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00:00Bobby Bell from The Morning Show, Sean and RJ, 6 to 10 weekday mornings here on The Fan.
00:06He's riding with us throughout the day, talking sports, talking Cowboys,
00:11helping fill in for Brian Broaddus, who, if you missed it, is out indefinitely following the passing of his mother.
00:18So condolences to the Broaddus family, friends and family.
00:22And, you know, send Brian some love on social media.
00:24Let him know that he is missed and that he is loved.
00:27All righty.
00:28But, OK, Bobby, got some Cowboys questions here for you.
00:31And I got these from your email.
00:33Yep.
00:34So these are topics that we could discuss this afternoon.
00:37And I want to start with this one about offense and whether or not the Cowboys are seriously going to
00:44not do anything offensively,
00:47which Stephen told us there at the combine, said we're not going to do much of anything.
00:52Can they afford to do that?
00:53Yeah, so that's going to be because obviously everything you're doing to structure the defense right now and to make
01:00the defense competitive and to turn your team into a competitive football team.
01:04Your targets on defense are being made in mind with we can just do that again.
01:10We can do what the offense did last year or we can do better depending on what it is.
01:15And so you may look at it and say, OK, Tyler Booker is going to be better next year.
01:20It'll be another year where Cooper BB is under center.
01:24Tyler Guyton hopefully going to be able to improve a little bit.
01:28We've got Pickens here playing for money again because I don't think they're going to get an extension done.
01:33I think they are going to just try to have him play on the tag.
01:35Javante Williams is back.
01:37It'll be another year at Jaden Blue.
01:38So I think in their heads, they're thinking this is good.
01:41We're set up.
01:41We're fine.
01:42It'll be as good as last year or it'll be better.
01:45Those are the only two options.
01:47And the only thing that I think should be considered is there's still some variables here.
01:55George Pickens was great last year.
01:57You need to be open to the possibility that that George Pickens you saw last year was peak George Pickens.
02:04You don't know.
02:06The Rangers got into this in 23 when the Rangers had a certain, you know, had certain production in 2023.
02:14They talked about into the future.
02:16Well, guys will get better.
02:17Josh Young is going to get better.
02:18Evan Carter is going to get better.
02:20This will be fine.
02:21We're three years later and they're still talking about that as their strategy to improve their offense every year.
02:26It's just, well, that'll get better eventually because we saw him do it that one time.
02:30So the thing that I think bears monitoring for all Cowboys fans or something that even Cowboys fans should be
02:37asking themselves is,
02:38should it just be a slam dunk that we don't invest in the offense at all?
02:43Like, I mean, I would not do this, but I saw a mock draft the other day.
02:46They had Dallas taking Makai Lemon at 20, which would be absolutely insane to me.
02:51I don't think you can take a wide receiver with either of those two first picks.
02:54If you have something in the third round, maybe.
02:56If you got to 20 and you really didn't like cash as hell in a key mesador, I mean, I
03:01would be excited about it.
03:02I would try to bail out is what I would just try to trade out.
03:05Yeah.
03:05Let's trade back.
03:06Get a linebacker and a safety.
03:07But I think you have to investigate, all right, what is Javante Williams' likelihood of replicating a career-high season?
03:16What is George Pickens' chances of replicating a career-high season?
03:20I like Pickens' chances better than Javante's.
03:24Yeah, I do, too.
03:27But I think that both of them, in certain circumstances, are capable of doing it.
03:32The running back position is such an offensive line-dependent position.
03:36So, yeah, if you're banking on, well, Booker's going to be better, BB's going to be better, like those sort
03:40of things,
03:40okay, then you may be able to flesh that out a little bit.
03:45But there's still, I think, we have not gotten a firm answer as to what the hell they were doing
03:51with left tackle at the end of the year.
03:53Why they were shifting things around the way they were.
03:55Why they moved Tyler Smith.
03:58What they plan on doing about that moving forward.
04:01Tyler Smith is going to be at left guard.
04:02That's fine.
04:03But does that necessarily mean Tyler Guyton is just penciled in there?
04:06Are they going to try to push him at all?
04:08They really seem to like Nate Thomas last year.
04:11Maybe they say, well, Nate Thomas should get some sort of a shot.
04:13I think you're just looking at it and saying there's still uncertainty about how you want to structure the offensive
04:19line.
