Talkin’ Cowboys: The Blind Draft Test

Summary

Talkin’ Cowboys: The Blind Draft Test

Podcast: Talkin’ Cowboys
Date: March 24, 2026
Hosts: Kyle Yeomans, Isaiah Stanback, Josh Rodriguez (Patrick Walker out for surgery)

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Episode Overview

In this engaging pre-draft episode, the crew focuses on draft strategy, recent Cowboys roster moves, and runs through a fun “Blind Draft Test” where hosts compare anonymous draft prospect profiles to analyze fit for the Cowboys' evolving defense. The discussion is lively and honest, combining insight on front office decisions, in-depth player analysis, and Dallas's approach to team-building as the 2026 NFL Draft approaches.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Draft Guide Sneak Peek & Draft Talk Begins

• [01:21] The team reveals the new Cowboys Star Magazine NFL Draft Guide, giving listeners a sneak peek at the featured prospects, including Dylan Thienaman, Ruben Bane, David Bailey, Caleb Downs, Mansour Delane, Sonny Styles, and more.
• Insights into which of these prospects may be available past the top 12 picks, with a specific mention of arm length concerns on some players.
• Quote:
  "Thienaman probably is the other guys probably not. Bane, maybe because of the short arm. Somebody might get a little worried about 12, I think." – Kyle Yeomans [03:05]

2. Roster Updates & Free Agency Frustrations

• [05:15] Recap of outgoing Cowboys: Jalen Tolbert to Miami (now a potential starting WR), Brock Hoffman to Pittsburgh, Rob Jones and Peyton Turner leaving as well. Only Corey Ballantyne was re-signed recently.
• Candid reaction to front office strategy: frustration over lack of linebacker signings or experienced depth.
• Quote:
  "I have felt like that the last two weeks. Because you have still not addressed linebacker in any form or fashion. ... You just need consistency there and you don’t have size to speak of at linebacker. So I’m just very confused at the approach there." – Josh Rodriguez [12:23]

3. Free Agency Approach & the Need for Veterans

• [13:05] Discussion of the Cowboys’ tendency to rely on the draft rather than free agents, with concern that the team is left thin at key positions (especially linebacker, edge rusher).
• Isaiah emphasizes the urgency of trading a first-round pick (pick 20) to acquire additional draft capital, believing the Cowboys lack enough picks to fill all their needs:
  "With the lack of acquisitions that they’ve had this offseason, I can’t foresee them utilizing both picks and being okay with the remainder of the picks they have." – Isaiah Stanback [12:33]
• Debate on whether free agency strategies have left the roster vulnerable heading into the draft.
• Criticism of the team failing to close on targeted veterans in free agency and the challenges of negotiating after years of inactivity in that market.

4. Bobby Wagner & Veteran Leadership at Linebacker

• [20:06] Passionate advocacy from Isaiah and Josh for signing Bobby Wagner, addressing the need for leadership, wisdom, and sure tackling at linebacker.
  • "Please just go get Bobby ... You should have had him three years ago ... Now he’s done. Bobby’s still going, on year 37, still balling." – Isaiah Stanback [20:16].
• Discussion covers the value of having Wagner mentor draft prospects, but uncertainty whether Christian Parker (new DC) wants Wagner’s specific skill set.

5. Draft Capital & Planning

• Reviewing the Cowboys’ 8 draft picks, with 4 in the first five rounds after the OSA Odighizuwa trade.
• Debate on the (low) probability of late-round picks filling immediate roster needs, and baseline belief that the NFL is trending towards valuing proven player trades over waiting for rookie development.
• "Teams are tired of waiting … Go get you a guy that you know." – Isaiah Stanback [24:49]

6. Coaching & Pro Day Activity

• Praise for the retention of tight end coach Linda Wells amid outside offers — called perhaps the best “offseason retainment.”
• Cowboys have been active on the pro day circuit, especially at Miami, Baylor, and Texas.

7. Draft Strategy: BPA vs. Needs

• Lively debate about targeting “best player available” (BPA), but with the caveat that serious defensive needs (linebacker, edge, corner) force the board in specific directions.
• Some willingness to consider strong value at defensive tackle but general reluctance to spend high picks on perceived “strengthening strengths” rather than filling roster holes.
• "When you have holes on your defense, you are limited in what the best player available pool looks like." – Kyle Yeomans [36:14]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Bobby Wagner's Value:
  "When you guys are questioning whether or not this is somebody that the Dallas Cowboys should be considering, you might want to just check the rap sheet. … Because this dude can still ball. And if you got one year out of him with half of that productivity, you’re winning." – Isaiah Stanback [30:09]
• On LB/FA Frustration:
  "I'm not saying, you know, he needs to be a world beater or anything like that, but you just need consistency there and you don't have size to speak of at linebacker. So I'm just very confused at the approach there." – Josh Rodriguez [12:23]
• On Coaching Retainment:
  "Probably one of the best offseason retainments. ... Give a nice little hand clap to the front office for finding a way to retain him [Linda Wells]." – Isaiah Stanback [35:06]
• Draft Preparation Excitement:
  "Let's freaking go, Kyle. ... This is the best lead-in in the NFL calendar for me other than training camp." – Isaiah Stanback [44:32]

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Blind Draft Test Game (Draft Prospect Comparisons)

Segment Starts: [44:46]

• Kyle presents “blind resumes” of two closely-ranked draft prospects at linebacker and cornerback for the crew to pick without the distraction of player names or schools.

LB Blind Test:

• Linebacker 1: Slightly smaller, green dot potential (“cerebral,” calls the defense), less athletic testing, but consistent production.

• Linebacker 2: Bigger and faster, “downhill” play, athletic, but sometimes over-aggressive.

• Josh prefers Linebacker 1 for the green dot/cerebral factor. Isaiah leans Linebacker 2 for athletic upside and coachability.

• Reveal:

  • Linebacker 1: CJ Allen, Georgia
  • Linebacker 2: Anthony Hill Jr., Texas

CB Blind Test:

• Corner 1: Bigger, long arms, high vertical/broad jump, physical “box safety” type.
• Corner 2: Slightly smaller, versatile, strong bloodlines, high reps on bench, played inside/out.
• Both hosts choose Corner 1 for length, physical upside.
• Reveal:
  • Corner 1: Colton Hood, Tennessee (viable pick at #20)
  • Corner 2: Xavion Terrell, Clemson (ideal nickel, “Daron Bland 2.0”)

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Additional Insights and Fun Exchanges

• Inside jokes and running gags throughout (“Confident” stands for the “C” in Patrick “No C” Walker) [05:06].
• Ongoing playful banter about traveling “PJ” (private jet) vs. driving to pro days [33:46].
• Food metaphors (seasoned broccoli!) as stand-ins for unexciting draft options [40:55].

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Draft Guide Reveal: [01:19]
• Jalen Tolbert & Departed Players: [05:31]
• Free Agency Strategy & Frustration: [11:12]
• Bobby Wagner Discourse: [20:06], [30:09]
• Draft Picks & Planning: [24:03]
• Coaching/Pro Day Updates: [34:25]
• Draft Strategy Debate: [36:14], [37:29]
• Blind Draft Test Game: [44:46] – [53:16]

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Takeaway

This episode of Talkin’ Cowboys blends sharp draft acumen with candid critiques of the front office’s roster-building strategies. The “Blind Draft Test” segment is a highlight, revealing how the team’s needs and coaching philosophy shape their preferences beyond surface-level traits. Through all the uncertainty, the hosts convey urgency and hope, making this a must-listen for Cowboys fans as draft season kicks into high gear.

