COWBOYS SQUAD SHOW: The very latest on the Cowboys countdown, with 2 weeks to go until the draft.

Summary

Locked On Cowboys: Squad Show – Two Weeks to the 2026 NFL Draft

Episode Overview

This episode of the Locked On Cowboys “Squad Show” is a roundtable countdown to the 2026 NFL Draft, now just two weeks away. Host Jeff Banks is joined by co-hosts Landon McCool, Aisha Morrison, and former Cowboys coach Glenn “Stretch” Smith for a detailed, lively discussion on the Cowboys’ draft scenarios, their overall strategy, insight into organizational secrecy, prospect evaluation, potential trade options, and the unpredictability at the top of this year’s draft. The group also touches on NFL-wide themes like the offensive lineman shortage and the impact of combine numbers on draft stock—always with their signature banter.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Cowboys in Uncharted Draft Territory

[04:56] Landon McCool:

• Highlights the “wildly open” nature of this year’s draft for the Cowboys, with options to move up, down, or stay put, largely due to owning two first-round picks for the first time in years.
• Quote: “[It] feels like this team could go any direction... they could move up, they could move down. It's fascinating that... two weeks out from the draft and it still feels extremely wide open.”

2. Cowboys’ Draft Secrecy and Information Flow

[05:47] Aisha Morrison:

• Notes that the Cowboys have been notably tight-lipped this year, with very little information leaking. She monitors other teams picking above Dallas for clues.
• Quote: “I haven’t heard much of anything [from Dallas]. I don’t know if you gentlemen have, but I have not.”

[07:34] Glenn Stretch Smith:

• Contradicts the idea that stricter internal controls are behind the secrecy—instead, he believes even the front office “doesn’t know the direction they’re going right now.”
• Quote: “There's nothing to get out. They don't know the direction they're going.”

3. Draft Board Development & Inter-Team Communication

[09:26] Glenn Stretch Smith:

• Describes the phase where scouts, coaches, and front office finalize their draft board—a standard process around this time every year.
• Predicts a flurry of trade talks and "wheeling and dealing" among all teams with multiple firsts, not just Dallas.

[12:24] Glenn Stretch Smith & Aisha Morrison:

• Explains how teams prepare for a “plan B,” expecting surprises as priority targets get snatched away.
• On “tiers” of first-round talent: few true elite prospects, then a steeper drop-off.
• Quote (Landon): “The difference between your 12th player and your 13th player may be a lot bigger than your difference between your sixth player and your seventh player.”

4. Navigating Draft Night: Laying Groundwork & Playing The Hammer

[16:32] Landon McCool:

• Points out the importance of pre-draft conversations setting up potential trades, as the shortened draft clock allows little time for true negotiation on the fly.
• Quote: “You need to have groundwork... so you're using the same trade value chart.”

[17:28] Glenn Stretch Smith:

• Details the ideal draft posture: let other teams call you, putting Dallas in the “hammer” position with leverage, rather than appearing desperate.
• Notes leaguewide possible trends: teams potentially reaching for offensive tackles or receivers, which could push top defensive targets down to Dallas at 12.
• Quote: “You want to maintain the hammer by knowing the board could fall to you and never showing... by picking up the phone and calling somebody.”

5. Offensive Tackle/Line Prospect Shortage & Draft Economy

[36:53] Glenn Stretch Smith & [38:33] Landon McCool:

• Discuss how the shift in college offenses (less three-point stances, more spread/air raid set-ups) is affecting the NFL’s offensive line talent pipeline.
• Aisha and Landon clarify this affects the league more than Dallas, who is well-situated at 12 to pounce if a run on offensive tackles pushes a defender (or vice versa) into their lap.
• Quote (Stretch): “The learning curve for getting a guy in a stance and showing him how to get a second-level block... is pretty extensive.”

6. On Trading Up, Down, or Staying Put

[29:20] Landon McCool & Aisha Morrison:

• Debate trading up versus down. Landon and Aisha much prefer trading down (unless it’s for a can’t-miss difference-maker like Reese or Bailey), given the solid value in rounds two and three and a feeling that few players justify mortgage-the-future moves.
• Quote (Aisha): “I’d rather them trade down... there’s only a few gentlemen I think really are worthy. It really depends on the board. Getting into the second or third round... could help with how rich it is there.”

[47:53] Rumors & Scenarios:

• Jeff reads off rumors (e.g., Browns open to trading out of 6, Chargers interested in George Pickens trade, Dallas jumping KC for Monsoon Delane).
• Landon touts the logic in a Cleveland trade: swapping 12 & 20 for 6 & 39, which helps both clubs’ roster-building priorities.
• Quote (Landon): “Getting to 39 and still keeping the same number of picks... the level of player at 20 vs. 39 isn’t going to be too different.”

7. Measuring Tape vs. Game Tape: The Avion Terrell Debate

[50:19] Landon, Aisha & Glenn:

• They unpack the Avion Terrell dilemma—still seen as a first-round talent until his slow 40-yard dash (4.69)—and the age-old “film vs. athletic measurables” debate.
• Consensus is that at cornerback, 40 time truly is a minimum threshold, unlike most other positions.
• Quote (Landon): “If you’re going to be the exception... you probably need to be a bigger body. The tape is excellent... but at corner, 40 time matters.”
• Quote (Glenn): “If you can’t produce a time... you’re moving down in my league.”

8. Prospect Evaluation: Pie Theory and GM Philosophy

[58:43] Glenn Stretch Smith:

• Metaphorically explains the draft as a “pie”—teams weigh the various data points (film, testing, interviews, background) differently based on position and organizational philosophy.
• Emphasizes that predicting what another team will do is virtually impossible without knowing how they “slice their pie.”

9. NFL Talent Pipeline – Concerns Beyond Dallas

[38:33] Landon McCool & Aisha Morrison:

• Acknowledge that while the Cowboys are well-positioned to exploit this year’s trends, the NFL as a whole faces a shortage of skilled offensive linemen and quarterbacks coming out of college, due to system changes and inconsistent development.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Opening Banter & Mediterranean Diet

[03:31] Glenn Stretch Smith, on changing his diet:
“Eating these little protein, whatever it is, almonds and this and that, and it is rough.”
[03:47] Landon McCool:
“They should be putting you on a Mediterranean beach if you’re on the Mediterranean diet.”

Draft Night Storytime

[20:51] Glenn Stretch Smith:
“A Cowboys staffer once sent me to Rob Frederickson’s house [Michigan State LB] just to listen in and call the Cowboys' war room with info on who else was calling. That stuff’s still going on today, just more high-tech.”

On “Hippie Lettuce” & Draft Day Scandals

[35:35] Glenn:
“There’s multiple guys in multiple draft rooms that think the Kentucky Derby’s a hat. That’s, those are the guys you want to get to.”
[45:48] Aisha:
“I heard he likes the hippie lettuce. It’s about to start coming out... The scouts know, but the media doesn’t know a lot of this stuff.”
[44:57] Glenn:
“What, you want me to say Strawberry zigzag? Whatever that crap is that they smoke.”

“Pie Theory” for Prospect Evaluation

[58:43] Coach Glenn:
“It’s like a pie. You cut different pieces of the pie in different ways when you start thinking about what position he plays. And every single thing—whether it’s on the field, off the field—has to go into how you shape the pie.”

