down, and

I'm saying stock down because I don't Yes, exactly. I'm saying it because I don't want any rep that is taken away from Ezekiel Elliott is a bad rep in my In my opinion, I believe he's I believe he's a generational talent. I believe he's kind of guy that once he gets going and he's eating, you don't want to stop that train. And so I just feel as though the Cowboys have so many weapons you have to fit Tony Pollard into it. But I don't think you get Zeke out of rhythm just so that Tony Pollard

could get a rep. Now, Isaiah, look I have my PhD and mama shop debate. So you're ready to do this, Well, I'm ready for, I'm ready for. I'm not sure. Heck, I know you're I know you're, you know, a football minded individual. But this is thing that that they called the split back. Have you heard of that. There's a thing that they called a split back in and that's where you have two running backs in the game at

one time. So if there's one running back that happens to be as you say, eating, um, there's an opportunity for you to now bring the second running back in and go of split backs right, and then when you go split backs, you may take Jarwin out and then you still leave Ceedee, Lamb, Gallop and Cooper in the game. So now you have your top three receiving individuals and your top two runners in the game at the same time with a guy named Dak Prescott wearing number four

at quarterbacks. So that's five weapons out there that that defense really doesn't want to face. So you don't have to take Zeke out of it. You can just simply ad pollardated it to be a complimentary player. I'll go with that. Anytime you're talking about complimentary to Ezekiel Elliott, I'm all about it. All I'm saying is that this year, it seems like all of the stars have a line

for Ezekiel Elliot. It finally, I finally will have another solid breakout here, and I'm talking about fifteen sixteen hundred yards is what I'm looking for. Yes, I said it. I'm telling you I'm expecting that from him behind this offensive line. What I said it, I've said, I'm here for it. You and I You and I agree on a lot of things, and this is not one of

those things. A little bit you're talking about you're talking about stars aligning for Ezekiel Elliott to be a huntred back and have fifteen or sixteen hundred yards sometimes aligning. So Ezekiel Elliott does doesn't have to be the featuring part of this offense. He can be a key cog. He doesn't have to be the featured cog. He can be his own person, and he can be his own weapon along with Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup and so on

and so forth. I can completely disagree with you, and I love you Hack They always you know this thousand percu. I am not so sole. So what you're telling me is you would rather have an eleven hundred thousand yard eleven hundred yard Ezekiel Elliott with four to five hundred yards in the playoffs leading up all the way through the Super Bowl, that a sixteen hundred yard Ezekiel Elliott that gets out in the first round. Is that what you're telling one hundred percent, I don't. He's not built

like that. He's not He's not built like that. And the other part about it is Ezekiel is he's no, He's built for this sixteen hundred yards. So you're saying eleven hundred yards and and you put on top of that the fact that he was under you utilize in the passing game last year. Yes, Ezekiel Elliott is an asset that you have to use, man always the NFL. The NFL, you can have all the receivers for a thousand yards you want, and you will be at home if you have a running game and you can milk

that clock. Look man, and you have a defense that you could run out there and get and create turnoffers. There's no way you don't say, Ezekiel Elliott is our bell pow running back and we're gonna ride him all the way to Tampa. I said anything that takes them all out of Ezekiel held Elliot's hands, I'm not with it. Question question, um fellers, how many fifteen hundred yard running backs have the Patriots had during their there in their run? You did court, maybe Corey Dillon did it. How long

ago was that? Like? Fifteen years ago? Okay, So you're saying that you don't have to have a fifteen hundred yard running back in order to be successful in this league. I'm not saying that that is a one that's a prerequisite to winning a championship. Obvious. Kansas City doesn't have a fifteen hundred yard rusher as well, but they don't have Ezekiel Elliott. So let's not let's not put perched Zeke up as though he's not the man that he is.

