Talkin’ Cowboys: Campaign Crossroads

Summary

Talkin’ Cowboys: "Campaign Crossroads"

Episode Date: October 28, 2025
Hosts: Kyle Yeomans, Patrick “No C” Walker, Josh Rodriguez, Isaiah Stanbach
Location: The Star, Frisco, TX – SWBC Studios

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Episode Overview

This episode of Talkin’ Cowboys comes at a pivotal moment as the Dallas Cowboys stand at a "campaign crossroads." With the trade deadline a week away and the team coming off a brutal loss, the crew breaks down the state of the Cowboys: the front office’s trade deliberations, the defensive meltdown, and the growing sentiment among fans and insiders that decisive action is needed—now. With passionate calls from fans and candid discussion among the hosts, it’s an episode saturated with urgency, frustration, and a search for solutions.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Front Office Moves & Trade Deadline Looms (02:05 – 04:33)

• Jerry & Stephen Jones’ Trade Conversations:
  • Jerry Jones deflected direct questions about trades on 105.3 The Fan, but reading between the lines, the hosts believe “wheels are turning” in the office.
    • "You can still read in between the lines that there's wheels turning whenever it comes to this stuff." — Kyle Yeomans [02:13]
  • Stephen Jones acknowledged that the Cowboys have called all 31 other NFL teams, albeit under the guise of due diligence.
• Aggressiveness Signals Recognition of Problem:
  • Historically, the Jones family waits for offers, but this time they are reportedly proactive.
    • "But the fact that they are being aggressive at least shows that they see the problem, too. And I feel like anybody can see the problem." — Kyle Yeomans [03:55]
• Deadline Pressure:
  • The NFL trade deadline is exactly one week away. The Monday game vs. the Cardinals will be a potential pivot point for in-season changes.
    • "You lose to the Cardinals, then I don't see how you...don't get on the phone and make a deal at the deadline." — Josh Rodriguez [05:34]
• Debate on Impact:
  • There’s skepticism about front office pronouncements that last week’s embarrassing loss (to Denver) won’t alter their trade calculations.

2. The State of the Team: "Mid," Frustration, and Identity Crisis (05:55 – 13:00)

• Season at a Crossroads:
  • The Cowboys’ season has been marked by inconsistency (win-loss-tie patterns) and an underperforming defense undermining an elite offense.
    • "The season is literally what the Cowboys are. Loss, win, loss, tie, win, loss, win, loss." — Patrick Noe Walker [06:12]
    • "You are mid right now. So it should be no surprise to them." — Josh Rodriguez [06:37]
• Two Paths:
  • Hosts outline two strategies ahead of the deadline:
    • Accept defeat, preserve assets, and rebuild in the draft.
    • Go all-in to support Dak Prescott's current “window” and make a run, even at the cost of future picks.
    • "If you are of the mind that you can save this season...you have to do something." — Josh Rodriguez [08:15]
• Defensive Depth Crisis:
  • The Cowboys’ secondary and linebacker corps are decimated by injuries — with updates on Malik Hooker (still IR), Donovan Wilson (questionable), and others.
    • "From a safety position you have Marquis Bell. Oh, I'm sorry. And were you expecting me to continue? ...So I say that to say, you know, I think you have to do a combination of things. I think you have to look into a trade scenario and you have to dip your, your foot into free agency right now." — Josh Rodriguez [08:48]
• Talent vs. Execution:
  • Preseason expectations differed from reality; the offense has been better than expected, the defense spectacularly worse.
    • "You didn't realize this defense would be a bottom one, bottom two defense in the league as well." — Kyle Yeomans [10:01]

3. Where Should the Cowboys Reinforce? Pass Rush vs. Run Defense vs. Secondary (11:47 – 17:44)

• Prioritizing Defensive Needs:
  • A spirited debate: Is the quickest fix an elite pass rusher, an impact safety, a run-stuffing DT, or reinforcements at multiple positions?
    • "Where is it going to give you the most bang for your buck right now with what you do have? ...I lean pass rusher because I think it opens everything up." — Kyle Yeomans [17:18]
    • "I'm not willing to part with those ones quite yet. I'm willing to take a bet on a three or a four or two." — Patrick Noe Walker [17:43]
• Trade Capital & Value:
  • Internal conflict over parting with future firsts for a defensive fix (“Don’t trade your 27 first, please!” — Kyle [18:03]).

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Notable Calls & Fan Sentiment

Dano in Florida (24:14 – 27:37)

• Passionate, Frustrated Fan Perspective:
  • "His commitment to mediocrity is outstanding...he’s wasted their [great Cowboys] careers in Dallas." — Dano on Jerry Jones [24:24]
  • Dano grades units (DL: D-, LBs: D+, Secondary & Coaching: F minus) and argues the scheme is bewildering, techniques poor, and Eberflus has lost the defense.
  • Suggests firing DC Matt Eberflus and hiring Rex Ryan.
  • "If I was a player, he lost me. He lost me." — Dano [27:13]
• Host Reaction:
  • Hosts agree about fan frustration, but strongly disagree on hiring Rex Ryan, citing his dated methods and lack of recent NFL experience.
    • "Just keep him [Rex Ryan] away... He hasn't coached in almost a decade." — Josh Rodriguez [30:01]
  • Consensus: A coordinator change alone won’t fix a roster lacking necessary personnel and effort.

Mike in New York (34:09 – 35:14)

• Longstanding Defensive Issues & Regret on Parsons:
  • "When was the last time the Cowboys actually had a good run defense?" — Mike in NY [34:09]
  • Laments losing elite players like Parsons and expects front office action.
• Host Take:
  • Hosts acknowledge the defense was expected to regress after the Micah Parsons trade, but not collapse. The “hope is not a strategy” refrain dominates.
    • "Behind Michael Parsons. It was a lot of hope. ...That's not enough for me to look at Michael Parsons and say, okay, I'm good without you." — Josh Rodriguez [37:47]
    • "You did not anticipate [the defense] to be better...this was a move for 26 and 27. But with the offense playing that it has been, that's where it's changed my mind." — Kyle Yeomans [39:49]

Allen in Phoenix (44:58 – 45:53)

• Defeat & Uncertainty:
  • "Every week, it just becomes a little less [optimistic]...I just want to say I'm a big fan of the show...this defense is atrocious." — Allen [45:00]
• Host Take:
  • Hosts empathize; the fanbase is “tired and defeated.” They reiterate that the offense, minus the Denver game, is not the concern. All eyes are on defensive fixes.