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Important Timestamps

• [04:56]: Landon on increased draft-day possibilities due to multiple firsts
• [07:34]: Glenn’s belief Cowboys “don’t know the direction they’re going right now”
• [12:24]: Differentiating “true” first-rounders vs. rest of the class
• [16:32]: Landon on preemptive trade groundwork due to shorter draft windows
• [17:28]: Coach Stretch’s “hammer” strategy for negotiating trades
• [29:20]: The “big move” trade-up debate (who’s worth it?)
• [36:53]: O-Line shortage and systemic college-to-NFL development problem
• [47:53]: Rumor Roundup: Browns/Cowboys trade logic, value of pick 39
• [50:19]: In-depth Avion Terrell & 40-time debate; evaluating corners
• [58:43]: Pie metaphor—how “weighting” works in different teams’ prospect evaluations

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Final Section: Who Could Go at 12?

[61:45] Landon & Aisha:

• “The names... most likely to fall and that the Cowboys would be interested in are Caleb Downs and [Mansoon] Delane... those are the two you’re hoping for.”

[62:23] Aisha:

• “I’d be happy with either one.”

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Tone & Chemistry

The show balances candid, expert analysis with spirited, good-natured ball-busting (Mediterranean diet, “hippie lettuce”, “hostages” for hunger, etc.), making for an enjoyable listen even for the draft layman. Glenn’s old-school anecdotes and metaphors complement Aisha and Landon’s methodical, up-to-date strategic breakdowns.

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Summary for the Uninitiated

• The Cowboys are holding their strategy close to the vest, because they themselves might not even know which way they'll go.
• There is an unusually wide range of possibilities due in part to two first-round picks and a draft class with more “tiers” and less top-end certainty than usual.
• The league overall faces a supply crunch in offensive linemen and quarterbacks, making this year’s draft (and how Dallas navigates it) uniquely unpredictable.
• When it comes to draft rumors, don’t believe everything you hear this time of year: smoke, misdirection, and “BS” are a feature, not a bug.
• The Cowboys’ best move—likely to stand pat or trade down, unless a true blue-chip defender unexpectedly falls to their spot.

This edition should catch up any fan—casual or diehard—on where the Dallas Cowboys stand (and the questions before them), heading into the final two weeks before the 2026 NFL Draft.

Transcript

[Landon McCool]

It's the locked on podcast network your team every day.

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[Glenn Stretch Smith]

power.

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Because in every Chevy truck, like every Chevy driver, dependability comes standard. Visit Chevy.com to learn more. Chevrolet received the highest total number of awards among all trucks in the J.D. power 2025 U.S. vehicle Dependability Study on 2022 models. Newer models may be shown. Visit J.D. power.com awards for more details. Chevrolet together. Let's drive.

[Jeff Banks]

I am Jeff Banks. Quick shout out to my beautiful wife. Happy anniversary babe. I love you. Here is cheers to 26 years.

[Landon McCool]

I'm Lana McCool and it feels like it's been 26 years since the next draft is going to get here. It needs to hurry up. I'm ready for this draft to arrive.

[Aisha Morrison]

Both I'm Aisha Morrison in Congratulations. Congratulations to Jeff and his lady and also I'm ready for the draft to be here. This is the portion that I'm tired of.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Glenn Stretch Smith 14 days away. Let's let's let's move forward here.

[Jeff Banks]

Let's go.

[Aisha Morrison]

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 squad up. It's the Cowboys squad show starting now.

[Jeff Banks]

That is right. Squat up and buckle up because we are now just two weeks away from the 2026 NFL Draft. Can't believe it. Finally it's finally going to be here. Seems like the whole off season has kind of flown by but this last month or so seems like everything has kind of come to a halt. Yeah, really, really hit the brakes. But hopefully here with a couple of weeks, hopefully things will pick up. Man, I wish something just a drop. Come on something. Give us a Bone. Anyway, two weeks away from the draft, but right now, right here, another edition of the Cowboys squad show. As always, we start with a welcome to the co host of the daily Lockdown Cowboys podcast. That would be Landon McCool back with us this week. Landon, good to see you. Marcus will be back with us on Monday. We also welcome back Aisha, Multiple Morrison with two eyes and she is ready to go and has a lot, a lot to say. Glad to have you back, Aisha. And we have former Cowboys coach Glenn Stretch Smith, the one and only coach. Looking good, got a lot of color, doing the Mediterranean diet.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

That's right, buddy. It is rough, I'm telling you. Eating these little protein, whatever it is, almonds and this and that, and it is rough.

[Landon McCool]

Now they should be putting you on a Mediterranean beach if you're going to have to eat the Mediterranean diet. Coach, you know I'm telling you, I,

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

I, I, I, I know, yes. If you've got, if you've got the discipline to stay on this thing, you got, you got a lot more discipline than I do because as soon as this is over with tonight I've had a three day run. I'm getting ready to cheat.

[Landon McCool]

Love to hear it.

[Jeff Banks]

How to mix in the cheat days.

[Aisha Morrison]

You meant that you better cheat for real.

[Jeff Banks]

All right, well, coming up for you, we're not going to cheat you. We are going to give you the very latest on what is going on with the Cowboys again. Two weeks to go until the draft, what they might or might not do. And there are, I mean, there are rumors all over the place. I mean we could do a whole show just on rumors. So with that said, let's just kind of start with where we are before we get into some of the specifics on the, the draft boards and where things stand there. But what are you guys thinking about? What's on what's top of mind? What is everybody thinking about? What, what are you looking at, paying attention to?

[Landon McCool]

You know, to me like the story is that this year more than ever, it feels like, it feels like this team could go any direction, right? Like they could move up, they could move down. You know, they, I mean if it's available, if those options are available to them, they could stick and pick. You know, I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that they have the, the two picks in the first round, which gives them a lot of ammunition. So it gives you a lot of thought to the fact that they could move around. But a lot of it has to do with how the, the Draft is made up as well. So I just think it's, it's fascinating that we are, you know, like you said, two weeks out from the draft and it still feels extremely wide open in, in just the, the sheer volume of possibilities of what could happen on draft.

[Aisha Morrison]

We know why that is, is like I thought you were gonna say, I mean, I know that we're still like what, two weeks out, but I thought you were gonna say the fact that they have been kind of tight lipped outside of being like we're not drafting McCoy if we haven't had a lot of information come out, you know, just right now. So to answer your question, Jeff, what I've been doing is looking at, you know, what other teams that are picking above the Cowboys, maybe if anything is dropped from them or if there's any information from them, because the Cowboys from. I haven't heard much of anything. I don't know if you gentlemen have, but I have not.

[Landon McCool]

Well, can I, can I ask you real quick, do you feel like this has been a, a change with this coaching staff? It feels like this coaching staff to me has done a little bit better job of, of kind of tightening leaks a little bit. I still, I still feel like we're hearing things but, but not like from everywhere and, and not like a ton of different stuff.

[Aisha Morrison]

When it comes to player acquisition, I would say it has been better because like even going back to last year, as we talked about, like I remember, I don't. I know coach you not on Twitter, but it was a fiasco because the Pickens thing, the, the Cowboys beat like the reporters were like, this isn't happening, this isn't happening, whatever. And then all of a sudden the next day it's happening. And then with, even with the Quinn and Williams thing, it was like that night was when it's really picked up steam. Hadn't been hearing that name in that big of a name because we know that would have been news earlier. So I do. To your point, I do think that some of they have navigated player acquisition, especially big instances that we've seen a little better, in my opinion. What you got, coach?

