3 BIGGEST Takeaways From Christian Parker's Press Conference | Dallas Cowboys Moving To 3-4?

Summary

Locked On Cowboys Podcast Summary

Episode: 3 BIGGEST Takeaways From Christian Parker's Press Conference | Dallas Cowboys Moving To 3-4?
Hosts: Marcus Mosher, Landon McCool
Date: February 19, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into Christian Parker's first press conference as the Dallas Cowboys' new defensive coordinator. Hosts Marcus Mosher and Landon McCool break down Parker’s demeanor and approach, examine what his scheme means for the team (including the much-debated “3-4 vs. 4-3” discussion), and discuss the critical role of the slot defender in Parker’s system. The episode is especially focused on what changes—real or perceived—Parker will bring to the Cowboys' defense and how the front office and coaching hires signal a new direction for the franchise.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Christian Parker's First Impression

• Calm, Collected & Confident: Parker struck the hosts as “very put together” and mature beyond his years, despite being a first-time, young defensive coordinator.

• Demeanor: Initially reserved, Parker’s steady confidence was increasingly evident as the press conference went on.

• Preparedness: Hosts note Parker was “very well prepared” for the press conference, with clear, concise answers and no nerves apparent by the end.

• Comparison with Previous Coaches: Dan Quinn, Parker’s predecessor, was more emotive, “wearing his heart on his sleeve.” Parker’s “quiet confidence” is seen as refreshing, energizing, and perhaps better suited for the rigors of NFL scrutiny.

  “He’s energizing without being overly energetic.”
  —Landon McCool (05:33)

  “There’s a quiet confidence about Christian Parker that I think really attracted Brian Schottenheimer… They left [the interview] feeling more energized.”
  —Marcus Mosher (04:41)

2. The Cowboys’ Hiring Process: A New Approach

• Coach/GM Dynamic: Schottenheimer spearheaded the hiring of Parker—and the trust from the Jones family (Cowboys ownership) represents a subtle but significant shift in franchise management.

• Parker’s hiring was compared to last year’s process for the offense: a “diverse mix of young coaches” brought in from pro and college ranks.

• Notably, Jerry Jones was present in all 40 interviews for the coordinator search.

• The relationship between Schottenheimer and Parker is described as a true “bromance,” in contrast to previous, less-jovial working environments.

  “You can tell, like, Shotty is so fired up that he has his guy installed as a new defensive coordinator.”
  —Marcus Mosher (07:41)

3. 3-4 vs. 4-3 Defense: What’s Really Changing?

• Outdated Debate: The traditional 3-4 vs. 4-3 labels don’t reflect modern NFL defenses. What truly matters is gap assignment and how linemen are used.

• Gap-and-a-Half System: Parker, coming from the Vic Fangio coaching tree, will likely run a “gap and a half” system—requiring linemen to play both upfield (aggressively) and to be responsible for multiple gaps.

• Personnel Fit: The Cowboys’ current defensive tackles (Quinnen Williams, Osa Odighizuwa, and Kenny Clark) are seen as natural fits for this system, as it relies more on “explosive upfield” play than old-school two-gapping nose tackles.

• Multiple Fronts: The defense will be “multiple,” mixing 3-4 and 4-3 fronts and emphasizing flexibility. In nickel situations, it will transition to more of a 4-2-5 look.

  “3-4 versus 4-3 is just a very outdated… what we should really be talking about is the two gap versus one gap… and frankly, it’s neither of these, the Cowboys are going to use something called gap and a half.”
  —Landon McCool (13:32)

  “If you were asking these guys to truly two gap… not necessarily a great fit for that. But for this, I do think they are a good fit.”
  —Landon McCool (16:46)

• Learning Curve? The scheme shift shouldn’t cause major growing pains, since versions of these fronts were already used sporadically last season.

  “If you’re concerned that there’s going to be some big learning curve, I wouldn’t.”
  —Marcus Mosher (20:20)

4. Slot Defender: The Defense’s Linchpin

• Critical Position: Parker highlighted the diversified, complex role of the slot defender in his system—needing to handle coverage, run support, and communication responsibilities between coverage levels.

• The hosts believe the current roster lacks an ideal slot defender for Parker’s vision.

