00:00We were talking about this a little bit on Gbag the other day, and I'll throw this question over y
00:03'all before we get to Jerry's comments here about the D.
00:09Can you afford to completely neglect offense this offseason?
00:13Was your offense good enough last year that you can say you don't need to make any upgrades to it?
00:18I'll say yes, because I don't have the obvious upgrade to throw out there.
00:26Now, the offensive line can be better, but I feel like that's going to have to come from within with
00:34the Texas Rangers' Wyatt Lankford hope that Tyler Guyton makes a leap.
00:41Let me give you this scenario real quick, the one yesterday about Kuyper, where Kuyper had the board pretty wiped
00:46out of the defensive guys they like.
00:48In that scenario, they had Francis Marinoa, the tackle from Miami, on the board.
00:52He is considered, by I would say most people, solidly a top 10 player in the draft, and there's a
00:59lot of people who'd say that's a top 5 player in the draft.
01:02So if I told you at 12, a top 5 overall player who is an offensive tackle, specifically he's a
01:07right tackle, is on the board, would you say,
01:11that sounds interesting to me to where if I'm wiped on defense, I might consider that at 12?
01:14Or do you just think defense is such a need, you can't even afford to waste resources on that?
01:19What is that smell?
01:21I don't know. It's been about 30 minutes, 40 minutes.
01:23Payton's studio smelled bad earlier.
01:25This is not you?
01:26No, this is not me.
01:27This is getting worse and worse.
01:29I've been questioning myself.
01:31I'm like, have I been farting and not realizing it myself?
01:34And I'm like, that's not the case.
01:36I'm smelling the microphone.
01:37Because you've got eggs over there.
01:39You've got jerky over there.
01:40The eggs are wrapped.
01:43They're in this Ziploc bag.
01:44I'm not smelling it. What does it smell like?
01:46I don't know.
01:46It just smells like sewage.
01:48Yes.
01:49Oh, is it like what you're smelling in the kitchen the other day?
01:52No, that was Jake Springer.
01:54It was literally his smell.
01:56Are you smelling it out there, Aiden?
01:58Yeah.
01:59He says it smells like the S-word.
02:01Yeah, yeah.
02:01He said it.
02:02So, no.
02:02No, stop it.
02:04Is he Panay Sewell?
02:05No.
02:06Who's the comp?
02:07I don't know that there's like an easy comfort, but like he's not a Panay Sewell level player,
02:11but he's somebody who I think most people say that should be a Pro Bowl tackle at some point in
02:14his career.
02:15Yeah.
02:17I'm probably drafting defense.
02:20I want two corners.
02:22I want to draft corner at 12 and 20.
02:25That's what I want.
02:25But, man, that's a lot.
02:29If you've already signed Durant and Thompson's going to play some nickel for you, that feels like a lot of...
02:33I'm not looking for Durant at corner.
02:38I'm looking for...
02:39Really?
02:40Like...
02:40That's a...
02:42And at three-corner league, I think that's a pretty good player.
02:44Yes.
02:45As your third...
02:45Yeah.
02:46Yeah, it is.
02:47I'm also saying I need two starters.
02:51No, that's...
02:52I mean, I get that.
02:52I would say...
02:54Draft in the tackle?
02:57I could be talked into the tackle.
03:00I don't know that I would necessarily want to...
03:02I'd look for somebody to trade back with first.
03:05But if I could not get out of there, I would rather take Francis Maui Noah the tackle than Jermon
03:09McCoy.
03:09The corner from Tennessee.
03:11That offense was good.
03:13Wow.
03:13That was not just because of injury fear.
03:16Yes.
03:17I don't want to...
03:18I would much rather feel secure that I've got a guy who can play tackle.
03:22Yeah.
03:22That offense was very, very good.
03:25It was not an elite offense.
03:27No, I disagree.
03:29The Cowboys?
03:29It left a lot of points on the board.
03:31I think that's...
03:32In the second half of the year...
03:34If you want to talk...
03:36The numbers are going to look good.
03:38It was like second in scoring or whatever.
03:39It was second or fourth.
03:40Second in yards, seventh in scoring.
03:43It left a lot of points on the board.
03:45It had a lot of stalled out drives.
03:46Their scoring percentage was 48%.
03:48Those second best in the NFL.
03:49Yeah.
03:50Okay.
03:51Scoring.
03:51But I'm not talking about touchdowns.
03:53It left a lot of points on the board.
03:54How are you defining elite?
03:59There's probably an anecdotal feel to it.
04:02They were 32nd in average starting field position.
04:05They had the worst starting field position in the NFL.
04:06And they scored at the second highest rate in the NFL.
04:09Again, it was a...
04:10Name the offenses better.
04:15God, you have to go back.