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Key Quotes (with Timestamps)

• On the state of the front office at the deadline:
  "Stephen Jones told the fan yesterday that they had called...every one of the other 31 teams. Now, of course, he painted it...as due diligence...but they're on the phone." — Patrick Noe Walker [03:04]

• On competing windows:
  "You don’t want to waste the window of Dak Prescott ...You want to take advantage of this..." — Josh Rodriguez [08:15]

• On the defense's problems:
  "Multiple years now, multiple defensive coordinators and we're all sitting here saying the same thing. You can't stop the run and if you don't get a pass rush, your secondary is a liability." — Kyle Yeomans [32:32]

• On the lack of effort:
  "You can't teach effort." — Kyle Yeomans [29:05]
  "There are players that are taking plays off. There are players that are not getting off their blocks when they absolutely need to." — Patrick Noe Walker [28:46]

• On personnel and blame:
  "I really don't feel that you can pinpoint it to one guy in particular...I think you don't have the personnel on defense." — Patrick Noe Walker [28:04]

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Critical Segment Timestamps

• Front Office & Trade Deadline Chat: 02:05 – 05:55
• Defensive Injuries & Depth Issues: 08:26 – 09:27
• Urgency & Season Outlook: 10:01 – 13:19
• Pass Rush/DT vs. Safety Debate: 11:47 – 17:44
• Callers: Dano (frustration, defensive grades, coordinator blame): 24:14 – 27:37
• Callers: Mike (run defense history, Parsons trade regrets): 34:09 – 35:14
• Callers: Allen (fan fatigue, defensive agony): 44:58 – 45:53
• Remaining Schedule Discussion: 48:50 – 50:47

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Notable Memorable Moments

• "Campaign Crossroads" as an episode theme: Hosts adopt Kyle Yeomans’ phrase to sum up the existential state of the franchise—with agreement that all paths forward require a bold decision. [18:20]
• Effort and Accountability:
  "Effort is not taught. You have to get guys that have that." — Patrick Noe Walker [29:09]
• Lighthearted Banter & Gallows Humor:
  The team's gauntlet of upcoming elite QBs leaves the crew alternating between laughter and dread.
  • "The smile on Josh's face is such a psychological thing, right? So it hurts so bad that your mind doesn't know how to process the pain anymore." — Patrick Noe Walker [49:33]

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Summary Takeaways

• The Dallas Cowboys are at a crisis point—at a “campaign crossroads”—with the defensive collapse threatening to waste an elite offensive season and Dak Prescott’s peak window.
• The front office appears awake to the severity of the problem, at least exploring trade possibilities with the deadline looming.
• Fan sentiment is running hot and pessimistic, with calls for staff changes and accountability for mediocre results; but the hosts caution against expecting miracles from simply changing coordinators.
• The defense lacks both personnel (due to injuries and departures like Micah Parsons) and consistent effort; both must be addressed if the season is to be salvaged.
• The Cowboys face a brutal upcoming schedule; inaction at the trade deadline would signal acceptance that 2025 is lost, and the organization is prioritizing future flexibility over present contention.
• The refrain repeated throughout: "Hope is not a strategy." Doing something—anything—on defense is the creed for those who believe this season can still be saved.

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For those who haven't listened: This episode captures the voice of a fanbase, and even insiders, at the breaking point: honest about weaknesses, skeptical about the front office, and united in the conviction that status quo is not an option.

Transcript

[Kyle Yeomans]

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[Josh Rodriguez]

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[Patrick Noe Walker]

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[Patrick Noe Walker]

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[Kyle Yeomans]

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[Patrick Noe Walker]

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[Kyle Yeomans]

Earn your Sunday with help from Lowe's, official partner of the NFL. The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys.com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. How about them Cowboys?

[Caller (Dano or Mike or Alan)]

Go Cowboys.

[Kyle Yeomans]

This is Talking Cowboys streaming live from.

[Isaiah Stanbach]

The Dallas Cowboys world headquarters at the Star in Frisco.

[Josh Rodriguez]

CD Lamb. Touchdown.

[Caller (Dano or Mike or Alan)]

It's on.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Jake Ferguson.

[Caller (Dano or Mike or Alan)]

Prescott keeps it and he bangs it.

[Josh Rodriguez]

In for the touchdown.

[Kyle Yeomans]

And now your hosts, Isaiah Stanbach, Patrick.

[Isaiah Stanbach]

Walker, Josh Rodriguez and Kyle Yeomans.

[Kyle Yeomans]

It's a talking Tuesday edition of Talking Cowboys presented by Black Rifle Coffee company live from the Star in Frisco, Texas in the SWBC studios. Welcome in, everybody. We've got Patrick Nosi Walker, Josh Rodriguez with Chris Beam in the back. I'm Kyle Yeomans. And since it's a talking Tuesday, you know what to do.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

You know what to do. 888-855-2297. Call 8888-TLK-BBYS.

[Kyle Yeomans]

I guess Isaiah is not here. He forgot about the bit.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

What's the bit?

[Josh Rodriguez]

Call me now.

[Kyle Yeomans]

That's what I was thinking.

[Josh Rodriguez]

My bad.

[Isaiah Stanbach]

It's okay.

[Josh Rodriguez]

It's all good. But you did give the information, which was great. 888.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Tuesday, baby. We are ready to rock. Thank you, Chris Beamer.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Call me now.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Give us a call. We will answer those starting in the second segment. But before that, Jerry Jones just got off the phone.

[Josh Rodriguez]

He did.

[Kyle Yeomans]

With 10-5-3, the FAN flagship station of the Dallas Cowboys.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Oh, he did.

[Kyle Yeomans]

And there were some convos.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Whoa.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Multiple convos. Now I give credit to Sean, rj, Bobby. They kept peppering questions about trades. Just kept on peppering, trying to get somewhat. And Jerry Jones did a great job of kind of deflecting a lot of that. But you can still read in between the lines that there's wheels turning whenever it comes to this stuff.

[Josh Rodriguez]

There is. And like you said, shouts out to those three guys because they were just hammering at it, man. And he was just batting them away as best he could.

[Kyle Yeomans]

And they were trying to get creative.

[Josh Rodriguez]

And they even threw some names out there that we can't say on this show.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Oh, wow.

[Josh Rodriguez]

But he threw a couple pass rushes out there whose names have been tied to the Cowboys. And they asked him. Yeah, he.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Jerry.

[Josh Rodriguez]

They did.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah.

[Josh Rodriguez]

And they asked him if he could provide some clarity. And he was like, no, no.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Straight up, he goes.

[Josh Rodriguez]

He's like, no good friend.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Yeah. That would be tampering if he did.

[Caller (Dano or Mike or Alan)]

And he.

[Josh Rodriguez]

He did a lot of subterfuge as far as. Like when. When Bobby asked him about linebackers possibly entertaining a trade to add to the linebacker cord, and he was like, not necessarily. No, absolutely not. But then you never know. And he. Then he laughed and he was like, how's that answer for you? So that just tells you, you know. But when you combine what. What little they were able to pull out of Jerry Jones in conjunction with what, 105. Three, the fan was able to speak to and with Stephen Jones about yesterday, they've been making calls. I mean, Stephen Jones told the fan yesterday that they had called the other. Every one of the other 31 teams. Now, of course, he painted it with the broad stroke of saying, you know, that's just us doing our due diligence and seeing what's out there. But they're on the phone. They're on the phone.

[Kyle Yeomans]

And remember their whole.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

And so are you. Call in.

[Josh Rodriguez]

There you go. That's it.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Sprinkle that in there. The whole thought process from the Jones family is a lot of times, especially when it comes to the draft, that they want the phone to ring. But the fact that they are being aggressive at least shows that they see the problem, too. And I feel like anybody can see the problem. I feel like that's an obvious thing.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

It's not hard to diagnose.

[Kyle Yeomans]

No, they see the problem and they.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Want to find the.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Matt.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

You can see what they're doing.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah. So it at least gives a little bit of clarity, the fact that there could be something done. The weird part about it is that we're less than seven days away.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Correct.

[Kyle Yeomans]

From the NFL trade deadline. It's a week from today. Right. Tuesday afternoon.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Tuesday afternoon.