• Prototypical Traits: The prototype is shifting away from undersized, quick slot corners toward bigger, more physical, versatile defenders (potentially more safety-sized, but with cornerback skills).

• Draft and Free Agency Impact: Expect the Cowboys to prioritize finding this player via free agency or early in the draft.

  “It’s an attitude. It’s a mentality… you need somebody that is probably closer to a cornerback size… but it’s an attitude… plays like he’s way bigger and throws his body around and he’s smart.”
  —Landon McCool (26:14)

  “I expect the Cowboys to really prioritize that position either in free agency or the draft… it’s going to be impossible for this defense to work unless they have a really good one.”
  —Marcus Mosher (27:12)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Parker’s Age:

  “Somebody asked him if his age is a concern, and he said, ‘Well, I’ve always been young.’ So, I thought that was funny.”
  —Marcus Mosher (09:37)

• On the New Defensive Direction:

  “Christian Parker feels new and different.”
  —Marcus Mosher (10:10)

• Defining the Defensive Scheme:

  “They’re going to be multiple. They’re going to play 3-4, they’re going to play 4-3, they’re going to play 4-2-5 when they’re in nickel…”
  —Landon McCool (15:41)

• Clarifying the True Impact:

  “This is not the big change that it was when the Cowboys went from Mike Zimmer… to Wade Phillips in 2007.”
  —Marcus Mosher (20:12)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment / Key Discussion | |-----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:27 | Christian Parker’s press conference: First impressions & tone | | 04:17 | How Parker compares to Dan Quinn and other recent coaches | | 07:02 | Behind the scenes of Cowboys’ new coaching search process | | 10:09 | Why Parker represents a “new and different” direction | | 13:32 | 3-4 vs. 4-3: Outdated debate, what Parker’s defense will actually be | | 18:09 | Explanation of alignments: 4i, nose, and edge terminology | | 20:12 | Scheme changes compared to past Cowboys regime | | 21:00 | Slot defender: Parker’s unique demands for this defensive role | | 23:22 | The future slot defender prototype and draft implications |

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Conclusion

This episode offers a thorough, nuanced breakdown of Christian Parker’s first official words as Cowboys defensive coordinator and what they signal for the team’s future. Most notably, the podcast underscores Parker’s steadiness and intelligence, the organizational trust being placed in him and Schottenheimer, and the likely shifts—both schematic and cultural—in the Cowboys’ defense. The slot defender position emerges as a major point of intrigue as the team moves into offseason roster-building mode.

Cowboys fans anxious about seismic changes can relax: the transition to Parker’s defense is more evolution than revolution, and the personnel is well suited for what’s to come.

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For more detailed scheme talk and draft implications, check out follow-up bonus episodes as referenced at [19:30].

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Transcript

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[Landon McCool]

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[Landon McCool]

You're playing the loot.

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[Marcus Mosher]

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[Marcus Mosher]

Christian Parker finally spoke to the Dallas Cowboys media and we'll give you all of the juicy takeaways next. You are Locked On Cowboys, your daily Dallas Cowboys podcast, part of the Locked on podcast network. Your team every day. Welcome back to the Locked On Cowboys podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast network. Your team every day. We'd like to thank you for making us the number one sports podcast network. I am your host, Marcus Mosher. He is Lana McCool. And on today's show, we are discussing Christian Parker speaking to the Dallas Cowboys media for the first time at his press conference. We're going to talk about 3, 4 versus 4, 3. Going to talk about the slot defender and the role in this defense. But before we get to all that, l. Let's just general takeaways for the press conference. What do you got?