04:16I mean, I think that...
04:19The Rams?
04:20The Rams' offense is better.
04:21Detroit's offense is better.
04:22Here's how good Dallas' offense was last year.
04:25They averaged almost the same yards per play on offense as they allowed on defense.
04:30Almost the same.
04:32Patriots' offense?
04:34No, I would not say the Patriots' offense.
04:35They were offensively to other defenses close to what Dallas' defense was all year.
04:41Buffalo?
04:42I trust Buffalo.
04:44Do you think that the drives didn't stall out?
04:47They didn't have a point?
04:47I don't care.
04:48I don't care about a stall out.
04:49I mean, how many times...
04:50They still scored 28 a game.
04:52Yeah.
04:52How many times in the last four games of the season, six games of the season, did we talk
04:56about them completely forgetting how to play football in the second half?
04:59Yeah.
04:59It was an issue.
05:00Yeah, yeah.
05:00No, no.
05:01So that's not an elite offense.
05:01That doesn't mean there's a...
05:03Well, I mean, I'll see.
05:03How about that?
05:04It's not an offense that is so good, you don't address it.
05:08Okay, so what are you addressing it with?
05:11Yeah, I'm not...
05:11I would address it with...
05:12I mean, look, I still...
05:14There is...
05:15Offensive line.
05:16Okay, offensive line.
05:17I think that was a big reason for why it's stalled out at times.
05:21Okay.
05:22There's no screaming need to me at receiver.
05:24There's not.
05:24I'm totally fine with Javante.
05:27Quarterback, nothing is happening.
05:29Yeah, it's offensive line.
05:30You got to throw another body up front when we're waiting on the development of Tyler
05:37Guyton.
05:37What if you get a defensive player at 12 and then at 20, staring you in the face is Kenyon
05:42Sadiq, the Oregon tight end who he's...
05:45Like, that's a vertical seam threat tight end.
05:47Would you say a vertical seam threat tight end is something that you would...
05:49Absolutely.
05:50Which Ferg had looked like he was going to have the capability to do early.
05:53Yeah.
05:54And then just it has not...
05:55It's turned very...
05:56Tight end.
05:57Tight end's the position.
05:58It turned Witten really fast.
06:00It became a Witten style of play really fast.
06:03Which, I mean, he...
06:03I still think Ferg is a good player, but there's opportunity that's left there.
06:08From the fan text, Franklin Ferg, Andrews, his fan text, office was average, you need a
06:12legit running back and a legit tight end.
06:15That is not true.
06:16Name me the better offenses.
06:17That is not...
06:18That's just a flat out, like, factual statistical lie to say they were average.
06:22I mean, if you want to argue...
06:23Yeah, they were not average.
06:24They were above average.
06:24They were definitely above average.
06:25Yeah, if you want to argue about, like, the definition of the word, like, special, elite,
06:31great, top three...
06:32Could they be even better?
06:33All those things you can talk about.
06:35Yeah.
06:35Average against a lot.
06:36That's a lie.
06:37They were a very good offense.
06:39I would just say, like, elite offenses don't stall out for field goals.
06:44I would say this.
06:45We talked about...
06:46We read the stat.
06:47There were the...
06:47But you're only naming three better offenses.
06:49I mean, just off the top of my head.
06:50I mean, that's...
06:50Well, Google, you have a computer.
06:52Tell me.
06:52I want to know.
06:53I'll stop down the whole segment when you take the rest of the show.
06:55I want to know what offenses you think are better than theirs.
06:59I would say...
07:00Let me go to the teams here.
07:05Detroit, you said?
07:06I said Detroit.
07:07The Rams.
07:08The Rams.
07:09I think...
07:11I mean, perfect world.
07:12I would say Cincinnati's is better.
07:14What perfect world?
07:15When they're held.
07:16When Joe's held.
07:16Okay.
07:17Which is...
07:19I don't think Houston.
07:20I don't think Jacksonville.
07:25Green Bay?
07:27No.
07:27I think they're about the same.
07:29All right.
07:30Chicago.
07:30I mean, Chicago's offense...
07:31Offense is only as good as...
07:33You think Chicago's offense is better?
07:34No.
07:35I think it will be this year.
07:36You've typically said offenses are only as good as their quarterbacks.
07:38How many quarterbacks played better than Dak last year?
07:42Maybe four tops.
07:44So, top five offense.
07:45That sounds...
07:46That sounds elite.
07:48And Jerry would agree that it's elite.
07:50Because Jerry was talking over the weekend.
07:52He was out there doing the whole F1 around the AT&T Stadium.
07:57And I'm curious if this is a problem for anybody.
08:01Jerry said,
08:02I'll tell you,
08:02when you have the challenges we had last year,
08:05there's no place to go but up on the defensive side of the ball.
