← Locked On Cowboys - Daily Podcast On The Dallas Cowboys
Locked On Cowboys - Daily Podcast On The Dallas Cowboys
COWBOYS SQUAD SHOW: A HUGE off-season is already underway for the Cowboys.
01:00:47
COWBOYS SQUAD SHOW: The Cowboys off-season has already started with the firing of DC Matt Eberflus.
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- [00:00]
Jeff Biggs
Foreign.
- [00:04]
Landon McCool
Podcast Network your team every day.
- [00:12]
Marcus Mosher
This is Tyler Rowland from the Locked on Titans podcast. This message is a paid partnership with Apple Card. I love how simple it is to pay using Apple Card with Apple Pay. It's built right into my iPhone so it's always ready to go. I was on vacation recently, I didn't even have to bring my wallet to.
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Tyler Rowland
The beach but plus I earn up.
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Marcus Mosher
To 3% daily cash back on every purchase when I use my Apple Card with Apple Pay. Apply for Apple Card in the Wallet app on your iPhone subject to credit approval. Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch terms and more at applecard.com.
- [00:50]
Jeff Biggs
Prime's exclusive wild Card Playoff Game is Saturday Night Jordan Love and the packers take on Caleb Williams in the Bears. Not a Prime member. Sign up for a 30 day free trial to stream the game to record for the touchdown. NFC north rivals square off in the.
- [01:04]
Landon McCool
Latest chapter of the NFL's oldest feud.
- [01:07]
Jeff Biggs
The packers and Bears and Prime's exclusive wild card playoff game Saturday 7:30pm Eastern.
- [01:12]
Landon McCool
Only on Prime.
- [01:13]
Jeff Biggs
Sign up for a 30 day free trial today. Restrictions apply. See Amazon.comamazonprime for details.
- [01:20]
Tyler Rowland
I am Jeff Bigs, host of the Cowboys Squad show when is Training Camp?
- [01:26]
Marcus Mosher
I'm Marcus Mosher and I'm missing my Hawaiian shirt because I'm ready for the offseason.
- [01:31]
Landon McCool
I'm Lena McCool and I am officially removing my name for consideration of Defensive.
- [01:35]
Jeff Biggs
Coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys, Glenn Stretch Smith. So good to hear Jerry's words of wisdom today.
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Marcus Mosher
How about them Cowboys? It's the Cowboys Squad. Everything. Dallas Cowboys every week covering all the big hits and game changing plays from America's team the way only the Locked On Podcast network can get ready and spread squad up. It's the Cowboy Squad show starting now.
- [02:05]
Tyler Rowland
Episode is brought to you by fanduel. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season or this offseason, visit FanDuel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. Well for the Cowboys the season is over, but the off season is now officially underway and so is another edition of the Cowboy Squad Show. Great to be with you on this Wednesday night along with the co hosts of the daily Lockdown Cowboys Podcast, Marcus Mosher and Landon McCool and former Cowboys coach the one and only Glenn Stretch Smith. Coming up on our show tonight, the very very latest with the Cowboys on and off the field. As expected, they fired defensive coordinator Matt Eberfluss will let you know what Jerry Jones had to say on that and Also those words of wisdom that the coach was talking about. The Cowboys are also on the clock with the number 12 pick. Not that we're counting, but we are. But let's, let's just jump right into it. Marcus, we'll start with you. The big news of the week. I know you've already done a show on it, but I'll ask everybody.
- [03:16]
Jeff Biggs
But the.
- [03:17]
Tyler Rowland
The dismissal of defensive coordinator Matt Eberfluss. We knew it was coming. End of the day, what happened and why the Eber flu fail?
- [03:30]
Marcus Mosher
Well, first of all, we, we, I think all of us had a good feeling, what, a month ago that Matt Eber flu wasn't going to return. I think the shocking thing here is how fast it happened. Usually the Cowboys like to drag these things out a little bit and they like to let the season breathe before making any big decisions. And the fact that it was released early Tuesday morning, which means it probably happened late Monday afternoon, tells you how quickly the Cowboys are ready to move on. And I think it speaks to just how poorly this season went for Matt Eber. Flutes in the Cowboys defense. We ran through the numbers on Wednesday's Locked on Cowboys podcast, but this is an historically bad defense, not just for the Cowboys, but like all time bad across the NFL. Eber Flush just couldn't adapt his scheme. Even when they were healthy, it wasn't a good enough unit. They couldn't rush the passer. They didn't do a good enough job stopping the run. It was a disaster from the start. And I think when you listen to Brian Schottenheimer and Jerry Jones during the postseason press conference, it was clear that they want somebody who is adaptable, who's flexible, who's more of a teacher. And that just wasn't Maddie.
- [04:43]
Landon McCool
I think it's all the things that we've talked about in the show. You know, like we've talked about it a long time now and, and I think, you know, to kind of comment on what Marcus said, you know, they had the fourth worst DVOA defense in the past 25 years. No, I'm sorry, it's actually longer than that. It was actually in the past 50 years. Yeah, they, they, they've gone back to 1978 to, to, to kind of get the averages for DVOA and Dallas defense ranked the fourth worst in, in that time since 1980. And I, and I think that that kind of is, is expressive of, you know, why this needed to happen and probably why it needed to happen extremely quickly. Right. Is because it wasn't just like a Bad defensive season. It was historically bad. And I think the thing that we've commented on here, that I would just like to reiterate as well here to the kind of people that may be kind of naysaying of this, if there are any people that are naysaying it, is that this is a, you know, a historically a bad defense that has problems that are multifaceted, that are not just the defensive coordinator, but also the personnel as well, and, and heavily in the personnel. But you don't solve a multifaceted problem with just one move. Right. The Cowboys needed to make this move, and then they need to make some more moves in the off season, you know, in free agency, in the draft, a lot of moves to kind of improve this defense to the point where it needs to be. To kind of be in contention. This was kind of just the first and most, you know, consequential single move that they had to do.
- [06:16]
Jeff Biggs
Marcus, what do they call a guy that lines head up on the offensive tackle?
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Landon McCool
We talk about fight techniques.
- [06:23]
Jeff Biggs
Four eye. Yeah, but they need one of those guys that's going to the draft. Hopefully I get, Hopefully I get one of those because Matt Heber flu and.
- [06:34]
Marcus Mosher
They didn't have one on the roster. It's too bad.
- [06:37]
Jeff Biggs
Didn't get anything out of those four eyes. So I, that'd be my first comment. Better, Better get.
- [06:42]
Marcus Mosher
Well, we're gonna have to discuss that, what a four eye is at some point. Stretch, you're gonna have to bless us with your wisdom there.
- [06:48]
Jeff Biggs
Yeah, I'm not, I'm not doing it tonight.
- [06:50]
Landon McCool
I'm not paying him enough at this clinic. Sign up for his cool clinic speech, guys. There you go.
