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NFC East Pre With Greg Cosell: Can The Cowboys Be Good Enough On Defense To Vie For NFC East? · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

0:09
Speaker 1: Hello, Welcome back to our Inside the Birds annual NFC
0:12
Speaker 1: East preview. I'm Jeff Mosher with Adam Kaplan and of
0:15
Speaker 1: course we have Greg Cosel with us and our preview
0:18
Speaker 1: series continues. Greg with the Dallas Cowboys, who have been
0:22
Speaker 1: a very interesting team for a lot of years, very flawed,
0:26
Speaker 1: say what you want.
0:27
Speaker 2: About him, though they always seem to have at least
0:29
Speaker 2: one win in them against the Eagles.
0:31
Speaker 1: Usually they did last year and they almost had two
0:34
Speaker 1: if ceedee Lamb doesn't drop a few passes in the opener.
0:38
Speaker 1: But they've undergone a lot of change this offseason on
0:40
Speaker 1: the defensive side of the football, which has really been
0:43
Speaker 1: their bugaboo for years now.
0:45
Speaker 3: Greg.
0:46
Speaker 1: And then they do it by bringing in Christian Parker
0:48
Speaker 1: from the Eagles to be their defensive coordinator and then
0:51
Speaker 1: making a lot of changes personnel wise on defense. So
0:54
Speaker 1: when you take a big picture look at their defense
0:56
Speaker 1: right now, I think the thing we're all wondering is
1:00
Speaker 1: they've got the players to fit the scheme that they
1:02
Speaker 1: want to bring in or is it still.
1:04
Speaker 2: Work in progress?
1:05
Speaker 4: To you, well, we pretty much know they're going to
1:09
Speaker 4: go full fan show with Christian Parker, So that's the
1:12
Speaker 4: approach that they're going to take, and I think they're
1:15
Speaker 4: going to lean into something that's becoming more prevalent in
1:19
Speaker 4: the league as I've talked to people this offseason, is
1:22
Speaker 4: they're basically going to play as safety as their slot
1:25
Speaker 4: because Caleb Downs is going to be their slot. So,
1:29
Speaker 4: you know, the question is is Down's going to be
1:31
Speaker 4: a full time player because they brought in Jalen Thompson
1:34
Speaker 4: who's actually a good safety. Malik Hooker is still there,
1:39
Speaker 4: so the question is when they play in their base,
1:41
Speaker 4: and maybe they won't play in their base very much
1:43
Speaker 4: at all. Look at what the Eagles did. This could
1:45
Speaker 4: be a team that plays in their nickel because Downs
1:48
Speaker 4: is a physical player. They could be in their nickels
1:52
Speaker 4: eighty eighty five percent of the time, which is another
1:55
Speaker 4: trend that's happening in the league as well. You know,
1:58
Speaker 4: so I think you're going to see the fanjo approach,
2:02
Speaker 4: which again there's elements of the fanjo approach that doesn't
2:05
Speaker 4: automatically mean you're playing quarters on every snap. We know
2:08
Speaker 4: that the Eagles played a lot of man coverage, but
2:11
Speaker 4: I think it starts with the idea that your secondary
2:14
Speaker 4: looks are change after the snap of the ball. But
2:18
Speaker 4: a lot of teams now like to start. There's a
2:22
Speaker 4: big trend in the league to play zone coverage on
2:24
Speaker 4: early downs and normal down and distance, and particularly out
2:27
Speaker 4: of a two shell because that's a response to motion,
2:31
Speaker 4: because when you're in a two shell, you don't have
2:33
Speaker 4: to balance your coverage's when players go in motion. So
2:37
Speaker 4: I think you're going to see the Cowboys play that style.
2:41
Speaker 4: And obviously they've made major changes on the back end
2:44
Speaker 4: because they also sign Kobe Durant. Duran Bland I assume
2:49
Speaker 4: will be the other outside corner. I think he's just okay,
2:52
Speaker 4: but maybe in this system he'll be better. I don't
2:55
Speaker 4: think he's a great man to man player, and obviously
2:58
Speaker 4: they made some changes up front or Shan Gary, I
3:01
Speaker 4: think that sort of fell under the radar a little bit,
3:03
Speaker 4: but he's been a good player in the league. I
3:06
Speaker 4: would expect the defense to be better. How much better,
3:08
Speaker 4: that's hard to say now.