08:08Had we played a lick of defense last year,
08:11we would have had ourselves, I think, a real playoff run.
08:14And he talks about, obviously, the acquisitions they made.
08:17I think we already had read from this portion where he says that
08:19that plus what we have sets up in the draft,
08:20plus what we really have coming back from our veteran defensive players
08:23that didn't play much last year,
08:24things like that give us a lot of promise.
08:27And so, Jerry's just saying,
08:28look, we just got to be barely better.
08:31Which I think a lot of people said.
08:32We've talked about that.
08:33Two extra stops a game,
08:34your record flips pretty significantly
08:35if the offense plays at that level.
08:38But is there a problem when,
08:41like, do you want to hear your general manager saying,
08:44it can't be worse.
08:46Just don't be the bottom of the barrel
08:47and we're going on a real run.
08:49Is that a realistic way to look at it?
08:51Does that almost sound like complacency in fixing the defense?
08:54Is by saying,
08:55look, it's naturally going to be better
08:58and we just got to be a little better.
08:59We don't even have to try to be, like, really good.
09:01We just got to be a little better.
09:02Does that sound like a serious enough approach
09:05to fixing what was wrong with your defense last year?
09:07You know, I want to say sincerely, Bobby,
09:11screw you.
09:12Screw you for making me overthink this dumb sentence
09:16because I read this sentence days ago
09:19and I didn't even include it.
09:21I said, I'm not going to turn this into a topic.
09:23I'm not going to sit here and make this,
09:26you know, low-hanging first take fruit.
09:28And then you got to sit here and overanalyze
09:31and get in my head and get in my brain
09:33over whether Jerry is taking it seriously enough.
09:37And now, over the past 10 hours since last night,
09:41your stupid self has made me, you know,
09:44pause for a half second.
09:46And the question now in my mind is, you know,
09:49how much did Jerry think he needed to address
09:52and fix the D to make them a contender?
09:55And I'm hoping it's not barely.
09:59I'm hoping it's not, you know what?
10:02Because he did say at the combine,
10:03and it's a double, it was a double Jerry meaning,
10:07it's not going to take very much to get better.
10:09And we were like, all right,
10:11is he saying there's nowhere to go but up?
10:13Or it's not going to take much personnel to make them better?
10:17I'm still thinking we can't be worse.
10:20I mean, they could take the approach that...
10:23But I'm hoping he's not just thinking,
10:24all we got to do is be like 23.
10:28Now you put that in my head, jackass.
10:30You could take the approach that just running it back,
10:33they might get a little bit lucky.
10:35Yeah, but we don't want them to take that approach.
10:37No, we don't want them to.
10:38I think that's Bobby's question.
10:39I think they need to take the approach
10:41that they need to be two tiers better.
10:43I think he's taking...
10:46My answer would be,
10:47I think he's taking the defense serious enough.
10:50I actually do think that.
10:51The problem is,
10:53I don't know if he's taking seriously enough
10:55or if he's taking for granted
10:56that Dak was healthy all last year.
10:59There's like, there's too much...
11:01He's not taking seriously enough
11:03year-to-year regression on offense
11:05and what you have to do to guard against that.
11:07And so I do think that he's...
11:09I think they've invested resources.
11:10They went out, they did a right hiring process.
11:12I think they actually have treated the defense
11:13seriously enough.
11:15What those comments say to me
11:16more than anything else is,
11:17I think you're banking way too much on
11:19that offense is definitely going to be
11:20just as good as it was last year.
11:22Yeah, I said.
11:23Cowboys defense, Rangers pitching.
11:25Yeah, or Cowboys offense, Rangers offense 2023.
11:29How do you not know that they're going...
11:30Like, when you talk about Pickens had a career year,
11:32a lot of guys...
11:32There were guys who had career years last year.
11:33You need to make sure that that's a growth point
11:36and that's not a peak.
11:37And how much is he factoring
11:39or overfactoring Christian Parker?
11:42Just with a coaching change,
11:43it'll make us how much better?
11:45I hope not a ton.
11:46It still is going to come down to the talent.
11:49Yeah, they need to be two tiers better.
11:51I am confident the defense is going to be better next year.
11:54I am...
11:55I don't know yet if the offense will even be what it was
11:59or if it will get better.
12:00Better like you're sick in bed and then you...
12:03Which is a loot, RJ.
12:04I think depending on who they get
12:06in the first round of the draft,
12:08who they end up with,
12:09by the end of April,
12:11I think we might be saying,
12:12yeah, this is a middle-of-the-pack defense in the NFL.
12:14Which is...
12:15That is fine if your offense performs at a high level.
12:19Middle-of-the-pack defense
12:20is a game-changer right now for this team.
12:22That's a game.