Transcript

[Lowe's Announcer]

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[Kyle Yeomans]

The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys.com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Cowboys.

[Kyle Yeomans]

This is Talking Cowboys streaming live from the Dallas Cowboys world headquarters at the Star in Frisco. It's on. Jake Ferguson.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Prescott keeps it and he bangs it into the touchdown.

[Kyle Yeomans]

And now your hosts, Isaiah Stanback, Patrick Walker, Josh Rodriguez and Kyle Yeomans. It's a one month out from the NFL draft edition of Talking Cowboys presented by Black Rifle coffee company live from the Star in Frisco, Texas and the SWBC studios. Welcome in everybody. We've got Josh Rodriguez, Isaiah, stand back. Chris Beam in the back. I'm Kyle Yeoman. So glad you're with us.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Oh, what's that?

[Kyle Yeomans]

What is that, Josh?

[Josh Rodriguez]

I think it's the Star magazine draft guy.

[Kyle Yeomans]

I think this might be like the debut of it.

[Josh Rodriguez]

It's the debut.

[Kyle Yeomans]

I don't think it's even been released.

[Josh Rodriguez]

I'll show you on this camp. This is a sneak peek.

[Kyle Yeomans]

This is definitely a sneak peek. This is what you get on Talking Cowboys is a nice little breaking news. That is the COVID Oh, we put

[Isaiah Stanback]

an organ deck on there.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Of the 2026 NFL Draft Guide by the Cowboys Star magazine personnel.

[Isaiah Stanback]

How does it. Oregon.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Who contributed to that magazine, Kyle?

[Kyle Yeomans]

I did.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Really?

[Kyle Yeomans]

You know who wanted to.

[Isaiah Stanback]

You're the one I should take this up with.

[Kyle Yeomans]

You want to know who wanted to put the Oregon Duck on the front?

[Commercial Announcer]

Me.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Oh, you.

[Kyle Yeomans]

It was son of Pissy Biscuit and it was only for you. I did it for you. No, I did it because Dylan Thienaman has a chance to be a cowboy. At least when we decided this magazine he had a bigger chance. Probably, but I still don't necessarily think it's out of the conversation.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Who else is on the COVID Kyle?

[Kyle Yeomans]

So you got Ruben Bane down in the bottom left hand corner, the edge rusher out of Miami. To his right you've got David Bailey, the edge rusher out of Texas Tech. Then you've got Caleb Downs, Ohio State safety. He's on the far left hand side. Then you got Mansour Delaine over the top in the LSU gear. You got Sonny Stiles in the gray Ohio State Uniform and then Dylan Fenham in there in the middle. Those are the COVID athletes for this year's Cowboys Star magazine draft guide, available online shortly, maybe within the next week. But it's in pro shops starting today.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Oh.

[Isaiah Stanback]

So come in person.

[Kyle Yeomans]

If you come in person to any of the cowbo pro shop locations, I believe in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex, leave with one. You can leave with one of these draft magazines.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Do any of those guys make it out the top 12?

[Kyle Yeomans]

Any of them make it out of the top 12?

[Isaiah Stanback]

Like beyond, like, do they?

[Kyle Yeomans]

Thienaman does probably. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Thienaman probably is the other guys probably not Bane, maybe because of the short arm. Somebody might get a little worried about 12, I think. But that's my thing is if he ends up going to 12, his arms

[Isaiah Stanback]

are really short, Kyle.

[Kyle Yeomans]

They are very short.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Almost too short, you would argue.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Really too short to play other teams even look at.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Shouldn't even touch him because you want him to end up here.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Shut up.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Shut up. It is 30 days out from the NFL draft, which means this is right around the time we're on talking Cowboys. We start talking draft stuff.

[Isaiah Stanback]

And you know what? Better start.

[Kyle Yeomans]

You better, better start getting your film

[Josh Rodriguez]

in with draft experts.

[Isaiah Stanback]

And we just started talking about it over there in the. In the, in the breakfast hall. That means it's almost time for practice.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah. I mean, we're what, six weeks away. Practice from. From actually hitting the field. Five weeks away now. Yeah, it's like five from hitting the field with rookie minicamp and then OTAs and then we're right back into practice time.

[Isaiah Stanback]

I love that.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah, I love that. Speaking of March madness, it's going to be madness by the time we get around to May. And I'm not ready for it yet. I'm just trying to hang out and get the draft stuff right.

[Josh Rodriguez]

But I know and you got two draft experts here and Isaiah stand back in Joshua recall not as much. Yeah, not as much. But if those wondering why we're missing Patrick. No, see, Walker, he's having surgery today. If you didn't last week he had an injury, baseball injury. But he is getting surgery today. He will be back. No doubt about it. Patrick Nosy Walker will return.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Show some love to. No see in the chat. He looks at the chat. So y' all show a man some love and give him some support. Surgeries are scary things, right? It's not a for sure thing. You know, people go in and they just assume that everything's gonna be okay. We are praying that everything's going to be okay. Y. But y' all send him some love, cuz he. He definitely needs to feel the fam.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah, we got to talk to him a little bit yesterday. He was in good, good spirits. Was. Was confident, of course, in the. The process, but man. Yeah, it's always tough.

[Josh Rodriguez]

No. C. Confident.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Always. That's what the C stands for.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Confident.

[Kyle Yeomans]

But he is confident.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Yeah.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Yes.

[Commercial Announcer]

Patrick.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yes. Confident Walker.

[Josh Rodriguez]

That's it.

[Kyle Yeomans]

That's it.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Right off the tongue, guy.

[Kyle Yeomans]

It rolls. This one rolls, baby. All right, let's get into some news and notes. Couple different things to keep in tabs with in terms of the Cowboys and what they did this past week. Start with some of the guys that left Dallas.

[Josh Rodriguez]

A notable name missing from that list. Kyle, I don't think we got to talk about them last week.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Okay.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Jalen Tolbert goes to the Dolphins.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Oh, yeah. I think it happened before our show last week, but we didn't talk about it.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Dude, I don't think we talk about it. Yeah, not big. Not a big topic of conversation last week.

[Isaiah Stanback]

I mean, you talk about some two years ago was your leading touchdown getter contributor.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Yeah, yeah.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Seven, two.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Two years ago. And I know he's never. He has never been the big name around here, but put some respect on what he did two seasons ago. He led your team in touchdowns, which is. I don't care what you feel about him. That was huge for him. Obviously, last year somebody came and took his spot. That's what this league is about. It's about competition. And now he finds himself not being reinstated here with the Cowboys. But he gets an opportunity with another team. Right. And that's the thing you. You interview for 31 other teams. What you put on film, somebody most likely is going to be appreciative of it and feel as if you can be a contributor to them in their program. So now him and Malik Willis get to become best buds.