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

I mean, I believe that they don't know what they're doing today. They. I mean I, I think there's. You. You talk about nothing is coming out because there's nothing to get out. They. They don't know the direction that they're going right now. I really do believe that. I think that, you know, you hear people say, well, you know, normally this guy might have a little Scoop or they might be feeding this guy a little, you know, tidbit out of the back of the building. But I mean, we're two weeks away and I'm telling you, I don't think they know the direction that they're going. I think that they have and they're starting to get their board lined up. But as far as understanding a direction or exactly where they're going, all they're doing is eliminating guys that they're not going to pick, which. That's always happened. I mean, it always happens where guys have, you know, certain scenarios that take them off of where the Cowboys want to go. But I don't believe that it's some sort of difference in the coaching staff or that they've been told or scolded or, or, you know, shushed to, to, to not say anything. I, I, I, I don't think that they know the direction that they're going.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, maybe you're right. Maybe it's, I mean, this specific situation isn't a case of like, of, of the, of leaks being plugged. It feels. Because what I was referring to was more to what Eacha was talking about too, like free agency. But I think you're right. Like, we're probably not hearing anything currently right now because they're still trying to figure it out. They're, that they're at that stage.

[Aisha Morrison]

Is it normal? Close. I was gonna say this close to. Sorry, is, feels like this is the

[Landon McCool]

time of year where they would be normally putting their board together. Right, Coach? I mean, is it, this isn't any normal, earlier or later than normal. Do you feel like, do you.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Oh, I mean, I mean, the workouts have been over, what, a week or so? I mean, so you got, I mean, all of them are back in, everybody's in the building. Okay. They're meeting. Okay. They're putting their guys together from their areas. Okay. The guys that have cross checked, those guys are putting their list together. Okay. The coaches have got their list and they're putting that together. And then, you know, you're going to get, you're going to get after this weekend and I think through next week you'll see some. And I do think you'll start to hear something next week because I do think that they'll start to put some things, you know, together. But as far as options, I mean, I, I, I think this is really a deal where this could be wide open. They could trade back, they could trade up. I think they could stay where they're at and pick. You have four Teams with multiple picks, right, Or. Or at least two picks in the first round. So you're gonna. You're gonna see, I think, a lot of wheeling and dealing as it leads up into the direction that all of these teams are going to go, because I don't think it's just the Cowboys that don't know specifically where they're going. I think there's a lot of teams that don't feel that they really know where anybody's going. And that's why you get. As you get closer into week after next, you'll see guys and everybody does it. Everybody has, you know, a mock draft in their building, and certain scouts take certain teams and they'll be, you know, they'll be. They'll be trying to gain information so that they look like they know what they're talking about. Everybody in that building wants to look like they know what they're talking about. And so, guess what? Don't think that they won't be calling their guys or finding out from other teams what they think about certain players, because that. That'll start happening, I believe, you know, in the next, I don't know, four or five days.

[Jeff Banks]

I wonder. I wonder how many teams talk to each other before, right? Kind of, hey, what. What about this? Or maybe run different scenarios and then how many. How many calls end up being just completely surprise, a complete surprise out of the blue on draft night, in the moment itself, like, I would imagine that often it looks.

[Aisha Morrison]

Go ahead. Sorry.

[Landon McCool]

No, you go ahead. Go ahead.

[Aisha Morrison]

Well, I think we see that often, and I think you see teams, choices and picks after that be heavily dictated because of a guy leaving. Like, you got to have a counter, be able to, you know, understand maybe there is a guy that you really like or you were planning on getting. If he goes, you can't panic. For my own understanding, like, I. I think that that's normal, that that happens often, does it not, Coach?

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Well, yeah, no, I think. I mean, I think what you're saying is right. I mean, I think, you know, they're preparing, and I. I said it in a little different way, but they're. They're preparing for that, for what other teams are going to do. I think they know who they like. I think they got a feeling of what they. And who they value in this draft. Now, what do you think other teams are going to do? And is there a need for us to, you know, and here's what I'm saying. We talk about. We talk about first rounders, but here's the thing that we don't know, like, what is, what do they really feel? Is there four or five picks that they love? And then is there a separation between, say, you know, those five or six guys? And then is there a separation to, say, seven through maybe 11, which is what I feel like 12, which is what I feel like. There are true first round grades, and if you get what I'm saying, I'm saying you have guys that are ranked really high on your board, and I'm going to say that the Cowboys are not like Mendoza, that they're putting him in there, but they're. They're not.

[Landon McCool]

He's.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

He's not in their conversation. They're. They're thinking, okay, here are the. Here are the four guys, five guys that we love. And, and, and are one of these four or five guys going to fall to us? And are we going to be okay if the phone doesn't ring with one of those four or five guys falling to us? And if not, then how expensive is it going to be? Let's say that they're sitting in the draft room and let's just say there's four and three of those guys go, and you're still at pick seven or eight. Oh, you better be picking up the phone and making a call to see what, what it would cost to get in there to get that guy. So I think it's more along the lines of, you know, Lace, well used to say, you know, there's some separation in these guys, and yes, they put grades on them and yes, they put numbers on them, but I'm talking about how you really feel about them and how you feel about them with your organization.

[Aisha Morrison]

Yeah. I'm sure there are far less first round, you know, grades for teams than there are for, like, media, for sure.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah. And I think for me, like, it's, It's, It's. It's kind of broken down by tearing. Like this is. That's what you're describing, right? Like, tearing these guys out into like, not just about, like the tags touching or where they are on the board in the stack, but like the fact that, you know, the Difference between your 12th player and your 13th player may be a lot bigger than your difference between your sixth player and your seventh player. So understanding the gaps in that and, and I think that's the thing that kind of, kind of constantly gets misunderstood by the idea of, well, of BPA and of reaching for a player in the draft is. I'm okay if you draft like your. I don't know what. Let's just say that your sixth best player, if your fifth best player was on the board, if they're in the same tier. Right. Like if you view them as on equal planes. Right. But, but I think where you have problems is when you're reaching past a player on a higher tier to a lower tier to draft. And that's what I would consider to be like a true reach. Right. And so you want to avoid that. And I want to go back a little bit to what we were talking about earlier. I do think that they have these conversations all the time and they're talking to teams all the time about, you know, how you feel about this guy. What do you guys. What do you feel about that guy? You know, maybe, maybe sometimes it's true, maybe sometimes it's not, but sometimes the conversations are, are you interested? What are you, what are you looking to do? Are you interested to move back? What would it cost, what it would cost us to trade? And you just have a conversation.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

I think you get fed a lot of BS in those scenarios too. You know what I mean?

[Landon McCool]

I think there's always that possibility.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Yeah, of course.

[Landon McCool]

So, so I, but I think that they at least try to lay the groundwork on some of these trades early, right? So that, and here's the thing, that's only going to increase because now we're moving into an era where they're actually decreasing the number, the amount of time between picks. So you really don't have a lot of time to actually go out there and haggle a bunch of. Of numbers. Like you at least need to have a groundwork. So you're speaking the same conversation or at least using the same trade value chart. So I think that there is a lot of these conversations. Sometimes it's smoke being blown, sometimes it's lies being told, sometimes it's damn lies, and sometimes it's.

[Jeff Banks]

And so, coach, how do you talk a lot about the hammer and the nail? So how do you maintain being the hammer without, you know, looking into things, but without, you know, tipping your hand or, you know, letting it be known exactly what you want to do or who you want to get?