- [06:59]
Tyler Rowland
Well, Marcus, you, you said it happened quickly. I, I, I really don't mean this with any snark, but I was kind of surprised it didn't happen literally, like, either Sunday night or Monday morning.
- [07:11]
Marcus Mosher
I think they're trying to be respectful to the, the process. Listen, it's. You're still talking about guys losing jobs, and when you fire a defensive coordinator, there's a lot of ripple effects of, you know, your defensive line coach and your linebacker coach, and they're probably trying to figure all that out at the same time. But I think, I mean, in their minds, they fired him a long time ago. It just didn't become official until there also wasn't.
- [07:35]
Landon McCool
I do want to point out, too, and I understand because several people have made this comment as well, they should have done it earlier, but there also really isn't any benefit to doing it Like Monday as opposed to Tuesday, like today. Yesterday was the first day the teams could even begin interviewing defensive coordinators and offensive coordinators. So like, you know, it didn't necessarily even need to happen until Monday anyways. At that point, if they were going to let him coach the rest of the season, like if you weren't going to fire him at any point on the spot during the regular season, like, it happening a couple extra days later, I think is not the end of the world. But the fact is, is that it got done basically at the beginning of when everybody was starting to fire the appropriate folks at the end of the season. And I think that that's what was surprising because like we talked about in these last few years, the previous few processes of this, this has been a very dragged out process. And, and this, this case obviously was not that.
- [08:30]
Jeff Biggs
Yeah, I don't think this is as much about Eber Flush as it is about the staff. Right. I'm sure the staff has been told, fellas, the coordinator is going to be gone. You guys need to find yourself a job. You've heard me say it on here. I, I was in the building and I was told just that, hey, we're not gonna, we're not going to come out and say, hey, we're firing guys. We're going to come out and say, hey, you know what, we're going to, we're going to be evaluating this. But while we're evaluating this in this 10 day span, go get yourself a job. And I'm sure that's exactly what's going on in that building right now is that if not all of those guys, the majority of those guys have been told, go jockey yourself for a job right now.
- [09:15]
Tyler Rowland
All right, so Landon, to your point, we, we did talk about this quite, quite a bit, especially as the season fell apart. Were you guys surprised at all? Did I miss it? But I was a little bit taken aback when Jerry Jones, amongst other things, said that. No, wait a minute. Brian Schottenheimer actually had a big part in the hiring.
- [09:40]
Landon McCool
Marcus and I were joking. Marcus and I got on a phone call after this whole thing we're talking about the press conference and Marcus, you know, commented that I asked Marcus, like, when, when Jerry said that, I was like, what, what did Shotty's face look like?
- [09:51]
Jeff Biggs
And Mar.
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Landon McCool
Shotty looked. Appeared to be as surprised as anybody in the audience. So, yeah, I mean, that was certainly news to me and I'm sure it was news to Shotty as well.
- [10:03]
Tyler Rowland
That's awesome.
- [10:04]
Marcus Mosher
I mean, here's the thing Schottenheimer knows that this is kind of part of the deal. You gotta stand up there and. But I did say that Jerry Jones said that Brian Schottenheimer is going to be very much a part of the process like he was before. But the same time, Jerry Jones also made some comments about how he runs this team. Don't even want to get into it. But yes, I think this is going to be a group effort. There were a lot of questions from the media. I thought they did a really good job of kind of asking him like, does it have to be a former head coach? Does it have to be somebody who has experience being a play caller on defense? And Jerry said no. So it does seem like they're going to cast a wider net that they did at this time last year. And I think that's a good thing for finding the right coordinator.
- [10:48]
Landon McCool
Agree. Did you get up?
- [10:50]
Tyler Rowland
Oh, go ahead, coach. I'm sorry.
- [10:52]
Jeff Biggs
No, I mean, I, I do think that that's exactly what they're going to do. But again, you know, you got to kind of read between the lines on everything that Jerry says, which is, hey, you know what? We're, we're, we're going to open this thing wide up. And by the way, I'm going to, I'm going to joke with the media and let them, let them know, hey, Brian, you're the one that had a say in this guy anyway. So, I mean, I just think that's, that's just Jerry and how he operates.
- [11:23]
Tyler Rowland
All right, so before we get into a list and potential candidates, I'm not looking to go too deep on that, but I think we need to address it. But did you get any kind of a sense of, from what was said today about what they want in a new defensive coordinator, what they're looking for or who they think will be the right fit?
- [11:45]
Marcus Mosher
One of the things that Schottenheimer really talked about was having somebody who is flexible in their scheme. And he mentioned, you know, a 43 versus a 34 or wide 9 versus more, you know, depend just somebody that is willing to adjust their scheme based on the personnel. I don't think they want to tie themselves into one specific scheme. I think they just want to go out and find the best coach. And I agree with that philosophy because I. They. They just got to get some good guys in here that know what they're doing. Because, you know, coach and I have talked about this several times all year. It doesn't feel like these defensive backs had any idea what they were doing out there. Their technique was awful. They've got to get somebody in here who knows what they're doing, and you can figure out the rest of it later.
- [12:31]
Landon McCool
Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, it's. I don't think that they're trying to, to box themselves in on any particular candidate at this point. I, I think, you know, they know that the common thought on the, the Joneses is that they want a specific type of. Of. Of defensive coordinator, specifically someone who, you know, is a former head coach and has. Has a lot of experience in the NFL. Because those have been things that they've, you know, know, asked that, that they kind of made public as, as what they want in the past. I don't know if, you know, if they mean it or not, but, but they are at least giving signals that they're willing to open things up a little bit more to try to find a different type of candidate than they've had previously. And look, I mean, you have to look at the results and, and realize that maybe something will change. And I, I do think that it's, you know, their theory of, of their, you know, trying to get a more experienced veteran defensive coordinator, specifically that has been a former head coach, so that they can be just part of your roster, they can help your current head coach. They can, you know, step in, if need be to be, to be a head coach in a situation where maybe the head coach gets fired. I think that those all very sound theories, but it's all very secondary to whether or not they're a good defensive coordinator. And so I think that they've now had to realize that maybe they need to kind of take a step back and reevaluate and just making sure they're getting the best ball coach. And if they, you know, kind of fit into that other sort of mold, if they happen to have head coaching experience, that's great. That's a bonus. But maybe that's not the, the, you know, second most important thing that you're looking for when you're looking for a defense court.
- [14:11]
Jeff Biggs
That's what they've done in the past, right? Mike Nolan San Francisco head coach Dallas defense coordinator Dan Quinn Atlanta head coach by Mike Zimmer now you got Eber flutes. How you got infield full of those guys. I mean, you just put them first, second, short and third and start hitting fungo. I mean, I, you know, you bet you better get somebody in here in my mind that understands what the coordinator wants to do. And to me, that means you've got to you got to give the guy the leverage to hire his guys and to bring in who he wants to bring in. And I think if nothing else can be said from the time of what you saw during those coaches, whether it was, you know, Mike Zimmer and him not necessarily agreeing with what Al Harris wanted to do and so on and so forth, you've got to have your guys that can coach and understand.