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, I mean he, he. I think it was a lot of what we expected. We had heard so much about him like before we had this press conference and, and what he was like and, and we obviously, some of us have seen videos of, of him, you know, and kind of clips from the field as a coach, but, you know, just, just very kind of calm, you know, put. I almost thought that he was nervous at first just because he was so kind of reserved and I wasn't sure if that was the case. But as he started to kind of open up a little bit, I think he was trying to just Get a feel of what the media was going to be like, which I think is absolutely fair in this situation. But, no, I think he had answers. You know, he. He, you know, didn't give away too much, I don't think. And I think, you know, a lot of times with these press conferences, you're not getting a ton of. They're very kind of rehearsed, and they have very. I think they have their talking points they want to say, and you don't necessarily get a ton out of it, but I think you got to see a little bit about who he was based on some of his answers. I think some of the questions about how does his political science degree kind of play into it? I think you got to see an opportunity to kind of show his knowledge about things outside of football. He just seems like a guy who's very put together despite being very young, seems very mature in the sense that he's, you know, straightforward, collected, understood exactly what. What he wanted to say, what he wanted to convey, didn't struggle necessarily with the media, and felt, you know, ultimately, I reversed my course into thinking that he was nervous, into. Oh, no, he's just very comfortable and very calm and just has a very even keel, which is probably exactly the kind of guy you want when things are. Things are going crazy and you need your head coach, you need your defense coordinator to be a calming voice.

[Marcus Mosher]

We've covered enough of these press conferences now, whether it's head coaches or offensive coordinators and defensive coordinators, that I thought we honestly could have done this show without even watching the press conference.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah.

[Marcus Mosher]

Because a lot of times it's. You're right. It's the same things that are repeated. Oh, we're gonna. We're gonna adapt.

[Landon McCool]

There's gonna be multiple players.

[Marcus Mosher]

We're gonna be multiple.

[Landon McCool]

We're gonna base our scheme on players. Right. Like, all these things. Right. They just say them over and over again every time.

[Marcus Mosher]

Yeah. So it's. You can't read too much into that, because if you get too high on that kind of stuff, it's. It's not great. But I think for what the. The part for me is, he just seems like. There's a quiet confidence about Christian Parker that I think really attracted Brian Schottenheimer. And actually, Schottenheimer talked about how they had a 40 interviews they did this cycle, and Parker was the last interview that they did for the defensive coordinators. And he even admitted, like, they were really tired, they were dragging going into this interview, and they kind of left feeling more Energized. Because that's the kind of person Christian Parker is. It seems like he's a really infectious person even without being this. It's weird because I don't think he's a high energy necessarily person, but I think he's so confident. It's hard not to get riled up when you listen to him.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah. And I think he's, you know, he's passionate without being wild about it, you know, which is, it is a very interesting demeanor. Like I will say that he has a very unique kind of way about him. And I don't mean that like he's Superman. I just mean like it's different. Like, I just don't think I've experienced that. Because you're right, he's, he's energizing without being overly energetic.

[Marcus Mosher]

Well, I think compared to like Dan Quinn, like Dan Quinn is going to wear his heart and his emotions on his sleeve. Right. And he's a very, I don't want to say rah rah in a bad way, but that's just the way Dan Quinn is. Christian Parker is very different in that way.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah. You know, I mean, honestly, I think they may be very similar in their press conference demeanor. Right. Because Dan Quinn, despite being a wild man, kind of, you know, when he's talking to guys and getting, getting hyped up, you know, kind of spoke with a, with a soft undertone and spoke like this just very evenly, very confidently. And that's kind of what you got from Christian Parker a little bit. Was just a guy that, like I said, you know, was, was confident in getting these, with these answers and again, not necessarily going to be disrupted or have his day thrown off by these questions. Really good job of breaking down, you know, complex kind of thoughts and into really kind of simple bite sized manners. He understood what the assignment was when he was answering questions and he did a good job. And I think that that shows somebody who is clearly very, as he said, you know, the way, the way, you know that you have confidence is to be, is to be well, you know, well practiced and to be well prepared. I think he was very well prepared. For this press conference.

[Marcus Mosher]

We're going to talk about some of the specific things that he said in a little bit, but a couple other little takeaways. Number one, it's so obvious, at least to me, that Matt Ebert flu was not a Brian Schottenheimer higher. Even more so after this because I was walking around the house holding the baby for a little bit and I actually had it on Mute. And just watching Brian Schottenheimer, like, look at Christian Parker and he was like, grabbing his shoulder. The way that he's looking at him is so different than the way that he ever talked about Matt Eberfluous. I know that's a wild takeaway to have, but you can tell, like, Shotty is so fired up that he has his guy installed as a new defensive coordinator.

[Landon McCool]

It's real bromance going on there. And I agree, like, it wasn't that

[Marcus Mosher]

way at all at any point last year.