04:19And maybe you just say, we want Thomas and Guyton instead of Steele.
04:23Or maybe it's we want Guyton and Steele or Thomas and Steele.
04:25However they want to mix and match it.
04:27I think they still have long-term questions about the offensive line.
04:31The tight end depth is a question.
04:33They don't really have dynamic tight end play.
04:36Ferg has been good.
04:36But you have not seen Ferg elevate to like a really dynamic seam threat.
04:42The way that you were kind of hoping he would be.
04:44And then you liked what Ryan Flannoy did last year.
04:46But as he's settling into the third receiver is like, hey, yeah, we can bank on that's the guy.
04:50Because if you don't feel like for sure that's the guy, this is a three receiver league now.
04:54That's a starter.
04:56And that would be at that point a hole that you have.
04:59And so I do think there's at least a case to be made or something that just says, all right,
05:06let's just slow down.
05:07And we're throwing all these resources at defense.
05:09And we need to because we've got to get this defense caught up.
05:12It cannot be that bad again.
05:14But just if you look at it and go, okay, do you need to explore the trade market for something
05:18else?
05:19Whether it be defensively so you can cover yourself and pick something offensively with one of those three first picks.
05:23Or do you say we've got to just go make some sort of an acquisition for a low-end, high
05:29-upside offensive player on the free agent market
05:31or in the trade market or whatever else to just cover ourselves a little there?
05:34Because we are banking a lot on, you know, it's just never going to stop.
05:39It's all going to keep going and growing and being awesome.
05:42Yeah, you know, I think that Kobe Durant signing changes the picture at corner quite a bit.
05:48And if you get to 12 and your linebacker is gone and Caleb Downs is gone and then the three
05:54edge rushers,
05:55if you consider Reese an edge rusher, if Reese, Bain, and Bailey are gone, like, what are you doing at
05:5912?
05:59And I think the best thing you could do for the long-term health of the roster overall would be
06:05to take a tackle if he's there.
06:07If I told you I've got – and let's operate on the super optimistic end.
06:14And I tell you these three are all capable – or these players are all capable of the same ceiling.
06:21But that ceiling is they're going to be a Pro Bowl player.
06:23They're going to functionally be the same player just at different positions.
06:28So if I tell you what's staring them in the face at 12 is a Pro Bowl tackle for the
06:32future,
06:32it is a Pro Bowl edge rusher, a stand-up guy, or a Pro Bowl cornerback, which are you taking?
06:39I'm taking the edge right now.
06:41Chief?
06:42Yeah, I think I'm taking the edge as well.
06:45I think that's probably where I'd go to just because I want – right now I don't have much rotation
06:49with my edge rushers.
06:52But I think there's a – if you're talking about this window that they're clearly trying to open up,
06:58Sean had kept resisting the idea of us referring to it as a window.
07:02So we've just kind of adjusted and said, all right, they're not in a three-year window.
07:05They're trying to open one.
07:06They're trying to just shift money ahead.
07:09They were $50 million over the cap when this started.
07:11They've spent $65 or something since – so you're talking about they freed up $50 to have the spay –
07:17like they got $50 million out, spent $65.
07:19They've shifted a lot of money.
07:21Yeah, they have.
07:21They do not have very many switches left to be able to flip and create money.
07:26That's pretty much dried up.
07:27So they're putting everything on credit right now, essentially.
07:30And so they're telling you like we're going like super in here and we're going aggressively towards this direction.
07:37If you're trying to maximize that, you are going to be picking very heavily based on need rather than just
07:42who's the best.
07:44So I think I'd agree with you that the Durant signing and specifically – all right, I've already invested in
07:51Revel.
07:52I've already invested in Bland.
07:53I've got Durant now.
07:55And Jalen Thompson should be able to play some nickel for me.
07:58I think maybe they do look at it and just go, that's a tiebreaker for us.
08:02We have four guys who can play corner.
08:03We need four corners.
08:04We've got them.
08:05Like that can be – and if Carson is a fifth, there's just a depth piece of just like there's
08:09an emergency break glass in case sort of situation,
08:13then maybe they start looking at tiebreakers.
08:15And what originally cornerback I think was definitely at the very top, I think now they could be looking at
08:20it and just saying like,
08:21okay, that's going to break a tie for us.
08:22We may need the edge rusher more.
