- 2 days ago
Bobby took us Below The Belt to analyze the unique collaboration with Cowboys scouts and coaches on Christian Parker’s scheme, sparking a discussion on the "across the hall" meetings between coaches and scouts. They also dug into the history of Will McClay’s "true fit" strategy, the team’s hunt for versatile pieces like Caleb Downs, and more.
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00:00How did the Cowboys get their staff up to speed with Christian Parker's defense?
00:04Let's talk about it here in Below the Belt, which is sponsored by Window Nation.
00:09We enjoyed going out to Indianapolis.
00:12That was fun.
00:13Going to the Combine the last couple years.
00:15Hopefully we get to go again next year.
00:16Can't believe I'm saying I'm this excited for Oxnard.
00:20You should be excited.
00:21On Wednesday at 2.45 a.m., I won't be saying it.
00:24Maybe Thursday.
00:25No, it'll be new.
00:27It'll be fresh.
00:28It's going to be...
00:29Oxnard, sir.
00:30There's enough newness with the players that there's like a question.
00:34It's like the mystery box that you got out there.
00:35And next, you'll be super excited for...
00:38The Super Bowl when we make it?
00:39The Super Bowl when we make it in L.A. this year at 4 a.m.
00:42Or whatever it is.
00:43I would be excited for that.
00:45So, yeah, if they're out there, I'm not going to bed.
00:48I'm not coming back.
00:50I'm calling seniority on...
00:53You're claiming that spot in the press pass.
00:54I'm claiming a press pass.
00:56Me, you, I think Dawson actually has it.
00:58There's no way he'll want to go.
01:00So, I think that leaves me, you.
01:02Who else?
01:03Is that it?
01:04The next longest in seniority would be...
01:07Well, Lucius.
01:08I think Lucius would have us all.
01:09He won't be out there?
01:10He won't be out there.
01:11Corey and Kevin would be right after us.
01:13They're on the night.
01:14Long, long time.
01:15That doesn't even count.
01:16All right.
01:17So, Will McClay told us in Indy that the thing we most frequently mess up when we're trying
01:23to analyze what the Cowboys are going to do.
01:26He said the thing that we most frequently mess up is true fit.
01:29He said it's just the thing that you guys don't see and can't put together.
01:33Like, you don't know everything that we have going on behind the scenes or how we're viewing
01:36something as to why you see team is missing a cornerback and there's top-rated corner.
01:43Top-rated corner should go to team that needs a cornerback.
01:46And you're like, well, it's not quite like that because of what you're asking them to
01:49do.
01:50And so, he may be really good, but his skill set may not fit what it is that we do.
01:53So, like, we see Tariq Wollin, for instance.
01:56When Tariq Wollin was a free agent, people go, why weren't the Cowboys all over that?
01:59And it's because Cowboys looked at that and were like, that just does not fit what we're
02:03doing.
02:03Which, doesn't this go against what we've always talked about?
02:08It's the reality of what every team does.
02:09Every team has their scheme and you try to adjust to it as much as you can.
02:13But the reality of the whole little, I just want good football players.
02:15Good football players means players who can do what I want them to do, which is their
02:19scheme.
02:21So, fitting all this in, there's a question, I think, whenever you hear teams talk about
02:24continuity, it's because when the Cowboys have a critical draft like this one coming
02:28up, the Cowboys have been working for 12 months on the draft.
02:32So, then you look at it and go, is it risky to change your scheme?
02:35I was so close to getting in the war room yesterday, too.
02:38Bobby's never been in.
02:39I've never been in.
02:40There was a Sherwin-Williams meeting taking place in the war room when I went to the Star.
02:45I was so close to being in there.
02:46I was excited for it.
02:48I kind of go in the locker room yesterday because they were working out and no war room.
02:52The Cowboys, I think, have the most unique war room of all the ones that they show.
02:56Every other war room seems like this open room with a bunch of computers and desks that
03:00are all in a row.
03:01And the Cowboys' war room is like a half-moon table.
03:03They have a big board in front of them.
03:05So, like, where you see the camera from, just below that camera, there's a big board.
03:08So, everybody's looking at that.
03:10Everybody's got that in front of them.
03:12You should see the table in the PR room.
03:15Talk about a $40,000 tree.
03:17I don't even know how many trees or what tree went into it.
03:21It's like the old family, Jones family table from Irving, Valley Ranch.
03:26Oh, yeah.
03:27Holy crap, that thing's a monster.
03:29That's a cool room.
03:30Sorry.
03:30No, you're good.
03:31So, when you hear people talk about continuity, it was a fake, you're good.
03:36When you hear people talk about continuity, a lot of it is with the thought of, man,
03:41if you've been working for nine months already, and you've worked on players with a certain
03:45lens, now you're going to get a new scheme.