[Landon McCool]

I mean, I think this is a good opportunity for us to talk about, you know, a little bit about the process you and I were talking about all the offseason without confirmation until today that this process felt extremely similar to the process that the offense went through last season. And, and Schottenheimer confirmed it, that they wanted to use that same process that they did for hiring offensive coaches to, to build a defensive staff. And, and they had very similar results, it seems like. I mean, we'll see what the results. Results are. But as far as what they ended up with, a mix of diverse young coaches who come from the pro and the college ranks, I think is, is, is kind of what they ended up on the defensive side. So I thought that was really interesting. I also thought it was interesting that he mentioned that Jerry was in every one of those 40 interviews. That was kind of wild to see. I, I think a lot of people, I just want to throw this out just because we're talking about this real quick, but I think a lot of people kind of read into the fact that, that the Joneses weren't there for that meeting. But it does seem like that that is kind of normal for these sort of coordinator hires after a head coach has already been hired. But I, I think that again, like, more to the point of the fact the, the Joneses were following the Schottenheimer's lead on, on how to execute and to follow the plan for hiring the staff. I think that that speaks a lot to their trust in Schottenheimer and frankly a lot in their trust in. In Parker himself, because Parker is an extremely young defensive coordinator. And to turn this process over to a first year or, you know, now second year head coach and a very young defensive coordinator, maybe that shows a slight change in the Jones's stance and how they're running the football team or at least as it, as it relates to the coaches.

[Marcus Mosher]

Did you like the comment that he had about being young? He said, you know, somebody asked him if his age is a concern. And he said, well, I've always been young, so I don't know, I thought that was funny. Also, Brian Schottenheimer had a little shot at Bradsham, which was funny as well. It's just, again, you can't take too much away from these press conferences. But the mood and the energy felt so different than anything that they had at again at any point last year. And even when they hired Mike Zimmer. You and I were big fans of the Mike Zimmer hire. It's different and I think it's a good different that they really needed.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Marcus Mosher]

It's.

[Landon McCool]

It's time that they tried something new and different. Christian Parker feels new and different.

[Marcus Mosher]

All right, let's talk about the 34 versus 43 because everybody is losing their minds about what this means for the Cowboys defense moving forward. I know people want to draft like 315 pound five techniques back. We'll talk about nose tackles being back in vogue. We'll get to all that next Foreign this episode is brought to you by five Hour Energy. Welcome to the five Hour Energy Flavor Draft. We're looking at every aspect of the draft to let you know which tasty flavors are the best and which ones might be sleepers. The board is set, the flavors are ready, and only one is going to take the top spot. Five Hour Energy has a wide variety of flavors and and they've got something for everyone. And five Hour Energy shots give you a boost with zero sugar. Listen, I love all the flavors, but my favorite right now is probably the cotton candy. It's a very sweet flavor, but man, it just tastes so good. So find your new favorite flavor of 5 Hour Energy Shots, available only at 5hourenergy.com or on Amazon. This episode is brought to you by Indeed. We Workplace chaos. Deadline stacking up, inbox overflowing. And the one position you have to fill is still sitting open when the pressure's on and you need the right hire. This is a job for Sponsored Jobs Indeed. Sponsored Jobs helps you reach the right people who actually fit what you're looking for, who have the skills, experience and location that you absolutely need. So you're not just hoping that the right candidate stumbles across your post. And here is a stat that says it all in the minute that I've been talking to you. Companies like yours made 27 hires on Indeed according to Indeed Data Worldwide. So if you're hiring, spend less time searching and more time interviewing candidates who check all of your boxes with Indeed Sponsored Jobs. And listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to help give your job the premium placement that it deserves. Indeed.com podcast just go to Indeed.com podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com podcast terms and conditions apply. Need to hire. This is a job for Indeed. Sponsored jobs. Welcome back to the Locked on Cowboys podcast. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen every single day. If you haven't checked out the Everydayer club our already, you should do so. Only $5 a month and you're going to get ad free episodes to the Loton Cowboys podcast. Just go to lockdown cowboys supercast.com or tap the link in the show notes to learn more. All right, Landon, let's talk about 34 versus 4 3. Because Christian Parker said it's going to be a base 34 with 43 spacing and then on nickel situations it's going to be a 42 5. And Cowboys Nation has no idea how to react. So can you try to break down what this means for Dallas's defense?

