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00:00Welcome back. It's the G-Bag Nation on 105.3 The Fan.
00:03Segment's brought to you by the Frankels.
00:05If you've been injured in a car or truck wreck, call the Frankels first, 214 or 817-333-3333.
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00:17Okay, here we go. We got the C-Note, and I teased five ways the Cowboys' offense could be better
00:24in 2026.
00:26Which one of these do you believe in? Give me a scale of like 1 to 5.
00:29One being the lowest belief. Five being the strongest belief on how likely you think these things will happen.
00:36Joseph Hoyt, Morning News, with the article.
00:39No. 1 turnover ratio. They were 21-12 the wrong way.
00:45Kobe Durant, seven turnovers in his four-year career. Seven takeaways, I guess you would say.
00:49And Jalen Thompson has nine in his seven-year career.
00:52Last year, it really hit the fan with their inability to even break up passes.
00:58So, I'm surprised they even had 12 takeaways at the end of the year.
01:01Must have picked up a lot of fumbles. What do you think?
01:03Can turnover ratio flip on its head and go 21-12 the right way?
01:06It is pretty fickle. It's unpredictable.
01:09It certainly can. We've seen that happen, too, with the Cowboys at times.
01:12In the 2014 season, they flipped from 13 to 14.
01:15I think that might have been Marinelli's first year with the team.
01:19And they went crazy. That was a big reason why the defense wasn't even that good.
01:22But they were very opportunistic when it came to getting turnovers.
01:26I think that with a new defensive coordinator, and especially now a scheme that's going to try and limit the
01:31big play,
01:32just having better talent on the field and players like a Kobe Durant or a Caleb Downs,
01:37adding a Dee Winters, who's a better linebacker than what they had.
01:41Yeah, I don't know that it'll be as drastic as 25-12.
01:44But I do think that's an area that should improve defensively.
01:47They should be better than they were last year.
01:48I think across the board, any defensive category or stat you want to throw out, that should improve.
01:53You can't really be much worse.
01:55On a scale of 1 to 5, I'd probably say I'm right in the middle.
01:57Like 3?
01:58I'll put that at a 3.
01:59Yeah, that's fair.
01:59Kind of hoping for the best.
02:01I don't think they have players that are going to guarantee it happens.
02:05And I probably wouldn't bet on it to be the top half of the league and turn over differential because
02:09of that.
02:10But, hell, if Ezra Raku takes off and Lawrence takes off and Dee Winters can be in position,
02:16I think Dee only has one pick in his four seasons.
02:19It might not be his specialty, but he is a genius at being in position.
02:23No. 2, finding a second running back.
02:26That's a must.
02:28Yeah.
02:29Is this going to happen internally?
02:31Do you believe in Davis or Blue or Mafa?
02:34Is this something you're really hoping that they take care of?
02:37They appear to believe that they're going to ride with this.
02:42This is, I mean, if I do feel like that there's going to be a post-June 1 trade signing,
02:48I think it's going to be another defensive player.
02:51I think they're going to ride with these running backs and see what they got.
02:54And I would put that as a 2 out of 5.
02:57If you're saying we're going to ride with these running backs and find a guy that can take pressure off
03:01of Javante Williams,
03:02I don't think you're going to be successful.
03:04Malik Davis will be somewhat solid.
03:07Yeah, so I believe in Phil Mafa.
03:09I really do.
03:11He's my guy that I think if you were to lose Javante Williams, I think he steps up in that
03:15role.
03:15I think he gives you a lot of similarities that Javante Williams has in terms of their running style.
03:20Now, he's not the answer to more explosive plays because he's also not a burner.
03:24But I think he's a guy that is a good in-between-the-tackles runner.
03:27I think he's got good vision.
03:28I think he's got good contact balance.
03:29I was really impressed with what we saw from him in training camp and preseason.
03:34And I think they like him.
03:36I think he's going to carry over.
03:37And if, God forbid, something happened to Williams, my bet would be Phil Mafa steps up for you.
03:42I just don't see the cutting from Phil Mafa.
03:44Do you?
03:45Phil, I think he's a bruiser, one-cut, one-cut bruiser.
03:49Yeah, just kind of hand him the ball and one-cut.
03:51The question is going to be, with the offense, are there any changes of how there's going to be with
03:57blitz pickups and things like that?
03:59You know, and how can we tell that in training camp?