[Josh Rodriguez]

I thought it's interesting that he's probably one of your top receivers for Miami now considering the trade that they had last week. But it's tough because Tolbert, like you said, contributed in touchdowns the year prior last year and a contract year lost his job to Ryan Flournoy. I think that more show more so says what Flournoy was able to do and how he's able to make that leap in his second year. But for me, at least Tolbert was kind of more of the same. He was a reliable pass catcher at times. He made a lot of really clutch receptions for you. But I don't think the run blocking was there. I don't think the, you know, the mantra last year was compete every day. I don't think that he was necessarily, I mean, I'm sure he was competing, but I just mean like he was obviously overtaken by Flournoy and probably the biggest reason why he's not here as a number four receiver, because Flournoy took that job.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Yeah.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Let me start by saying I enjoyed covering Jalen Tolbert and he was always very good to us and he was always somebody that was willing to talk and was very insightful when we had those conversations. And he was very open about some of the hard stuff too, especially like early in his career when he was talking about how he didn't feel like he connected enough with Dak and he wanted to be a right hand man to him and be a reliable target. And he did to a certain extent build himself into that at certain points in the year. But the consistency was a problem. I mean he had flashes. He had one of the best catches of the 2025 season on the sideline against the packers late in that game. He made plays. He's capable and he's capable of so. But the consistency was where it fell short and it was, it was, it was a one. If it wasn't one thing, it was another thing. If it wasn't the connected connection with Dak Prescott, it was a lingering injury. If it wasn't a lingering injury, it was his understanding of a scheme and of a play calling standpoint or a lost assignment or he wasn't blocking well. So he wasn't getting playing time when, when it gets down to that. That's where I tend to have less of a patience with a wide receiver who was a top 100 pick. He was picked 88th overall in a time where Dallas really wide receiver to step up and they anticipated him to do that immediately. And I loved his college tape out of South Alabama. I was very much so a high proponent and a high supporter of drafting Jalen Tolbert in the third round there. So at that point I thought he would come in and contribute and he did. But not to the level that you would anticipate from a third round guy. And then you get a guy like Ryan Flournoy who comes out after being a later round pick and does exactly what you needed Jalen Tolbert to do. And now he's kind of the one that overstepped him. And that's why Jalen Tolbert is no longer a Dallas Cowboy.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Yeah, and I didn't mean to turn this into talking to. But I think it was worth mentioning because of the contributions that he's made as a Dallas Cowboy. You've won games because of James Tolbert. Like, there's no doubt about that. That game winning touchdown in Pittsburgh, like I want for a long time it was a big play by him. But yeah. Moving on to some other names. I mean, Brock Hoffman as well. He signed with Pittsburgh yesterday officially.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Is that a. Is that a fist? I like Hoffman to the table.

[Isaiah Stanback]

I like Hoffman. I understand that, you know, obviously they want to move on from him. I trust this coaching staff because they have two offensive line coaches on this coaching staff. So it's not just one person making this decision. I'm sure that they came together and collectively said, yeah, we both feel the same way about this particular thing or his, this particular shortcoming or this lack of development in this particular area. And they felt confident enough to move on from him. Losing him and Rob Jones doesn't necessarily make me feel awesome in terms of depth.

[Josh Rodriguez]

100.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Those are, those are. I would have liked to have retained at least one of those guys. And people look at Rob Jones and be like, well, he never even had a chance to play here. Yeah, he got hurt early in camp, right? Yeah. And.

[Josh Rodriguez]

And he got hurt helping other like rookie linemen that, that need that veteran presence. Yeah, it's, it's. It's a terrible circumstance. But he was showing out in camp to a point where I was like, I'm surprised this guy's not starting. I would be surprised if this guy is not starting in week one. Granted, the was what it was at the time, but yeah, it's a sucky situation when he goes to a rival at that.

[Kyle Yeomans]

And then Peyton Turner goes to Detroit. So those are three guys that were on the back half and with Turner and Jones, both of the guys, those guys never really ended up playing just because of injury and what ended up happening there. But they are all off the roster. Cowboys did resign Corey Ballantyne, who came on late in the year last year. That was really kind of their one addition or retainment in the roster this past week. Are you guys a little disappointed on the backhand? Okay,

[Josh Rodriguez]

maybe more than a little. Yeah, maybe more than a little.

[Kyle Yeomans]

How. How much would you equate it to? What would you, what would you equate your disappointment to?

[Josh Rodriguez]

You know that meme where it's like the guy that's like poking the thing with a stick.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Just do something.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Just do something. I feel like that I, I have felt like that the last two weeks. Because you have still not addressed linebacker in any form or fashion. No, I'm very frustrated with that. Obviously they have a plan going into the draft, but like we've talked about here the last three episodes, it would be nice to have a veteran presence behind there, a coach on the field that is able to contribute to the linebacker room and also be a solid player at that. I'm not saying, you know, he needs to be a world beater or anything like that, but you just need consistency there and you don't have size to speak of at linebacker. So I'm just very confused at the approach there. But, you know, the Christian Parker's defense, he obviously has a plan. I don't know what it is. I don't have that ball knowledge at this point, but to me, it is just frustrating that I feel that position currently has been undervalued in free agency. I know they attempted to go get their guys, but I mean, I, along with most of the fans, feel like, you know, there should have been a backup plan at least. You should have at least three or four guys that you would have gone to get had the one player that went to the Raiders not worked out for you.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Yeah, it's very difficult for me to foresee Dallas moving forward through this draft utilizing both first round picks now in the draft to acquire two players. With the lack of acquisitions that they've had this offseason, I can't foresee. I can't foresee them utilizing both picks and being okay with the remainder of the picks they have in this year's draft to fill the voids that are on defense.

[Josh Rodriguez]

And you have one day two pick now. I mean, one, one.

[Isaiah Stanback]

So you know what I'm saying? Like. Like I was hopeful whether they're big names or just, you know, I think they did a good job of filling positional needs.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah.

[Isaiah Stanback]

In terms of contributors. Right. We made that. We had that conversation. Right. Either you're gonna get big name, big splash guys, or. I felt like they were after like that first wave, I was like, okay, they're no longer gonna go get a big splash guy, but they're gonna get multiple guys that can contribute. Right. Consistently. And I feel like they started doing that, right. You got a safety, they got a nickel, all those things. However, there are still a lot of voids that are. That need to be filled, especially with the change in scheme. Defensively, those positions of need are nowhere near near field, and I can't. I can see them using the first pick in the. In the first round that we have, was it 12?

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yep.

[Isaiah Stanback]

But was it the next one is 2020. I can't see them using 1 in 20. IR, 12 and 20. I can see them using 12.

[Kyle Yeomans]

You're saying you would use it to go get.

[Isaiah Stanback]

You have to.

[Kyle Yeomans]

A proven commodity.

[Isaiah Stanback]

I think that you have to trade one of them. Trade the 20 to go get multiple players in the second and the third. I just don't.

[Kyle Yeomans]

There's not enough to acquire more.

[Isaiah Stanback]

To acquire more. Draft you. Because you just don't have enough pieces.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah.