[Landon McCool]

Yes, but let's first reframe the conversation, for God's sakes. Okay. Like first of all, 34 versus 43 is just a very outdated tech, you know, thought process here. When, when we're, I think when I was people of a certain age, you know, honestly, like anybody who remembers the old way that things were. I mean when you say 3 4, there is it. It conjures the thoughts of two gapping, three sets of 310 pound, you know, plus, you know, you got a two guys on the outside that are on defensive ends that are five techniques that are, like you said, 315, you know, 310 pounds and then a 330 pound, you know, Mogwali in the middle, right. Who's just eating up space. And, and, and what we should really be talking about is the technique, right? Is the two technique versus the two tech versus the one tech. I'm sorry, the two gap versus one gap. I'm going to make this more confusing. I'm sorry. Because two gapping versus one gapping is really where this conversation is, is it needs to be had. And frankly, it's neither of these that cowboys are going to use. They're going to use something called gap and a half. So two gap is what you would normally traditionally think is a three four where you're locking up a guy. Your, your, your responsibility is either side of the person who's blocking you. So you're locking them up, you're separating and you're waiting for, for the ball to come through a gap. Then you're shedding the block and then you're getting the tackle. Right. One gap is what we've been doing for the last few years, right, where you're getting. Lining up in the gap and then at the snap you're getting through the gap, trying to get into the backfield and disrupt that way. Your only responsibility is the gap that you are going through. It allows you to play faster and get up field. What we, Fangio, and we are thinking that Christian Parker is likely going to Deploy is a 3, 4, which uses a gap and a half system here, mechanics. And I think that's more important really than how they're lining up, you know, on first and second down because again, they've even said they're going to be multiple. They're going to play 3, 4, they're going to play 4, 3, they're going to play 4,. 2, 5 when they're in nickel. Right.

[Joe Marino]

That.

[Landon McCool]

That's just like everybody else. What's different, which is going to be

[Marcus Mosher]

75% of the time and we'll get back to that in a second.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, exactly. That's so. So none of it even matters really that much. But. But what's different is that now they have a primary and a secondary gap, that they are responsible. They are going to line up in this, in the gap, just like they're in a one gap. At the snap of the ball, they're going to get into that gap, they're going to engage their blocker and they are primarily, primarily responsible for the gap that they're in. They're going to peak, they're going to separate. So they're going to do some of the two gapping stuff, but they're going to do it while vertically displacing that blocker back into the backfield. And then if the, if the ball goes to the backfield, goes to the backside of the play, then they go into their secondary gap and that's when they have responsibility for their secondary gap. But it still requires guys who are explosive up the field. It requires you to be strong as well. So that's why you see a lot of three techniques playing in this, in this kind of set, which is, guess what? The Cowboys have a lot of. That was. I was.

[Marcus Mosher]

Does this defense set up well for the talent you have with Quinn and Williams, osa, Kenny Clark, Solomon Thomas?

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, I think it does. I mean, if you were asking these guys to truly two gap, I Wouldn't say so, like especially not necessarily a great fit for that. But I think for this I do think that they are a good fit. I think all three of these guys can start in that their spots right now. I think that the, there may be some times when they line up like a true nose. Like you know, just because they are going to be doing a multiple front. And I think that's where you know, you worry about Kenny Clark maybe doing that for the long term over the season. But I think outside of that, when they're just lining up in a 3, 4 and using gap and a half system that really is going to play well to what these guys do. I mean think about Quinn and Williams getting into a gap, engaging a blocker that just destroying him as you know, while covering two gaps and it allows you to play it, steal back a gap in, in run defense and play potentially with some lighter boxes, maybe play a little bit more nickel or play some interesting fronts where you're sending different guys and you know, that's, that's where it kind of really gets fun now you get to send more linebackers, you're going to have the kind of different pass rushes on the outside. We'll get into all that. But that's, that's really the kind of the true change that's going to happen in this defense.

[Marcus Mosher]

And correct me if I'm wrong, like if you're talking about the, the four eyes, what that would be is like Quinn and Williams and say it's Oso Digizua lining up on the inside shoulder of the offensive tackles.

