00:00Let's just score 50 points and not even worry about the defense.
00:04Let's talk about it here in Below the Belt, which is sponsored by Window Nation.
00:10Joe Hoyt, a friend of the station over at the Dallas Morning News, had...
00:16It's funny, when we're doing our own show prep, we sometimes will talk about like,
00:21man, there's nothing out there today. It's a Rangers off day and you're just kind of looking around.
00:25It's like, man, the Mavericks are out of it. What are we looking for?
00:28And so you start digging around and it always makes me smile when I get to a website,
00:35a Dallas website or something like that. And I look at it and I go, oh, they're in the same
00:38spot.
00:40They're also trying to... They're digging in the bag and you're trying to find broader topics to talk about.
00:45The boss never likes it when you say it, but yeah, when the one smartass every once in a while
00:48goes,
00:49what is he, dead season? Yeah, it is dead season.
00:52Yeah, literally. Yeah, it is.
00:55You're as far away, really, from Cowboys football as we've been.
00:59Like, the draft has been over for forever. The Rangers have had their struggles.
01:02The Mavs have been done for a little while. It's just like there's...
01:04If you're not watching a Rangers game every night, you don't really have like Dallas sports.
01:09And you shouldn't be watching them every night anyway.
01:10You should be listening here on 105.3 The Fan to the Rangers broadcast.
01:14You should be listening to... What's it? Fan University. Is that what it's called?
01:17They'll be there tomorrow.
01:18Wow. Whoa. What a supporter you are.
01:20This is what I am. I'm a supporter who doesn't even know the name of the show.
01:24I have to double check that while we're on the air.
01:26Joe Hoyt over at the Dallas Morning News, though, decided to write about some of the same stuff
01:31like we've discussed lately of just we've been so focused on the defense.
01:35Are there margins we might be missing with the offense?
01:38Because clearly the margins exist on defense to get better.
01:42You're going to get better defensively naturally.
01:45You get just the slightest improvement.
01:46So there's all these different ways that you can speculate.
01:48Well, they could be better this way. They could be better this way.
01:50It's a lot harder to find somewhere where they could be great offensively
01:54or better offensively than they were last year.
01:57Especially when you listen to Mark Schlereth say how they've got like
02:00the Great Wall of Dallas Hall of Fame offensive line, apparently.
02:04But Joe Hoyt decided to take a look at the five ways that the Dallas Cowboys
02:08could improve their offense in 2026.
02:10So we're going to talk about him here.
02:12First one, he says, turning over a new leaf.
02:14Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer hasn't been shy in hindsight
02:17about what bothered him during his first season as a head coach.
02:20He said multiple times that their turnover ratio wasn't ideal, to say the least.
02:24Part of that is a defense that only forced 12 turnovers.
02:27The other is an offense that gave away the ball 21 times.
02:30Dak Prescott threw 10 interceptions in 17 games, tying him for the 11th most in the league.
02:34The Cowboys also lost nine fumbles.
02:37Turnovers can decide a game.
02:38The Cowboys finished tied for the third worst turnover differential in the NFL last season.
02:41That must improve in 26 on defense and offense.
02:45You don't want to be, I think they were like 13th in turnovers,
02:49by like 13th best in turnovers offensively last year,
02:53which is, you obviously would want to shoot for being top 10 or whatever.
02:57But I will say, I can live with at the end of the year, if Dak plays 17 games,
03:01if he throws just 10 picks, I'm fine.
03:03Yeah.
03:04That to me is like, that's about what I would expect.
03:0610 or less is what I want to see from a quarterback generally.
03:08What happened to that narrative being the interception machine?
03:12Remember that offseason or that buildup?
03:14McCarthy took the option routes out and ruined the offense is what he did first off.
03:19But no, that also just, I think that speaks to, you like your point there,
03:24why it can be dangerous at times to live on like just a single year narrative about something
03:31where you can have some years where stuff spikes.
03:33And it was a problem that year, but it was a problem of communication with the receivers and different things.
03:37Those were a lot of the same guys he was playing with the next year where he played at near
03:40MVP level in 2023.
03:43But the turnover differential, obviously, yeah, you'd want that to improve.
03:47But I think a lot of that would feel more like it's on the defense to take the ball away
03:50more than 12 times.
03:51You don't want to be the Jets out there.
03:53Next, number two on the five things the Cowboys can do to improve their offense from Joe Hoyt.
03:57Unlocking an old reliable.
03:59Every quarterback has their strengths.
04:01For Prescott, there was one last year that wasn't utilized enough.
04:04He has proven to be incredibly accurate when throwing over the seam, especially to tight ends.