[Isaiah Stanback]

And if there are guys that you believe that you. This is what I believe. I believe that they're going to try to go through this draft and whatever decisions they're going to make. Right. I believe that they're going to try to fill those voids after the draft like most teams do. Right. They say, hey, let's see what our team looks like after the draft and then let's go fill those voids. I don't want to be in that position again. Yeah. I feel like I told you this. I think that Mr. Jones and Steven Jones are in this tug of war of Mr. Jones really wanting to go one in two, past tense now to go grab some high, highly acclaimed guys. And then Stephen Jones kind of pulled him back and kind of pulled back to what we've always known Dallas to do is like, no, let's go to the discount double check. And I feel like there was this. I want to do this, but no, let's go back to our old way. Let's know. Let's stay true to who we are. But we. And now you find yourself in a position where it's like, okay, yeah, you made a couple moves, but you're still looking at saying, we still don't have enough guys.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Yeah, I think the plan was there. I think the plan was there to go get the guys that you're talking about, the guys that. That you would think Dallas would want to. I mean, obviously the interest was there for several guys, but there wasn't that final. Like, we're going to make that final bid to get this guy because this is the guy that we want contributing on our defense next year. To me, I would. I would have used free agency to kind of fill out the room. Granted, you're overpaying in a lot of positions, but I think there are guys that are contributing and not getting paid, you know, an exorbitant amount of money. I feel like you could have filled those holes enough to say, like, today, if we're playing a game today. We're not playing a game today, obviously, but it's like we have a roster we feel solidly enough about playing today if we had to. And then using the draft to get even better guys to take you over the top. That didn't happen. You're now relying on the draft yet again to get those guys on the field and you're relying on youth in a big way.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah, and I think you bring up a good point. Talking about the plan that was there, I believe going into free agency they were willing to spend and they spent more than they have in the past. So I give them a little bit credit there. Is it the high end stuff that we kind of wanted to see? No. Was it the crazy moves that they wanted to make? No, it wasn't. However, I agree with you in the fact that there's kind of a fundamental breakdown somewhere in free agency. And I forgot who said it. Somebody said it the other day and I agreed with part of what they were saying. Part of it I didn't agree with. But what I did agree with was when you haven't been in free agency, players in free agency recently and you all of a sudden decide to go play in free agency after not doing so for the better part of a decade, there's going to be things and nuances and negotiation tactics that you aren't sharp on. And that's what ultimately happened, in my opinion. I think they did want to get involved. I think they wanted to push for all of this based on not just conversations that we had with Jerry on the bus or Stephen in Indianapolis, but the top to bottom. The entire organization felt like they were going to make some moves and I think they attempted to do so or they wanted to do so. But there's a fundamental breakdown at some point in time where they decided to make a move but they weren't ready to make a move, if that makes sense.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Yeah.

[Kyle Yeomans]

And that's where I think there was a falling through the cracks. Now you added some. Some solid names. I love the Jalen Thompson signing. I've said that already. I like what they did with Kobe Durant and with Otito A Bonya. I like those signings. Are they as good as going and getting a blue chip edge rusher, which they haven't done, or a starting caliber linebacker, which they haven't done. No, it's not. Those are good moves that are going to make your team better in the long run, but you need other moves to supplement that outside of the draft and they haven't done that so that's where my disappointment lies in the off season.

[Isaiah Stanback]

I look at it as a math equation to me, right. You lost a number of starters or, you know, you lost. OSA was a starter, Solomon was a rotational guy. Who else did we lose?

[Josh Rodriguez]

But was also a starter in this defense, right?

[Isaiah Stanback]

No. Oh, I mean, he probably had, but he would have had because of his price. Right?

[Josh Rodriguez]

That's fair.

[Isaiah Stanback]

But so you. So you replace. You swap OSA with a Rashawn Gary, you acquire a Thompson, who's a starter. You acquire PJ Lock, who's a starter. You acquire Kobe Durant, who's a starter, and Otito is a starter, I would imagine. Right now. Okay.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Right now.

[Isaiah Stanback]

So you have four starters that you brought in on a defensive side of the ball.

[Kyle Yeomans]

All good stuff.

[Isaiah Stanback]

All good stuff. Yeah. Okay, so now value picks as well. You know what I'm saying? So now you go into the draft, you're gonna. Your, your number 12 pick's gonna be another starter. Okay. Yeah. On defense. Okay, so now that'll be. How many? Five starters. That'll be five starters that you acquired going into this season that you did not have last season.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah.

[Isaiah Stanback]

You're gonna need. I feel like you're. There's so many more holes to fill. Right? So I'm saying, like, that, that number 20, I feel like as much as you can go grab another impact player, you can get one impact player, but what does your depth take a hit on? You know what I mean? I mean, so I don't know what a twentieth is worth.

[Kyle Yeomans]

And, and that's. That's where I have the same agreement with you here, because all the guys you're adding are starters, but are they blue chip starters? No, no, they're not. They're good, solid players. So that's where you could have depth. If you end up getting those blue chip guys, you end up getting those starters that are contributors right off the bat or veterans that know how to do it and have been there and done that and things of the sort. There are no more linebackers on the. The NFL.com top 101 free agency, which.

[Isaiah Stanback]

That made me so sick.

[Kyle Yeomans]

There's nothing there.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Yeah, it was.

[Isaiah Stanback]

That hurt me.

[Kyle Yeomans]

So you're in a bad spot at linebacker. Yeah.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Unless you. I mean, yes, you're at a bad spot at linebacker, but, like, go, please just go get Bobby. Dead serious at this point. Like, just go, go get him.

[Kyle Yeomans]

He didn't sign somewhere?

[Josh Rodriguez]

No, no. Maybe it's a situation where he's waiting till after the draft to find his value somewhere and kind of have the pick of the litter.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Don't let him. Don't let him. Like, seriously, like, you should have had him three years ago, you know, saying you should have had him three years ago. You chose not to. You just, you chose to extend Vanderash. Yeah, that's. That was your choice. It was Vander Ash or Bobby Wagner. You, you chose Vanderash and now he's done. Bobby's still going on year 37. It's still balling.

[Kyle Yeomans]

That's where I think the, the league is waiting to see what Bobby wants to do.

[Isaiah Stanback]

No, I understand. And he deserves that, right. He's going to be playing somewhere. He's going to be starting somewhere because he's just, he's still playing at that level. Like, just don't wait. Like, you missed on the Lloyd, you missed on all, you know, Nicobe Dean, you missed on all these other bonafide contributors and big time players. Go get. That's still doing it. Like, is he as young as you want? Heck no. Can he still play? Yeah, either. You know what I'm saying?

[Kyle Yeomans]

Like, and even if he doesn't play as much as he has in the past, what he's going to give you is significant in its own right. With the bang for the buck, right. He's going to give you some quality snaps. Might not be as many snaps as they've had in the past. He's going to give him quality and when he's not playing, you know what he is going to give you? Wisdom, knowledge and wisdom and all the, the IQ that you cannot teach from playing 37 years in the NFL like Bobby Wagner has. You got to have that level.

[Isaiah Stanback]

I just don't want it to get to after the draft and everybody's trying to make the same phone call. Like, I would much rather get him, right, have him and then go get a linebacker in the draft. And how now you feel good about your front seven, right? And it's like, okay, now we still need, we still want to get one more, two more pass rushers, right, that can get after the quarterback. But at least you're not forcing things into a position, you know?

[Josh Rodriguez]

Yeah, no. 100%. And I feel like, like you're saying he has the knowledge that will bring added value to the linebacker room. Especially when you're. There's no doubt you're going to draft linebackers 100% you're going to do that. Why not have a guy that can teach them how to do like, who better to learn from than a Bobby Wagner, come on.

[Kyle Yeomans]

I mean, we can stand on the table as much as we want inside the podcast studio, but they ultimately are going to have to want to do that. And there have been so many opportunities in the past where they could have added Bobby Wagner.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Yes.

[Kyle Yeomans]

And they have not done.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Yes.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Yeah.

[Isaiah Stanback]

So I don't have to come across your table. It's like, doggone. I'm being at the dog on a sushi restaurant, and it's like, should I get that thing? It's on a little.