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

I don't think you're the guy that's. You don't put yourself in a position where you're making the call. You try to stay in a position where you're getting the call. I mean, where the calls, where the calls coming to you. I mean, you know, it's, it's, it's being in, in what is a position of, you know, what they feel like is strength. And so, you know, the, the Cowboys are in a good position here. I believe with what I'm seeing and what I'm hearing is you're going to see guys that are gonna, I believe, reach for offensive tackle. I think you might see one or two teams take a receiver higher than maybe what you have that receiver ranked as. Now, I say that. To say with that, with that scenario that I'm giving you, that means one of these guys or two of these guys is really going to fall. And, and, and let's just. I keep saying this, but I think the Notre Dame running back is a guy that could, he could absolutely. If Tennessee doesn't pull the trigger, I mean, he could absolutely be one of those guys that's. That's left to come down. And I'm talking about in the range of where you would be at 12. And then does somebody value him? Let's say a lot. And then your phone rings. That's what you want to have happen. So you want to. I'm giving you a long answer. You want to maintain the hammer by knowing that the board could fall to you and then never showing any sort of. Or tip in your hand by picking up the phone and calling somebody.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, 12 is a really good spot to be in because I think that's actually right where the value of those tackles and wide receivers makes sense for teams. Right. And, and if you're in the top five, you know, I, I don't. I, I wouldn't feel comfortable taking any of these offensive linemen or wide receivers in the top five. So maybe you're looking to trade back if you're in the 17 to 20. Well, we're 20, 17 to 25 range and you're concerned that you're not going to get one of these, these tackles and you need one, then maybe. Yeah, like coach is saying, you're picking up the phone and calling Dallas because that's a, a good gettable area to go up to where you feel like maybe the value for a lomu or a mauiago or what, whichever tackle you want, Freeman or whatever, like whoever you want. Right. I think that's, that's where you're pro. You're probably quite nicely at a nexus where you may get calls for both trade ups and trade downs because of that. So I, that's. Yeah, and I agree. To me, I think the best case scenario is you stay where you are and you pick an elite player who falls to you. But short of that, I think, you know, usually the second best scenarios are you Get a trade offer to go back a little bit. You pick up a couple extra picks, maybe another top 100 pick. And now you're really feeling comfortable with your ability to kind of move around and do what you need.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Draft. I mean, I know they don't do this anymore, but I'll give you an example. So I'm coaching at Northern Illinois. This is about, I don't know, 91, 92. And. And I get a call from the guy at the Cowboys because I had relationship with guys at the Cowboys, and they say, and again, I'm living in DeKalb, Illinois, and it's. It is draft, you know, fixed to be draft day. And they say, hey, we want you to. To go. And we want you to go to Rob Frederickson's house. Rob Frederickson was a linebacker from Michigan State who the Cowboys really wanted, but we want you to go to his house, and we want you to kind of just give us the information. As teams start calling, right, as teams are calling, saying, hey, we may pick you here if you come up, then you're picking up the phone and calling and calling the scouting, you know, scouting room, and the Cowboys saying, hey, the Raiders just called here, the Cardinals just called here, and they're looking to pick Frederickson. That's the kind of stuff that's still going on. It's just at a little different level now.

[Jeff Banks]

Great story. I love that. Beautiful. All right, let's take our first time out. When we come back, I want to ask Landon and Aisha something that we talked a little bit, but I want to kind of get an updated response and thought on that question. We'll do that when we return. A lot of great comments coming in. Thank you to everybody for being with us not only live right now, but also later on. This is the Cowboys squad show, right? And it is that time of the year. Lot going on at FanDuel. The NBA playoffs are here, and every possession matters. Every matchup is magnified in and every game can swing a series. And right now, FanDuel is giving new customers a great way to get in on the action. Here's what's cool about it. You can bet just $5 and get 250 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Now, the app makes it really easy to follow the action with player stats, trends, matchups, all in one place. And during the playoffs, that extra insight really matters. When you're looking at stars, role players, and of course, the key moments, it really makes the entire playoff experience more engaging from start to finish. So here's what you do. You head to FanDuel.com to get started. FanDuel play your game.

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[Jeff Banks]

All right, we're back. Cowboy squad show Landon McCool, Aisha Morrison and former Cowboys coach Glenn Stretch Smith. So we can, we can dive into some of the rumors here. But again, like you said, Landon at the opening, rumors of the Cowboys moving up, rumors of the Cowboys moving down, moving out. And so we were talking about this a little bit last week. I think the big X factor, the big unknown is and we will find out is do the Cowboys. Is there somebody in the draft in the top four or five? One of those defensive players that we've talked about is one of those players a guy that they feel is worthy of going extra worthy of. They feel it could be a franchise foundational player. Or, or maybe they, they don't and maybe they'll move out, they'll go the other way. I guess that's that. We'll find out what they decide to do and what their true feelings are about this draft and about the board. With that said, I'm curious, what, what are you guys hearing? What any anything stand out to you from all the examining and dissecting and video watching you guys have done?

[Landon McCool]

I think for me it's like, you know, at this point now I, I think the Cowboys are, have got, are going to kind of line up a couple of these opportunities and then you know, it's, it's going to be about how it actually plays out on draft night, right? And they're going to have to be reactive if they want to figure out a way to get up and go get a guy they want. Now maybe they don't feel like they need to do that. Like, and maybe that's what they'll discover on, on draft night. Like maybe we get to pick three and Arizona, let's say, takes an offensive tackle, right? And then suddenly you've got Tennessee taking love and now you've got Carnell Tate going to, I don't know, the Giants or something like that. And Suddenly you're like looking at this board and you're like, man, all we need is like one more offensive player to come off the board and we're going to get one of our guys, right? So I, I think they're right on that spot where it still is obviously a possibility that they could get wiped out from the, you know, I'm using air quotes there. Wiped out from the players that they want, especially if potentially they're not interested in the same group of players that we're all talking about. But I think that like we said before, they're still going to have options because either a bunch of offensive players are going to get taken above them, pushing down the players they wanted defense, or a bunch of defensive players are going to get taken and that will open up the opportunity for one of these offensive tackles or wide receivers to potentially cause someone to come straight up. So I think it's, it's, there's, there's good, there's a lot of good scenarios that could happen, but I think it's all going to hinge on how especially the first, let's say five picks play out in this draft.

[Aisha Morrison]

Yeah, I think five or six. I think by pick six, whatever they're strategizing for, like coach was talking about would, well, I think that's where they'll decide whether they want to do up or down. I will say that I, I kind of have as I've gotten through this draft class, I think that the defensive side of like this draft being very defense heavy is something that people are leaning on I think more like in the media, like, oh, this is such a defensive draft. But I, I, I do think that teams to coaches points point earlier are going to, if they need offense, if they need certain things are going to still go do that, like come up and get those guys. Because regardless, you know, Seattle, after we see the super bowl team, the playoffs, like people were like, oh, I want to replicate it and all that stuff, so everybody want to be defensive team, whatever. But like offense is still king in this NFL. That's why defenses are shifting. So I do think people will come up and try. I, I'm more, I prefer for them to go depending on how the board is. I think I would prefer for them to go down that well. Yeah, I think that would, I would have them go, I would rather them trade down than trade up because there's only a few gentlemen that I think really are worthy of you trading up. And again, it really depends on the points. It depends on what things are Looking like. But I think getting into the second or third round in any way, if it is beneficial, could, could help with how rich it is there. Especially if they're the corner. If there's a corner that they think. I only think there's two, maybe three, depending on what happens with Avion Terrell first round worthy, you know, draft picks like for corner. So if those guys go, then I know in that third round, second round, there are some guys, especially the second round that can still come in and be good start. Maybe I try to figure out how to get there. You know, that's how I feel about it. I would rather go down than up. I don't think it's that many guys that are worthy of you going up and having to give up capital or anything. Unless it just really is your guy and he's going to be a difference maker right away.