[Landon McCool]

Correct.

[Marcus Mosher]

And then you would have a what they would call a nose technique and he can be a one depending on where he's shaded, lined up for the most part head up on the center and then in four two situations and then you have your, your edge guys that are usually playing in a two point stance lined up way outside of the tackles. In a 4, 2, 5, you're getting your nickel. You're just taking the nose tackle off the field for a slot defender. Is that generally what they're going to run here?

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, it's going to be, you know, lots of tough fronts, lots of 404s like what you described where it's a 4i, a 0, a 4i. Right. And then some G front stuff like where they're going to. So you will see some three techniques, you will see some two eyes stuff. But for the most part, like if you're talking about base, which is again another, it's just like it's like saying

[Marcus Mosher]

they're going to run a pro style offense in the NFL. What does that really mean?

[Landon McCool]

Anymore personnel in that sense? Like when they're in base or whatever? Like yeah, there'll be three down linemen but not lined up necessarily like you're used to. Right. Like not at least, you know, if you watch a lot of college football, it, this is going to look very familiar. It's going to look almost kind of Sabanish, you know, a little bit of Georgia sort of, because they play a little bit of mint type French, which looks similar a little bit. But yeah, it's very similar to that. It just allows you to do a lot more things.

[Marcus Mosher]

So we're doing these bonus episodes, 10 minutes. They're always coming out the the afternoon after the podcast releases. I want to talk a little bit on that show about how this might change the Cowboys draft philosophy. So take a listen to that. But I think people are just freaking out too much. Like he Christian Parker said, they're going to be multiple. They're going to make sure that the defense fits well for Quinn and Williams and also digizua. I think he even mentioned Kenny Clark. I think it's safe to assume that he's going to be back. This is not the big change that it was when the Cowboys went from Mike Zimmer in 2005 and 2006 to Wade Phillips in 2007. Or no, it was, it was parcels. Right? It was parcels.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah.

[Marcus Mosher]

Who had them at one point into a 3, 4 and then they were running a parcels 3, 4.

[Landon McCool]

Which is a true.

[Podcast Announcer]

Right?

[Landon McCool]

A true 3, 4.

[Marcus Mosher]

A true 3, 4. It's, it's not going to be that kind of transition. So I think if you're concerned that there's going to be some big learning curve, I wouldn't. Because they were running versions of this last year when they had the five man fronts.

[Landon McCool]

Think about what Stephen Jones said when I can't even remember what it was the owner's meeting or they just gave an interview and they talked about one of the benefits of hiring Christian Parker is that he had a plan for the personnel that we had that. And he and remember again, I, I harped on this. The, the first three players that came out of Stephen Jones's mouth were Kenny Clark, OSA Digizua and Quinn and Williams. So they have a plan to play all three of these guys a lot.

[Marcus Mosher]

Yes. Let's talk about the slot defender because Christian Parker gave a really interesting answer about the role of a slot cornerback in their defense. We'll get to that next.

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[Marcus Mosher]

Welcome back to the Lot Done Cowboys podcast. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen every single day. The last thing I wanted to touch on here after listening to Christian Parker is how important the slot role is going to be for him. And he talked about all the different jobs you have to do. Again, it's nothing groundbreaking, but you can tell that's a really important role on their defense. And I wonder just kind of listening to him describe that player, I feel pretty confident that that player is not on the roster right now.

[Landon McCool]

And that's certainly. Yeah, I think that that's probably true. Right. I mean, I think that the slot position is an incredibly important position and have thought so for a while. And I think that, you know, it's, it's important in every defense across the NFL. I think it is probably doubly as important though in these kind of defenses where you're going to play a lot of COVID six and a lot of COVID eight, right? And you're going to be doing a lot of quarter, quarter, half stuff or you know, and I think there just requires a lot of communication in those schemes. There's a lot of understanding the rules of how to pass off receivers based on, you know, which receiver is moving, you know, oh, the widers. When number two breaks inside, then you, then you've got man everywhere he goes in the outside receiver, outside corner has got to play, you know, cover one, right? It's like, it's. They have all these kind of different variations of this. And so not only does the slot get asked to do a lot of physical, you know, varied things, a lot of a wide variety of tasks and assignments on any given play, but on top of that they also have to be kind of a glue guy communicator between the second and the third levels of this defense in, in coverage. So it's, it's an incredibly important position, probably just, you know, even heightened. So in these kind of schemes.