- [15:10]
Tyler Rowland
The.
- [15:10]
Jeff Biggs
Entire picture of what is being. What is being talked about. And when you don't have that, I think that's exactly what you saw this year was just. It ends up being really a bad product on the field. Go ahead.
- [15:28]
Landon McCool
I was just gonna say they really had kind of, you know, pretty clear latest examples of pro and cons of having your. Your coordinators allowing your coordinators to hire their own guys versus not, you know, like. I mean, obviously there have been situations, like, look at what happened with Schottenheimer. Schottenheimer, I'm going to assume, had pretty strong. Someone please chime in and tell me if you feel like this is wrong. I feel like Schottenheimer had pretty strong control over, at least through the offensive assistance that he had coming in, and I feel like that turned out pretty well. I think that the examples that you've mentioned before in the. In the times previous to this, you know, Al Harris being one, but others that have come in and even including, you know, forcing offensive coordinators onto head coaches and that sort of thing, I. I just think that, you know, if you're hiring a head coach, I understand that you're the general manager, but you need to give the.
- [16:18]
Jeff Biggs
The.
- [16:19]
Landon McCool
The guys, the defensive coordinators and the offensive coordinators that you're hiring autonomy to hire their guys to install their system. Otherwise, you're going to have problems like you've had these last few years when there's just been not just communication, but fundamental like, you know, system miscommunication between, you know, the personnel coaches, the player coaches, and the defensive and offensive coordinators.
- [16:40]
Marcus Mosher
I. I actually had another take listening to Brian Schottenheimer talk about what he wants from a defensive coordinator. But, Jeff, why don't we do that after the break?
- [16:49]
Tyler Rowland
Nice. He's like a host. I love that.
- [16:51]
Landon McCool
Look at this.
- [16:52]
Tyler Rowland
Wait, you are a host. All right, we'll do that when we come back. This is the Cowboys squad show. All right, I want to talk to you about the. The draft. And as we know, we mentioned number 12, the draft pick positions are set, and so many teams are looking for their franchise quarterback. Well, if you ever Wish to be a pro quarterback, getting drafted first overall by the Cowboys or anybody. I mean, you know there can be the. You know that there's a mobile game, right? Maybe you didn't know, but now I'm going to tell you about it. It's called Ultimate QB Football legend. In this game, you step into the cleats of a number one draft pick quarterback and it's your job to lead your team to greatness to help turn a failing franchise into a dynasty. Now this is the number one quarterback career mode game on the mobile app and in the mobile app stores.
- [17:52]
Jeff Biggs
And.
- [17:52]
Tyler Rowland
And it introduces the most realistic environment with full career control. It's pretty cool. You can sign contracts, train, upgrade yourself, build chemistry and evolve your teammates, give input to your GM on roster moves, play the actual games in 2D and rise through the ranks to become a pro football legend. So you also get to deal with ups and downs of a quarterback career, from rookie nerves to playoff drama. And every choice shapes your journey. So ultimate QB is totally free to play, has no ads and works 100% offline. Perfect for when you want to sneak in a quick game or two on the go. So here's what you do. Just head over to ultimate-quarterback.com that's ultimate qb.com or search for ultimate QB in your app store and and we've got something really special just for you guys. Use the promo code locked on all caps and in the game store you will get a free boost to start off your career. Ultimate QB Football Legend QB1. It's your legacy.
- [19:08]
Jeff Biggs
Locked on.
- [19:09]
Marcus Mosher
Listeners asked for more and now you can get it with the Everydayer club. For just $5 a month, you'll get every episode ad free plus access to our members only discord exclusive audio from Locked on Sports today and other perks you won't find anywhere else. If you never miss a show, this is the next step. Join the Everydayer club today@lockedonpodcast.com everydayer club or visit the link in the show notes that's locked on podcast.com/everyday club, part of the Locked on podcast network your team every day.
- [19:49]
Tyler Rowland
All right, welcome back to the Cowboys squad show with Marcus Moer, Landon McCool and the coach Glenn Stretch Smith. All right, Marcus. What? You had another take about this search?
- [19:59]
Marcus Mosher
Yeah. So one of the things that Brian Schottenheimer talked about is getting a defensive coordinator that has energy and he said that they're going to look around some of the trends across the league before making a decision. And coach, you might need to Plug your ears in this one because we debate about this a lot, but if you look at the NFC right now, the average age of the head coach is in the playoffs right now, I believe is 43 years old. Matt LaFleur is the oldest head coach and he is 46 in the NFC. If you look at the seven defensive coordinators in the NFC playoffs, the average age is 48. And that includes Vic Fangio, who is like 68, I believe everybody else, I think there's a couple of the guys that are under 40 years old. And after having Matty Berfluse last year and then Mike Simmer the year before, I wouldn't be surprised if we see Brian Schottenheimer go for a younger candidate who's maybe in more inexperienced. And the guy that we've been mentioning is Jim Leonard, who is the passing game coordinator with the Broncos. I just, I would not be surprised if we see with them go with a younger voice in that locker room rather than somebody who's in there, you know, late 50s or early 60s.
- [21:15]
Landon McCool
Yeah, I mean, look, I think if it's, if you want to do something different, you got to do something different, you know, And I think that this has been an issue, it feels like for the Cowboys for a while is that they have been operating for a long period of time for feeling like the last two or three coaching cycles, it feels like at a deficit, you know, in the X's and O's department across the league. It feels like they have always been a step behind in a lot of ways. And, and, and I think that the times when they've managed to find some, some opportunities to be ahead, it's really benefited them. I mean, think about, you know, when Jimmy Johnson came back and into the, into the league and brought his defense back roaring back into the NFL and what effect that had on the NFL and, and you know, just other different times during the, the Cowboys history when, you know, Tom Landry is a great example, right. Like of. Of when the Cowboys were winning. And on the cutting edge of X's and O's are the times when the Cowboys were winning football games. So how do you do that? You don't necessarily do that by going out and limiting your candidates to the kind of guys we talked about in the last segment. You know, these older former head coach, experienced guys. Experience doesn't necessarily mean that they are always on the edge of innovation here. And look, there's a give and take here. There certainly is a benefit in equal amounts to being experienced. I think that There needs to be kind of a balance here. But I do think for the for too long the Cowboys have been on the wrong side of the innovation kind of X's and O's gap that experiencing in the NFL. As you've seen the, the kind of Shanahan branched offenses explode for the last five to 10 years and then the defenses that have been built to kind of build them and meanwhile the kind of Cowboys have kind of watched all that go by as they've brought back a bunch of rehashed coordinators.