[Landon McCool]

There's two things there, right? There's like the big trade up to like three or six. Right. And I agree with you, I think who is.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

If that's, if that's the move, then who is the guy?

[Landon McCool]

That's what I was just gonna say. It's got. If you do one of those three or six trades, then it's probably gotta be a Reese or a Bailey, right? Yeah, like those are the only two guys that I would, I would imagine that that kind of. Unless you're getting like one of those elevator trades that we talked about where you're getting equal value and you're just, you're going down from 20 and up to 12. Like then I might, might change it. Like I would even take Sunny Styles I think at 6 if you were gonna do one of those. But if you're talking about like just going up to kc, like just to try to hop over these, these other like Cincinnati eight, Casey's nine. So just like, if you're just trying to hop over Minnesota, I'm sorry, Miami and Cincinnati, who you feel like could be guys that. Teams that are looking to take defenders, like, I, I think that's a different proposition. I would be comfortable doing that for Monsieur Delane or obviously Caleb Downs or, you know, anyone, certainly Sunny Styles, I think at that point. But if you're talking about doing the big trade up to like six or three or one of these teams that's looking to trade back inside the, you know, top seven or eight picks, then I think you kind of have to focus on someone that at least gives you some kind of pass rush in order for it to be valuable enough to make it worth it.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

That's where you are. You got. I mean, let's just be transparent. There's four guys. There are four guys who I think are fit, where they would, where they would want to go right now. And you just named them. I mean, I think it's the LSU corner. I think it's the. I think it's the three young men out of, out of Ohio State. Now, what you want to hear if you're a Cowboys fan, is you want to take those four and you want to get to about pick seven and only two of them are gone. Or get to about pick eight and only two of them are gone. Now you, you become the. What Jeff is talking about now. Now you become the Hammer again. So I, I think it'll be real interesting to see, but I'm still from the school that what Aisha was saying is that there's a very heavy defensive loaded class. But how many teams in this league are looking for offensive tackles and offensive and offensive line help? And that's where, that's where you get guys who start to reach. That's where you get guys who say, boy, what you really want to see is one of those guys come off the board right there in the top four. And then that. And then that team say, oh, crap. Because they don't have them ranked a whole lot different than anybody else has them ranked. They really.

[Landon McCool]

Especially up there. Up there.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what I'm talking about. In the top 15, 18, 20 picks, they're all ranked about the same. So.

[Landon McCool]

And that's why they would wait, right? That's why they would wait.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Yeah, but that's what you want to see as a Cowboys fan. You want to see one of these tackles go. And then you almost want to see two of them go. And somebody, you know, and somebody go, oh, my goodness, we have got, you know, we're, we're, we're. We think we're one offensive lineman away from making the playoffs. I mean, whether that's Chargers. I mean, I just given an example.

[Aisha Morrison]

And I mean, obviously for the Cowboy. No, you're funny to know you're for, for the Cowboys. You know, this is honestly probably the best class for that. You trying to be funny some. You want to fight?

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

No. Tomorrow night? Tomorrow night? Improv night?

[Aisha Morrison]

No, no, I'm not trying to be

[Landon McCool]

funny,

[Aisha Morrison]

but like, I mean, with this class in particular, because it is so thin kind of up. Up at that level of like. Well, what I think is NFL level or even we're near NFL level play. I Mean, there's a guard that I think is, I think that people are going to try to convince themselves as a tackle so they can come up and get him higher.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

So.

[Aisha Morrison]

Yeah, and then.

[Landon McCool]

Well, but see that's the thing. That's, that's the thing is that we're

[Aisha Morrison]

even Freeling, even Monroe Freeling, I don't think is, is, should be even as high as he. Like, even though people are saying

[Landon McCool]

they'll say none of these other guys are left tackles that freely's a left tackle. So you've got to take him in the top 12. And now you're hearing Kaden Proctor's name get pushed up and as a surefire first round pick, like, and it's like, I mean,

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

that's the whole point. You want somebody that really values that guy and maybe he has a relationship with the O line guy at Alabama and, and that guy's telling him, boy, let me tell you, keep his weight down.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

And then, then that's what you want to see. You want to see those guys. And that's. I'm back to the point I made. We're two weeks out. When we get, when we get three or four days out, then you're going to see guys start to get battlefield promotions. What we used to say, because teams are going to say, you know, we like this guy, but we need that guy. And so, and so, you know, and that's where you see guys move up and, and that's where guys reach.

[Landon McCool]

We got, we got a question at the. Was it two, two days ago in one of our shows? And, and it was, why don't more teams finalize trades, draft trades a couple days before. And part of the reason I mentioned is that teams want you to be under the gun when you make these trades. They want to leverage your desperation that they can smell on your breath. And they want to, they want to get an extra third round pick because you have to get this tackle, not, you know, not the next one. Right. So, yeah, I, I think that's a huge part of it, is that if you don't come to terms with your plans, if you convince yourself that you need a specific player, you can get yourself into a bad situation where you're paying way more than you expected to.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

And I'm telling you that happens all the time. All the time. I mean, all the time. I mean, you got. Again, we could sit here and start ripping on some of these GMs, but I mean, I'm telling you, you know, don't, don't kid yourself. There's multiple guys in multiple draft rooms that think the Kentucky Derby's a hat. That's. That those are the guys you want to get to.

[Aisha Morrison]

Oh my God.

[Landon McCool]

I.

[Aisha Morrison]

So as we're talking about this and thinking about how kind of odd this class is, you know, in comparison to the ones we've seen, I think we've been spoiled for the last three, four years, specifically with tackle being so good at the top. Quarterback obviously has been one too. Are you. Coach, I wanted to ask you, I want to ask you. Landon. You too, Jeff. Like, are you gentlemen concerned with the, the fact that teams are going to have to. We're in an online offensive lineman shortage in as far as. And good ones, like, let me say, let me make sure I say the skilled ones. We are in a shortage in the NFL and you know, with a draft like this where there's so little like that, you think, you know, guys might are going to slip through the cracks and make it and some guys are going to excel. But like, are you guys concerned about the nature like where offensive lineman is in the NFL and you know that people like. Because you see people hold on to them because you, they're hard to come by. Are you guys concerned that there's not that many in this draft?

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Well, yeah. How many? You know, and I don't study the college game that much, but how many college teams have an offensive line that never gets into it, into a three point stance? How many college teams.

[Landon McCool]

It's starting to reverse, but it's huge, right? It's a huge.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Yeah, yeah. So, so, so there. The learning curve for getting a guy in a stance and showing him how to get a second level block on inside zone is pretty, it's pretty extensive. So that's why there's such a shortage of these guys is because there's getting to be what feels like a bigger separation at that position at the college game, which used to be the feeder system for the NFL than, than most people are realizing.