3:10
Speaker 3: Greg, for Christian Parker to run a defense like he wants,
3:14
Speaker 3: the cornerback group isn't good enough from your tape study.
3:18
Speaker 4: That's a great question. Yeah, I think it's an unknown, Adam,
3:21
Speaker 4: because you know, we saw what happened in Philly. We
3:23
Speaker 4: see what happens a lot with teams that play sort
3:26
Speaker 4: of the Fanjo style, even if they even if it's
3:30
Speaker 4: zone based, they do ask their corners to play a
3:34
Speaker 4: lot of man technique on the outside. And that's a
3:37
Speaker 4: great question, and you know, I think they're probably going
3:40
Speaker 4: to be trying to figure that out. You know, maybe
3:42
Speaker 4: they have a sense of it because we've gone through
3:44
Speaker 4: you know, the OTA's in the mini camp and now
3:46
Speaker 4: there's a training camp as well. So that's something that
3:49
Speaker 4: they have to figure out because what you see a lot,
3:52
Speaker 4: you know, with the Fanjo style of defense, is that
3:55
Speaker 4: zone in the middle to take away the middle, and
3:57
Speaker 4: then you ask the quarterback to make tougher throws on
3:59
Speaker 4: the out side because those are the tougher throws and
4:02
Speaker 4: you're playing man coverage. I mean, look at what the
4:04
Speaker 4: Eagles did. Now they have Quinyon Mitchell, who's the top
4:07
Speaker 4: three or four corner in the league at this point,
4:09
Speaker 4: and they're able literally to play pure man, zero man
4:13
Speaker 4: with Quinyon Mitchell and push that boundary safety into the
4:16
Speaker 4: middle of the field and you get a lot more
4:18
Speaker 4: bodies in the middle of the field. Now, whether the
4:21
Speaker 4: Cowboys have a corner who can do that. You know,
4:25
Speaker 4: as we sit here today, you would say they don't.
4:27
Speaker 4: Now again, maybe with a new coaching staff, different techniques.
4:31
Speaker 4: You know, I don't want to sit here and say
4:32
Speaker 4: at the end of June, oh no, it can't happen,
4:34
Speaker 4: because we don't know that. But I would imagine as
4:38
Speaker 4: we discussed this now, Duran and Bland would be their
4:41
Speaker 4: outside corners.
4:43
Speaker 1: I also wonder, Greg, base on what you just said,
4:45
Speaker 1: is do they want to live in nickel even against
4:48
Speaker 1: twelve personnel teams because that's their strength. Because if the
4:52
Speaker 1: Eagles come out with their you know, two tight end,
4:54
Speaker 1: which we expect them to play a lot of, does Dallas,
4:57
Speaker 1: which has struggled against the run for a while, do
4:59
Speaker 1: they stay in nickel or do they do they have
5:01
Speaker 1: a kind of behemoth guy that they can put in
5:04
Speaker 1: as a nose and then take one defensive back off
5:07
Speaker 1: the field and go to a five to two front.
5:10
Speaker 4: I wouldn't expect they'd live more in nickel, to be
5:13
Speaker 4: honest with you, Jeff, I mean, you know, again, these
5:15
Speaker 4: are unknowns for sure, but you know, I think you're
5:20
Speaker 4: going to see downs as the nickel You know, when
5:23
Speaker 4: they when they were in five defensive backs because as
5:26
Speaker 4: I said, they brought in Jalen Thompson, Malie Hooker is
5:29
Speaker 4: still a solid football player. You know, I think that
5:32
Speaker 4: that makes the most sense. You know, it's funny. I
5:34
Speaker 4: think the in talking about the corner, just to get
5:38
Speaker 4: back to something Adam asked a moment ago, the player
5:41
Speaker 4: who might be the intriguing player in this group is
5:45
Speaker 4: the second year corner of Revel because he has man
5:49
Speaker 4: to man traits, and he's big, and he's physical, and
5:52
Speaker 4: obviously he came off of major injury and he played
5:55
Speaker 4: last year what I don't know, the last six or
5:56
Speaker 4: seven games, give or take. I can't remember the exact number.