[Kyle Yeomans]

So, yeah, we are seven days away. And you'll have less than 24 hours from.

[Josh Rodriguez]

That's what's key.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Monday Night Football.

[Josh Rodriguez]

That's what's key.

[Kyle Yeomans]

And what happens on Monday against the Cardinals to then turn around and make a deal.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Right.

[Kyle Yeomans]

You're going into your bi week, which is good. However, not a lot of time to make a decision.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Well, you know, they said deadlines make deals, and that's rarely more true within the NFL than with this organization.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Yes.

[Josh Rodriguez]

So, you know, Jerry was also asked if. Because he said Jerry did after the Broncos loss. He said that game in and of itself doesn't. Doesn't color their thought process as far as how they would approach the. The trade deadline, I honestly don't know that. I believe that. Yeah, I don't know that. How you watch that game and then say to yourself, you know, let's just watch that. That doesn't really affect. I don't see how you say that. But he did believe it. If you choose to, it's up to you. I don't. But that being said, if I believe if you lose this game to the Cardinals, I don't see how you're not on. If you're of the mindset, if you're on team, you can save this season. If you're on that team and the front office is going to be on that team. If they lose to the Cardinals, then I don't see how you were on that team and then don't get on the phone and try to make a deal at the deadline.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

I think. I don't know, man. When you're looking at it microscopically, how we are week to week and, you know, result by result, game by game, in terms of how they look at it, I mean, they're kind of like the Bene Gesserit in Dune. It's like they think in centuries. You know what I mean? They're thinking long term in this way. But if you're looking at the season as a whole, you haven't had a repeat performance this entire season. The season is literally what the Cowboys are. Loss, win, loss, tie, win, loss, win, loss. And by the way, last week you won 44, 22. This last week you lost 24, 44.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah, almost completely flip.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

It's.

[Josh Rodriguez]

You were literally mission of mid.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

You are mid right now. So it should be no surprise to them. They built the roster, they know the personnel. It's. They're not performing to the level that they expected at this point. So, yeah, I don't see how the Broncos loss could affect you in a way to be like, oh, well, you know, sell, sell, sell or buy, buy, buy. It is the result of what you've built. So now you have to make decisions. The deadline is here. Yeah, but they've set up many occasions that everybody else's deadline is not necessarily their deadline. Deadlines make deals. This is absolutely true. But if they're not willing to in the next two or three days make a trade that will impact this team, what else can we expect? You know, it's.

[Josh Rodriguez]

It will.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

It's up in the air. I'm frustrated.

[Josh Rodriguez]

You have, and you should be, as we all are. You have to do something if you are of the mice. And again, there are two trains of thought here. All right? So choose the train that you want to, you know, travel down the tracks with. One train of thought is season's over. Let's focus on the draft. Keep your draft picks, build for the future, reload the defense. If that's your train of thought, so be it. If your train of thought is the other one, which is you can save the season, you don't want to waste the window of Dak Prescott in this play. You don't know if George Pickens is going to return for next season. You want to take advantage of this offense's firepower while, while you can, you have to do something. So be it trade and or go out into free agency. You have guys in free agency, particularly at the safety position. I mean you. News and notes. Would you like a news and note about your safety position?

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Yeah, let's talk about it.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Okay. Well, Elijah Clark, per Brian Schottenheimer, is going to be out a couple of weeks. Oh, you just lost another safety. So let me recap. Malik Hooker is on injured reserve and Shady said yesterday that this is not the week that Malik's 21 day practice window will begin. So Malik Hooker is still on ir. Donovan Wilson missed last week's game. We don't know if he's going to play this game. Duanye Thomas has now missed two games with migraines and that's a real tenuous situation. We don't know if he's going to be able to play.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

It's a developing thing for him.

[Josh Rodriguez]

It's a developing thing and it's new to him. I had that conversation with him. So he's trying to figure out how to manage migraines because he's not had them until recently. Recently. So from a safety position you have Marquis Bell. Oh, I'm sorry. And were you expecting me to continue? You have Marquis Bell. That's. I mean, you had to put your nickel corner ready Stewart back at safety. So I say that to say, you know, I think you have to do a combination of things. I think you have to look into a trade scenario and you have to dip your, your foot into free agency right now. If you're of the train of thought that you can save this season.

[Kyle Yeomans]

I think in just to play off of your point, and I said this yesterday with the way that we've gotten here as a franchise, as an organization, I don't think anybody before the season was realistic, realistically saying this roster is an 11, 12, 13 wins team. Nobody said that it was more like 7, 8, 9, depending on who you talk to.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

I was of the mind that you.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Maybe get the 10.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

I was of the mind that with a healthy depth crossout you could win 10 games easily.

[Josh Rodriguez]

But you probably also have Michael on.

[Kyle Yeomans]

This team before the season.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Before the season.

[Kyle Yeomans]

But we also didn't anticipate the offense being as high powered as it has been. We knew it was going to be good. Did we anticipate it being a number one, number two offense in the country? Probably not. But then you didn't realize this defense would be a bottom one, bottom two defense in the league as well. You thought it would be somewhat serviceable and we've had that conversation plenty of so with all that to be said, how we've gotten here is now you're looking at Dak Prescott's window of really good football. And so I said it yesterday, you have to do something. You can't just sit on your hands. You're either going to have to build toward next year and the year after that by making a move that encompasses 26 and 27, much like they did with the Mica trade, or go all in on your defense right now because your offense, as long as you've got extra possessions, I have no problem on the offensive side of the ball. So I think you're at a corporation crossroads right now, a campaign cross crossroads whenever it comes to how are you going to handle this. And it's like that a lot of that's going to happen over this next seven days.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Yes, indeed.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Whatever this campaign is going to be for the Cowboys is happening between now and. What is it, 3pm Central Time?

[Josh Rodriguez]

3Pm Central Time.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Next next week?

[Josh Rodriguez]

Next Tuesday?

[Kyle Yeomans]

Next Tuesday. So there's, there's a crossroads that you're at right now and you got to find which way you just decide to go down. I don't know which way they're going to go. I know I would go toward. Let's not waste the MVP window and let's not waste what Dak has been doing throughout this season. I know he came off a bad game and there were a lot of comments yesterday, oh my God, it's Dak Prescott again. Stop it. He was playing at an incredibly high level. Use that as you continue.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

And if that's the case, what do you do right now? What two positions do you got to.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Get a pass rusher.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Pass rush.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

So do you trade for a pass rush Pressure?

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yes.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

And then free agency. Is that involved in your decision making?

[Kyle Yeomans]

I don't Know how many free agents that are on the street are going to just come in and be a. Not a playmaker at safety or really anywhere. I mean, who are you?

[Josh Rodriguez]

I think you need a. You need an impact guy at the edge and you need a stabilizer at safety. Now I would.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

I need a linebacker. I need another cornerback.

[Josh Rodriguez]

I don't.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

I need.

[Josh Rodriguez]

I just don't see them. I don't think they're trading a linebacker. Linebacker. There's one on the way. That's kind of a big deal. And whether you, you know, like it or not, the expectation will be the expectation.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

I need about nine to 10 guys on defense. How's that?