03:47You're going to get a new defensive coordinator in here.
03:49That seems like a rushed timing for such a critical draft.
03:53You've got three months to figure a scheme out, especially one that's that complex.
03:56Now, they've got that amount of time to figure out what true fit even looks like.
03:59How does the personnel staff even know what that is?
04:01So, on day three of the draft, we've mentioned this.
04:04We get to talk to scouts.
04:05We get to talk to coaches.
04:06It's a good chance for them to kind of open up and tell us the thought process that led up
04:09to it.
04:10And we got a chance to talk to one of their national scouts, Ross Winshey, on Saturday.
04:14And he walked through a lot of this kind of stuff that we're talking about, about how do they
04:19understand what Christian Parker's scheme is so they as a staff know what true fit is.
04:23How do we understand what kind of versatile players you're looking for?
04:27How are you supposed to go through the scouting process?
04:29How does it differ around the league?
04:30And so, I thought some of this was really interesting in the way that teams and the way the Cowboys
04:35are
04:35processing it.
04:36So, the first thing here was, and I think the biggest thing, with such a complex scheme
04:39like Christian Parker's and three months to learn it when you've already been working
04:43on a draft class for several months, how do you learn what Christian Parker needs in such
04:47a short amount of time?
04:49Shoddy and Will do a great job with that.
04:50We call it our across the hall meeting.
04:52It's a long one or two days usually where we just sit there and we show them what we
04:56do, give them a respect for how much time we spend on the road, how much time we spend
05:00on an individual player, and show them what areas we hit, colleges, all that, and then
05:03vice versa.
05:04They show us traits they're looking for in players, and then they tie it to the tape
05:07so we can see it like that.
05:09And then a couple of weeks ago, CP gave us, we sat down with Will and gave us about an
05:13hour of just like watching some of the tape he had at Philly.
05:16And we just watched, you know, basically down a distance, like, I mean, he was teaching
05:19us like it's day one install.
05:20He's like, hey, you know, it's first and 10, this is the call.
05:24And then we're looking at the front structure and we're walking through the play and he brings
05:27it to life of like, hey, this is why we're looking for this.
05:29This is why we're looking for that.
05:30So it's just really cool.
05:31Like he's that entire staff, man, like they grind.
05:34Shadi's done a great job putting together and it's, it's so we work so well together.
05:38And that's something that I, that's not common with a lot of teams.
05:41The way that they've built that structure of the across the hall stuff is like, all right,
05:46like he kind of set up there.
05:47It's like this cram session over the course of a couple of days of like, hey, come in
05:50here.
05:51Let's, let's come prepared with tape examples of what the traits you're looking for look
05:55like, let's talk about specifics of what you need, why you need it, how it's all supposed
06:00to look so that our guys who are experts at finding those traits, show them what it is
06:05and they'll go get it for you.
06:06And then that's something that a lot of times you hear about coach scout, like warring back
06:10and forth or fighting for players and having disagreements of it.
06:13This is why they're trying to, I think Will McClay is and what Ross Winshey is laying out
06:17there is they're trying their best to blend it.
06:20So it's like, hey, let's get everybody working together because we are working together the same
06:23thing, make it clear what you want and let them go get it for you.
06:28Let them tell you what it is and what it looks like.
06:30And one of the things that they were looking for that he talks about here, they were hunting
06:34versatility.
06:35I think Will said it yesterday, multiplicity, that'll be Caleb.
06:38And then not just him, it'll be, you know, all those demons and back pieces.
06:41I don't think we're going to take just one that can do one specific thing because injuries
06:46happen and we want to be as versatile as possible.
06:48And like, I think if you go back and watch Philly over the past couple of years, they've
06:52played boundary and field, they've played left and right.
06:54And that's corners, that's safeties.
06:56They can do a lot and we'll be able to do a lot.
06:59And I think that's the same thing with, we were all juiced up about Jayshon.
07:01He can play inside, he can play outside.
07:04I think Will made the Arbel Reese comp and it's, there's a lot to it.
07:07I don't think a inside backer projection is anywhere near reach.
07:11I think that kid can play it.
07:12And I think he can bring a juice element and we're going to go penny looks, any five down
07:16looks is going to cause hell.
07:17He's a, he's a really, really, really cool pickup.
07:19But get this guy weekly, they lay it out there and they go, cause you hear him talking about
07:25that.
07:25That's what, when Will talks about true fit, he just kind of mentioned it there.
07:28He said, I don't think we'll take somebody who can't do more than one thing.
07:32Yeah.
07:32So, well, Walt Chuck was talking about this as well.
07:35Like, and you said earlier in the show, you line up in a static, basic look and then, and
07:41you really had to see Zach.