6:00
Speaker 4: But he, you know, he was the player that he's
6:05
Speaker 4: the player that theoretically, you know, if he could play
6:07
Speaker 4: to what some people think he can given his size,
6:10
Speaker 4: his physicality, his man his press man attributes, maybe he's
6:16
Speaker 4: that guy because that changes everything. I mean, look how
6:19
Speaker 4: the Eagles were able to play using Mitchell essentially as
6:22
Speaker 4: a zero man corner. So you know, we'll see, but
6:25
Speaker 4: I would I would expect Jeff that they'll live more
6:28
Speaker 4: in Nickel. I really would, even against twelve.
6:31
Speaker 1: So so given all of their difficulties though stopping the
6:34
Speaker 1: run that they've had for a while. And we know
6:37
Speaker 1: that Fanjo will play a five to two front against run.
6:40
Speaker 1: If the if the Cowboys want to live in Nickel
6:43
Speaker 1: and they're playing a team that's going to run the
6:45
Speaker 1: ball like the Eagles, right, who is the guy that's
6:48
Speaker 1: going to come down on the line of scrimmage to
6:50
Speaker 1: help them get a five man.
6:52
Speaker 2: Front out of Nickel, which is gonna look weird. It's
6:54
Speaker 2: gonna be a five to one, Uh what five?
6:58
Speaker 1: My point is, I wonder if is is this life
7:01
Speaker 1: for them going to rectify their run issues without a
7:04
Speaker 1: true run stuff all?
7:06
Speaker 3: Right?
7:06
Speaker 4: Now? I mean again as we said here, now they
7:08
Speaker 4: are three four team basically because you know, I think
7:12
Speaker 4: with Gary and with Azaruku, I think both those guys,
7:16
Speaker 4: you know, can be stand up five two players in
7:19
Speaker 4: a front. So and then inside they would probably they'll
7:23
Speaker 4: have Clark, They'll have Quinton Williams, you know. Then the
7:26
Speaker 4: third guy, I guess remains to be seen. Because they
7:29
Speaker 4: signed Buller, who's been around the league. They drafted lt
7:31
Speaker 4: Overton from Alabama who's got some traits. They brought in Agbonia,
7:36
Speaker 4: you know, so you know, they have a third there's
7:39
Speaker 4: a third guy in that group. You know. They also
7:43
Speaker 4: you know, they also drafted Malachi Lawrence in the first round.
7:46
Speaker 4: They drafted Jayshon Barham in the third round. They have
7:50
Speaker 4: outside linebacker types. So they're going to play with a
7:53
Speaker 4: five man front, as you know. Now you can still
7:56
Speaker 4: I mean the Eagles obviously played you know, essentially a
8:01
Speaker 4: four to five. The question is can you play a
8:04
Speaker 4: you know, what are they going to do? You know,
8:07
Speaker 4: as far as the front, and that's a great question,
8:10
Speaker 4: but I think their base would be five. The question
8:12
Speaker 4: is how often will they play that? That gets back
8:16
Speaker 4: to the safety position. You know, Downs is viewed as
8:19
Speaker 4: a really big time player in terms of intelligence. You know,
8:22
Speaker 4: my guess is they probably want him on the field.
8:25
Speaker 4: You know, I don't know if they'd want to take
8:26
Speaker 4: him off the field, and you know, and if they
8:28
Speaker 4: go base, right, Greg.
8:31
Speaker 3: You mentioned Malachi Lawrence and Jeff and I talked to
8:34
Speaker 3: some clubs for the draft and felt he was gonna
8:36
Speaker 3: be like a mid second round pack and okay, he
8:38
Speaker 3: won in the first. Now you put him now, as
8:42
Speaker 3: you talked about this group, this edge group as a
8:46
Speaker 3: rocker's coming off a bad injury hip laborm surgery, so
8:49
Speaker 3: we'll see how he looks in training camp in the
8:51
Speaker 3: regular season. How much and you mentioned Gary, how much
8:55
Speaker 3: of an impact could Malchi Lawrence have based on your
8:57
Speaker 3: tape study? How far is he away?
9:00
Speaker 4: I like Malachi Lawrence. Again, you never know where the
9:03
Speaker 4: player like that, Adam, you know, when he comes in,
9:05
Speaker 4: is he ready to go? I don't think he's going
9:07
Speaker 4: to play fifty snaps a game by any means, but
9:10
Speaker 4: I think, you know, based on what I saw on tape,
9:13
Speaker 4: and as I said, I liked him, I think he
9:16
Speaker 4: could line up and play twenty snaps. You know, the
9:18
Speaker 4: more we talk about this and well, one reason I
9:20
Speaker 4: love these conversations is we just end up talking ball,
9:23
Speaker 4: and people understand that I don't like we just talk.