- [23:19]
Marcus Mosher
Well, Landon, I don't think it's coincidence. If you look at the five names that have been mentioned the most frequently in regards to this position, you've got Jonathan Gannon 43, Jeff Albrake is 48, Raheem Morris is 48. You've got Brian Forest is 44. I mean there's another name I'm forgetting in there, but these are all coaches who are fairly young. I would not be surprised if that's the direction they're going to.
- [23:47]
Landon McCool
Yeah, I wouldn't either. Coach, what do you think?
- [23:52]
Jeff Biggs
I mean how much innovation you think is going on on defense last year.
- [23:56]
Marcus Mosher
Or that going forward? I mean there was none last year, period.
- [23:59]
Jeff Biggs
I don't give a damn if you're in a 34 a 43 a Jack Crow 61 diamond. Does it matter the problem?
- [24:07]
Marcus Mosher
There was nothing last year. I mean there's no, I'm asking you.
- [24:11]
Jeff Biggs
How many different ways can you align 11 guys?
- [24:16]
Marcus Mosher
I mean two different ways plays a.
- [24:19]
Jeff Biggs
Different cover too than Chris Shula.
- [24:22]
Landon McCool
No, yes, I do think that that is the case. I don't think it's about necessarily about the schemes. I think a lot of it's about how it's coached to the players and how they play the defense and, and like look, I'm not, you know, look, if we want to get into the be myopic like I'm not necessarily topic talking about like what you're looking at in a playbook. It's about how the playbook is taught to these players and how and their ability to contain more than just very simple concepts. The Cowboys couldn't run Cover 3 Coach like you, you, you showed me that last, last, last year the Cowboys couldn't run simple coverages at this point. Like and that's probably mostly about an inability to communicate.
- [25:02]
Jeff Biggs
So to me that's about how you communicate. It's about, it's about a communication scenario. It's not about being imaginative or innovative. It's about how do you communicate what, what you want done.
- [25:17]
Landon McCool
I disagree. I think that, that, that innovation has a lot to do with how you're helping these kids ingest this. This information. These kids, these men ingest this information as you're teaching them. And I also think that, you know, that you are playing these defenses differently than, know, simple country, country zone drops than you were 5, 10, 15 years ago. There's a lot of, of, you know, kind of branching off and, and rules that are being applied to coverage that are difficult to teach. And some of these guys didn't grow up learning that. Meanwhile, these younger guys, like, that's all they know, you know, and, and so I just, I think that there has been an evolution in, in defense in the last 10 to 15 years. And I think it's not that these, these old coach, older coaches can't teach it. It's just that we've gotten coaches who haven't been good enough to kind of install any of that or.
- [26:07]
Marcus Mosher
I think Zimmer's a good example of somebody who will adapt his scheme. Right? Like, he, he was very innovative. So it's not necessarily an age thing because Zimmer was 20 years younger than Iberfluis and he was way more creative. I just think they're looking for maybe some fresher minds in there.
- [26:25]
Landon McCool
I, I think, I think Fangio is a great example. Right. Fangio, like, Fangio completely has like, innovated his, his system over the years and the way he's taught it and kind of adapted to the kind of trends and, and the way that he calls coverages. I think that what I was saying is that when you limit yourself to only older veteran coaches and head coach, you know, former head coaches as your defensive coordinators, it limits your pool. And what it usually limits your pool to is coaches who are, you know, have very set ways and how they call things and kind of very old school mentalities, which again, hasn't been. That isn't always necessarily a bad thing, but it's just a different type of coach. And I'm, I'm prescribing that they potentially try to use a little bit more modern thinking when they're looking at the.
- [27:09]
Jeff Biggs
I mean, so in effect, you're saying you don't think that the Cowboys defenses of the 90s would be as good in today's game as they were then. That's.
- [27:20]
Marcus Mosher
I mean, I think, like, Houston's a good example right now where they're not overly imaginative. They've run basically two different sets of defenses, get after your ass because they have so Much freaking talent defense.
- [27:34]
Jeff Biggs
Correct?
- [27:34]
Landon McCool
That's right. That's right. We don't have those guys. We don't have Houston's defense. So we're not going to get Houston's defense in one off season even with two first round picks. Even if we had $100 million.
- [27:46]
Jeff Biggs
Give me an example of who, who, I mean, who plays really well on defense? A bunch of average players.
- [27:52]
Landon McCool
No, it's not, it's not about necessarily average players. It's not about, you know, going for average players. It's about getting a coach who is willing to make the most of what you are able to obtain in an offseason's worth of player acquisition. And, and I, and I think if you're just going to get a old ball coach who just wants to line them up and hit him in the mouth and I don't care if you guys aren't good enough, you do it again. That's just not going to work. And we've proven that that's not going to work.
- [28:15]
Marcus Mosher
So we do. And Lane, I'll give you an example. Like the Rams with Chris Shula, right? They have one Pro bowl player on their defense in Jared Verse and that's a 10th ranked defense in the league because of how creative and how he can fool quarterbacks and some of the stuff they're doing up front. I don't think, I don't think their defense is significantly more talented than Dallas, but they've got an awesome defensive coordinator that knows how to scheme, scheme up pressure and hide some weaknesses in their secondary.
- [28:45]
Tyler Rowland
My only, my only concern, and I remember we talked about this way back in training camp. I think, coach, you brought it up pretty quickly that Eber Fluss was bringing with him a bunch of coaches that did not have any NFL experience. I don't know what's going to happen with the new D.C. and what, what, who he's going to bring. But I mean I feel for the players number one because this is going to be their fourth defensive coordinator in four seasons. But I mean they can't, they can't waste another year trying to have somebody get, I mean they need somebody that can come in, make an impact, hit the ground running and get this team ready to go.
- [29:25]
Landon McCool
I'm sure that Mike Nolan was planning on doing that exact same thing when he showed up here. And I'm sure that, you know, you know, with, was, was, you know, with all this, his experience and all the positive experiences he had at Indianapolis. Look, Chicago was approving when he left. Like I'm sure That that was the plan with him and that didn't work out. So you know, to me I agree with you Jeff. That's why I've backed the, these last, you, I've understood their plan these last few years. It hasn't worked. Like it's time to try something new here and you know, if you keep, you know, insanity is keeping, keep banging your head on the same wall and expecting a different result. I'm, I'm willing to, to be a little bit flexible here, especially since like we're not breaking new ground here. Listen to what all the things that we just talked about. Some of the best defenses in the league have defensive coordinators that have brought in and brought new ideas and had immediate success even with lesser talent.