We're not We're not saying that, hey, we're saying that you don't have to place those demands on him because he has helped. He has help, So that has help. Why would you not distribute that amongst everybody so that everybody's healthier throughout the year, leading you all the way up through a super Bowl, hopefully to Tampa man year. Here's the thing about this, Here's here's the thing about this debate. It's it's a This is exactly what coaches

dream about. This is what offensive consolutely dream about, is having a debate on oh my gosh, which weapons do we use? Oh? We we have so many guys that could potentially go fifteen hundred yards or take us to a super Bowl if they're healthy. That's a complete what is It's go ahead, Kyle, let me ask you this. And in a season where you have it, you're not

gonna have a preseason. The one thing that is constant in your offense is you're running back, what is easier to turn it around and handed the ball to Ezekielli. He has something to prove this year. He was as far as first down rushers, he was pretty last in the NFL on first down and that had to do with the lack of creativity in offense. Dude, we have all of those weapons now. So if you have to relegate to Amari Cooper and you have to relegate to ceedee lamb, that extra man that you had in the

box last year, he's not gonna be there. So how is that plan to turn around and handing the ball to twenty one not the likely plan that's gonna get you to the super Bowl or give you success. Well, I think y'all both right. I think, like Isaiah said, Pollard can take some of that off of him. So it's a long season, right, But I also think there's a better chance of Zeke getting fifteen yards than having three one thousand yard receivers at least, that's what I think.

That's what I think a fan should probably hope for, because what it means is you've got Zeke, like Heck said, salting away games and wearing him down and finishing the game off in the fourth quarter. He didn't get to do that last year. I forget how many times it was Dak threw over forty times in games. It was like five or six times. That's way too much. You need Dak. You need Dak having about I don't know, twenty eight attempts something like that and be able to

pound your running backs. And I think if if you're a good football team, I think Zeke's got a chance to definitely get I think he had thirteen hundred last year. I think he'd get the fifteen hundred. That's feetball one on one. Oh no, they'll still stack you up. Look well that's hey, we're gonna go to break they get kyled back. I'm j Nobachik, former tight end for the Dallas Cowboys back in the day. I was a guy who always got the tough yards, and that's why I

run with John Deer today. In fact, I have a John Deer three zero twenty five E tractor that can handle any yard work I need to do, even the tough yards way out back. So if you have one acre or a thousand, John Deer has the equipment that's just right for you. Visit a John Deer dealer today and run with us. We are the official tractor provider of your Dallas Cowboys. SLOR is a proud sponsor of the Dallas Cowboys, helping fans see more and do more

with our best vision solutions. Our lens technologies reveal a world more beautiful than you can imagine. For a limited time, get the slur next Gen Offer, where you buy the latest generation of transitions lenses WO Select Slur Lenses. You can choose a second pair of clear lenses for free with qualifying frame purchases. Restrictions apply. Find a participating eyecare professional by visiting slur usa dot com, selor seemore do more. We're back in the tasty treat that's sweeping airwaves and

taste buds. It's new Doctor Pepper and cream Soda. Let's take a listen, Doctor Baba cream sodas he a Newcombonut's music to my ears? Okay, Doctor bad Time pass music to my ears and mouths New Doctor pepper and cream Soda? What delas just do back? I want to use what the pros use. How about the official men's skincare brand of the Dallas Cowboys, Jack Black right now you can get the Jack Black Starter, a curated collection of Cowboys locker room favorites, for just ten bucks with free shipping.

The starter includes four Jack Clack skincare favorites, plus a full sized and tense therapy lip bomb. Go to get Jack Black dot com slash Cowboys and use the code word team JB. That's get Jack Black dot com slash Cowboys the Jack Black Starter ten bucks free shipping to talk in Cowboys. So before I get disconnected again, gonna go through all the sponsorship reads that we're supposed to do.