[Aisha Morrison]

I mean, and that's why we are

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

seeing some of these three point stance that hadn't been in a three point stance in three or four years. I mean, that you're, you're really starting over in a lot of ways. And it has to do with balance, it has to do with ankle flexion, it has to do with a lot of different things. But you better know that. And, and that's why you better know what you're doing, number one. But number two, that's why I didn't have a problem when the Cowboys Took Guyton because they saw something that they liked in how he kicked and how he moved his feet. And you know what? Right, wrong or indifferent, that's what they wanted. And recognizing that to me is the first step to knowing how you need to go and when you start looking at these offensive linemen.

[Landon McCool]

To answer your question, Isha, I'm worried for the NFL. I'm not worried for the Cowboys. The Cowboys are in a great position to take advantage of it, right? For sure.

[Aisha Morrison]

Yeah.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

You better be worried for Fernando Mendoza.

[Aisha Morrison]

Yeah, well, I'm worried for the NFL, but that. And, and thank you, coach. Because this is not just y'. All. The quarterback thing is we're seeing quarterbacks and free agency. We saw guys get paid. Guys are going to get signed in the off season. Like we're also in a. I think we're kind of in a shortage there too.

[Landon McCool]

Oh, always a shortage of quarterbacks.

[Aisha Morrison]

And I know that, and I know that. But for this, like, I don't know. This is going to be two classes. What Like I gotta look at next year's class. But being offensive lineman shortage and a quarterback shortage sound like people better start running the ball a lot.

[Landon McCool]

Go. We need to go to break real quick. But I will say I do think that like part of the reason that the class is the way it is this year is because, and I hate to phrase it like this, this class is filled with players that had extremely disappointing seasons. I mean that's just the way it is. And, and that includes a bunch of guys that aren't in this class. Because if you remember a year ago last year when we were talking about next year's incredible quarterback draft class, we were talking about Arch Manning, we were talking about the Sellers, we were talking about these guys. Dante from Oregon coming out. What happened? Arch Manning did not have the season that everyone anticipated. He's gonna. He probably will be the number one pick next year, but he wasn't. This year. We Sellers decided to go back to college. TJ Parker and all the Clemson guys who were all top five picks all had terrible seasons. Right? Like, I mean it this top to bottom, you look at these, at the list of these guys and, and, and it's. It seems like there were just a lot of guys that were talented players. Isaiah World from, from, from Oregon, he was a top 10 pick. I mean, you know, saying like there were a lot of these guys that were at key positions that were all considered to be top 10 blue chip players that all had extremely disappointing seasons. And, and it kind of, it's shaped the top end of the strap draft.

[Aisha Morrison]

Wow.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Well, but it hadn't, hasn't it done that forever? I mean, go all the way back to Ricky Williams. I mean, think about what Ricky Williams did at the University of Texas. You mean that set the Big 12 record for rushing touchdowns? Dipka gives up his entire grab for Ricky Williams and you know, he, he, he turns into a guy that wants to stay on that hippie lettuce more and he wants to play football well.

[Landon McCool]

But I think the difference here is that, is that these, this is like a dozen players and it's their last year before, before getting into the pros where they all had down years. And so it just created a lot of malaise at the top end of, of this draft. And that's why there's just a lot of things that, that aren't, you know, that aren't as exciting in the top 15. Jeff, you got to take us to break. We got to go to break.

[Jeff Banks]

Let's go. Thank you.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

We're crying out loud.

[Landon McCool]

Coach, come on.

[Aisha Morrison]

You're not helping questions.

[Jeff Banks]

Right. And I, I do want to tell you though about the everyday club. The Everydayer club is, you got to check it out. It's ad free episodes and access to a group chat with Landon and Marcus and other listeners of this show. And all you need to do is tap the link in the show notes or go again to the everyday, everyday club. NFL here with locked on. And we got to talk about TurboTax because it is that time of the year but for a lot of us, the old way of doing taxes is a lot. Trying to book an appointment that's not the most convenient. Sitting in a waiting room with a stack of papers, emailing back and forth, wondering if they really get your situation. Well, this year you're getting a major upgrade into it. TurboTax now has in person locations nationwide. You can meet face to face with a real tax expert and your documents get uploaded straight to your TurboTax app right on the spot. And just like that, you're done. Your TurboTax expert works to get you every dollar you deserve to while you get real time notifications as you go about your day. It's the relief of walking in and meeting a real person and walking out knowing your taxes are being handled right. So head to turbotax.com local, find a store near you and book your appointment.

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[Jeff Banks]

That easy. Hopefully the draft will be that easy for the Cowboys. Two weeks away from the NFL draft. This is the Cowboys squad show. We got the coach, Aisha Landon. All right, so let's just kind of hit on some of the rumors. I know we're just kind of throwing darts here, but I mean, there's rumors.

[Landon McCool]

It's that time of year, Jeff, you know, that's what we're doing here.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Is that what we're doing here? We got guys watching these comments over, over here. Where I see, I see at KZ3 Cowboys, his coach is on it with old sayings.

[Landon McCool]

You're not wrong when you talk hippie lettuce. Hippie lettuce on us. I, I, I, that was.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Yeah, so the first step to recovery is recognition. A KZ3 cowboy. Hell, I'm old

[Jeff Banks]

hippie lettuce.

[Aisha Morrison]

You said it, not us. You said it, not us.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

I did say it. But I mean, what, I mean, what do you want me to say? Strawberry zigzag? I mean, I don't. What do you want me to say? Whatever that crap is that they smoke.

[Aisha Morrison]

Not you speaking the language.

[Landon McCool]

I, I wonder what's gonna happen. Like, I wonder if we get one of those this year. Do we, are we gonna get a gas mask this year. Are we gonna get like a draft day situation?

[Aisha Morrison]

Yeah, we know we're gonna get something.

[Landon McCool]

We know probably gonna get something. It feels like we've gotten it like at least a couple times these last few years. Been some sort of draft day nonsense that's happened. A picture comes out, whatever. I, I wonder if we're gonna get that again this year. I hope not. I hope not.

[Aisha Morrison]

Yeah, that's, that's the thing is the closer that we get, that's another thing that is going to begin to happen, is that unfortunately, and coach, I know you don't want to talk about it, but it happens in real life. Teams know stuff about certain players and they gonna start dropping it. Stuff is gonna start getting dropped. We're gonna start hearing little rumblings and stuff. Oh, yeah, he hated.

[Landon McCool]

I heard he likes the hippie lettuce.

[Aisha Morrison]

Yeah, I heard he likes the hippie lettuce. He has a Problem. It's about to start coming out. The scouts know, but the media doesn't know a lot of this stuff.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Like sand through the hourglass.

[Landon McCool]

So the Days of Our Lives. That's right.

[Jeff Banks]

Real quick, Marcus Moser, our colleague, jumping in saying our show is going to get canceled.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

He's on Monday night. Who gives a damn what he's talking about on Thursday?

[Landon McCool]

This is our show.

[Jeff Banks]

Coach Carmen says Coach is too funny. I'm done. Carmen J. Polo.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Get a lot of love, Carmen. Thanks for listening, Carmen. I'll get, I'll give you my best Spanish garment. Thank you for listening.

[Jeff Banks]

Oh, I think it's that Mediterranean diet.

[Landon McCool]

I think you're, it's really gotten.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

I, I just can't get over fast enough. So I go cheat. That's the whole point.

[Landon McCool]

Literally and figuratively. Full of beans tonight. You know, it's like he's literally, he

[Aisha Morrison]

cannot wait to get off of here so he can go eat

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

into the car. I can promise you.