[Josh Rodriguez]

Extra.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I see. I don't think they're that far out. I know they're bad and I know the statistics are bad, but I don't think they're that far out. I think if you get some level and resemblance of a pass rush that is capable of opening things up, then I think you're going to start to see the play of Dante Fowler Jr. Take a step forward. The play of Donovan as Rock, who.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Take a step forward.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Marshawn Ne doesn't have to put pressure on himself to be a pass rusher and he can kind of just defend the run like he was drafted to do. There's a lot of things that will happen if you get one pass rusher, an elite level pass rusher, which is going to cost you in the middle of the season. It's going to cost you, however, the safety, position, corner, whatever you do. If you want to trade a day two, day three pick to get there, then maybe you do it. But I don't think there's that guy just out there on the open market. Right.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

I would argue there's. You could definitely improve by getting another guy in the middle and not necessarily a pass rusher because I think absolutely doing that would cost you less because they're not trading two ones for an interior defense.

[Kyle Yeomans]

So you're saying do that instead of a pass rusher.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Yes.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Oh, man.

[Josh Rodriguez]

You gotta have a password because that. To Kyle's point, and I've said it.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

If you can control the line of.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Scrimmage and stop the run, permanently fence from. Oh, you're.

[Kyle Yeomans]

You're talking about interior defensive line. I thought you were talking about middle as in like linebacker.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

No.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Oh, that's how I took it also. So you.

[Kyle Yeomans]

I'm fine with that too. I'm okay with that too, if you're controlling the defensive front. But the argument that I had the Other day or the debate that I had the other day with Isaiah was you've had the best interior defensive line play you've had in decades.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

And now it's not holding up.

[Kyle Yeomans]

And it's not, it's not because.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Because there is no threat of a pass. One begets the other. But I'm saying if you have another guy solidified guy next to Kenny Clark that is able to stop the run, Absolutely stop it. The outside will feast. I think I have a. I have an inkling of opportunity there.

[Josh Rodriguez]

There is.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

I'm not forgetting about what James Houston was able to provide and Perry on Winfrey. Like if we saw what we saw from training camp and what we saw from preseason, if he's healthy enough to get back this year, I mean, that's a plus. That's on the plus side. If he gets back. I haven't heard anything about him, you know, same.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Neither have I.

[Kyle Yeomans]

There might be a reason for that.

[Josh Rodriguez]

There's. Yeah, maybe there is a point to be made that you're making in that there are instances where, okay, if you drop another impact guy on that defensive tackle in that defensive tackle room and you put him next to Kenny Clark. Okay, I see where you're going with that. I see what you're cooking. But more often than not, you have to look at the fact that even when the run defense through, let's say the first four, five ish games, the first, the run defense before Carolina. Yeah, the run defense or before New.

[Kyle Yeomans]

York, because Breece hall played, I'll say that.

[Josh Rodriguez]

But you now you're starting to see what's happening. For example, J.K. dobbins, a lot of his runs were attacking.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Yes, absolutely.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Right. So, yeah, throw another body at the defensive tackle. It looks great, sounds great. It will work. As far as keeping them from running A, B, but hit C, right. Chester edges, your edges are not playing well in defending the run and they're not rushing the passer. So for me it's, you know, you ask OSA to take the step up, Solly to take the step back up. So those guys plus Kenny Clark, that trio was doing work in the first four games. You ask those guys to do work again. But in helping them do that, you add an impact. Not just an impact, but a game breaking pass rush which then combines with that also helps your linebackers, also helps your secondary, shortens the coverage windows if you can get into more. And then the safety issue that you have depth wise and performance wise becomes masked much more. So then if you say, okay, I want to trade for this costly pass rusher. Yeah, I don't want to trade for a costly pass rusher and for costly safety. Fine, cool. Give me a pass rusher and then you go and get a capable veteran, proven safety to stabilize that unit back there. And now you're cooking. Or maybe like you do what Kyle just said, you give a day three pick away and then maybe you can.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Fourth round pick and get you a pretty good.

[Josh Rodriguez]

You know. You know what? Because you're going to get comp picks anyway and this team loves the fact that they have the comp picks and you can flip those copics. So there's ways to make this happen. You just need to go make it happen.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

But I, I think there's no argument that you need extra pieces on defense.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Yeah.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Currently do not have and I think that's. That's the crux of it. And that would be the problem if a week from now nothing has happened.

[Kyle Yeomans]

That's where I'm at. You got to do something. You can't just sit here where you're.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Poking it with the stick.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yes, please just do something. And I. Josh brings up great points and he made the joke at the beginning of the segment of you need a corner, you need a safety, you need a linebacker, you need a defensive tackle, you need an edge rusher. They need all of it.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Yeah.

[Kyle Yeomans]

But where is it going to give you the most bang for your buck right now with what you do have? And that's where I lean pass rusher because I think it opens everything up. I agree with you. Adding an extra three tech that can stop the run. Awesome. But you can't give up your entire future to try and trade for five or six guys on the defensive side and one of them to be included as a three tech.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

100%. I'm just not willing to part with those ones quite yet. I'm willing to take.

[Kyle Yeomans]

I feel you.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

I'm willing to take a bet on a three or a four or two.

[Josh Rodriguez]

One of those ones putting them in one of Isaiah's paper airplanes and I'm sending that thing and let's see what it, what it hooks and let's really.

[Kyle Yeomans]

One of those AFC teams see what it hooks.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Is it ours or is it Green Bay?

[Josh Rodriguez]

Green Bays and yes, Green Bays because it's going to be.

[Kyle Yeomans]

And don't trade, don't trade your 27 first, please.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Yeah.

[Kyle Yeomans]

If you don't because that draft's going to be nuts. All right, I'm with you. I have the internal struggle and I'm with you guys. I. I think we're all together. Page this something. This defense is not good. And you need to do something.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

I know. I like campaign Crossroads. I like that.

[Josh Rodriguez]

I like that. Hey, that was a bar.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

That was a bar.

[Kyle Yeomans]

All right, when we come back, we're going to give you the chance to drop some bars on this show. 888-855-2297. It's a talking Tuesday. We're taking phone calls from talking cowboys nation and from the fan Mali family. I try it every time.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

We gotta do it different.

[Kyle Yeomans]

We're gonna get it. Yeah. We'll be back with more talking cowboys right after this.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Call me now.

[Commercial/Announcer]

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[Isaiah Stanbach]

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[Josh Rodriguez]

Hey, mom. Before you ask, I've Done my homework and the dishwasher's unloaded. Nice. Hey, can you.

[Isaiah Stanbach]

Hey, hon.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yes, I've got the finale ready to play.

[Isaiah Stanbach]

Here's your wine.

[Kyle Yeomans]

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[Josh Rodriguez]

Restrictions and exclusions apply. See att.com guaranty for details.

[Kyle Yeomans]

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[Josh Rodriguez]

Every day begins with a promise.

[Isaiah Stanbach]

A promise to work hard and to build a future. That's why we're here, providing the tools.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Expertise and John Deere equipment you have relied on for generations to help you.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Get the job done right.

[Josh Rodriguez]

We're with you. That's our promise to you. Because no matter the project or the challenge you're facing, we're with you. We're united. How's it going? You see that Cowboys game?

[Isaiah Stanbach]

Oh, I watched.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Been seeing some good things.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Totally. They have some talent. Yup.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Some great talent.