08:24And I just – I wonder if the right tackle were staring them in the face, if they would just
08:29go, we just can't leave that.
08:31It really made sense when you were looking at corners and safeties, like taking one of those at 12 and
08:37then seeing them in at 20.
08:39That's like, okay, this draft's lining up well.
08:41But what they did at safety and then adding corner and the middle linebacker situation is very interesting as well
08:47because Stiles is probably not going to be there at 12 and then these guys are a reach at 20.
08:53And I think with their inability to cover on the second and third level right now, your pass rush isn't
09:01good enough.
09:01So there is just so much work that needs to be done as far as bringing in quality players that
09:06can be in position for me to believe that
09:08Christian Parker's first season with the Cowboys is going to be successful.
09:12Yeah, and look, I would say this.
09:13I think that their defense is better today than it was at the end of the season.
09:17I know that there's been some resistance to that and maybe the individual parts aren't better
09:22because like you did move on from Osa and you did move on from a guy who was solid for
09:27you in Solomon Thomas.
09:29And Jadavion Clowney was a good player last year.
09:31So maybe it's in a talent vacuum, not better.
09:36But what I think they look at it is the way these pieces all fit together
09:41and the way that these players process things, which is such a huge thing for Christian Parker,
09:48then I think what they would say is like,
09:50we're at a point right now where we can operate as a defense at a higher level.
09:53I don't think they're allowing three points per drive with this unit right now next year.
09:58Now, it doesn't necessarily mean they may be bottom 10 until they get some of these other pieces in here.
10:03But I don't think that they're at a place right now where they were as bad as they were for
10:06the majority of last season.
10:09And do they start looking at it at any point?
10:12Just going, all right, let's create a little bit more margin over here because we've at least settled on this.
10:17Like, now that we've gotten this to a stable point, not a good point, but just it's stable, right?
10:23Then what we can do from here is try to potentially, if we see a value in another spot,
10:28like, well, we can't really neglect that that player's so much better than these other guys that are neat.
10:32Do you think they're better than last year mostly because of the coaching aspect?
10:36Is it just mostly because Parker for Iberflues?
10:39Or do you think these players, like I think Jalen Thompson is a true upgrade from what you had.
10:45100%.
10:46Gary is probably slightly better than Clowney, but it's not like world's different.
10:51Yeah, it's not like ridiculous.
10:53It's not in Madden terms.
10:55It's not you just trade in an 80 player for a 90.
10:57It's not like that.
10:58Right, right.
10:59This is like an 87 to a 90 or whatever it is.
11:03So I'm wondering, is it based on the players that they've brought in?
11:07Or is it mostly just because we know that Christian Parker is going to be more competent than what Iberflues
11:12was?
11:13Both.
11:13So my contention the whole time, and I know Zach argued about this a few different times during the season,
11:19or especially early on, the idea of like, you know, Madden Iberflues did not just become a dummy overnight.
11:26There's no way that he just became a moron, basically, when it comes to football.
11:30And I don't think he did.
11:32That's not it at all.
11:32I think he's stubborn.
11:33I think he's stubborn as hell, and that's a big part of it.
11:37But I think what you had was, I would also say, Kyer Elam, bad as he was throughout his career,
11:44which he had not been a good football player.
11:46Kyer Elam did not become unable to process where he was supposed to stand in cover three overnight.
11:53Where he was supposed to be in cover two.
11:55And universally in that secondary, none of them knew where they were supposed to be.
11:58And those are guys who have played in the NFL, started several games in the NFL for teams with Dallas,
12:03outside of Dallas, through their entire careers.
12:05And it's like, okay, do I think it's more likely that all these players all of a sudden forgot where
12:09they're supposed to stand in high school coverages?
12:12Stuff that would get you benched in high school for not knowing it.
12:16Like, do I think that's more likely, or do I think it's more likely that the guy who got driven
12:19out of Chicago for having trouble communicating with players
12:21and was told by Jalen Johnson to get the hell out of the locker room right before he was fired,
12:25of just like not even hearing it,
12:27was the guy who had problems communicating in Chicago and maybe didn't take enough time off to figure that stuff
12:31out?
12:31Did he come in here with communication problems that then leaked over to your team?
12:37And then basically hired that same staff in Chicago?
12:40Yeah, I think that the Parker aspect of it is helpful because it's anybody.