[Landon McCool]

All right, let's talk some rumors, Jeff, so we can get this guy out here and he can have a hamburger.

[Jeff Banks]

So, so the four Letter network. The latest is that the Browns are thinking of trading out of number six and that they would be willing to trade with the Cowboys. So another one via CBS Sports that the Chargers would maybe do a deal for George Pickens. That's one of them. What was the other one? Another one with the Cowboys jumping over the Chiefs to try to get Monsoon Delane. So I mean, there I again, like we said at the very beginning, you got two weeks to go and a lot of people have time to kill and yes. To fill. Right. So any of those. I, I, I guess like I said though, I mean, we'll find out if, if the Cowboys really want somebody, if they really do want to move up and they feel like it's worth it or if they move out.

[Landon McCool]

The, the Brown situation, like, it almost just makes too much sense, right? Like, especially if you're doing something where you're doing the 12 and 20 for 6 and 39. Like, like that. I mean, it's just, I mean it's just because it makes so much value sense for both sides, right. It allows Cleveland to go shop in the, in the aisle that they're looking for, which is more of the tackle aisle. And I think at 12 you're going to get, like I said, that's really probably the, the perfect nexus of where you can get the guy you want to tackle and you're paying kind of more appropriate price. And I think for The Cowboys getting to 39, like just, and still keeping the same number of picks. I really do feel like the level of player you're going to get at 20 versus what you're going to get at 39 isn't going to be too different. You lose the fifth year option A little bit and, and, and, but I think that's not necessary especially if you're talking about drafting a linebacker maybe at that point. That certainly isn't a problem for me. You know, I'm not interested in, you know, that fifth year option for a linebacker anyway. So I do think that the more I think about that Cleveland situation, if the right player fell past five and Cleveland was down for it, I would do it.

[Jeff Banks]

What do you think Keisha?

[Aisha Morrison]

I don't know. I do, I do agree and that's what I was saying earlier is that as you look into the second and third round, like when we talked about this at, at the beginning of draft season is that it was killing both all of us that there were. Dallas did not have any picks there but for them to get back into the third with the pick from OSA and then obviously too as we got further into the cycle and you look at how this class is orchestrated, that is where the meat and potatoes are to me. Not the top, not even like the later mid rounds. I think it's really that second third round is gonna be money, money to Landon's point about value and the player that you're getting. It's not that much different than 20 at all if that. I don't even know if it's may

[Landon McCool]

not be different depending on who you're talking about.

[Aisha Morrison]

So anyway, and I, I do, I will say I do, I do expect some of the guys that are in the third like we were just talking like some of the guys are in the third because of how this draft is. We might see some of those guys get picked sooner than what we expect to.

[Landon McCool]

But then, then again maybe got like AVN Terrell Falls because he ran a 4 6, you know, 440 which is wild. I, I, I, you know, like now this is a guy that you we've been talking about as 20th overall pick and, and I can't take, I can't take him if he's running 46 and then a 46 9.

[Aisha Morrison]

Like well I think he is from my understanding he shouldn't have ran. He shouldn't have ran. I don't think that Henry was right. It wasn't the Hemi wasn't right before he tested. He should have Just let it be. I know a lot of people would have called him everything but a child of God because that's what people do when people don't run 40s, don't do workouts. However, he didn't do himself any favors because. But that's where you need to be doing your damn job. Because if you're doing your damn job, why does this 40 mean so damn much? If the film is consistently pretty good, is good, or it's to the level it needs to be, that's what you

[Landon McCool]

got to be fair. Corner is the one position.

[Aisha Morrison]

The one position.

[Landon McCool]

Well, well, we're 40 times matter. We're really, really actually does matter like there, I'm not like disqualifying anybody at all. Like, but I mean, 40, he's not slow on tape.

[Aisha Morrison]

He's not slow on tape though.

[Landon McCool]

He's not fast.

[Aisha Morrison]

He doesn't have long speed. He doesn't have long speed.

[Landon McCool]

He doesn't have long speed. I just think, I just think it affects how you potentially would play him, which is going to affect his draft stock, right?

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

You better, you bet you, if you're, if you, if you're playing that position, you better be able to run. I, I, I don't give a damn. And if the watch is on you and you can't run, I, I can't put a lot, I can't put a lot into that. Yeah, I can look at the, I can look at the film and yeah, I can see who you're playing against and okay, yeah, we can look on there and say, okay, well he's playing against this receiver from this school and we know he ran this, but at the end of the day, if you, if you can't, if you can't produce a time, I mean, then you're, you're moving down in my league.

[Landon McCool]

Well, and especially since he's like, look like if you're gonna be the exception to the rule, right, like if you're gonna make it in the NFL while running a 4, 6 plus 40, then you probably don't look like a 5 9, 175 pound corner either. Like you probably need to be a bigger body and lean into that sort of game. So I agree the tape is, is excellent and I know Marcus is, you know, listening to this right now and screaming at us. But, but at the same time he would agree because he knows that like it's, I hate to even talk about like, you know, not disqualifying but knocking a player severely for their 40 time, but cornerback is the one position where it matters, where it.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Well, let me ask you this. Do you think. You think a guy doesn't move up for his 40 time?

[Aisha Morrison]

We see it all the time.

[Landon McCool]

I think it's. I think, a little bit, but I

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

think there's got to be the flip side of that.

[Landon McCool]

I, I think. I don't view it. I, I think that does happen. You're right. And I, and I think that should happen a little bit, but I think it's more severe going the other way. And I think the reason it is, is because it's not a, you know, oh, the faster you are, the better player you are. That's not it at all. It's a threshold situation. You have to clear this bar. You have to be this tall to ride this ride. Right. You have to be this fast to play this position. Like, bare minimum. Right?

[Aisha Morrison]

Okay, that's.

[Landon McCool]

That's what it is.

[Aisha Morrison]

Okay, so corner is a position where you, you have to run the 40.

[Landon McCool]

Oh, yeah. Like, in my opinion. Look, I like even the McCoy stuff. Like, like, I, I think you probably, like, you could get away with it if you're a certain level of player, like Derek Stingley. Like, we watched enough of him when he came out that he didn't do very much his last few years. He kind of took some time off, and so everyone kind of let it slide. They still knew who Derek Stingley was. I think Terrell probably needed to go. He probably could have not run, and it would have been a better situation for him, honestly.

[Aisha Morrison]

But that's what I said he shouldn't have done.

[Landon McCool]

But I, but I. Again, but my point being, like, it's not like, it's not like he's wasn't gonna take a hit for that. He was gonna take a hit for that, you know, And, And I think.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

And if he didn't run, that tells you all you need to know.

[Aisha Morrison]

Yeah, see, but that's what I'm saying. But I'm telling y', all, damned if he don't. He, He.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

I get it

[Aisha Morrison]

up. Like, he, like he did. He runs. He's nicked up. It's bad if he doesn't run. It's bad. The film's not enough.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

His whole receiver, defensive back, the name of the game, run. And you better be able to run a lot, too.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, I mean, again, I, I, you know, I don't think it's any better too, that he, he injured his, his hamstring. So, yeah, you're not wrong. Like, and, And I, I guess you could view it as damned if you do, damned if you don't. But ultimately it's. I mean, you're not. You're not fast enough to be taken in the first round. Like, it.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

It.

[Landon McCool]

It. That. That just. It's not that that. That that changed. And it's just that now we know and. And we didn't really necessarily know that before.

