00:00But, I wanted to talk some Dallas Cowboys news of the day, and I wanted to roll this out there
00:05because I thought this was interesting this morning from Matt Bowen.
00:09He talked about the best NFL offenses across the league in the 11, 12, 13, 21, and 22 personnel groupings.
00:21So, personnel grouping number 11, that is one running back, one tight end, and three wide receivers.
00:29The team that ran it best in 2025, your Dallas Cowboys.
00:37They led the NFL with a 101.8 EPA on 11 personnel snaps and averaged 6.6 yards per play.
00:47In that formation, Dak Prescott helped lead the offense to a league-best 206.7 yards per game, and Javante
00:56had high-level rushing production with a league-best 80.8 yards per game out of that formation.
01:03Do you think all of that success, and I know they said they're going to fidget with some stuff on
01:08the offense,
01:08do you think all of that success leads you to believe that that will be the most frequent personnel grouping
01:14once more?
01:15It makes so much sense to have it out there for this specific group of skill set players.
01:22When you have Javante Williams, you're like, okay, you know, our blocking system really does set up well for the
01:30way he reads.
01:32But then you can always pull a tight end into the backfield if you decide you want to make a
01:37look of a lead blocker.
01:38What's great about that, too, is then you do something like that, and now you leak that tight end out
01:43on a route,
01:44and there's Jake Ferguson with a 5-7-yard pickup or whatever.
01:49There's a lot of things you can do out of that look.
01:52And for the Cowboys also, it spreads everything out so much with their receiving group because you have to pay
01:58attention to them.
01:59You as safeties cannot let CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens just run free.
02:05So you just can't spend that much time down in the box, which then again opens things up in the
02:10passing game for Javante Williams.
02:13And then, I mean, Flannoy, take that next step.
02:17And that's a shot he seems.
02:19I mean, yesterday sounds pretty confident that that's coming.
02:23Could be very, very lethal.
02:25But then I think just the fact that Ferguson is there, and again, he's not doing anything groundbreaking right now.
02:34But he's a good security blanket in what that personnel grouping is.
02:39And by the way, in case you were curious...
02:42Also, I'm sorry, you got some pretty good blockers in that mix as well, and I think that's an effective
02:47part of the run game.
02:48In case you were curious, essentially the shorthand is that's just how many running backs and tight ends you have
02:52out in your formation.
02:53So, 11 personnel, 1 running back, 1 tight end, 12, and on and on and on.
02:59So I wanted to start with that.
03:02Then, can we get some freaking turnovers this year?
03:08So, Mickey Spagnola has a tremendous column up on DallasCowboys.com that goes through on both sides of the ball
03:16just the real struggles you had with turnovers.
03:20So, the Cowboys only managed 12 takeaways last year.
03:26That was the second fewest in franchise history by one.
03:31Alright?
03:32So, you had the second fewest, and you only got one more than the worst in franchise history.
03:37Not going to be enough.
03:38No.
03:39You only had six interceptions.
03:40The only team with less interceptions was the Jets, because they had zero.
03:45And no team in the franchise's 66-year history had ever finished with fewer than seven interceptions prior to last
03:55year, when you only got six.
03:58And then, on the flip side of it, you only recovered six fumbles, matching the franchise's second fewest.
04:07And so, it's not that you're like, hey, we're not getting interceptions, but at least we're jarring the ball loose.
04:13You're not jarring the ball loose, you're not recovering it when you do in those limited times, and you're not
04:19getting interceptions.
04:20So, we go to Brian Schottenheimer yesterday.
04:24This is really good stuff.
04:26And the question was pushed, you can't have both in terms of forced turnovers and don't turn over the ball.
04:33Because he was like, all right, I want to preface this by saying, obviously, I would pick both.
04:36You guys won't let me say what I want to say.
04:38Yes, exactly.
04:38So, let's give it over to Brian Schottenheimer.
04:41I'm going to start with, if you don't give it up, then you're not going to lose the turnover battle.
04:46Right?
04:46So, if we don't turn the ball over, it's going to be zeros.
04:49Right?
04:49So, I would say that.
04:51And, again, I just, you know, we proved it last year, Brad, that, you know, we could go four straight
04:55games without a turnover.
04:57And there was too many multiple turnover games on offense.
05:00We were sloppy.
05:00We were careless with the ball.
05:03You know, mostly as ball carriers.
05:06A couple of them were on really third and long, like, situation where we're checking the ball down.
05:11We're going to probably punt.
05:12And, you know, we end up losing possession of the ball.
05:14So, since you won't let me say what I want to say, I'm going to say, you know, securing the
05:19ball.
05:21So, he says securing the ball.
05:23And, obviously, I mean, that's a great point in terms of if you never turn the ball over, well, obviously,
05:28you're never going to lose the turnover battle.
05:30But turnovers are going to be inevitable to a certain extent.