Looking for something to change up your dinner routine, help out local Frisco businesses by choosing one of the Star District restaurants. They're across the street here from the Dallas Cowboys headquarters. For more information on delivery, take out, curbside pickup, and Diana availability, visit the Star District dot Com. Lots of fantastic options over there, and they've got some fire roasted things over there. We've been fire roasting really since

eleven o'clock. On our debates back and forth whether it be Earl Thomas, is he a legit fit for the Dallas Cowboys. Half of us think so half of us don't. It's been a fun show to say the least. Heck My Harrison, Isaiah stand back, Rob Phillips, I'm Kyle Yeoman's here for talking Cowboys every Tuesday at eleven o'clock. And guys, we were kind of talking about it in the break a little bit. We're gonna talk about expectations here in about four or five minutes before we close out the show.

But Isaiah brought up a fantastic point throughout the commercial break about Earl Thomas and some of the other teams that are interested in bringing in Earl Thomas. One of them is in your own state, the other ones in your own division. You've got the Houston Texans and the Philadelphia Eagles who have reportedly shown some interest in potentially signing Earl Thomas to a deal. And I don't know about you, guys, but that kind of makes me queasy

thinking about Earl Thomas in an Eagle's uniform. And Isaiah, I know you talked about it as well. Rob. You even have an example of going back almost a decade of something very similar. But Isaiah will start with you, how much do you not want to see Earl Thomas in an Eagle's uniform. Listen up, I promise you Earl next to my boy I grew up with Nate Robinson. Earl Thomas is the most competitive individual that I have

ever known in my life. And Earl, if Dick Dallas Cowboys don't sign him, if they elect to not sign him simply just off of I just don't feel like it right now, Earl will make the Cowboys life a living. He will come back and sign with Philly just so he can show up twice a year and hit your receivers in their chest as hard as he can. I promise you that's how competitive is. Due to this, and every time he goes to train, every time he goes to lift weights and take reps, he is going to

have that dog on a helmet on. I don't care if he has. He is going to be thinking about the opportunity to run across the field and hits your favorite player in the chest. I'm just telling you, telling you that's act I said. Let me say this to you. Then if he does go to Philly, what Ezekiel Elliott will do will do what Henry did to him and

turn him to a lead blocker. Oh the defensive play. Okay, that's what I'm telling you, don't hey, and guess what they both they both gonna be waking up then because I tell you what's coming in. That's what. If he goes to spite us has to be patty, then that's on him. But for me, I feel like if he doesn't come to Dallas, the I think the one place that he would land would be in Massachusetts with Billy. You know, that's the and that's the that's the place

there no think about it. Since week since we've opened up the door for Philly. Let's talk about what you believe the Patriots would do they bringing in with the mccaudy brothers in lockdown stid. Yes, on the other side, what do you what do you think they're gonna do? That's a man? What's what's that gift of Belichick walking like with with purpose, like through the tunnel? You know that was that was a popular gift when they said Earl was getting released by Baltimore. Let h I don't

know about maybe San Francisco could they. I don't know what the reports San San Francis, I would say, if I had to guess, Houston's have known because Billy o'brain haven't played for him in New England. His temper and earl, that's not gonna work well together. I can tell you that right now. They would get into it every single day, and that would be as volunteer apparently as the balls

more was. But San Francisco the opportunity to go back and play with his boy Richard Sherman Alisabetter step up. I'm telling you you will see him again, whether it's twice a year, whether it's in the playoffs, You're gonna see this dude again if you don't sign him. So please, please, please, don't make this mistake. I'm apparently hearing them. McCarthy's kind of on it all right. He might be just you know, just playing you know politics, Jerry Jones. I know Jerry

wants him. I know Jerry wants him. Go ahead and grab grab that pan, Jerry, and go ahead and sign up. You gotta do the Jerry impersonation, I say, while we're here, you don't huh oh no, I'm just saying this thing, and this is wild. This reminds me of twenty eleven after the lockout, when same thing, everybody just finally got together for practice in the summer. He was coming off

the lockout. Free agency was happening at the same time, and awesome while was a guy the Cowboys were interested in as a free agent, same with Philly, and he wound up in Philly, and like Isaiah said that, I'm like, oh man, this is like deja vu. We'll see he yeah. I mean, I'm talking about Philly players right now, and it's something about is making me nauseous. I just you know, you know, Assawa was a guy that we definitely wanted. Philly paid way too much for him and we didn't.