[Jeff Banks]

All right, we need to run to our final time out of the show. Be really quick, though. We'll be right back.

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[Jeff Banks]

Told you. We are back. Boy, I hated that as a kid when I wasn't tall enough yet to go on some of the rides, I was like, that's like the worst. Like, the worst feeling ever. It's brutal.

[Landon McCool]

Can I. Can I dive in this a little bit? Because I'm seeing this comment from Carmen, too, and.

[Jeff Banks]

Carmine, Carmine, Carmine.

[Landon McCool]

I'm sorry, Carmine. I really. I hate how people take full sides of this. Like, it's analytics and 40 times versus film. It's not that it's all of those things and you weigh them all differently, depending on the position, depending on what it is, but people who sit here and say, film doesn't lie.

[Jeff Banks]

Bull.

[Landon McCool]

Bull. It doesn't. Do you know how many times I've watched really good players on tape that didn't come into the NFL because they didn't have the athletic traits to dominate the way they did in college? In the NFL, there is a. There is tons of different ways that these prospects can not lie to you because we're gonna. You know, again, no one's lying, but that the. That the truth can be obfuscated because the. The. The talent that they're playing, the. You know, it's. It's a very difficult thing to try to project these players from college football into the NFL, which is in a lot of ways a very different sport. So I think you take all this data, you don't poo poo any of it. You weight it appropriately, and that becomes your evaluation. But I hate. I hate people pretending that they are, like, you know, old school about this by saying it's just film. I think people need to understand that all of these data points are important and should be weighted because it's not exactly a like, for, like thing. Playing college football is not the same thing as playing the NFL game coach just talked about it. Offensive line play. These guys, half of these teams aren't even in three point stances, which is, they're going to be doing the entire time that, that they're, that they're in the NFL. You see college offenses where, you know, like Hypo in Tennessee, where half the offense isn't even doing anything on half the plays. So it's, it's, it is a projection. So you need to take as many pieces of data points as you can, weigh them appropriately, which is another key part of it, making sure that you're not over counting a 40 time for an offensive lineman. Right. As opposed to a cornerback. And, and then you, you bring it all together and you guess like. And so I just think you have to do a lot of evaluation and use all the tools available to you don't discount this or that because you feel like it's not traditional enough.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

I guess, I mean, literally, to me it is, it's like a pie. And.

[Aisha Morrison]

Yeah.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

And you cut different pieces of the pie in different ways when you start thinking about what position he plays. And then if it's, if it's speed, it's a little bigger piece of the pie for a receiver, for a tight end, for a defensive back, for a safety than it is for. And I, I don't mean to be a flair for the obvious, but an offensive lineman or a quarterback. So it is a pie that is cut in different ways, but every single thing, whether it's on the field, off the field, it all has to go in, into, into how you shape that pie and what, and how big a piece of that pie that you're gonna, you're, that you're going to get into. I, I'm just saying, I mean, there are a lot of people that value things and a lot of GMs that value things differently. And that's why I think when guys start trying to say, well, what is this team thinking? Or what is that team thinking? They have no idea because they don't know what kind of, you know, what the pie is or the piece of the pie is that they're looking at or how they value or whatever, whatever the term was. You waited, however you waited certain, certain aspects of the game.

[Landon McCool]

Aisha, you think he's ready for his cheat day? I think I heard him say the word pie 25 times.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

I'm hungry as a hostage. There ain't no question about it.

[Aisha Morrison]

Well, go get your snacks.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

But ain't gonna be no pie.

[Landon McCool]

Okay, fair enough. Steak. Steak or a Burger.

[Jeff Banks]

That's okay.

[Aisha Morrison]

So good.

[Jeff Banks]

It does.

[Landon McCool]

I do wanna. That sounds really good.

[Jeff Banks]

So, Landon, didn't you and Marcus just coincidentally do a show recently on Avion Terrell?

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

Yes.

[Landon McCool]

I mean, after, after the news came out, we, we had a whole discussion about this and. Because I think it, you know, look, for us, Avian Terrell kind of represented a, a solid pick at 20 if he felt like he was there, or even maybe a fallback at 12, like if you get absolutely wiped out. Right. I, I certainly can't feel that way now. Like, I certainly don't think that. I mean, it's that I don't think. I don't know if he's a first round pick at this point anymore. I wouldn't be shocked if he kind of fell a little bit later. That doesn't mean that I wouldn't necessarily take him later. I, I think I, I probably would. If he fell to you in the third round somehow, that would be absolutely incredible for you. So. But yeah, I think I would be nervous about taking him in the first round now.

[Jeff Banks]

Final. Final one before we go again, two weeks to go. This could all completely change. But let's just say hypothetically, the Cowboys stay at number 12. Any idea, any more clarity on who they might want to get? Really, it just all depends on who goes before them. So we really have no idea.

[Landon McCool]

I think the names to me that seem the most likely to fall and that the Cowboys would be interested in are Caleb Downs and man Delane. If those are the guys that. Those are the two guys of the four that coach mentioned that seem like they have at least some chance falling, you know, all the way down to you at 12. Not. Probably not a great chance, but there is some chance that they could fall to you at 12 or, you know, maybe you do like, like I said, a small trade up to, to Kansas City to kind of secure one of those two guys, but those are the names that. I think if you're staying in that area, that's probably the two that you're hoping for now.

[Aisha Morrison]

I'll be happy with either one.

[Landon McCool]

Oh yeah, me too.

[Jeff Banks]

Okay, that's a wrap for this one. Landon, before we go, what's coming up? We got Friday tomorrow and then next week with you and Marcus.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, we're going to be arguing about a lot of picks. You know, we, we. We're gonna, we're gonna make, make.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

We, we.

[Landon McCool]

We're gonna do a segment, we're still trying to figure it out where we make each other defend our, our, our strong draft takes and. And kind of, you know, show the strength of our conviction for some of these guys. So we'll be doing a little bit of that. But definitely, no matter what, we will be talking about draft prospects and trade scenarios, so please come check us out.

[Jeff Banks]

I love it. Looking forward to all of that. Thank you, Landon. Aisha, I know you were on today, right, with one of your shows.

[Aisha Morrison]

Oh, yes. We will be dropping another episode of the Stack. I think we're talking quarterback finally. Talking about quarterback finally on Saturday. So be out on the lookout for that. And thanks, guys.

[Jeff Banks]

All right. And coach for you. Have a great dinner. I mean, that's the most important thing.

[Aisha Morrison]

I'm excited for you, truly.

[Landon McCool]

I. I want to hear about the dinner when you get next week when we come back.

[Aisha Morrison]

Like, I'm. I'm really excited for you.

[Jeff Banks]

Yeah.

[Landon McCool]

Well, thank you.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

I'm glad. I'm glad to hear that. That makes me feel a lot better about what I'm fixing to go do.

[Landon McCool]

It sounds.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

It sounds.

[Landon McCool]

It would have felt good is what it sounds like.

[Aisha Morrison]

Yeah, he was gonna feel good regardless. He didn't need our approval at all. Thanks. I don't care.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

No, I. I do. Karen. I'm. I'm. I'm.

[Landon McCool]

I'm.

[Glenn Stretch Smith]

I'm gonna go eat like the Russians are in St. Louis marching this way. So thanks.

[Aisha Morrison]

Goodbye.

[Jeff Banks]

Enjoy. Great weekend. Check out Landon and Marcus on the daily Locked on Cowboys podcast. Check out Aisha as well. This has been the Cowboys squad show.

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