- [30:22]
Tyler Rowland
Coach, I've never, I'm not a coach, I've never had the mind of a coach but I mean is it realistic that there's a coach that could watch tape, look at this roster and like you guys have talked about, say wow, I, I see this, I can, I see this guy doing this and I think if we move this guy here and we do, I mean can, can that, you know, is, is that what they should, they should be looking for when they interview somebody that can, that has a vision and says hey I'm, I see, I saw what this team did last season. Here's what we're going to do to, to get over the hump this year. How, I mean, how does that, and.
- [30:58]
Jeff Biggs
That'S why they call you coach. It's your job to put your players in a position to go succeed and, and, and you've got to use the guys that you have to the strengths that they have. And so I think, I think when you, when you take it any different than that and you start square pegging around hole, then that's what you, you, you, you get that result. I, I, I'm from the school that you, you, you, you get the best.
- [31:25]
Landon McCool
Players you can get.
- [31:26]
Jeff Biggs
And I'm sure whoever the new defensive coordinator is, he's going to come in here and the first thing he's going to do is he's going to hire staff and he's going to walk in and they're going to have meetings with Will McLay and the scouting staff and they're going to say here's the characteristics we're looking for, we're looking for this, we're, we're looking for length, we're looking for high cut guys. We want linebackers that can thud it up. Whatever the scenario is, whatever it is. That, that, that he wants, he will go share that with them. So in turn, when they come and present their guys and you start lining up and getting your guys ready to go, they, they can look for those certain characteristics in guys that, I mean, in theory, that, that, that all sounds great, but, but at the end of the day, I mean, you have to be able to take a core of what you have and, and you've got to put them in position to go and, and, and, and be successful. And so, you know, if, if, if, let's just say that, I mean, just for an example, there's not a great ball hawking safety in this draft, then you got to go say, okay, well where are we going to find that guy? And is there one in free agency then? Is he worth the money? Can we fit him in this situation? And then how do we best design a, a, a secondary? Because in my mind, you've got two guys in Wilson and Hooker. I'm just taking that position for an example that are box safeties. So, so they're kind of the same player. So what are you going to do in order to get those guys? In fact, you got to go in the 26 season with those two as a starter.
- [33:08]
Landon McCool
What are you.
- [33:10]
Jeff Biggs
To help maximize what they can do best? And, and that, that, that's all I'm saying. I, I, that to me, there, there's no, there isn't any, any new defenses being played out there. There's just not. Now, are guys running some different stunts? Are they stemming guys differently? Are they running fire zones with different leverage? Sure. But at the end of the day, they're everything, anything new being, being, being put out there. It's how you communicate what you want to do and how you best get your players in position to be successful.
- [33:47]
Tyler Rowland
All right, so with that said, guys, is there anybody I know you've already mentioned some names, but anybody on that list that really stands out to you that you would, would hope that they would get or at least talk to.
- [34:05]
Marcus Mosher
Wayne and why don't you go first?
- [34:07]
Landon McCool
Well, I, I think it's, first of all, I'll just say this. I think it's a, it's a good year. Right? Like, I think we've had years where we've gone into these sort of coordinator higher periods and you've pulled open the cupboard and it's been very bare, you know, And I, I think this year is, the Cowboys are in a lot of luck. I think you've got a couple of different great candidates, and we talked about Jim Leonard Who. I don't know how realistic that is, because you feel like Vance, you know, goes to leave to be a head coach somewhere. He's likely going to be Vance's defensive coordinator, but if he doesn't, if Jerry wants to back the Brinks truck over. Over him. I've been a big fan of his for a long time, back when he was in college as well, so I would love to see him there. We, I think Marcus mentioned Jonathan Gannon, who's another guy that we.
- [34:56]
Jeff Biggs
That.
- [34:56]
Landon McCool
That's. That's out there, was a former Arizona head coach. He kind of does fit the bill, but he's also. While he's a little unique because he kind of is all these guys a little bit right where he. He does have some more kind of tendencies to, to call a.
- [35:10]
Jeff Biggs
More.
- [35:11]
Landon McCool
More quarter stuff, some more modern tendency stuff, but he's also. Is a former head coach and has been coaching in the NFL a while. Uh, Raheem Morris is another guy that, that had had a lot of success, uh, with the Los Angeles Los Angeles Rams. He was with the Buccaneers before that and then Atlanta before that, and then he became the head coach of Atlanta. And, and so, you know, he's. He's been a guy that's had a lot of success over these years, another kind of younger guy, but also might fit the bill of being a former head coach that you could come in. So there's tons of other guys. Jim Schwartz is out there, you know, and then there's also moving parts involved in the other head coaches being fired. Jim Ulbricht is, is the guy. I'm sorry.
- [35:53]
Jeff Biggs
Yeah.
- [35:53]
Landon McCool
Was the, uh, the former, uh, defense coordinator for Atlanta who has some experience in a kind of very similar scheme. I think he was a coach with. With Quinn at one point, and so he has very, a lot of experience in that kind of scheme that the Cowboys have used at different points. So there, there's a lot of guys out there and, and, and, and a lot of them are really good fits and, and some of them. And they're all kind of, you know, on the spectrum of younger guys that are waiting for their first opportunities to the kind of guys that we've hired before that, that the Joneses would likely be comfortable with the former head coaches type. So it's, It's a really good class. And I think that's why it was really great that the Cowboys made this decision early so that they, they could get in early and make sure that they don't, you know, left. Get left with the, with the chair Standing with no chairs while they're standing and the music stops.
- [36:45]
Tyler Rowland
All right. And with what you guys know, do you think this will happen sooner rather than later or, I mean, definitely.
- [36:54]
Marcus Mosher
My, my guess is we start hearing about interview requests being sent out maybe this weekend, and I bet you some interviews start next week. But I bet you we don't, I bet you don't, we don't hear about an official announcement for at least two more weeks. And like Brian Schottenheimer said, they're going to cast a wide net here. So rather than interviewing what they interviewed three candidates last year, and we already knew that, that Ibrahoos is going to get the job before the other two even interviewed. My guess is that they're going to take their time with this one because they got, they've got to get it right.
- [37:28]
Landon McCool
I would also say that they probably have a certain amount, you know, there's no tampering here, but I would imagine that there is a certain amount that they're fully aware of of candidates that are definitely in or out.
- [37:40]
Jeff Biggs
Right.
- [37:40]
Marcus Mosher
Like, well, I think the other part of it is like, let's say, let's say you're interested in Brian Flores.
- [37:45]
Jeff Biggs
Yeah.
- [37:45]
Marcus Mosher
You kind of have to wait for him to either get a job or not get a job before he commits to being a defensive coordinator, which means you're going to need these head coaching jobs to fill up before you even get to that point. So I don't think they're going to be rushed into hiring anybody right away.