[Kyle Yeomans]

What do you call it, the conveyor belt.

[Isaiah Stanback]

It's not a conveyor belt. It goes by the second time.

[Kyle Yeomans]

You're like, sushi restaurants? Is Isaiah eating that?

[Josh Rodriguez]

But how many times are you gonna get it wrong? How many times are you going to. To see him go to another team and still contribute more so than any of the linebackers you currently have on your team?

[Isaiah Stanback]

I agree.

[Kyle Yeomans]

I agree with you.

[Josh Rodriguez]

And, but, and I'm sure I don't

[Isaiah Stanback]

know if they do.

[Josh Rodriguez]

There's a big reason why the Commanders don't have him on their roster anymore.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Sure.

[Josh Rodriguez]

I mean, he's, he's, he's unre in coverage right now.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Yeah.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Today's Bobby Wagner doesn't do that very well, but you know what he does? He tackles and a surefire tackle.

[Kyle Yeomans]

We've, We've talked about this before on the show, too.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Kind of needed in the three, four, kind of.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Maybe a little bit. I don't know.

[Kyle Yeomans]

But Christian Parker has been very. It's been noted by multiple people within the organization that he has a very specific idea of what he wants.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Yeah.

[Kyle Yeomans]

He's not going to, to. To waver on anything that he's doing building a roster. He is going to get what he wants. And if he doesn' want a Christian part, or, excuse me, a Bobby Wagner type, then he's probably really.

[Isaiah Stanback]

How many draft picks do you have this year?

[Kyle Yeomans]

This year?

[Isaiah Stanback]

Yes.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Eight. Seven. Seven or eight. And how many are eight now with the OSA trade?

[Isaiah Stanback]

Okay, so eight draft picks. How many are below fourth or below fifth round?

[Kyle Yeomans]

They've got four.

[Isaiah Stanback]

So you got four top fours or top four? Yeah. In the top five rounds? Something like that. Right? Four picks in the top five rounds?

[Josh Rodriguez]

Yeah.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Yeah.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Well, two.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Two. One.

[Kyle Yeomans]

In the top five rounds.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Two ones.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Three.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Four.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Yeah. Two ones. Three, Four. Yeah. Okay.

[Kyle Yeomans]

And then you got three fives.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Okay. So Christian Parker, you need to go get some more guys.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah.

[Josh Rodriguez]

And of course, like, that's not to

[Isaiah Stanback]

say the guys in the draft aren't going to come in and play right now, but the probability is low. Like, there's, there's, there's. Some teams put more emphasis on rolling the dice on draft picks than others. Right. And I think what you're seeing right now is the league is really starting to change and we're seeing this within trades or there's been more trades than there's ever been. Teams are starting to rest their, their, their, their wallets on proven players. Right. It's not the discredit guys that are coming through the draft that have to prove themselves. And some guys may hit right now, some guys may hit on their second or third team.

[Josh Rodriguez]

You don't have your time.

[Isaiah Stanback]

You don't. Teams are tired of waiting.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah, right.

[Isaiah Stanback]

And some teams are more tired than others. Go get you a guy that you know. I know what he's going to do. Yeah, right. It may not be everything I want, but I know what the productive productivity I'm going to get out of him, and then I go get the guy that I hope turns into, you know, whatever it is that we project him to be. Yeah, I don't want to go. Hope. Hope. I'd rather go. No. Hope.

[Josh Rodriguez]

And to be fair, I know we're talking a lot about Wagner, but there are other guys that have been reported that the Cowboys are interested in trading for. We can't necessarily.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Yes.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Name those names right now. We can't talk about them. But I understanding there is a plan there. They're not saying, like, we're not going to address.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah, I think there was a plan

[Isaiah Stanback]

going into free agency, too.

[Kyle Yeomans]

There was. That was plan A, this Plan B. This is kind of what they're having. Or it may even be C or D, who knows? But they have a plan moving forward, but we just got to find a way to make that happen. And whether or not they're willing to part with some of these draft picks to do so. I do want to talk about the NFL draft and when we come back, I've got a question about trades post draft and how that may have influenced the way that the Cowboys attacked this free agency and whether or not you guys agree with that or not. More talking Cowboys and draft discussion right after this.

[Lowe's Announcer]

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[Isaiah Stanback]

Every day begins with a promise. A promise to work hard and to build a future. That's why we're here, providing the tools, expertise and John Deere equipment you have relied on for generations to help you get the job done right. 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.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Cowboys fans. We've got big news. Black Rifle Energy is now available at Texas Seven Eleven stores and for a limited time you can score two cans for just $6 at participating locations. These cans pack a serious punch, 200 milligrams of caffeine, veteran crafted flavor and the clean energy you need to power through those long days. So the next time you roll into your neighborhood 711 here in Texas, grab that two for six dollar black rifle energy deal and fuel up the American way. Black Rifle Co America's Coffee how's it going? You see that Cowboys game?

[Isaiah Stanback]

Oh, I watched. Been seeing some good things.

[Commercial Announcer]

Totally.

[Isaiah Stanback]

They have some talent.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yep. Some great talent.

[Isaiah Stanback]

And they got some fight.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Hoping this is the year. Me too.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Oh, I'm Cody by the way. I'm Travis.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Nice to meet you Travis.

[Commercial Announcer]

Go Cowboys.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Go Cowboys.

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[Kyle Yeomans]

Like this bubble bath with fancy soap

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[Kyle Yeomans]

Back to Talking Cowboys Back here on Talking Cowboys presented by Black Rifle Coffee Co. The only coffee of the official Coffee of the Dallas Cowboys coffee, too. It is the only copy.

[Isaiah Stanback]

It's the only coffee. And it's official.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Cop. That is the. That read is from the Miller Light side of things. Like the Miller Light, the only beer of the Dallas Cowboys. You'll hear me say that in about an hour. So. Yeah. But yes, black rifle coffee is the official copy of the Dallas Cowboys.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Now, you know, I have a beef, Kyle.

[Kyle Yeomans]

I know you do.

[Isaiah Stanback]

I got a beef.

[Kyle Yeomans]

I know you got one.

[Isaiah Stanback]

I know. My. My fellow teammates up here, you guys keep your eye on the chat during the show. Talking.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Talking Cowboys Nation.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Yeah, talking Cowboys Nation.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Our family, we love you guys.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Yeah, we love you guys. I just don't partake in the chat during the show. But these guys, they. They kind of pass a little birdie, play a little game of telephone. And I was told that Bobby Wagner conversations were erroneous.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Nonsense.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Nonsense. I want people at home to understand. Yes. The NFL will tell you oftentimes that you're old. The NFL will tell you oftentimes that you're washed up. NFL will tell you oftentimes that you don't have any more to give. There are some outliers. I'm not sure if people.

[Kyle Yeomans]

A lot of times when they tell you that they're probably right, they're probably right.

[Isaiah Stanback]

But then there's certain guys that got to come along that really don't go along with that. Bobby Wagner is one of them. Bobby Wagner, in his 14th season, 14 at linebacker.

[Josh Rodriguez]

That seems like a lot.

[Isaiah Stanback]

At linebacker, interior linebacker, 14th season for the Washington Commanders. Last year, played all 17 games. Availability is kind of important, Right? Best ability is availability. 17 games as a linebacker. Somebody who's responsible for hitting people in place. Fifth overall in the NFL and tackles

[Josh Rodriguez]

in the NFL, like, of all the

[Isaiah Stanback]

players, I mean, even the guys that are, like, were rookies and, like, 14 years younger, 14 years less wear and tear.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Fifth.