[Josh Rodriguez]

And they got some fight. Hoping this is the year. Me too. Oh, I'm Cody, by the way.

[Isaiah Stanbach]

I'm Travis.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Nice to meet you, Travis. Go Cowboys.

[Isaiah Stanbach]

Go Cowboys.

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[Josh Rodriguez]

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[Commercial/Announcer]

Copyright 2025 bank of America Corporation.

[Isaiah Stanbach]

Back to Talking Cowboys.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Back here on Talking Cowboys. This segment is brought to you by Invisalign. The official smile of the Dallas Cowboys. We're smiling through it here for Cowboys Patrick no Walker.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Tommy smiling.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Josh Rodriguez.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Tommy was smiling.

[Kyle Yeomans]

What was that? What are we doing, Tommy?

[Josh Rodriguez]

I don't know, man.

[Caller (Dano or Mike or Alan)]

The.

[Kyle Yeomans]

The screenshot yesterday and if you haven't seen it yet, go to. Go to Josh's Twitter. Josh, like, close up, everybody. That was in the middle of our wide shot to start and I didn't.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Because you're talking like.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah, I was in the Middle of like the open. So, like, don't. Yeah, don't. Don't need.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

But path said it all. Yeah, my face said it all.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Angry.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Angry. And then Tommy's like.

[Kyle Yeomans]

The only thing missing out of Tommy's, like, close up headshot was his teeth.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Yeah.

[Kyle Yeomans]

The only thing missing.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

And a thumbs up.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yep. He just. Come on, Tommy.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Come on, Tommy.

[Kyle Yeomans]

I did say, like, read the room. He is the model of consistency because.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

I mean, every day he's happy to be here.

[Kyle Yeomans]

He's just happy to be here. He's.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

He's glass half full kind of guy.

[Isaiah Stanbach]

Absolutely.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Might go to what Melvin just said in the chair. He said the Phantom Elite is splintering.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

That's what we were doing yesterday for sure. But I was saying it helps to not be like a fan of the team, you know, because Tommy's just going to work, basically. Right.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Melvin kind of. Melvin kind of stews the splintering, though. He's Master Splinter. Yeah, yeah. In the chat, we see you, Melvin.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Oh, yeah. Of the Foot.

[Kyle Yeomans]

All right.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Of the Foot clan.

[Kyle Yeomans]

It's time for Talking Tuesday. Let's start things off. This is going to be great. I love it when this guy calls in. This is Dano in Florida. What's up, Dano? Welcome back.

[Caller (Dano or Mike or Alan)]

Hey. Hey, guys. How you doing?

[Kyle Yeomans]

Great.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Good.

[Caller (Dano or Mike or Alan)]

Hey. Hey. Let me preface this by saying you're talking to a real pissed off fan at this point.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Love it.

[Caller (Dano or Mike or Alan)]

And when I refer to the front office, I'm referring to one man and one man only, and that's Jerry Jones, who I believe his commitment to mediocrity is outstanding. Okay. You're going to wind up wasting some damn good guys on offense. He's done that before. Demarcus Ware is a prime example. Romo is a prime example. He's wasted their careers in Dallas. I've gone back and I've looked at a couple of. I've looked at every game and this is my grades on the defensive side of the ball. DL, a D minus. Linebackers a D plus, secondary in F minus coaching and F minus, minus, you know, and defensive football, any football, you know, it's technique, scheme, talent, coaching. That's what it comes down to. And when I watch these guys, forget the scheme. I don't think anybody understands what Eber Flush is trying to do. At least I don't. And I'm. I'm of the opinion that he is a deer in the headlights. When you see him on the sidelines. He looks confused. This is just me. He looks confused. He looks like, you know, he's not three plays ahead, and that's what it looks like. I was wondering why he hasn't gone in the booth yet to be able to look down at how he's being attacked rather than being at field level, which is much harder to see. But so I go back to that technique, scheme, talent and coaching. Do we have the talent? More so yes than no. I believe. Okay. But it's. It's a bit of a crapshoot. All right. Technique. You know, I watch these guys and, you know, back in the day, you know, when I was in college, if you got double teamed, you got underneath that double team, you created a pile. You weren't getting blown off the ball. You wanted the linebackers to be able to clean up. Now it's in car at the college level. I see these guys that get to a knee, and it's almost the same type of a technique. You don't get blown off the ball. You get underneath the blocker. I'm watching guys the other. The other week, not this past week, but a couple weeks prior, the tackles looked like they. Like they were lined up in the seat in the B gap, like, outside show, inside shoulder to tackle. Well, Jesus, you know, my mother could run through that hole. All right, and like. And I'm going to throw something out because I think Eber flu should be gone. Rex Ryan, okay, he's out there. He may be a bit of a wild card, but you know what? He knows defensive football. He does. And I'm of the opinion if you want to try and salvage this team this year, you got to do something.

[Kyle Yeomans]

I agree.

[Caller (Dano or Mike or Alan)]

And I think. I think I again, and I think Iberfluous has probably lost the defensive players. If I was a player, he lost me. He lost me. And so that's all I got, guys. I see. I see.

[Josh Rodriguez]

No, we love you, Dano.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Appreciate the call, as always, Dano, and understand your feeling.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

For sure.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah, I get the frustration and I get there. He's not alone, by the way. There's a lot of. There are a lot of fans that feel that way.

[Josh Rodriguez]

He was cooking.

[Kyle Yeomans]

He absolutely accept that. Rex, there's a lot to unpack there. Where do you want to start? You want to start? He talked about. I know you wanted to say something about the talent level. He feels like, yes, the talent is there on defense, on.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Oh, I think he was saying for the roster. But was it specifically?

[Kyle Yeomans]

I thought he was talking defense.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

I mean, to be fair. I mean, he was talking about how the ownership has probably wasted, you know.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Offensive guys, offensive because of the defensive talent.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

I mean, I would argue the. Somebody's putting that together. You know, like there's a reason you have so many talented players on this roster. It's not clicking for a multitude of reasons and you can't pinpoint it to one guy in particular. I really don't feel that way. And it's not that I'm getting paid to say that. That is my personal opinion. I think you don't have the personnel on defense.

[Kyle Yeomans]

We've talked about the X's and O's in the roster building of this front office before with very much so clarity and ability and criticism and praise.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

When praise is due. It's, it's, it's an amalgam of those things. But genuinely, you don't have guys on defense. You don't have the personnel that is going to get you where you need to go because there are players that are taking plays off. There are players that are not getting off of their blocks when they absolutely need to.

[Kyle Yeomans]

I said it yesterday, the F. You can't teach effort. No.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

How many times does Isaiah have to tell us this before it really locks in? Not. And not to us, because of course we're listening and we're watching tape and we understand these things. But to those guys out there, effort is not taught. You have to get guys that have that.

[Kyle Yeomans]

And Jadavian, he called out Jadavian Clowney for lack of effort on the RJ Harvey touchdown run in postgame. And it's. It's apparent like there were.

[Josh Rodriguez]

There were a couple.

[Kyle Yeomans]

I mean, he wasn't alone.

[Josh Rodriguez]

No. When you go back and look at that film, there are a couple. There's Kyre Elam, he's one in particular. On a couple of those J.K. dobbins plays. I'm expecting him to crash down and help. And it's. I don't know. Felt like you were trying to avoid contact.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

I don't know, Jim.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Looks like it was a business decision.