9:25
Speaker 4: I don't sit here and you know, write all notes
9:27
Speaker 4: out and think, Okay, what am I going to say?
9:29
Speaker 4: We just kind of talk. And I think Jeff's question
9:32
Speaker 4: is really a great question because you know, they have
9:36
Speaker 4: so many players who are really kind of stand up
9:39
Speaker 4: edged players, including Malachi Lawrence by the way, and so
9:43
Speaker 4: which leads you to believe that they go they'd want
9:46
Speaker 4: to play a five to two but a five to
9:48
Speaker 4: two means that they're not in nickel. So the question is,
9:52
Speaker 4: you know, is it going to be you know, are
9:56
Speaker 4: they going to play a five man front? Maybe a
9:58
Speaker 4: five to one. We saw the Eagles do that. Quite bid.
10:00
Speaker 4: They they might bring would bring bond down on the
10:03
Speaker 4: line of scrimmage and essentially play a five to one
10:05
Speaker 4: nickel because that still allows you to play with a
10:08
Speaker 4: quarter structure to start your your your look. It might
10:11
Speaker 4: not stay that way, but it starts that way to me.
10:15
Speaker 4: I think that's you know, and there's no question Christian
10:17
Speaker 4: Parker has a sense of what he wants to do.
10:19
Speaker 4: I mean we're talking as if you know, oh, we
10:21
Speaker 4: don't know. He knows, we don't know because he's not
10:25
Speaker 4: going to make a public announcement. You know, people who
10:27
Speaker 4: are there watching probably have a sense. You know, we
10:29
Speaker 4: weren't there. I'll be fascinated by that because they've got
10:33
Speaker 4: a lot of these guys, like I said, Lawrence Barum,
10:37
Speaker 4: Gary Azaruku, all these guys can be stand up players
10:41
Speaker 4: on the edge, you know, Now, can they put their
10:44
Speaker 4: hand in the ground as well? Sure, you don't have
10:46
Speaker 4: to be two hundred and ninety pounds to put your
10:48
Speaker 4: hand in the ground. But I'm really curious to see
10:51
Speaker 4: how much Nickel they play. You know, when you could
10:53
Speaker 4: draft Kala Downs, I don't think you want to take
10:55
Speaker 4: them off the field, right I almost wish the game, Yeah, I.
10:58
Speaker 1: Almost wish the Rams were on the schedule for the
11:01
Speaker 1: Cowboys this year. They're not, because I would love to
11:04
Speaker 1: see what their plan would be to match up against
11:06
Speaker 1: a team that was going to put at very least
11:09
Speaker 1: two tight ends and most likely three on the field
11:12
Speaker 1: and see how that changes the dynamics of their defense,
11:14
Speaker 1: because as we look here now, I'm not sure they've
11:17
Speaker 1: really rectified their years long issue of being better against
11:21
Speaker 1: the run, and I would certainly test them.
11:23
Speaker 2: You want to live in Nickel, I will put the
11:25
Speaker 2: ends on the field and running.
11:26
Speaker 4: But that's been true.
11:28
Speaker 3: You know.
11:28
Speaker 4: I think if you're going to live in Nickel, you know,
11:30
Speaker 4: your d tackles become really really important. And that's what
11:33
Speaker 4: we saw with Seattle. I mean, they had Leonard Williams,
11:35
Speaker 4: they had Murphy, they had Jaren Reed, they had they
11:38
Speaker 4: had a trio inside that's really really good. Now did
11:44
Speaker 4: the Cowboys have that? I mean, I think most people
11:46
Speaker 4: would say and then I'm going to be honest that
11:49
Speaker 4: I didn't study you know, I haven't studied him in
11:51
Speaker 4: great detail the last year. But quinnin Williams at his
11:54
Speaker 4: you know, at his best, is a very good player.