I mean, I don't think that he would have made a bigger difference on our team dating back then. It's just the thing we need to pull the trigger on this guy, period. And looking over looking at the league, looking at the other safeties, but just talking about our roster, our depth chart. He adds a dimension to our defense that I don't believe that we have. And it's just it seems like he would be a natural fit. All

of the pressure is on Earl. He's the one that has to dispel the myths and the rumors of him being a bad teammate. So this is the place that he wants to be He's gonna be on his best behavior in Dallas. Yeah, he has to be in And I think I don't know if all the pressures on Earle. I just think some of the pressures on Earle and whether or not he's going to come to Dallas, and if he doesn't, then where is that competitive edge going

to go for him? But as we're running out of time, I do want to ask this question because we're seeing it in practice, Rob and I throughout the entirety of training camp. But it's the install it's the preparation for a new coaching staff without a preseason, and it has

me a little nervous. But should there be any lowered expectations potentially a slow start to the season, even with Mike McCarthy potentially not having that lead in not having that preseason to really install a system moving forward, Rob, Mike McCarthy said no. He was asking about not a couple of days ago, and he said, I don't want to hear that crap. In so many words, he said, the expectations are to go win a title. That's what he was hired for, and that's what he said. The

expectations are every team he's ever had. It is a challenge, but look, it's a challenge for all thirty two teams in the league. And I will say the number of the veterans they brought in I think will help the transition because you bring in guys that have done this for years and years and Everson Griffin, Poe, I think that helps. You're not relying on as many young guys, and I you know, I think they've got an opportunity to win a lot of football games because I think

what they've done on defense in particular. Heckma, Yeah. The one thing about retaining Kelly Moore that really gives me confidence about our offense because the terminology is going to be the same, and I believe that he's going to be the voice between Dak and Mike McCarthy as far as Bridge and that terminology. So it's not I have

no doubts about that. And I believe that Mike McCarthy has his heart in the right place by saying, look, Kellen, because of what's going on with the season, it would seem like it would be better for you to start things off. He's learning that offense in those terminologies as well, and he did express that at his pressor. Also, the expectation is championship. That's that's not even there's no question

about it. There's you had. You brought veterans on this team, not because you want to build this team for the future. You brought veterans on this team because you want to dog on ring and it's been too long and you want that. You want that other you're tied up. You tied up. Another organization up in the Northeast have a more than you. So that's that's what the conversation is. Um the expectation. You brought in this amazing coach, but he hasn't. I don't even know how he has his

staff together, but he has a ridiculous staff. You brought in veteran guys to play. You shot up your defense where you were lacking at you have you added another weapon on the offense. You retain the same officsive coordinator so that you have symmetry there and there's no learning curve. This team is set up to ball out, Go out, sign this dude another pro bowler to add on to your defense and secure this thing and let's go play

some ball. I love it. I love it. And that's the best way to end this version of Talking Cowboys. As we are out of time, and before we let you go, I want to reminds you to go get your training camp coverage with a twenty twenty Dallas Cowboys our magazine Training Camp preview includes a scouting report, position battles, final roster projections, and so much more. You can go get your copy for four ninety five today at Dallas

Cowboys dot Com slash star Boys. That was fun. How about a little bit of debate all the way through. We're going back and forth, We're getting heated, and this is football season. And now I'm so excited to go through a football season with you guys as a crew of Talking Cowboys. But for heck Ma Harrison, for Rob Phillips and the Super Bowl champion Isaiah standback, I'm Kyle Yeoman saying so long for this edition of Talking Cowboys.

We'll see you next Tuesday. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.