[Kyle Yeomans]

There are multiple guys that are afraid of.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Just like it was a business decision.

[Kyle Yeomans]

I think our running back from Texas. I think our running back from Texas is also afraid of contact.

[Josh Rodriguez]

It could possibly be. I will say, you know, Dano cooked. He cooked in a lot of ways.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Okay.

[Josh Rodriguez]

I'm going to speak to the one thing he didn't cook on. This is why I was shaking my head. Keep Rick's Ryan away. Just keep him away. I realize it's. It's the, you know, the big name, it's the flashy name, it's the sexy name, etc. Etc. And people know, it's the name people know. And Rex has, you know, tried to leverage himself through the media over these past couple of dude, that guy. Coaching cycles like desperate to try seriously this building. But.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

And he's a caricature of what you'd expect out of a defensive minded coach.

[Josh Rodriguez]

But I think what people are looking at when those who are on the Rex Ryan train, they're looking at, at the, the yesteryear of Rex Ryan, they're looking at peak Rex Ryan. And I've said this, and I've said it before, I'll say it again. Time fades pictures for people. So what people fail to remember, they remember, oh well, he got Mark Sanchez and the jets to the AFC championship game, on which occasions he absolutely did. How things go in Buffalo. My point being that as we sit here and have this conversation in 2025, you're trying to tell me for those that are on the Rex Ryan train and otherwise, Daniel, you cooked. But this is where I got a, I got a, we gotta square up. Respectfully, Rex Ryan hasn't coached in almost a decade. So if you want a modern minded coach, I get it, you want the old school ball coach. Great. You had that in Mike Zimmer. How'd that work out? Okay. It takes more than just simply saying you're a hard nosed, all old school spur, your type ball coach. In order to come in and fix a defense that's this bad, you have to be able to do that plus modernize it to the, to today's standards. Because offensive nowadays, they are so complex because. And the league is legislated toward helping offense to score points. You can't just simply drop in a Rex Ryan who hasn't coached in almost a decade and say, oh well, you know, 15 years ago he did a thing. Congrats on doing that thing 15 years ago. Almost anyway. But that's not going to fix it here. But what you will get is more drama. Yeah. Because it's Rex. You had his brother Rob here how that turned out. It was one of the worst defenses in the history of the franchise. Bless you. So I'm out. I could not be more out on Rex Ryan. But as far as everything else you said, Daniel, I'm with you on that. I don't know that I agree. Actually I don't agree with the, the personnel stance if you were in fact saying it's a defensive thing. So if your point was defense has the personnel.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Yeah. And I may have missed the clarity.

[Josh Rodriguez]

I think I, I pockets they have the personnel, but sure, they're. They don't have all of them. Which is why we're saying you need. I don't think they have the safety stabilizer and some.

[Kyle Yeomans]

No, and I don't think they have. I said it yesterday. I. Multiple years now, multiple defensive coordinators and we're all sitting here saying the same thing. You can't stop the run and if you don't get a pass rush, your secondary is a liability. So with all that being said, I think you just don't have the personnel.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

I don't think you have the personnel and I don't.

[Kyle Yeomans]

On the defensive side of the ball.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

I don't think one coordinator is going to change the outlook and the identity of your defense right here, right now with the personnel that is currently switching.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Your coordinator in the off season may not have that impact.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

You had an opportunity to kind of keep some continuity whenever. My gosh, Al Harris was here.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

And he left. Yep. And that was, you know, that was a choice to let him walk out the building when he had a rapport with the secondary as it was and.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Wasn'T a good choice. But it was a choice.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

It was a, it was a choice to be made.

[Kyle Yeomans]

It was a choice on him. Yeah.

[Josh Rodriguez]

It was a choice on him for a reason. And yeah, I mean we're not going to make this the Al Hara segment, but we'll just simply say that. And we got to be careful because he's under contract with another team. Yeah. But I will say that I do believe in hindsight I have to word this a certain way and I'm wording it a certain way for a reason. Put me back in the, the, the tents of the off season. And in the off season, I was one of several like you guys who thought that Al Harris deserved more responsibility and deserved a look at defensive coordinator. He didn't get that look. Now he's in Chicago and I'll leave it there. Hi.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Alright, let's. Let's hear from Mike in New York. What's up, Big Mike?

[Caller (Dano or Mike or Alan)]

What's going on, guys? What's frustrating about the Cowboys is talking about it for many years. When was the last time the Cowboys actually had a good run defense? I've been watching this team for many years that we talk about it all the time, but it's like I, I mean I, I know we talk about everything with the defense, of course, but was the last time we actually had a good run defense? It's been a long time.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it certainly has. What else Is on your mind.

[Caller (Dano or Mike or Alan)]

I just, like I said, I like, like Jerry, he made his point on the, you know, on the post game. Yeah. You know, we need, we need more than one player. So we, we got, we got to do something. I mean it's kind of, you know, we, you know, we, we just, hey, then defense has to improve. We were the worst defense in the whole league. Like I, I mean I understand that we didn't, you know, we should, I personally, we should have kept Parsons. We should have paid him, of course, but obviously money, salary cap and this and that, but you know, we got, we gotta, we gotta do something. We, you know, we definitely got definitely, you know, it's two way street that definitely, definitely need, you know, secondary help. We, you know, injuries and this and that. Gotta do something. We gotta improve some way. Yeah.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Appreciate you Mike, as always. And he brings up a point there is. When it comes to the Mica trade, you thought you were going to be a worse defense. You don't trade an elite all pro, possible future hall of fame pass rusher and think you're going to be better on the defensive side. But to go to the depths that they have on that unit so far, I think that's what's frustrating about the whole scenario.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Yeah, 100%. And I'll say this, it's interesting that it's a tale of two takes. Okay. Because right now after the Michael Parsons trade, you hear the front office and you hear some of the fans kind of towing that line saying, oh, well, you know, you couldn't pay him and do. Well, you tried to pay him and the money you were trying to pay him would have negated the take that you have. I think that's just coping, really. I think it's just coping.

[Caller (Dano or Mike or Alan)]

Yeah.

[Kyle Yeomans]

I mean they were, they were ready to pay him.

[Josh Rodriguez]

They were ready. He made 41. Yeah. Jerry made the offer. It was substantial. It had substantial guaranteed money. So I just say, I just think that the, the regression of that conversation between the two and how things devolved and how it ended up going at this point, there's cope involved on both sides. Not just on the cowboy side, because Micah is, he's still talking about the Cowboys. Oh, man.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Every.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Every two. Two bitter X's. Yeah, bitter X's, it's just like, move on, buddy. Move on. Both of yous. Move on. But the fact of the matter remains, once you chose to trade Michael Parsons away, you, you just had to know that your defense was going to take a step back. But again, you did not know it was Going to be this. And this is a good chunk of it is accountable to Matt Eber Flutes. A good chunk of it is accountable to the players. And lack of execution, lack of effort, business decisions being made, injuries. I mean, you put all that in the pot and you probably end up with the worst defense in the league. And, oh, by the way, you do have the worst defense.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Let me ask you this. If you were in the GM shoes in that moment and you could see halfway through the season to the NFL trade deadline and say, by that point we're going to be 3, 5 and 1 and the defensive unit is going to be historically one of the worst you've ever had in your organization's history, would you have still gone through with the Micah Parsons trade?