04:02I mean, are we going to be able to see any one-on-ones where, wow, there looks like to
04:06me they're trying to kind of blitz here
04:08and they're going to, you know, here's a pickup and, you know, you're going to see, I mean, you see
04:12guys work on the pickup,
04:14but that could determine whether a guy plays or not.
04:18And all of a sudden we're in training camp those days and, wow, man, Mafa just missed that one or
04:23Blue missed that one
04:24or, wow, look at the good one Williams had on that one.
04:27Yeah.
04:27That's, I think that you could kind of get a little bit of an idea of what they think about
04:31these guys when it comes to, you know,
04:34because they're not going to play you if you can't pick up blitzes, regardless if you can carry the ball
04:38or not.
04:39Yeah, you know, I think a lot of it, though, as we go through this is going to come back
04:44to the decisions the coaches make, you know.
04:47And Clayton Adams had some great media last week in that interview with Ian Rappaport and, was it Judy, on
04:55the NFL Network?
04:56Judy Batista.
04:57Yeah, talking about how do we evolve this thing and, you know, make it better.
05:02And, you know, there's opportunity out there to, I feel like, get George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb
05:08just a little bit more involved than they were at times last year, you know.
05:12But beyond that, you know, I don't know what the opportunity is, maybe moving Tyler Smith to left tackle.
05:17Let's go to No. 3 in Joseph Hoyt's article, red zone efficiency.
05:22They got into the red zone last year at the fifth highest rate in the league.
05:25They converted at the 16th highest rated, and it was 14% below the league-leading Eagles, who converted at
05:3370%.
05:33The Cowboys were at 56.
05:35It's been an issue for a lot of Dak's career, hasn't it?
05:39Is your best player converting in the red zone Williams?
05:44Just handing him the ball?
05:46Was that the best?
05:48Probably.
05:49I mean, you would like to think that running a football.
05:50Well, I'm just saying, was it?
05:51Was it?
05:51I don't know if it was.
05:52No, I think that was part of the reason why they struggled in the red zone is because they didn't
05:57do it.
05:57I thought Williams had like 9 or 10 touchdowns.
05:58He did.
06:00But I don't know how many red zone touchdowns he had.
06:04I think, I can do a quick search on that.
06:07Yeah, I'll try to pull it up as well.
06:10But I kind of assumed that he was just, that most of his touchdowns were, I don't think, I don't
06:14remember anything.
06:15The goal line?
06:15Anything here.
06:16Yeah, no, most of his touchdowns are from, yeah, close to the goal line.
06:20Do they have a really good red zone player?
06:23I mean, you should, with Pickens and Lamb, you should have two really good ones.
06:27I mean, Ferguson, that was, I think, the one area where, because he ended up with like, he had eight
06:32touchdowns last year.
06:33I remember in OTAs.
06:35Javante dominated it.
06:36He had 12.
06:37Yeah.
06:38Yeah.
06:38See, I remember last year watching OTA practices, and I was thinking, okay, how are they going to use Pickens
06:44and how are they going to use Lamb?
06:46And Lamb was kind of slot inside routes down on the goal line, and Pickens was back, you know, back
06:53in the corner and along the back line is where, you know, is where, and I just never felt like
06:59that they, you know, we, how many days have we always seen the Cowboys with a Des Bryant or a
07:05Jason Witten or, you know, something that you knew,
07:08I knew, like, you could get, like, you could get, well, way, way, way back in the day, Emmitt Smith,
07:11but that was a totally different team.
07:13But, yeah, just a guaranteed player.
07:15But, yeah, just a guaranteed player.
07:15But, just a guaranteed, when you got down the red zone, you were going to find a way to score
07:18with this guy.
07:19But it seemed like the closer they got to the goal line, the harder it was for them to score.
07:23Yeah.
07:24Because, I mean, I think that the offensive line plays a factor into that, too.
07:27I mean, you want to be able to run the football when you get inside the 10.
07:30And, clearly, Javante Williams is a back that has a nose for the end zone.
07:34But I think the offensive line may be some failing.
07:36And then, also, you get a holding call.
07:37I think that was a big problem was penalties in the red zone.
07:40Because now you're set up.
07:41It's first down and goal from the two.
07:42Here's a holding call.
07:43Now it's second down and goal from the 12.
07:45Those were problems.
07:46But, I mean, I think you could move red zone efficiency up to No. 1.
07:49But I think you're right.
07:50That seems like that is a topic of conversation every year.
07:54That things will bog down in the red zone.
07:56And really a player that would be, I think, his best attribute to help this team, if he makes the
08:01roster, would be Michael Trigg from Baylor.