05:33So, my question is, while we've talked about all the changes on defense thus far, schematically and talent-wise, do
05:40you believe that the Cowboys can also get back to average when it comes to forcing turnovers?
05:47I mean, they should be able to be back to average.
05:51Like, the confusing part of a defense should create that.
05:56I do hope Rashawn Gary gives us seven and a half, eight, nine sacks this year.
06:01Sure.
06:01Like, we discussed that yesterday and the pressure on the football.
06:05And if that's what you're going to get is you're going to get seven and a half from a bunch
06:08of people, that's going to be quality stuff right there for you, which should lend itself to the ball landing
06:14in your hand more often.
06:15Because a quarterback's like, I don't know what to do.
06:17I've got to throw it up.
06:18And then, all of a sudden, now you've created problems.
06:20I don't know enough about Revel to know if he's going to be one of those guys that forces a
06:26lot of them.
06:26But I do know Jalen Thompson and Kalen Downs look like dudes that I think are going to make something
06:30like that happen.
06:31And we know Deron Bland is a ball seeker.
06:34Right.
06:35That's one of his, it's a blessing and a curse at the same time because he's really good at it.
06:40So, when he's on the field, I feel like that's going to be something that's possible.
06:43Can I tell you something that I think is positive on the Revel front is Shereen Williams was writing about
06:49this.
06:49And one of the things that he told her is that, or it might have been Tommy Yarish, I'm sorry,
06:56that Revel is so far ahead of where he had been that he's now able to do situational work.
07:04Whereas before, it was just like, get healthy and very basic schematic things for the defense.
07:10Now, I know doing situational work does not automatically mean you're going to turn into a turnover machine.
07:15But it sure does feel like a big step in the direction of getting turnovers if you're able to not
07:20just get the broad strokes of the defense, but be able to go like all these intricate different details.
07:25The Eagles last year were ranked 11th in takeaways.
07:29Okay.
07:29So, and that's, you know, the idea is it's part of the Fangio scheme.
07:35But they also did have the talent to do it too, right?
07:38Like they had the talent on that side of the ball.
07:40The Fangio scheme has something to do with it, but also what Christian Parker did in that secondary with those
07:45guys.
07:46That's where I say that the, whether it's Revel, whoever that cornerback is, that you're going to be like, wow,
07:52he is locking it down over there.
07:54And then you, maybe you have a risk taker on the other side, but then you have Jalen Thompson, who
08:00I believe is, we talked about his IQ, and I believe that he's going to be one of those dudes
08:05that's just kind of sitting and waiting a lot of times because he's going to be in the right position,
08:09especially with the attention to detail that you get from Christian Parker's secondary defense.
08:13Now, either yesterday or the day before, speaking of Jalen Thompson, we talked about kind of the concept of being
08:20the green dot guy and being the captain of the defense and everything like that.
08:23So, yesterday, DeMarvion Overshone talked about how excited he has been to get some run as the Mike linebacker and
08:34wear the green dot specifically.
08:36He said he wants it, doesn't he?
08:37Yes, he said specifically, I've been wanting to be the Mike for the longest time since my rookie year.
08:42I felt like it was going to come a time when I wore the C on my chest and I
08:46had the green dot and now I've got it and I'm excited.
08:49Are you also excited at that prospect?
08:52And I know it all comes along with the caveat of if healthy, but if healthy and if captaining the
08:59defense, what is the potential for Overshone?
09:03A pro bowl, maybe all pro team guy.
09:06I really do think that.
09:08He's got speed, closing speed on running back, closing speed on tight end, on quarterback.
09:16He's got that.
09:18He's got length.
09:19He's a size.
09:20I was always concerned about his body type because he had come from safety to linebacker and I was like,
09:25is he kind of a tweener guy?
09:28But he's built into it now where I'm like, okay, I feel like he's good for it.
09:33I just need to obviously see him healthy.
09:35But if he's healthy, I think he can be a pro bowl caliber player for sure.
09:39And, you know, we talked about Kobe Durant and how excited we are, especially for a lower money signing.
09:46Kyle Yeomans was thrown out there that he might have provided the moment of OTA practice yesterday when he intercepted
09:53an underthrown Dak Prescott pass during 7-on-7.
09:57Now I realize 7-on-7, not technically.
09:59Dak's underthrown receivers again.
10:01So your takeaway is not good job, Kobe Durant.
10:05It is that.
10:07It's always, it's a fickle place to be.
10:09Yeah, it really.
10:10Yeah, move on.
10:10It really, really is.
10:13All right, so don't tell you that Caelan Carson and Dee Winters both had pass breakups against Dak in the
10:18first team offense yesterday.
10:19God, dude, what are you even doing right now?
10:21Okay.
10:22Then you know what?
10:22They're working on things.
10:24Exactly!
10:25He's just working on a new pitch.
10:27There is the positiveness I was looking for right there.
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