[Marcus Mosher]

And again, I don't want to get too heavy into draft stuff here, but just listening to him talk about the position, he said, you know, there's going to be a lot of times where that guy's going to have to be a linebacker or be lined up as a safety. And it just made me think of like, what's the prototype that he wants here? Is it going to be, you know, a 5 foot 11, 200 pound guy, kind of like what Philly had with Cooper De Jean? Or is he okay having it be an undersized guy? Like I was watching D' Angelo Pons from Indiana Tonight, who's 5 8, 175 pounds. I just wonder if, I wonder if he's gonna want a bigger slot corner and maybe I should, maybe I should even say corner. A bigger slot defender than what we're typically used to seeing.

[Landon McCool]

Maybe a six foot, £195 nickelback from the University of Miami with the last name Scott? Maybe I'm not to get too specific cornerbacks around here.

[Marcus Mosher]

I mean.

[Landon McCool]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Watch it. We'll talk about that later. No, I think it's, it's a good point. Like I, I think we're moving away from the kind of more undersized water bug matching wide receiver lockdown, you know, nickel corners.

[Marcus Mosher]

The Orlando Scandrex, right?

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, exactly. To these guys that are a little bit more versatile, right, that they could do a little. And I don't think, you know, like, look, Nick Imanori is kind of the the toast of the, the day.

[Marcus Mosher]

Yeah, I mean, he, it's not him. Right.

[Landon McCool]

That's an unrealistic expectation. Right. Like, I mean, there's very few of those athletes that play, you know, that are available. So I think what you need is, is, is somebody that is probably closer to a cornerback size, like normal cornerback size, maybe not like super undersized because again, they are going to have to hold up physically. But it's an attitude. Right. It's a mentality. Right. And I think that that's the kind of important thing is that, you know, Cooper De Jean, I mean, I hate him, he's an Eagle, but the guy is scrappy. I mean like, the guy plays like he's 6 foot 3 and 250 pounds and, and I think that's more what you need than anything. Think about, was it Antoine Winfield? That, that was the, the old nickel corner.

[Marcus Mosher]

Minnesota.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, from Minnesota back in the day. Like that's, that's the kind of guy you need is, you know, maybe he's just slightly undersized. Maybe he's only 511 or you're not, not quite 6 foot. But he plays like he's way bigger and he throws his body around and he's smart. Like that's the kind of guy that you're looking for.

[Marcus Mosher]

I expect the Cowboys to really prioritize that position either in free agency of the draft and I would be shocked if they came out of round one of the draft. I'm not saying they're going to draft one on round one, but between free agency in the first round of the draft, if they didn't already have that player on the roster because frankly, it's going to be impossible for this defense to work unless they have a really good one.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, I agree. I think it's, it's such a key point. It's such a key position and it's. And it's a full time starter at this point, you know, so, yeah, you need this player on your roster to make, you know, especially these more complicated defenses where work.

[Marcus Mosher]

All right, that is it for today's show. We'd like to thank you for making Lock on Cowboys your first listen every single day. Make sure you subscribe and follow the podcast so you get all of the latest episodes. And if you never miss an episode, the everyday club is built for you. Get Loton Cowboys ad free members only, Discord Access and so much more. Head over to lockon cowboys supercast.com to join the club. And for those of you on video, we can send you the first ever 24. 7 national NBA YouTube channel and on audio. Make your second listen the lock on NFL Draft podcast. Follow Landon on Twitter @McCool BCB. I'm @Marcus Moser and we will see you right back here tomorrow.

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[Marcus Mosher]

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[Landon McCool]

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[Ross Jackson]

Hey everyone, this is Ross Jackson, one of the hosts of the Locked On Podcast network. Thank you for being here because your support means everything. And if you're looking for another way to support the show that you love while getting something awesome in return, check out the Everydayer Club. You get ad free episodes of your favorite Locked on show, access to a members only group chat for fans of your team, and you can even jump into the national chats and talk about whatever's happening across the league. Tap the Everydayer Club link in the show notes to learn more.