[Isaiah Stanback]

So when you guys are questioning whether or not this is somebody that the Dallas Cowboys should be considering, you might want to just check the rap sheet. Sheet, AKA no, Ian, but check the. Check the rap sheet. Because this dude can still ball. And if you got one year out of him with half of that productivity, you're winning.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Yes.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Because what I'm saying is you can spend a 12 on a linebacker that you consider to be a sure thing. That was a dog in college. You could spend a 20 on that. But below that, no disrespect, you're probably hoping and rolling the dice that that person's going to hit. Right. No disrespect. To all the other draft picks, especially in this year's draft where there's pretty deep. Right. You're. You're kind of questioning whether or not that person can come in and be that guy. Some guys can, some guys can't. Why have that question mark when you can for sure get somebody who is a great person. Right. A great, a great contributor in the community, great locker room guy and a great contributor on the field. And it's going to hit you for the. It's going to hit you for the low. Low.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah. Lower than you would get a younger cat that does all that stuff.

[Josh Rodriguez]

All the same stuff.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Now, just to be completely fair, the same person that did call it nonsense in the chat did reply and said, if I'm Bobby, I want a chance before retirement to win, not come to this type of situation. And he used a different word.

[Isaiah Stanback]

You can say that about every squad, like genuinely, like, yeah. The Cowboys, have they done anything in the past that make you feel good about them going towards next year's Super Bowl? No, but you can't, you can't say that for sure thing about any of these teams. Around the league teams are turning over their rosters left and right. We had more coaching vacancies than. Than we've had in last 15 years. Like there's going to be teams that, that pop up that are going to be, you know, going to be competitors in real, you know, real conversation in terms of the playoffs that, that weren't there last year. So to make that statement is. Is kind of like saying, you know, peanut butter and jelly go together.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Yeah. I mean, the Seattle situation makes it a lot more different. I mean, they turn their team around. In one year. Yeah, in one year. You telling me that a lot of teams don't think they can do that now?

[Kyle Yeomans]

They also drafted really well.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Absolutely.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Look at the Patriots.

[Josh Rodriguez]

And what do we know from the draft show team sucker drafting.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah, they do. Yeah.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Yeah.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Patriots heard that a lot.

[Isaiah Stanback]

3 and 14 or whatever it was to the Super Bowl. Like, come on, man. Like, stuff changes in a year. So like, that's erroneous to make that statement. No disrespect.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah. Let's go into the draft a little bit here. Cowboys did have some guys out on the draft trail yesterday. These are all reports. Some of them confirmed by cameras on site, others, others not confirm. Yeah, Schottenheimer, Christian Parker, Will McClay were all at the Miami Pro Day yesterday with some of the notable products there. Of course, Ruben Bane, who's on the draft cover, draft Guide cover right there. Mr. Bane. Akeem Mezador, another edge rusher from there.

[Isaiah Stanback]

You think that they.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Linebackers. You think they drove to Miami?

[Isaiah Stanback]

I'm just wondering.

[Kyle Yeomans]

No, no, no commercial. No P.J.

[Isaiah Stanback]

yeah. I mean those waiting. Those TSA lines are coming. Yeah.

[Kyle Yeomans]

They're skipping that. They're going right to the tarmac. Big dog, the. But yeah. Keonte Scott, another late round secondary player that I really like is. Is from Miami and there's a. There's a lot of really good talent there. So they were out there yesterday. Not the only place that the Cowboys have been. If you really up to date with all the reports on where people have been, I encourage you to follow Nick Harris and Tommy Yarish. Those are kind of the two guys that are on the pro day trail at the moment. Tommy is actually at Texas pro day right now.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Did he drive?

[Kyle Yeomans]

He did drive.

[Josh Rodriguez]

He Dr. No PJ for Tommy.

[Kyle Yeomans]

He did not get the private jet on the road. Sorry, Tommy. Get your butt down to Austin. You went to school there. You're fine.

[Isaiah Stanback]

You might have walked.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah. You may have his khakis all the way down. Speaking of walking down. Down I35. Linda. Well, I don't think he. I don't think he had the private jet either. Linda. The tight ends coach was reported to have dinner with some of the Baylor draft prospects, including tight end Michael Trigg, the quarterback Sawyer Robertson, and then Josh Robertson the wide receiver or Josh Cameron Cameron the wide receiver. I like to mention that from wide from Baylor.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Probably one of the best off season retainments. I don't want to say acquisitions that we had.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Oh yeah, we're getting Linda a lot of love on the show.

[Isaiah Stanback]

L. Dub almost left. He was almost gone.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Yeah.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Yeah. He almost joined the McCarthy era out there in Pittsburgh. Like seriously, like that was.

[Kyle Yeomans]

That wasn't his only possibility either.

[Isaiah Stanback]

I'm. I'm pretty sure he had options.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Oh, he did.

[Isaiah Stanback]

And I'm pretty sure he chose to stay here. Oh, he. So Cowboys nation, whatever happens on the backing because we're not, we're not peppy to those conversations or negotiations like give a. Give a nice little hand clap to the, to the front office for finding a way to retain him because to keep. To stay as a tight ends coach, when you had offensive coordinator presented to you, something happened to keep him here. I'll just say that. And respected in the building. Yeah. Kudos to front office.

[Kyle Yeomans]

I wonder what that could mean. I want to continue with draft stuff here though, because based on our conversation in the first segment, I feel like all three of us sit here and we say best player available is always the goal when it comes to the NFL draft.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Nope.

[Kyle Yeomans]

You want to take the. You want to take the best player available. However, when you have holes on your defense, you are limited in what the best player available pool looks like. You can't just pluck from the pool when you have to pick a specific type of fish.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Have to.

[Kyle Yeomans]

You have to. So you're still going to see I probably. Probably the best defensive player on the board and where they would fit. Are there any limitations based on your mindset of where they can and cannot go with the 12th and 20 picks in the NFL draft?

[Isaiah Stanback]

Limitations? Yes. I would say you do not need to grab an interior defensive lineman with those with the first round picks. Don't. Don't grab a. You know, you know how I feel about my interior D lineman, but I don't think that you need to. I think that you have your two dogs. We'll see what Otito provides. But you have two true, proven dogs on interior D line. You have other needs that you can use those picks. So I would not feel great if they went out and grabbed an interior D lineman at that pick. I would, you know, I would still be okay with it, but I was like, oh, you could use that to grab a lineback. Could use that to grab a dominant corner or use that. You grab a dn. Like, I think those are the three positions that I would feel better about than interior D line.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Would you be cool making a move for a defensive tackle at 92 with that pick you got Formosa, kind of replace it with another defensive tackle that no. Fits your scheme better?

[Isaiah Stanback]

No.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Okay.

[Isaiah Stanback]

No, I know I want depth, but not with those picks.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Okay.