11:57
Speaker 4: So you know, they still have Kenny Clark. What is
12:00
Speaker 4: he have left? You know, sometimes run defenders guys are
12:03
Speaker 4: not well known names. They don't have to be. I mean,
12:06
Speaker 4: I remember, you know, people probably you know, don't know
12:09
Speaker 4: anything about Jay Toya and I did him coming out
12:12
Speaker 4: of UCLA and I thought he was a really good
12:14
Speaker 4: run defender. Maybe a guy like that, you know, it's
12:17
Speaker 4: like that, it's not the same style defense. But it's
12:19
Speaker 4: like the Texans. They have all these guys that no
12:22
Speaker 4: one really knows about who play on the inside that
12:25
Speaker 4: are just really really good run defenders, you know, and
12:28
Speaker 4: they may not be pass rushers, which is why people
12:30
Speaker 4: don't know who they are because they don't get sacks.
12:33
Speaker 4: But you know, if you're going to play and if
12:35
Speaker 4: you're going to live in Nickel, okay, obviously you need
12:38
Speaker 4: your nickel to be a good run defender because there
12:40
Speaker 4: are going to be times where he's going to be
12:42
Speaker 4: a big gap player in the run game and you're
12:45
Speaker 4: going to need your D tackles to be really stout.
12:48
Speaker 4: You know, we'll see if that's I mean, look again,
12:51
Speaker 4: we'll get to do the Eagles. But look at what
12:53
Speaker 4: the Eagles have been able to do with Carter and
12:56
Speaker 4: Jordan Davis having a monstrous year a year ago and
12:59
Speaker 4: even I mean, if your D tackles can really be tough,
13:03
Speaker 4: you can live in nickel.
13:05
Speaker 2: A guy real quick.
13:06
Speaker 1: I would add to that the second level part of this,
13:08
Speaker 1: because you mentioned Seattle and one of the reasons they
13:11
Speaker 1: were so good also against the run, is they had
13:13
Speaker 1: the great dts to play in nickel. But then their
13:16
Speaker 1: linebacker Ernest Jones and nickol and men Worry was basically
13:18
Speaker 1: like another linebacker. I look at Dallas and I say,
13:22
Speaker 1: are lighter guys like overshown and I forget who there
13:25
Speaker 1: are other off ball linebacker is in the second Are
13:28
Speaker 1: those guys along with downs right? Are they the physical
13:31
Speaker 1: presence in that second level.
13:33
Speaker 4: To be able to help in well? They signed from
13:36
Speaker 4: San Francisco, who's a good player. He is a good player,
13:40
Speaker 4: and actually Shamar James a year ago played pretty well,
13:42
Speaker 4: but he's a lighter guy. I mean, he's more of
13:44
Speaker 4: a run and Chase guy. So that's a great point, Jeff.
13:47
Speaker 4: You know, I mean, you know, one of the great
13:52
Speaker 4: things about what the Seahawks did, you know, because obviously
13:56
Speaker 4: that's the comparison everybody's gonna make. If you're going to
13:58
Speaker 4: live in Nickel and have essential a safety beating Nickel,
14:01
Speaker 4: which a lot of teams are going to do, like
14:03
Speaker 4: for instance, the New Orleans Saints are going to do
14:06
Speaker 4: that because they're going to play the safety Sanker because
14:09
Speaker 4: they lost Alante Taylor. They're going to play Sanker probably
14:12
Speaker 4: is their Nickel, So you know, they may live in
14:14
Speaker 4: Nickel too, So you know, if you're going to do that.
14:18
Speaker 4: You know, one of the things Seattle did really really well,
14:20
Speaker 4: and he's an unknown player, you know, which is odd
14:23
Speaker 4: to say because they want a Super Bowl, But Thomas
14:26
Speaker 4: the linebacker number forty two, was a really really good
14:30
Speaker 4: run defender, and they used him to attack downhill in
14:33
Speaker 4: the B gap that you know, if you want to
14:35
Speaker 4: call it a run blitz. But the way they structured
14:38
Speaker 4: their fronts, they would bring that extra guy in, you know,
14:41
Speaker 4: as an immediate guy in the running game, so he
14:44
Speaker 4: wasn't reading and reacting, you know, So there's all different
14:47
Speaker 4: ways tactically you can play, you know which You're not
14:50
Speaker 4: going to go into the weeds here because people can't
14:52
Speaker 4: see it, but I mean there's multiple ways you can
14:54
Speaker 4: play if you're going to live in Nickel.