08:03I think that would be his best skill set.
08:06Is being able to put himself, body, box out, basketball style, throw the ball up, let him high point the
08:12football and go and get it.
08:14That's what he did so well at Baylor.
08:15I think he's a guy that could really show out in the red zone.
08:17Pickens had four in the red zone last year.
08:19And CeeDee Lamb had two.
08:21But, yeah, this is another thing that comes back to Clayton Adams.
08:25Like, how can you scheme things open?
08:27Because as much as I will stand for Dak, I love him.
08:30When the field gets more condensed, his shortcomings, his vision, his ball placement, it becomes magnified.
08:38And that's why, really, they've only been good when they've had a dominant running game, whether that was Zeke or
08:43Tony Pollard throughout Dak's career.
08:44Yeah, I mean, so much of it, like, why are the Eagles best in the league in the red zone?
08:47They were able to run the football there, you know, and the Bills were number two.
08:54And a lot of that is probably Josh Allen being able to run as well.
08:57I think that's a nice area for your quarterback to be able to take advantage of his legs.
09:03Dak doesn't really have that anymore.
09:04So a lot of it, I think, is going to be on the offensive line, being able to run the
09:08football and push people around.
09:10And then, as you said, Clayton Adams, your play calling, your design, how can you scheme guys open in a
09:16way that can pay off to where you're not settling for so many gosh dang field goals?
09:20Be good at left tackle, Guyton or Thomas or Shelton.
09:24I would throw in Tyler Smith.
09:26Yep.
09:27And I don't know, I guess one out of five, I'd say that's a two or a three, maybe a
09:32two and a half.
09:32I believe they're going to be better at left tackle significantly than they were in 2025.
09:36Can hope for the best, but also prepare for the worst.
09:40And then five, throw in deeper to Ferguson.
09:43Was this a scheme adjustment, you think?
09:46That's what I was wondering.
09:48I was wondering that most of the season.
09:50Like, why is Ferguson's number so low where he's a high-volume player, but he's like seven yards a pop
09:57or something?
09:58Like, that needs to be, did he lose the athleticism and the ability to get down the field?
10:04Or did they just decide, hey, we have Lamb and Pickens, and so Ferguson, you're going to be just kind
10:09of an outlet dump-off guy?
10:10I felt like so many of his receptions were like at the line of scrimmage after nobody was open or
10:15whatever, boom, we'll just dump it down to Ferguson.
10:18So that's something I'm wondering.
10:20Has Ferguson lost it, or was that just a product of the way Shoddy and Adams wanted to use him?
10:26You remember last year when he joined us for week one and said he'd lost weight and he was trying
10:30to get quicker?
10:31It would make sense that the coaches went to him and be like, hey, we're going to throw short to
10:35you and we're looking for more yak this year.
10:37Could you lose some weight?
10:38Could you get in the best shape of your life here?
10:40You're still young enough that you could be more dynamic.
10:42And maybe they found out that he's just not athletic enough, that even losing 10, 15 pounds isn't going to
10:47make him faster elusive.
10:49So if you're going to use Ferguson, you've got to throw it to him.
10:52And I remember they just didn't hit on some of those seam routes that we were so accustomed, whether it
10:57was drops or teams started to try and take that away as well.
11:01I think that they know that that's a product that Dak likes to do.
11:04He likes to throw that seam to the tight end, and they were trying to eliminate that a little bit.
11:08It worked.
11:09I think they hit a big one.
11:10I want to say it was against the Jets, possibly.
11:11I think there was an episode where Brian actually asked Jake about that.
11:14Like at the snap, you could see this is where it's going to go.
11:17He knew he got the right coverage for it.
11:19But I think kind of getting that bread-and-butter play back would also help Jake Ferguson in that regard.
11:25I mean, Spanford's a hell of a blocker.
11:27I don't think he's going to make a big jump for you and become that vertical threat.
11:31And obviously, Schoonmaker's not going to.
11:33That's where Michael Trigg, Andrew Michael Trigg.
11:34I mean, I think that's where he could really help this offense.
11:37Is that the undrafted guy you think that could have like a Cole Beasley type of quick ascent into the
11:42offense?
11:43I do.
11:43I think that they really like him a lot.
11:45I think him and Lunda Wells are doing a lot of work together.
11:49And I mean, he is a really, really talented player.
11:51It's just, you know, the mentals, all that stuff.
11:53He's got to put it together.
11:54And he does need to be a willing blocker.
11:57That definitely did not show up on tape.
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