12:45Right.
12:45He was a below replacement level coordinator last year, Matty Belfluce was.
12:50And so if you bring in somebody who, I think Christian Parker's going to be really good.
12:55Do I know that for sure?
12:56No.
12:56But I think that there's enough evidence of Fangio disciples going out and being able to at least put a
13:05solid product out on the field
13:07that Parker plus the acquisitions together makes me feel like, all right, this does seem to fit so strongly with
13:13what Fangio schemes want to build
13:15that that tells me I would hope that's at the very least somewhere between middle of the pack to just
13:23barely in the bottom third.
13:25Yeah.
13:25I mean, it's going to get better because Jerron Bland is getting healthy.
13:28You know, you put him back on the field and get him healthy.
13:31He was off the field at the end of the year and you had Donovan Wilson and Malik Hooker.
13:35And now you have Jalen Thompson and Malik Hooker and PJ Locke.
13:39So I think the talent is marginally better.
13:42The coaching should be significantly better.
13:45But, you know, I think going back to how we opened up this segment, like to what extent should you
13:50be considering offense?
13:51I don't think the offense is so good that you just need somewhat respectable defense.
13:59And the opportunity would be to give Dak Prescott more time, to give your running back better holes.
14:07So I think at 12, considering your edges, your linebacker, and your safety are likely going to be gone.
14:15Like offensive tackle, is it Malinoa?
14:17Is it Fano?
14:18Like Monroe Freeling?
14:19Like which one of these guys do you really like?
14:22And let's take a tackle that can replace Steele or, you know, be a much better long-term option than
14:28Tyler Guy.
14:29And I don't know why they've seemingly moved on from offensive line so much.
14:33Yeah, I think that they trust their evaluation and then they felt like, hey, we had a group last year
14:39that was supposed to play that never really got healthy enough to play together.
14:42We were changing out parts pretty consistently.
14:44So I think they believe, all right, if we can get settled in this year to it, like, I mean,
14:48we went out there and won a game against the Jets.
14:50It was the Jets.
14:51But still, we won a game against the Jets where it was like all different offensive linemen going out there
14:55and play.
14:56They had like one starter out there and they were able to manage it.
14:58And so I think for them, they look at it and say it's more time on task.
15:03It's a unit that should be together.
15:04But banking on health can always be a dangerous thing, can be a dangerous aspect of it.
15:10But, yeah, I think that if the right player is like staring you in the face and you've gotten cleaned
15:16out from other options,
15:18offense may not be something that you can totally neglect.
15:23I think they're a good offensive unit.
15:24But if Dak's healthy, if they play exactly the way they did last year, and like I said, they get
15:30two extra stops per game,
15:31they flip, they beat Green Bay, that's no longer a tie, and then they flip three to four other games,
15:38probably.
15:39And so at that point, they're a 10 or 11 win team.
15:41So, yeah, if they can duplicate the offense, which is a lot, I would say the thing that's gotten me
15:45killed on the morning show,
15:47I think one of the biggest things you could do for your offense is move on from Brandon Aubrey.
15:51Because I think it's just become way too much of a comfortable crutch for their offense to just go,
15:56we're past the 50, we're good.
15:58Let's scale it back.
15:59Let's not jeopardize too much because we know we can get points.
16:01Yeah, you know, my biggest thing is when the run game is not getting first downs and you're getting pressure
16:07on Dak,
16:07there were too many games like Arizona and Chicago and Denver where it felt like that version of Dak that
16:16got flustered in the playoffs.
16:18You know, and if that's happening in five of your 17 games, I can almost guarantee you're not going on
16:24a run in the playoffs like that.
16:26And maybe your goal is just to get back into the playoffs.
16:29And if that's the case, then what are we really doing?
16:32Yeah, I think that for them, they think the offense will just naturally be better.
16:36So they believe that the offense will be upgraded just on that alone.
16:39So they'll go, okay, be a little better there.
16:41If we can jump up the defense to just be in middle of the pack, well, I mean, that's a
16:45team that could win 11 games.
16:47And I think they looked at the NFC last year.
16:49I think they had a ton of regret when they looked at it at the end of the year and
16:52they said,
16:53this was the year we had this offense in this conference and this league,
16:58which was devoid of really top-tier quarterback play for most of the year.
17:03They looked at it and they were like, we blew that.
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