04:08He's made a lot of money connecting on vertical routes from just outside the tackle box to receivers,
04:13even despite tight coverage.
04:14Last year, that part of the Cowboys offense wasn't maximized to its full capability.
04:19Tight end Jake Ferguson, a reliable seam option over the middle,
04:21finished the season with a career low and average depth of target of 4.7 yards down the field.
04:27That's on average how many air yards were targeted.
04:29That's like late stage Witten.
04:30That is, and I don't even know that Witten ever had as low as 7.3 yards per reception in
04:35his career,
04:36like in a season.
04:37He said a successful seam completion takes chemistry and ability.
04:40It's something the Cowboys should try to emphasize this offseason.
04:43I remember that was something we talked about early on,
04:44where we said the offense is clicking, but like, where are they leaving some stuff on the field?
04:48And that was it.
04:49The seam game was gone last year.
04:52They couldn't hit it in the preseason.
04:53They couldn't hit it in practice.
04:54They got into the regular season, and like, Jake Ferguson is not a vertical threat,
05:00but the one area where he would tend to find some vulnerability was going up the seam
05:04and finishing tough catches.
05:05They were, there was absolutely no ability to connect on that.
05:09I think that is a big one, and one that probably doesn't get remembered enough.
05:12If that returns to what it's been consistently throughout Dak's career,
05:16that's a difference maker for them.
05:188.4 was his lowest.
05:20Until he went to the Raiders.
05:21So he was a full yard ahead of where Ferguson was at.
05:23Yeah, the Raiders was 5.5, but as a Cowboy, 8.4 was his lowest, and that was his last
05:28year.
05:28Yeah, so you don't want to have a 7.3 yards per reception right after signing your big contract extension.
05:34Next one, third on this list, a partner in crime required,
05:38and I'm going to want to get y'all's thoughts on this specifically when I get done reading this section,
05:42because I'm interested in how this has become a big talking point lately.
05:46It says, Cowboys running back Javante Williams had a breakout season last year as the team's feature back.
05:50He had a career high in carries, yards, and yards per attempt.
05:53The Cowboys rewarded him accordingly with a three-year, $24 million deal this offseason.
05:57With Williams a part of the Cowboys' immediate future, it's vital to try to preserve his health and ability.
06:02That requires finding a true No. 2 running back to pair with him.
06:05Cowboys have options.
06:06Veteran Malik Davis was a pleasant surprise.
06:08You also had Jaden Blue, who they drafted, second-year running back, Phil Moffa.
06:12Whether it's one person or multiple, it's probably best to find a true second option.
06:16Gosh.
06:16This has been a consistent thing I've heard lately.
06:19The other day, I got these bozos, tag-team bozos on Twitter getting on us because...
06:26The Chubb thing?
06:27We didn't want Nick Chubb automatically signed up.
06:30I don't know how to explain to people, because the issue they were taking...
06:34Because it was Bosa.
06:35Look at the way they switched up.
06:36They talked about how old 30-year-old Chubb was, and then they just said,
06:41Oh, Bosa's only 30? It seems like he's older.
06:44A few different things there.
06:45One, Bosa was a surprise that he's only 30, because it seems like he's 35.
06:48Right.
06:49Is the reason.
06:50But second, if you do not understand the difference between a 30-year-old edge rusher and a 30-year
06:58-old
06:58running back, especially one with an injury history like Nick Chubb, if you don't understand
07:03why those are different ages, you need to find a new hobby.
07:08Yeah.
07:08Like, you got to start watching something else.
07:11I really genuinely don't know what to tell you.
07:13But this is one that's really cropped up where people are like, the Cowboys have this issue
07:18behind Javante Williams.
07:19And it's like, I thought Malik Davis was pretty good last year in a supplementary role.
07:25Obviously, if Javante Williams went down and you had to have somebody carry the load,
07:29I maybe might feel like, okay, are they going to be able to completely cover this?
07:33But I have not once thought about the running back position this offseason after they signed
07:37Javante Williams.
07:38Well, I haven't thought about it, not because I think they're totally set.
07:42I haven't thought about it because I don't care right now about the backup running back
07:45position.
07:45But I don't feel great about it.
07:48If you want to make the case that there's another 22, 23, 24-year-old that's more...
07:55I'm interested in giving Jaden Blue the opportunity.
07:58Choppy, I think, really likes Malik Davis.
08:01Malik, I don't know if I feel great about it.
08:04I feel fine about it.
08:05And I'm intrigued still about Jaden Blue.
08:07But I'm not going out and giving money to a 30-year-old or anyone like that.