[Josh Rodriguez]

I would be entirely fine with it. Honestly, I. One of the arguments that we had last year when we were arguing about edge rusher versus defensive tackle.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Your strength is super strength.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Make your strength the super strength and the fact that you weren't able to extend Kenny Clark or, my goodness, Quinn and Williams this off season, I think is part of my philosophy there where it's like, you don't know how much longer you have these guys if they're going to be here past next year. So in my opinion, like, beef that up as much as you possibly can and make it the dominant force that it needs to be. All. For all intents and purposes, we've. From what we've learned about Christian Parker's defense so far and all of the moves that they've made, you're not gonna Be able to run the ball on this team. So. So to me, make it even more of a competition there at defensive tackle. Otito, considering he's more of a depth guy now. If you draft a guy higher. Yeah. Make that, that strength even more strong.

[Isaiah Stanback]

I would typically agree with you on almost probably 90 plus.

[Josh Rodriguez]

You have so many holes.

[Isaiah Stanback]

I understand, but because there are actual holes like there.

[Josh Rodriguez]

I get it.

[Isaiah Stanback]

There are not guys currently on this roster that I feel comfortable and confident with with feeling some of these voids with this new system. And though he said we're going to be versatile, we're going to be, we're going to be multiple in the looks and you want kind of Swiss army knives, guys that could play multiple positions on this defense. You want an outside linebacker that could play, you know, they could play, you know, out, you know, I don't even know safety and safety that can play corner. Like, you want guys that are kind of multiple. I, I want, I want guys that can give some flex. And if you're playing an interior defensive lineman, you're just playing interior defense lineman.

[Josh Rodriguez]

I think you have the luxury of doing that with two first round picks. If you decide to use both of those first round picks, I think you're able to take the best player available regardless of the position. Maybe not quarterback, maybe not.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Sure.

[Isaiah Stanback]

So you would be okay using a first round pick on a backup.

[Josh Rodriguez]

A backup, what?

[Isaiah Stanback]

That's what I'm saying. Like if you grab an interior defensive lineman, they're a backup.

[Kyle Yeomans]

If you're grabbing an offensive player, with the exception of maybe running back, it would maybe be a backup.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Guys, I'm talking defense here.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah.

[Josh Rodriguez]

I'm talking. So not best player, defensive player available.

[Kyle Yeomans]

I sit here and over the course of me covering the draft for this organization multiple times, we've said they have no choice but to take defense only in the first round, in the first three rounds and then take offensive players in the first round, I can't sit here and say that it's off the table for Dallas entirely. It's not. They could upgrade their offensive tackle spot if the right guy is there. They could add to wide receiver if they don't feel comfortable, confident that George Pickens is going to stick around. They could add Jeremiah Love at the running back spot. Maybe not at 12, but at 20 if he's there. Holy cow, would that be fun?

[Isaiah Stanback]

Grab a kicker.

[Kyle Yeomans]

I'm just. No, I'm just saying, like, as much as we sit here and we're going to pigeonhole defense all the way through and I completely agree.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Yeah.

[Kyle Yeomans]

We cannot take it off the table.

[Isaiah Stanback]

No, it's not off the table. It's just on the edge.

[Kyle Yeomans]

It's just sitting right.

[Isaiah Stanback]

A light bump is knocking it off. Yeah, exactly. Just like that.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Just like that.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Just like that. Yeah. No, I'm.

[Josh Rodriguez]

It's like.

[Isaiah Stanback]

I don't.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Seasoned broccoli.

[Lowe's Announcer]

It's.

[Josh Rodriguez]

It's over there. It's on the plate.

[Isaiah Stanback]

It's there.

[Josh Rodriguez]

It's there.

[Kyle Yeomans]

I'm gonna like unseasoned broccoli.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Unseasoned. Dude, what are you doing? Cold.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Cold broccoli.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah. You can't do it. Gross.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Extra pepper on that.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah. All right, we gotta take our second break. When we come back, I'm gonna play a little game with these guys. How about blind resumes for NFL draft prospects? Close your eyes and just imagine what they would fit like in this Dallas US Defense. When we come back with more talking cowboys after this, Lowe's nose Sundays are

[Lowe's Announcer]

for football, so tackle your home improvement projects by Saturday and earn your Sunday with great deals on LG and Bosch appliances. Select Bounty and Swiffer cleaning products and more. Then once your to do list is done, get ready to kick back, relax, and enjoy the game. Shop in store or online now and earn your Sunday with help from Lowe's, official partner of the NFL.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Josh Rodriguez]

If you shout how bout them Cowboys? You have that undeniable passion that's the heart of Cowboys Nation. And if you like to drink Dr. Pepper, you love the unique blend of its 23 flavors together. Your one of a kind fandom paired with the one of a kind taste of a delicious ice cold Dr. Pepper is the game day lineup that can't be beat. Better yet, gather Your Cowboys and Dr. Pepper fan friends to watch the next game and crack open a door. Delicious ice cold Dr. Pepper for everyone. The wins will be even tastier. It's a Pepper thing.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Cowboys fans, we've got big news. Black Rifle Energy is now available at Texas Seven Eleven stores. And for a limited time, you can score two cans for just $6 at participating locations. These cans pack a serious punch, 200 milligrams of caffeine, veteran crafted flavor and the clean energy you need to power through those long days. So the next time you roll into your neighborhood 711 here in Texas, grab that two for six dollar black rifle energy deal and fue American way black Rifle Coffee America's Coffee Getting AT&T's best

[Commercial Announcer]

deal on a Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra made me realize I do deserve the best.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Like this bubble bath with fancy soap

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and even this face mask.

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[Kyle Yeomans]

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[Isaiah Stanback]

Let's freaking go. Kyle.

[Kyle Yeomans]

I know. I'm excited. Whoa. This is the best lead in in the NFL calendar for me other than training camp. I do love training camp.

[Isaiah Stanback]

When's the last time The Cowboys had two first round picks?

[Kyle Yeomans]

2008, I think.

[Josh Rodriguez]

No. Wow.

[Kyle Yeomans]

It's been a while. I should know that off the top of my head, but I don't. All right, blind resumes. These are NFL draft prospects that right now on my list are very close in terms of rankings. Maybe not draft grade, but rankings. They're what we call touching tags and they're different types of players. So I want you to tell me what's going to fit without talking about the name of the prospect or the school or what they went through or did from a conference standpoint or anything like that. This is just measurements and some tiny traits to think about and what they would Fit in Christian Parker's defense. Let's start at linebacker. We're trying to get through maybe two positions here. The first linebacker is six foot one, 230 pounds and he's 21 years old. Got it all. He had eight tackles for loss, three and a half sacks, 88 tackles in 13 games against premium competition. He did not test during the combine or his pro day because he had some knee swelling and he did not want to inflammatory that, but he did go through drills. He is listed as a green dot potential immediately and can call the plays on the defensive side of the ball. Feels good about it.

[Josh Rodriguez]

I like that.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Green dots are cool.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah, green dots potential. The other linebacker, linebacker number two is six foot two, 240 pounds. So a little bit bigger, a little bit taller then the last linebacker. He is also 21 years old. He did test. He went 4, 5, 1 in the 40. He had a 37 inch vertical.

[Isaiah Stanback]

That's good.

[Kyle Yeomans]

A 10 1/2 inch broad downhill runner, but a tendency to oversell when he runs downhill and he attacks.

[Josh Rodriguez]

You already got one of those.

[Kyle Yeomans]

You got a couple of those.

[Josh Rodriguez]

You got a couple of those.

[Kyle Yeomans]

But Those are your two options. Linebacker 1 and Linebacker 2. If you have any questions, I will clarify, but I will not give hints.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Speed through that one more time.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Okay, CJI oh,

[Isaiah Stanback]

let's freaking go.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Well, that'll do it for dog and gal.