[Isaiah Stanbach]

No.

[Kyle Yeomans]

I feel like right now you would say no, right?

[Josh Rodriguez]

I would have said no before without the benefit of that foresight. I would have said no because behind Michael Parsons. It was a lot of hope. And go ahead and say it for me.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah. Hope is not a strategy.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Hope is not a strategy. You hoped that Sam Williams, coming off of a torn acl, would have a breakout season in a contract year. That's what you were hoping. You were hoping that Dante Fowler would replicate his career. Best success that he had with the Commanders. His best. His most successful season with Dan Quinn with the Cowboys was as a rotational pass rusher. So you were hoping that you could possibly make Dante a full timer. Yeah. You would get that replication and it goes from there. You were hoping that Donovan is Raku would hit the ground running as quickly as Michael Parsons did, which is an anomaly and probably not going to happen. And it's not happening. You're hoping Marshawn Nealon would take the step. All this hope.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Yeah.

[Josh Rodriguez]

That's not enough for me to look at Michael Parsons and say, okay, I'm good without you.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

I would argue that it wasn't just hope because you were seeing a lot of this at training camp and in the preseason. You were seeing a lot of those guys step up in ways that made you feel a little more comfortable, I think.

[Josh Rodriguez]

My, my. Just so we're on the same page, my point of view comes from immediately post draft. That's why I mentioned Donovan Israel. Right. So I'm looking like June.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Yeah.

[Commercial/Announcer]

Okay.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Or you go to training camp.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Gotcha.

[Josh Rodriguez]

It's hope for that point forward before you see anybody take a single snap.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

And my purview here is from training camp, when you're seeing those guys step up in big ways and you're like, oh, my God, Is Donovan as Roccu? That dude, because of how quick he's.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Able to get off, had a hell of a training camp.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

And granted, even Tommy was talking about how he's, you know, he's right there, he's getting there, he's almost there, but the actual results aren't where they need to be.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah, I said this initially. I didn't like the Micah trade. I still think it opens you up and gives you flexibility for the future. And when it happened, this was talking. I'm talking about when that trade came down prior to the season. I said it gives you a whole lot of possibilities. And they've already taken advantage of some of that. They signed Tyler Smith. They signed to Ron Bland. Jake Ferguson was already done. But they've options to possibly sign a George Pickens in the future. And then they've got the two first round draft picks. Kenny Clark comes in. He's under contract for three years. All of the elements of the trade give you flexibility as an organization. Which brings us right back to right now. You did not anticipate to be a better defense in 2025.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Correct.

[Kyle Yeomans]

This was a move for 26 and 27. But with the offense playing that it has been, that's where it's changed my mind. And it's like, you got to do something now and you got to do something again.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Something.

[Kyle Yeomans]

All right, we got to take our second break. That's what we're doing right now. When we come back here on Talking Cowboys. We've got Allen in Phoenix. It's a talking Tuesday. Hold on, Alan. We'll take your call momentarily. More Talking Cowboys right after this.

[Commercial/Announcer]

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[Isaiah Stanbach]

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[Josh Rodriguez]

You see that Cowboys game?

[Isaiah Stanbach]

Oh, I watched.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Been seeing some good things. Totally. They have some talent. Yup.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Some great talent.

[Josh Rodriguez]

And they got some fight. Hoping this is the year. Me too. Oh, I'm Cody by the way.

[Isaiah Stanbach]

I'm Travis.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Nice to meet you, Travis. Go Cowboys. Go Cowboys.

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[Josh Rodriguez]

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[Patrick Noe Walker]

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[Kyle Yeomans]

It's the official men's skincare brand of the Dallas Cowboys Jack Black. And right now Cowboys fans can get 15% off their $75 order. Plus because every deal needs a playmaker, your order will include a free five piece skincare set and free shipping. The Jack Black Playmaker is four of Jack Black Jack's favorites in a full sized intense therapy lip balm. Make a play for the [e-mail] Cowboys with the code Cowboys VIP that's getjackblack.com Cowboys with the Code Cowboys VIP I'm.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Home Hey, mom, before you ask, I've done my homework and the dishwasher's unloaded. Nice. Hey, can you.

[Caller (Dano or Mike or Alan)]

Hey, hon?

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yes, I've got the finale ready to play.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Here's your wine. Wow.

[Kyle Yeomans]

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[Josh Rodriguez]

Restrictions and exclusions apply.

[Kyle Yeomans]

See att.com guarantee for details. Back to Talking Cowboys, back here on Talking Cowboys, brought to you by Black Rifle Coffee Company, the official coffee of the Dallas Cowboys. Need a little extra coffee today.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

I think I'm gonna go get some coffee on Monday.

[Kyle Yeomans]

You think so?

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Yeah.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Why is that?

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Well, I'm gonna wear my Cowboys merch and go to Black Rifle and get myself 10 off my. How much order 10 off.

[Kyle Yeomans]

10. But you couldn't do that if you wanted to get, like, a T shirt or, like a bag of coffee or anything, right?

[Patrick Noe Walker]

You could do it for anything.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Anything.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Any item inside that storage. 10 off. If you work Dallas Cowboys merch on.

[Kyle Yeomans]

The game day, baby, I'm taking this chair. 10 off, right?

[Josh Rodriguez]

No, do it.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Don't do that. Don't do that. And please don't tell them Talking Cowboy sent you. Steel furniture.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Just tell them we sent you and then be like, they sent me.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah, they sent me. They'll be like, what the hell are you talking about? All right. Alan in Phoenix is on Talking Cowboys. What's going on? Alex or Alan? Sorry, Allen.

[Caller (Dano or Mike or Alan)]

It's all good.

[Josh Rodriguez]

It's all good.

[Caller (Dano or Mike or Alan)]

And, man, honestly, like you said, hope is not a strategy. So I'm being optimistic. But every day after. Every week, it's just. Just becomes a little less. A little less. A little less. It's all good, though. I'm a huge fan of the shows. My second time calling. Patrick, I love your live tweets. They keep me, honestly, really into the game because I feel like I understand a lot more. And honestly, ever since I started listening to the show, I just been, you know, been understanding football a lot more and more in tune with the game. And honestly, I don't even know what to say, man. This defense is atrocious.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

I mean, they.

[Caller (Dano or Mike or Alan)]

They. It's just. It's rough. Rough.

[Kyle Yeomans]

I don't.

[Caller (Dano or Mike or Alan)]

I don't know. I wanna. I wanna be on train, you know, trade for players and stuff, right? Now, but man, I don't know. I don't know. I really got much to say. Just want to say I'm a big fan of the show and hope you guys have a good day.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Thanks, Alan.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Appreciate you calling, buddy.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Appreciate you calling.

[Josh Rodriguez]

He sounds so defeated and I get it.

[Kyle Yeomans]

No, he does. He's like, I love the show. I love listening to you guys.