- [37:59]
Jeff Biggs
Yeah, and that's not going to happen because you're going to the, the first guy that's good, the first domino that's going to fall is, is Harbaugh going to get a head coaching job? I mean, so, you know, they're going through all of these interviews right now. I, I, I mean, I, I think nothing, nothing really happens until I'm, I'm saying from a head coaching standpoint. And then there's guys that are aligned with, with, with certain guys to go get jobs that, I mean, I can tell you that as guys go interview, it's first thing that the, the NFL owners are saying, hey, who's your offensive coordinator? Who's your defensive coordinator? Who you planning on bringing in here? And so stabs are being aligned all over the place. So I, I don't think it's, we're not looking at any kind of quick process. I don't believe here, because I, I, I, I, I'm from the school that they, that they're, they're going to talk to. I mean, I could see him talking to 10 different guys. I really could.
- [38:55]
Landon McCool
Yeah. Like, I. I think both of these. These things are true. Right. Like, you're. I think we'll start hearing names soon, but that doesn't mean that the process is going to be done soon.
- [39:04]
Jeff Biggs
Right.
- [39:04]
Landon McCool
Like, I. I think they've got a lot of people that they're going to want to interview. And like I said, there's a certain amount of candidates that they. Probably Allah Ben Johnson last year, right. Where it's like they. They've done some speaking through agents. They know the interest level already, pro or con, so I'm sure that they can kind of filter that down a little bit more. But, yeah, I imagine there's lots of candidates out there. There's going to be some waiting that. Because some of this is going to be hinging on. On. On situations that are out outside the Cowboys Control. So it's. It's. It. We're gonna hear information soon, but we're not going to hear an answer soon.
- [39:40]
Marcus Mosher
Jeff, I. I've got a question about this defensive coordinator job, and I want to ask it to stretch, but let's do that when we get back.
- [39:47]
Jeff Biggs
Beautiful.
- [39:47]
Landon McCool
Look at this. I want to get. He's doing it again, guys. He's just throwing us the break. I love it.
- [39:51]
Marcus Mosher
I want to make sure we get paid. That's all.
- [39:54]
Tyler Rowland
Thank you, Marcus.
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- [43:01]
Marcus Mosher
Do you think this is a desirable job? Because I can actually see both sides of it. It in one sense you just need this defense to be not horrible. And you're probably in the playoffs, right? If the Cowboys had the 20th ranked defense, they're in the playoffs. But there's another part of it where when you look at the secondary right now and both safeties could be free agents. You've got Duron Bland, your best corner coming off major foot surgery. You, you need to probably add two corners. You probably need to add at least a linebacker. Is this a desirable job?
- [43:35]
Jeff Biggs
Well, I ask you what's a more desirable job the defense coordinator of the Cowboys or the defense coordinator, the Ravens?
- [43:44]
Marcus Mosher
I would. Cowboys probably. Honestly, Cowboys probably. And the, the only reason I'm saying this is to somebody who's watched a lot of Baltimore this year, that's a defense that's really old, inexpensive, and guys like Marlon Humphrey and Roquan Smith are declining assets who have big, big cap numbers. And you got to try to get an old defense to play faster. That can be okay.
- [44:08]
Jeff Biggs
Well, I mean, that, that's, that's one piece of the pie. But, but would you rather work for Jerry or Bashadi.
- [44:15]
Marcus Mosher
Bashti? But again, I, I, they don't have, but they don't have the assets the Cowboys have to upgrade it either. So that's part of it as well.
- [44:26]
Jeff Biggs
Which team is close? Which team you think is closer to winning the division?
- [44:33]
Marcus Mosher
I mean, I guess I'm saying all.
- [44:35]
Jeff Biggs
This because defensive coordinators are taking jobs because they want to get on the Autobahn to being a head coach. Correct. That that's what they want to do. They want to get in position to be a head guy.
- [44:49]
Marcus Mosher
Well, the stretch then do you go out and hire mean, I, you can't just focus on this alone, but do you go out and hire a guy that really has no more aspirations to be a head coach? Like, I'm looking at someone like Dennis Allen who's now with the Bears, like, he's never going to be a head coach again, but I don't think he really has any aspirations to. Do you get someone like Jim Schwarz or Raheem Morris who probably are never going to get another head coaching job and just install them and then kind of leave it and forget it.
- [45:16]
Jeff Biggs
I mean, I think you got to interview. I think you have to go through the interview process and you have to, you know, you have to see which guy you, you really feel like can come in here day one and take this team to the next level. The appealing part of the Cowboys job is it is fixable. I mean, they've got, they've got a bunch of draft picks and, and they got a really good offense. And so, you know, it's held a place to live. It's a fixable, it's a fixable situation. But I mean, I'm just asking you because I think that a lot of guys look at it like who's, what's the best scenario to get myself on the fast track to, to getting a head coaching job? And, and, and then you say, well, hell, if that's the case, then you want to go be the defense coordinator. Next year. If. Let's just say Vance Joseph does get a job, I want that job. So you're talking about Jim Leonard. I mean, if, if, if, if Vance decides to leave the Broncos, I, I would guess that Jim Leonard's going to stay right there with it by way a chance to, to, to go deep next year in the play this year or next year in the playoffs. So, I mean, I'm just, I'm just throwing out there. I think there's a lot of different variables under, other than just what does your personnel look like.
- [46:36]
Landon McCool
Yeah, that's actually when you asked the question that was actually, you know, something I was thinking about when we were talking. The last segment was, was, was, you know, because we were talking about the fact that these cand different, right? And they're, and because they're so different, they're in different parts of their career. And, and, and Marcus, as, as you mentioned, like, you know, some of these guys have coaching, head coaching aspirations. Some of these guys are past that and just want to, you know, be defensive coordinators and collect a nice, healthy paycheck and, and, and call a defense and coach football players that way. So I do think it matters, like, on who the, the coach is and where they are in their career career as to whether or not this is an appealing spot. But, but honestly, at the same time, I think this may be speaking on both sides of my mouth. I, I honestly think it could be a good fit for, for, for, you know, a young coach who's still kind of trying to make it as a defensive coordinator. It's not like, you know, t coaches haven't had used the Cowboys as a launching pad for coaching careers elsewhere, for goodness sakes. You know, so I think that, and I think it's obviously a good spot if you're an older coach and you're looking to collect paychecks and just be a defensive coordinator and not have any more aspirations as a head coach because there's going to be a spot for you here with, if you're good enough. And Jerry likes to have sky.
- [47:56]
Jeff Biggs
And they did that too with Marinelli and Kiffin. Right? I mean, they've done, they've done. They've gone down all of these, you know, all of those paths. So I mean, I, I come back to saying that. I mean, you got to get the guy that you feel like fits the right now, right now that fits right now with where you want to go and what you want to do. And then the question becomes, do you want to be aggressive? Do you want to be overly aggressive on defense. I mean, this is something that, you know, Marcus likes to talk about all the time. Gambling, gambling, gambling. So, you know, it depends on what. What kind of kind of guy do you know? Do you want that? Do you want that guy that. That rolls the dice all the time?