14:57
Speaker 3: So, Jeff, what I was going to say is every team,
14:59
Speaker 3: GREGI talk about Jay Tuya, every team has that, or
15:02
Speaker 3: mostly every team that plays the run well has an
15:04
Speaker 3: unsung hero. Kyrie's Tanga, who was with the Patriots, very
15:09
Speaker 3: integral to the run defense. You find these guys, these
15:12
Speaker 3: lunch pail guys like no one's ever heard of. Greg
15:15
Speaker 3: was kind of alluding to it. They're not name guys,
15:18
Speaker 3: but they're lunch pal guys, and they stay in the
15:20
Speaker 3: league a long time. I mean they are like, where
15:23
Speaker 3: do they get this guy? You know? And Dallas for
15:26
Speaker 3: years has been undisciplined against the run. They're going to
15:29
Speaker 3: have to find it. I am fascinated as Jerry Jones
15:33
Speaker 3: was obsessed last year was stopping the run. If you remember,
15:35
Speaker 3: that's why they made the trade with Quinn Williams and
15:37
Speaker 3: at others. Can this finally, Jeff, as we sent it
15:39
Speaker 3: back to you, be the time that they could be
15:42
Speaker 3: respectable against the run.
15:44
Speaker 2: I mean, I think you just hit it on the head.
15:45
Speaker 1: It's about I don't think, based on our conversation that
15:49
Speaker 1: they have what it takes to be a top five
15:50
Speaker 1: run defense, but can they be fifteen to twenty percent
15:54
Speaker 1: better last year and then because they have such a
15:57
Speaker 1: killer offense, that's enough for them to win more games.
16:00
Speaker 3: They don't have to be it.
16:01
Speaker 4: Yeah, they don't have to be a top five defense
16:02
Speaker 4: in the league. But the point is is they can't
16:05
Speaker 4: let teams control that the way games are played, and
16:07
Speaker 4: that's what happens when you can't stop the run.
16:10
Speaker 1: Right And I would imagine I was looking at their schedule,
16:13
Speaker 1: you know, there are a bunch of teams, just like
16:14
Speaker 1: with the Eagles, that they're going to face, that are
16:16
Speaker 1: going to try to play two tight ends pretty early.
16:18
Speaker 1: You know, if they get the Giants week one, Baltimore
16:20
Speaker 1: week three, we'll see what Houston does offensively, and we
16:23
Speaker 1: know that they run somewhat of a Shanahan style offense
16:26
Speaker 1: there Green Bay week six. So I wouldn't be surprised
16:29
Speaker 1: if these teams tried to dictate what Dallas' defense looked
16:34
Speaker 1: like based on their own offensive personnel to try to
16:36
Speaker 1: get that advantage until Dallas proves it's better.
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17:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, transitioning to the offense, go ahead, I.
17:42
Speaker 4: Would say the biggest question. You know again, Dak Prescott's
17:45
Speaker 4: really good play. You know, we don't need to spend
17:47
Speaker 4: a lot of time saying, Gee, what's Dak Prescott. He's
17:49
Speaker 4: a really good NFL quarterback. I think the biggest question
17:52
Speaker 4: for them on offense is the left tackle position, because
17:56
Speaker 4: they obviously drafted Tyler Gutton number one a few years ago. Okay,
18:00
Speaker 4: the guy had phenomenal athletic traits. He hasn't really become
18:05
Speaker 4: that guy because we probably discussed this before. Guys, but
18:09
Speaker 4: if your left tackle can't pass protect one on one
18:13
Speaker 4: in third down and pure pass situations, you got a problem.
18:16
Speaker 4: And he has not been able to do that yet
18:18
Speaker 4: with consistency. Now he's got the physical attributes to do that.
18:22
Speaker 4: It's not as if he's incapable of doing it, you know,
18:25
Speaker 4: but it hasn't happened yet. In fact, it hasn't happened
18:27
Speaker 4: to the point where there was a lot of offseason
18:29
Speaker 4: talk about Tyler Smith, the left guard, moving to a
18:32
Speaker 4: left tackle because that's the position he played in college.
18:35
Speaker 4: But I don't think they want to do that, you know.
18:38
Speaker 4: I mean, you draft the guy with the in the
18:41
Speaker 4: first round, Tyler guy who has the physical attributes, you know,
18:44
Speaker 4: you expect him now in his third year to be
18:47
Speaker 4: able to play the position.