08:11I'm not committing anything serious to it.
08:14But yeah, I would think that they are in trouble if something happened to Javante.
08:19What would be the...
08:21When you say, I don't know that I feel great about it.
08:24Is it you don't feel great about what the normal workload would be for a No. 2 running
08:28back, like maybe taking a series every few ones?
08:31Or you don't feel great in the idea of assuming Javante may get hurt or that Javante is not
08:35going to be able to stay?
08:36Is it more just about Javante potentially being hurt rather than assuming health, what
08:40you're getting out of No. 2?
08:42Yeah, I don't...
08:43I mean, I'm not sold on...
08:45I'm not totally sold on Malik Davis or Jaden.
08:50So I think this is where you hype up your love for Malik Davis.
08:53Well, I do love Malik.
08:54McCarthy wants us to understand that Hunter Lipke's here too.
08:57And he's a great player.
08:58I don't care where Hunter Lipke is.
09:00Like Malik Davis last year, his highlights were 4 for 20, 3 for 24, 3 for 47 against Kansas
09:06City, 8 for 21, 8 for 23, and then 20 for 103 to finish the season against Washington.
09:13And obviously...
09:144.8 to carry, very nice.
09:15Yeah.
09:16I just don't know that I've seen enough to feel really good, but I'm not...
09:20I'd still probably...
09:22I'd rather roll with Malik and Jaden Blue versus a 30.
09:26Right.
09:26And obviously a successful guy in pass protection too.
09:29Like Malik Davis was good for them there too.
09:31And I'm not saying I would give him 15 to 20 carries a game.
09:34Not even close.
09:35But I think if you're talking like 6 to 8 carries a night in the afternoon...
09:39We got Lipke.
09:40Right.
09:42I mean, I think that he has got a decent enough burst where he can make some plays.
09:47Oh wait, Lipke's white.
09:48Don't let me come across as loving that too much, according to these two dudes.
09:54So if you look...
09:55Last year I was stunned to see this too.
09:56His success rate, carrying the ball 52 times.
09:59He had a 4.8 yards per carry.
10:01He was fine.
10:01But he had that big game at the end.
10:03But his success rate at the end of the year was 50%.
10:05Which kind of surprised me.
10:06But then I think a lot of it was they would use him sometimes on a third and two.
10:10And he would pick up those three yards or different things like that.
10:13So I know they like his toughness.
10:14And they think really highly of him as a presence in their locker room.
10:18But it's still not...
10:20I had not thought of that.
10:21There are so many other things on the priority plate, obviously, that took my attention.
10:25I'm surprised that's been a big focus for a lot of people.
10:28Joe Hoyt's list here of the five ways the Cowboys can improve their offense over at the Dallas Morning News.
10:33Number four, a red mark.
10:35Prescott and Ferguson discussed recently the importance of being better in the red zone.
10:39We necessarily weren't the worst, Prescott said, but we weren't near our standard.
10:43For the record, the Cowboys finished right in the middle of the pack.
10:46Scoring touchdowns in the red zone.
10:47The 16th most in the NFL.
10:49The top team in the NFL was the Philadelphia Eagles.
10:51Dallas had scored on 57% of their drives in the red zone.
10:55The Eagles, when they reached the red zone, scored touchdowns 70% of the time.
10:59So that's a...
11:00That 13% gap is a significant one.
11:02That's where we've talked about and what I'm still trying to figure out right now of how I want to
11:08track what the play call in has looked like when they've gotten in the red zone or past the 50
11:12and see if there's a comfort in Aubrey.
11:15That's what I still got to figure out.
11:17But it says the Cowboys were fifth in the league in red zone trips last season.
11:20Getting inside the opponent's 20 wasn't a problem.
11:22Scoring touchdowns wasn't a huge hindrance either.
11:24But if we're looking for an area where offense like the Cowboys could improve, that's one of them.
11:28And then finally, the biggest item really to do with the Cowboys offense.
11:33The biggest offensive storyline of the season.
11:36And that's from an offensive perspective and on the field perspective.
11:39Sorry to those who thought this would be a George Pickens note.
11:41The biggest question is regards to the team's left tackle position.
11:44What are they going to do with Tyler Guyton?
11:46Is Nate Thomas in here as a true competitor?
11:49I think there is going to be a competition there.
11:50I don't think it's a real competition in terms of I think Guyton is clearly a better player right now.
11:55He can't stay healthy, though, and he has had his issues.
11:58And they've talked about the Tyler Smith contingency plan.
12:00So getting stability along the offensive line would be the biggest of those five.
12:04Below the belt.
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