- [48:39]
Marcus Mosher
We had a very heated discussion about our blackjack strategies last night. So that's why he's making that comment.
- [48:44]
Landon McCool
Oh, buddy, Buddy splits kings. What?
- [48:54]
Marcus Mosher
It's a long story. Never mind. Go ahead, Jeff.
- [48:56]
Jeff Biggs
No, no, no, it ain't a long story. The dealers guys, dealer showing six. He said he would split kings.
- [49:07]
Landon McCool
Marcus. We'll talk about that later.
- [49:09]
Tyler Rowland
That's right. That's outstanding. All right. So another topic Marcus, you and coach and I think you. Landon talked about as well is the first year for Brian Schottheimer as a head coach and Cowboys ended with a record of 7, 9 and 1, as we know. But Marcus, I mean this sincerely, not flattery. You guys were really the. I think the only ones that. That I saw that really kind of took on that topic and kind of dove into it a little bit.
- [49:38]
Marcus Mosher
Well, and I think it's because there were mixed results. Right. I think there were times this season where he needed to be more aggressive, and I think there was times where he didn't realize necessarily what team he had. Right. It took until like week 15 for him to be a little bit more aggressive in early in these games, starting to go for it because he knew his defense wasn't going to get stops. There's still even in some play calling like in the red zone. I think that's where he needs to mature a little bit and develop. He hasn't done that. You know, he hasn't called a bunch of plays. But I think overall, I think there's signs of encouragement, but I still think there's a lot of growth that needs to happen if you want to be a contender. I think we talk about player development, development all the time. Coaching development is part of it as well. And I would think that Schottenheimer's biggest leap as a coach is going to come this year from year one to year two. I'm curious to see if he makes that leap.
- [50:32]
Landon McCool
Yeah, and I think, you know, it's. It's. It's all about what he says his own strengths are. Right. And he says that his strength is knowing his team, is being in touch with his team. And I believe that. And I. And I am more than encouraged about Schottenheimer. I think he has an opportunity to Be a great coach. I'm excited about the future, but that doesn't mean that he's perfect. He's a rookie head coach. There's going to be parts of his game that he needs to improve. And to me, for all the talk about understanding who your football team was and, and controlling the controllables, it felt like there was. There were times when I wish he would have recognized a little bit earlier just how disastrous the defense was and called the offense accordingly, you know, and, And. And I think that that's where I'd like to see a little bit more development.
- [51:21]
Jeff Biggs
So, so, so if I ask you what. What all three guys, what kind of grade you given Schottenheimer Year one, What kind of grade you gonna give them?
- [51:30]
Marcus Mosher
I would say C plus. We talked about it on the show. Like they're. They're over. Under was a what, seven and a half this year. They won seven games. They had a tie. To me, that's right about an expectation. And there are some circumstances that they had to overcome. There was also some games in there that they lost that they had no business losing. I'll give them a solid C plus.
- [51:49]
Landon McCool
B minus was what popped in my head from close.
- [51:52]
Tyler Rowland
Yeah, right. Right there. Either one. I'll take either one.
- [51:56]
Jeff Biggs
Yeah. I mean, I think. I mean, I think at the end of the day, it was. I mean, it was very average. I mean, you mentioned that he didn't know how bad the defense was till a certain point in the season. What the hell was he doing during training camp? Scratching his ass?
- [52:13]
Marcus Mosher
Well, I think they're training camp.
- [52:15]
Jeff Biggs
You're going against them every day.
- [52:19]
Landon McCool
The truth of the matter is that in training camp, throughout training camp, it was easy to continuously tell yourself, well, we don't have anything to worry about because Micah Parsons is going to be back and everything will look fine. And guess what? A week before the season.
- [52:32]
Jeff Biggs
I mean, and I get it. That's great. But, I mean, you're sitting watching the receivers run against the defensive backs. You. You're. You're not going. You're not looking out there. And then you go a minute, and then you go watch the film and you go, son of a. We ain't stopping nobody.
- [52:47]
Marcus Mosher
Well, to be fair, trading camp's not real. There's nothing. I'm. I'm just. I care less and less about training camp.
- [52:52]
Landon McCool
One on one, just one on one.
- [52:54]
Jeff Biggs
Receivers versus that doesn't matter.
- [52:58]
Landon McCool
First of all, they got what you've been.
- [52:59]
Jeff Biggs
You got.
- [53:00]
Marcus Mosher
They didn't do that this year.
- [53:01]
Landon McCool
They didn't do that, it didn't matter.
- [53:03]
Jeff Biggs
Because that's exactly what you got guys that couldn't cover me.
- [53:06]
Landon McCool
But that's, that's the issue is they didn't do that this year at training camp. Specifically, they didn't do one on ones in pads, like maybe four times the entire, the entire time.
- [53:15]
Jeff Biggs
Maybe there's a problem right there.
- [53:17]
Landon McCool
Maybe that's it.
- [53:19]
Jeff Biggs
And tell them that.
- [53:20]
Landon McCool
But the other part of the problem was that, was that Trayvon Diggs also was not practicing for, for most of these things. So I think it was easy for them to tell themselves, oh, don't worry, we'll get Trayvon back and everything will be fine. Neither of those things ended up being true. So, yeah, I mean, look, look, you can lie to yourself all you want and, and then when your lines get pulled out from under you, you got nothing left and you're exposed. And that's very much what it looked like. This defense was very exposed all season long.
- [53:46]
Marcus Mosher
And to be fair, coach has been working out. So who knows who could cover stretch at this point.
- [53:51]
Tyler Rowland
Yeah, he looks good.
- [53:52]
Marcus Mosher
I know. He tells me every day.
- [53:54]
Landon McCool
I mean, he's tall, so he's going to be a strider. You know, he's red zone weapon. Yeah, that's right.
- [53:59]
Marcus Mosher
Grinder direction.
- [54:00]
Jeff Biggs
Is it, Isn't it time for another break?
- [54:04]
Tyler Rowland
It is. Final segment, final thoughts. Coming up, this is the Cowboys squad show.
- [54:12]
Landon McCool
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- [55:13]
Tyler Rowland
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- [57:27]
Marcus Mosher
I mean, I think he's going to come back at a very similar deal from that he, that he got last year. Like a one year, $4 million deal, maybe some incentives if he hits 1200 yards rushing. But I think, I think there's a, a rush for both sides to get this done because these free agent backs just don't make a lot of money and especially someone like Javante who's been in the league five years already, they don't earn a ton in free agency. So if he can get his money now before free agency hits, I think that makes some sense. And I Think the Cowboys, they really like what Javante brought. From a physicality standpoint, he's a great pass blocker, he's a great teammate. I think it makes sense to try to get something done before free agency so you can just check one thing off your list.