[Josh Rodriguez]

But man, he is so tired. But so are so many fans. They're just, it's. Yeah. All you can do now is hold on to the optimism that you have, which is that, yes, we understand and we can't say this enough. Dak Prescott in the offense had a bad day at the office. So if you're going to criticize him, criticize him in that, that framing. But to say that the offense is a problem and you're worried about it going forward, stop that. The defense is the problem. The defense is who you have to worry about going forward and the defense is who you need to throw something at. Whether it be a trade and or free agency. Just do, do something. If you're on the train of thought that you can still salvage the season, you got to do something. You can't just stand it.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Let me just say that like, granted, we're not here criticizing the offense very much. It was a bad day at the office. It was the worst time to have a bad day at the office. Yeah, it was bad, but they've criticized themselves. I mean, Dak Prescott was talking about it in his post game presser about, you know, he said, I was pressing. I was pressing. That is never good for Dak Prescott to be pressing.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Right.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

That, that throwed it to Jake Ferguson and Kyle was very obviously opinionated about that throw. I hated that throw at halftime and understandable because he was pressing.

[Kyle Yeomans]

He broke it down too. He said he thought, he thought the seam would be open over the top and it's the corner plate closer to him than he thought. And I was like, that's pressing. That's the example of pressing. All you got to do there is throw it to the boundaries and get you three points and you're down by a two possessions with the ball make.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

A 70 year old field goal. Man, you got an Aubrey right there.

[Josh Rodriguez]

The problem is, is number one and I said this yesterday, don't ever throw that ball again.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah.

[Josh Rodriguez]

That being said, I see the thought process. I think this. He won't say it publicly, which is fine because he's a leader in the locker room. But we can say it when you, when you don't Trust that your defense can get a stop. You know for a fact you can't trade field goals for touchdowns 100%. So you know even though you got three in your back pocket, you're probably going to press. And then what makes you press more is the fact that your protection was simply not there. Right. So also, quick news and note. Sounds like Cooper Bibi is going to be back this week. Per Steven Jones to 105 3. He said he believes Cooper Bibi will be back, so at least you get some reinforcement there. But the biggest thing is this offense. I feel confident in the saying they will not have too many more bad days at the office.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Now it's going to happen.

[Josh Rodriguez]

The defense, though, I don't know if they have another good day at the office in them. When you look at the gauntlet that awaits them coming out of the bye, this is why the Cowboys needed to stack as many wins as possible going into the bye week. Because coming out of the bye, that's, that's pretty, pretty nasty work waiting for you.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah, you've gotten beat so far by Jalen Hurts, which is understandable. Caleb Williams, Bryce Young, Bo Nix, Cheese. Those are the three quarterbacks.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Who's to come? Who's to come?

[Isaiah Stanbach]

Yeah.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Well, this week it's questionable. It's going be to possibly be Kyler Murray. They think he can play, but if not, it's Jacoby Brissette. But then you've got Geno Smith, Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes, Jared Goff, whoever the hell the Vikings are going to play in December. I don't know what's happening with their spot situation right now. Justin Herbert, who's having a career year, maybe you get a healthy Jaden Daniels and then you'll have Jackson dart for the first time. So it's definitely, I mean, it's that, that stretch where it's Eagles, Chiefs, Lions, Vikings, Chargers, bang, bang, bang.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Just end the show. Dude, that was a terrible. That's the worst thing I've ever heard.

[Kyle Yeomans]

You lost that you lost.

[Josh Rodriguez]

The smile on Josh's face is such a psychological thing, Right? So it hurts so bad that your mind doesn't know how to process the pain anymore.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

No, no.

[Josh Rodriguez]

So now you just start smiling and laughing.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Can you read that list one more time, please?

[Kyle Yeomans]

Jalen Hurts, Caleb Williams, Bryce Young and Bo Nix.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Good. Good God.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Now you want me to read the list that they've beaten, please? Russell Wilson, narrowly.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Jaden, Super bowl champion, 500 yards.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Jaden Daniels and Justin Fields, he was.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

In the NFC Championship last year.

[Josh Rodriguez]

They did beat up on Jaden, who.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Was the last one?

[Kyle Yeomans]

Jaden Daniels and Justin Fields.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Justin Fields.

[Josh Rodriguez]

They tied with Jordan Lowe.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah.

[Josh Rodriguez]

So that was it.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Hey, Justin Fields won a game last week.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah. I don't know.

[Josh Rodriguez]

I mean, at the end of the day, it's, it's. What we're saying is you needed the first half of the season to have as many wins as possible because what comes to you after in the second half of the season is just the nastiest of work when it comes to your schedule, which is another reason why you have to do something. If you're trying to salvage this season at all. Now, in doing something, does that mean that you magically turn to, you know, a nine win team? I don't know. No.

[Caller (Dano or Mike or Alan)]

No.

[Josh Rodriguez]

But I do know that standing pat on what you have, when you see what you have is the worst in the league as far as defensively. I just don't see how you do that. And then look, you know, Brian Schottenheimer in the, in the face and say, yeah, we were, you know, we're trying to set you up for success in year one.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah.

[Josh Rodriguez]

There were moves that were made that you could look shoddy in the face and say that George Pickens being one of them. Right. Solomon Thomas being to a lesser degree, but that kind of addition. Right. But if you, if you fly through the trade deadline without Javante Williams. Absolutely. Javante Williams. Because we believe in Javante.

[Kyle Yeomans]

That was a sadder clap today.

[Josh Rodriguez]

It was because he didn't get as many opportunities. Right. Thirteen carries in a homecoming to Denver. You should have let him just run game. There's no reason to.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Nick had a good point yesterday. Was talking about. He's like at one point in, in the offensive huddle, they should have said, hey, remember they, they let you go and they didn't want you anymore anyways.

[Josh Rodriguez]

We're going to run it up the ball. The. Yeah. So, yeah, so some let him do his Marshawn lynch impression. Like sometimes you just got to run through a blank. Blank's face. Should let him run through their face.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Should have let it happen.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Yeah. Trade deadline is coming.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Do something one week from today. It's going to happen next Wednesday we're going to, we're going to go talking Tuesday trade deadline edition and then Wednesday we're going to be like, wow, they did something. Or here we go.

[Josh Rodriguez]

They did nothing.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Buckle up everybody. We're going into the bi week.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Shout out to Benjamin Perez. I called you in the first half of the chat. What do I know about Demon Slayer. Stop it, son. The movie. Check out the movie. It's one of the best anime movies I've ever seen in my life. That was just random. I had that filed away because I want to give him props for knowing about demons.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

Carl, what's the last movie you watched?

[Kyle Yeomans]

The last movie I watched. It's been a minute.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Was it the horror movie that you saw in Denver? All righty then.

[Patrick Noe Walker]

That'll do it.

[Kyle Yeomans]

That's it. Speaking of slaying demons, the title was 4424 the final. That's going to do it for us here on Talking Cowboys for Patrick no See Walker.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Yes, sir.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Josh Rodriguez. Chris Beam in the back of Kyle Yeoman saying so long. We'll see you tomorrow with more Talking Cowboys. This has been a production of Dallas.

[Isaiah Stanbach]

Cowboys.com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.

[Commercial/Announcer]

Get almost anything you need delivered with UberEats. What do we mean by almost? Well, you can't get a well groomed lawn delivered, but you can get a chicken parm delivered. A Little escape? No. A delicious bowl of grapes? Yes. Yes, that. An afternoon stroll? Sorry, no. A burrito bowl? Happily, yes. A day of sunshine? No. A box of fine wines? Yes. Uber Eats can definitely get you that. Get almost almost anything delivered with UberEats. Order now. Alcohol and select markets. Product availability may vary by region. See app for details. Get almost almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now.