[Isaiah Stanback]

See that? I was in his mind, man. Seen his mind.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Dang, Kyle, not blind anymore.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Well, darn it.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Yeah.

[Kyle Yeomans]

That's so disappointing. I went through so much. You did, you did, did to make this happen.

[Isaiah Stanback]

I was leaning towards number two.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Were you?

[Josh Rodriguez]

I was. I was going number one. I didn't want the green dot.

[Kyle Yeomans]

You want the green dot potential?

[Josh Rodriguez]

I want the green dot potential.

[Kyle Yeomans]

They don't necessarily tab the second linebacker as a green dot potential, but yes, CJ Allen is number one. That is a linebacker. I'll give you the linebacker too.

[Josh Rodriguez]

I'll say go dogs.

[Kyle Yeomans]

6 foot 2, 240 pounds, 21 years old. Who? Do you have any guesses? I know you've listened to the draft show a little bit.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Is that Rodriguez?

[Kyle Yeomans]

It is not Rodriguez. He was another one. I was thinking about putting in this organization or putting in this, but I decided C.J. allen and Rodriguez from like a testing and a size standpoint are actually very comparable.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Is that the LSU guy?

[Kyle Yeomans]

No, it is not the LSU guy.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Okay.

[Kyle Yeomans]

It is Anthony Hill Jr. Out of Texas. That is the second linebacker picked.

[Josh Rodriguez]

The second?

[Kyle Yeomans]

He probably would have, but which one? You would have leaned to.

[Isaiah Stanback]

I would have lean to it. Like over aggressiveness doesn't bother me because the only thing that you need for that is great coach, coaching discipline. Yeah. Like you, it's hard to get somebody to turn that switch on if they don't have that switch. I'd rather them have that switch and be able to pull them back and say, hey, let the game come to you. You know what I'm saying? Pick and choose your battles. But like, if somebody does not have. Not to say that most linebackers don't. But if you don't have that trigger, you can't just copy and paste that into somebody's, you know, freaking genealogy. It's not. It's not there.

[Josh Rodriguez]

100. But one of the things that I've kind of pulled, at least from the combine, one of the things that they kept kind of repeating over and over, especially the Christian Parker side of things things was brainworks. And to me that that green dot aspect, the fact that he was such a cerebral player to me is indication of where the Cowboys would lean. And honestly, that was just a preference for me to begin with.

[Kyle Yeomans]

And there was a comment in the chat that I kind of want to clarify a little bit here. Sonny wants to or said so, Kyle, Christian Parker saying that after the scheme or altering the scheme to your players was just blowing smoke because he wants a specific type. And I said that in the last segment. He really wants a specific type of type. Specific type of player, not necessarily a specific type of build.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Yeah, right.

[Kyle Yeomans]

He wants the serenity mentally. He wants the, the work ethic. He wants all of that stuff. He's not going to mess around with anything other than that. From a system in an X's and O standpoint, I think he is going to mold to whatever they end up getting. Even though a 3, 4 is different, you're going to have to find certain guys to fit into that 3, 4 system here in year one because you've never really run that in the past. So that's where. That's where we're kind of basing the measurements off of compared to the type of player that Christian Parker would want across the board. All right, let's go to corner and I'm going to try not to mess this one up this time around. All right, corner number one, six foot, 193 pounds. He does have long arms or longer arms, I should say. 311 3/8 across the board. Ran a 4, 4, 4, 40 yard dash in the NFL combine and he had a 40 1/2 vertical.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Jesus.

[Kyle Yeomans]

10 1/2 inch broad jump. And he plays with kind of the physicality of a box safety. But he's at corner.

[Isaiah Stanback]

I like that. I knew as soon as you say he was 6 foot, I knew he had to have.

[Kyle Yeomans]

He had to have some of those things across the board. So that's corner number one. Corner number two. He is a little bit smaller. 5 foot 11, 186 pounds. He did not run, but he did the jumps. He did 34 inch vertical, 10, three broad jump. He did bench as well. He had 17 reps on the bench across the board. Comes from some good bloodlines at the position. And he has a blend of athleticism inside to play, size to play inside or outside. And he did play both inside and outside during his time.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Would you argue the second one is undersized in general or kind of the what you already have currently?

[Kyle Yeomans]

Like what you already have in terms of boundary corners? Yeah, I would probably. Probably put them in the same category. I would play him a nickel and

[Isaiah Stanback]

I would love it.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Okay.

[Kyle Yeomans]

And I think he would be an awesome nickel.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Would you argue you already got your

[Kyle Yeomans]

nickel in Jalen Thompson?

[Josh Rodriguez]

No.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Oh, in Kobe Durant?

[Josh Rodriguez]

Yes.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Similar type of player, but this guy's just more of a dog.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Give me option one.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Uno.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Option one.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Yes.

[Kyle Yeomans]

That is Colton Hood out of Tennessee. Colton Hood thought to be maybe more of an option at 20 than he would be at 12.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Yes.

[Kyle Yeomans]

But still a very viable cornerback option. Let's say you miss out on mansour Delane at 12, who's probably high and above the number one corner in the NFL draft. If you miss out on him at at 12 and you miss it, let's say you don't want to go with your mom. McCoy, who's the other Tennessee corner who's coming off of an injury, hasn't played in a year, that kind of thing, then 20 could be where you take your corners. And that's where Colton Hood and the number two, Xavion Terrell from Clemson, who I really do like, and I think he would be a phenomenal nickel. And if you needed him to go outside, I think he's the Ron Bland 2.0. That's who I think he. And I think he. He's more polished coming out of school than Duron was.

[Isaiah Stanback]

Versatility guys, they can play safety and cover. That's what. That's what I believe that Christian Parker is going for. Because you want to be multiples, you want to be able to have three safeties in the back. You want to be able to have your nickel, your dime, whatever it may be. No matter what the offense puts out there, we have a guy that can cover you and we have a guy that can come up and hit.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah. So a couple different options for you. Which one?

[Josh Rodriguez]

Option one.

[Kyle Yeomans]

You were leaning toward one. You were also leaning toward one. Okay. There you go.

[Josh Rodriguez]

What about you?

[Isaiah Stanback]

What would you.

[Kyle Yeomans]

What would yours. I have Colton Hood rank higher.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Do you think he's going to be there 20 though?

[Isaiah Stanback]

Yes.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah, I think so. I think you would. I have them touching tags. Colton Hood is my corner four and Terrell is my corner five.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Okay.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Behind Delane McCoy and then I have Brandon, CC at three. I think I might flip Hood depending on. I want to watch a little bit more tape of these guys, but I might flip the two. But I have. I have CC above Hood and Terry.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Nice. Thank you, Kyle. I like that game.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah, we may do.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Let's keep doing that.

[Kyle Yeomans]

Yeah.

[Josh Rodriguez]

Yeah.

[Kyle Yeomans]

As we go along. That does it for us here on talking Cowboys. Hope to have Patrick back next week. Once again, well wishes to our guy as he is probably out of surgery by now. I would hope. But we'll hope to have him back very, very soon for Patrick. No see Walker, who's not here. Josh Rodriguez, Chris Beam in the back. I'm Kyle Yeoman saying so long from talking Cowboys. We'll see you next time week. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys.com and the Dallas Cowboys Football club. How about this? Cowboys.

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