- [58:12]
Landon McCool
Yeah, I agree. I mean, I think, you know, now that the season's over, I think it's, it's, you know, you can give him, like I said, like a year, maybe a two year deal if you want to give him maybe even a three year job. I think if you get him for similar kind of money that you're, you're paying him this year that it makes some sense to kind of, you know, if he's willing to do like a three year deal, do that. And I, that doesn't mean that I think you're done at the running back position. I think you still kind of like we've talked about on some of our shows, I think you still need to make a plan to help make sure that he stays fresh throughout the season. So you need to still kind of whether that's Jaden Blue, you know, whether that's, you know, another free agent or someone, a draft pick, a later draft pick. I think these Cowboys still need to make a plan to add some firepower to the running back room just so you don't have a worn down Javante Williams.
- [59:03]
Marcus Mosher
I just don't want to see them overpay Javante and I, I don't think they will with the way that they've handled the running back position over the last couple years. But the teams in the NFL free agency market don't pay non special running backs. Like they'll pay Derek Henry, they'll pay Saquon Barkley, they'll pay Josh Jacobs who's a former first round pick. But we see guys every year like Rico Dowdle and Javante Williams have to settle for one year deals and maybe you give Javante a little bit more long term stability and it's a deal that you can get out of after one. But I do think it makes sense for both sides because there's just not that many starting jobs out there available. And I think Javante likes it in Dallas. And why wouldn't you?
- [59:43]
Jeff Biggs
I mean, after you saw what you saw and what he did this year, would you rather have Javante or Pollard? Javante or Dowdle?
- [59:54]
Marcus Mosher
Pollard is quite a bit older and Rico's quite a bit older as well. I, I, I would probably lean Javante but to me, honestly, stretch, they're all in the same ballpark of contract like you're looking at between 4 and 6 million a year.
- [60:08]
Jeff Biggs
So if you do, if you do sign him, do a three year deal, then I think you got to get another back that can lessen some of that load. He showed you you this year he could care absolutely carry the load in a 17 game season until it got to about game 15 and he started, he started breaking down. His body's telling you what he can do now. His mind is sharp as hell. I mean he's a great, he's great from a pass protection standpoint. You got to get, you got to get somebody else who can lighten that load a little bit. Especially if you're going to give him a three year deal.
- [60:47]
Landon McCool
Yep, I agree. He, he just needs like to, to take less carries throughout the season. Right. It's not like a, he's tailing off and then let's hand it off to this other guy. It's like you need a guy that's a B to his A throughout the season that's getting more than just a series or two. That's getting, you know, taking some of these carries off his body so that he can be. You want Javante fresh at the end of the, the year. Right. So like it's get somebody else who can help kind of take some of the early season carries off his body.
- [61:16]
Marcus Mosher
I believe there was a stretch between that Eagles, Chiefs, Lions stretch where he had like 66 touches in. Was it 16 days there too many? You've got to find somebody that can lessen that workload. So when you get into that stretch of Sunday, Thursday, Thursday, you can, you know, put the fresher guy in on Thanksgiving, get 12 touches and feel good about your running back situation.
- [61:38]
Tyler Rowland
Somebody speculated. J.K. dobbins. No, no, no, no, no. Don't.
- [61:43]
Marcus Mosher
We don't. Yeah, he's, he's too bad.
- [61:46]
Tyler Rowland
Yeah, yeah, I agree. All right. One other note. We, we talked about this all pro Tyler Smith played tackle at the end of the season and that great quote. Look, I'm an all. That was awesome when he referred to himself. Right? Yeah, he's gonna be a guard. He's not shoddy. Made it official. He's going to be the left guard, not the tackle.
- [62:08]
Marcus Mosher
I wonder how that conversation went down between Schottenheimer and Tyler Smith because it's pretty clear. Yeah, it's pretty clear that Schottenheimer said, hey, you know, we like the idea of you being able to play tackle, but I bet you Tyler Smith said, I am a guard. Let Me, be a guard. You can use me in case of emergency at left tackle, but I'm not playing there full time. I think that's probably the clean version of how that went.
- [62:33]
Landon McCool
That's probably true.
- [62:35]
Jeff Biggs
I mean, I like a guy that, you know, in. In a. In an emergency situation, you can only dress so many offensive lines.
- [62:40]
Landon McCool
Yeah.
- [62:41]
Jeff Biggs
So if you get in that situation and you. Obviously you don't, you hope you never have to do that. But if you do get in that situation, it's great to know, hey, I could kick him out there for a quarter, and he's not going to get.
- [62:53]
Landon McCool
Us embarrassed, and clearly he's willing to do that. But I think it's more than that where he starts to get a little grumbly.
- [63:01]
Tyler Rowland
All right. All right, before we go, Marcus Landon, what do you guys got coming up on the daily Lockdown Cowboys podcast? I saw Coach was on there earlier this week.
- [63:10]
Marcus Mosher
Yeah. Filling in for Landon. Yeah. We've got some. Some fun shows for you guys. On Thursday. We're going to take a look at three of the top defensive coordinator candidates on the market, how they would fit in, what their scheme is like. So be on the lookout for that. And then pretty soon, guys, we're gonna be starting to talk draft. I know. It's. It's unbelievable that we're almost there. We've got the East West Shrine Game coming up. We've got the Senior bowl coming up. We've got prospects declaring for the draft, so be on the lookout for more draft content.
- [63:42]
Landon McCool
Beautiful draft. Draft season's here, guys. You've asked for it. I already.
- [63:46]
Marcus Mosher
I started putting on the tape the other day, started watching some of these Ohio State guys.
- [63:50]
Landon McCool
I'm three guys in. I'm three guys in. We've already started crazy.
- [63:54]
Jeff Biggs
All right, I can hardly wait to hear you describe that four eye.
- [64:00]
Marcus Mosher
Is that outside of the top.
- [64:05]
Landon McCool
Inside the tax.
- [64:07]
Marcus Mosher
I just forgot. Not the football savant coach.
- [64:13]
Tyler Rowland
Thank you, Marcus Landon will look forward to that on the daily Lockdown Cowboys podcast. And then we'll. And we'll begin our two weeks starting next week. So we'll look forward to that. And before we know it, it's going to be time for the draft, OTAs, training camp, and hopefully a postseason playoff run in 2026 for the Cowboys. All right, guys, have a great night. Thank you, everybody for chiming in, watching and listening later. This has been the Cowboys squad show.
- [64:56]
Marcus Mosher
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Jeff Biggs
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- [65:36]
Landon McCool
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- [65:41]
Marcus Mosher
Thank you for making Locked on your first listen every day. For your second listen, find the all night Locked on NFL game night before Sunday Night Football begins, get reaction to every game every Sunday all season long. It's local analysis on a national scale. Find NFL game night on locked on NFL on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. All part of the Locked On Podcast network. Your team every day.