07:43You don't really have to see him, but Zach from a fan cam was like, all right.
07:46And then it's going to be slowly, you know, it's like when you do the X's and O's to show
07:53a play, how the different components start moving everywhere.
07:57And that is what Christian Parker wants to do to confuse you.
08:00There's two ways to play different spots.
08:02There's like two primary ways you can slow down a quarterback.
08:05And one of them is speed up their time and the other is to mess with their eyes.
08:09So the, and mess with their brain, mess with their processing.
08:12Christian Parker would rather mess with their processing than speed up their clock.
08:15Cause he thinks he's given this quote for, he thinks speeding up your clock.
08:18If you're an elite quarterback, that's not going to affect you.
08:20So pass rush is great, but pass rush can only do so much to a great quarterback.
08:24Yeah.
08:25Now we talk about a little bit there.
08:28Cowboys scouting process operates a little bit differently.
08:31This is Cowboys national scout Ross.
08:33When she talked about how the Cowboys scouting process does differ from what other teams do.
08:37It's a lot of work for us, but it's, it's a very thorough process and we continue to, you know,
08:42adjust it every year.
08:43But we start in the summer when we have our summer project of like, Hey, you know,
08:48we're going to watch a certain amount of players.
08:49And then when we head off to camp, we're a one draft class team.
08:52We focus on, you know, that single draft class and we're thorough as hell about it.
08:57And that goes up until we lock, you know, our, our laptops in March and April.
09:01And when we were fricking grinding the meetings.
09:03So everybody's focused on that.
09:05We're not talking about next year's quarterback class.
09:08Like we don't, we don't care.
09:09That's for next year.
09:10So we're just, we're strictly focused on what we're doing.
09:12Obviously we're like very well aware of who's coming down the pipe, Caleb Downs.
09:16Like we know the guys, like we're, it's very easy to see who pops on tape,
09:19but we're trying to figure out who helps the Cowboys this year.
09:21So that's, that's kind of how we do things.
09:23Just got a nice little text message offering to show us the war.
09:27Oh, look at that.
09:28So if you, if you take the, cause that is unique.
09:32I, there are other teams that will look ahead a little bit, a little bit.
09:35They, they try, there's so much that has to be done.
09:36And they look at it as like, well, let's kill two birds with one stone.
09:39Look how everyone said how the 2027 draft is in the back of everybody's minds in terms of capital given
09:47up.
09:48Yeah.
09:48Everyone's like, it's like this, this, this NBA draft, right?
09:52We're not going to give up 2027s.
09:55We're not going to throw out seconds.
09:56We're not going to give you that future because of next year's class in which some people are hoping finally
10:02to get 25 legit first round grades.
10:05Yeah.
10:06And the, the Cowboys will, they, they focus on the single class.
10:10They are working as you're there.
10:11It's about June until end of April.
10:13They really, they get may off essentially in the personnel department where they can kind of recharge a little bit.
10:19But if you look at the way that, that they generally attack things, there's usually six people that end up
10:26throwing a grade on a player.
10:27So, I mean, every player ends up being graded multiple times by multiple people.
10:30It's a really thorough process.
10:32And then finally here, cause I know this came up a lot value of safety and they took Caleb Downs
10:36at safety at 11 and the idea of like, okay, what does that match up with?
10:40So this is the final cut here from Cowboys national scout, Ross, when she, when we talked to him on
10:44day three of the draft, does a safety have to be more than a safety to go number 11?
10:50I think that's a good question.
10:51I would say, yeah, but like, yeah, I just think Caleb's, he's unique, man.
10:58Cause he's, you can't put him in a box really.
11:00Like I think he could play corn if you had to, like, he's just, he's elite, man.
11:04Like he's, he's a very, very unique football player.
11:07Um, there's a reason we all went, I'm sure the mics, you know, probably had to bleep out some.
11:13We, it was, it was elite.
11:15He's a, he's a, he's a game changer.
11:18And they talked about it.
11:19Ross said it earlier.
11:20There were other people who came in there, different scouts, coaches came in the building and said, that is the
11:24most excited war room they've ever been in.
11:27When the, when they picked Downs, they were all so fired up about it.
11:30But there, you heard it there again.
11:32When we say, why haven't they addressed safety?
11:33Why haven't they done this or that?
11:3411, not even top 10, pick 11 to go pick 11.
11:37Does a safety have to do more than safety stuff?
11:39Yes.
11:40Safety.
11:40So like there haven't been a lot of safeties that can also play corner and we're starting to get there.
11:45We're getting more guys who do that sort of thing.
11:47But the Cowboys think like, yeah, you've got to be able to do more for me than just that.
11:51And that's what this draft was all about for them was just versatile, multiple kind of things that players can
11:56do.
11:56Below the belt.
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