18:49
Speaker 3: Guys, that same draft of twenty four, it was with
18:52
Speaker 3: JC Latham was a guy that people were telling m
18:54
Speaker 3: he's not a left tackle. He's not a left tackle. Oh, bygala,
18:56
Speaker 3: he got moved to right tackle. But the Cowboys, Greg,
18:59
Speaker 3: on your point, they made they made it clear he
19:02
Speaker 3: is a Tyler. When we look at Geiton, he is there.
19:07
Speaker 3: He's their franchise left tackle, like that's what they thought.
19:10
Speaker 3: And but but guys, let's on the other side is
19:13
Speaker 3: Terrence Steele, who at one point was a great story
19:16
Speaker 3: as an undirected free agent. He developed into a solid player.
19:19
Speaker 3: He's had some injuries, he's been on the downward slide.
19:21
Speaker 3: So to be honest with it, both tackles the spots
19:24
Speaker 3: that to me is where you make your bread and
19:25
Speaker 3: butter with your pass rush, Jeff as you get after us.
19:29
Speaker 4: And and the thing that's that's a shame for them
19:31
Speaker 4: is their guard duo of Tyler Smith and Tyler Booker. Boy,
19:35
Speaker 4: they got three Tyler's on their front front. But uh,
19:39
Speaker 4: the Smith Booker guard combo, that's as good a guard
19:44
Speaker 4: duo as any in the league, you know. So, I
19:46
Speaker 4: mean they're really good and Cooper Beebe's a really solid saying.
19:49
Speaker 4: I mean, they're they're very good inside. But but you know,
19:53
Speaker 4: Adam's point is one hundred percent correct. I mean, if
19:56
Speaker 4: you can't pass protect one on one on the edge
19:58
Speaker 4: with your two tackles, that changes everything about your offense.
20:03
Speaker 1: Did you see improvement from guytan as the season went
20:05
Speaker 1: on or did you would you say, by the end
20:07
Speaker 1: of the year he was still a below league average
20:10
Speaker 1: pass safetime.
20:11
Speaker 4: You see flashes you don't see. You don't see it
20:14
Speaker 4: snap after snap after snap because the guy is a
20:17
Speaker 4: is an athlete. I mean, he went to Oklahoma's a
20:20
Speaker 4: tight end, he's he's an athlete. You know, it's just
20:22
Speaker 4: a technique. You know. Again, I'm not going to sit
20:25
Speaker 4: here and say I'm an you know, offensive line genius
20:27
Speaker 4: and I understand every element of technique. But you can
20:31
Speaker 4: see when guys do it right, you know, that's the thing.
20:33
Speaker 4: You can see, you know when they do it wrong.
20:35
Speaker 4: And you know, sometimes it's blatant when you see him
20:37
Speaker 4: do it wrong and you just gool that's really bad.
20:38
Speaker 4: But I don't know how he's being taught. I don't
20:40
Speaker 4: know all that, you know, I don't know all that
20:43
Speaker 4: so I'm not going to sit here and say I
20:44
Speaker 4: know the reasons, but he's good enough with his physical
20:48
Speaker 4: athletic traits to be I'm not going to sit here
20:51
Speaker 4: and say he's you know, he's a lot to be tonsil,
20:53
Speaker 4: but he's good enough to be a quality starting left
20:56
Speaker 4: tackle in the NFL.
20:58
Speaker 2: Adam, how do you feel about run game? Because Gavante Williams,
21:02
Speaker 2: you know, surprised us all.
21:03
Speaker 1: He came out of nowhere after some real injury playing
21:05
Speaker 1: seasons with the Broncos. It didn't look like he was
21:07
Speaker 1: going to get back and then Waila, you know, he
21:09
Speaker 1: rips off.
21:10
Speaker 2: It was like thirteen hundred rushing yards last year.
21:12
Speaker 3: He was high I was trying to carry. Yeah, it's
21:15
Speaker 3: hard to believe. Look, I almost feel like they.
21:18
Speaker 1: Have to show that they can do that again. Though
21:20
Speaker 1: there's some part of me that sort of wonders if
21:22
Speaker 1: that was a I.
21:22
Speaker 3: Know it was Williams. Yeah, he's been a great story,
21:25
Speaker 3: multi ligament injury with Denver, Dever moved on from him.
21:28
Speaker 3: There was a remember they signed Miles Sanders last year.
21:31
Speaker 3: People probably forgot and then Javonty Williams was money around
21:35
Speaker 3: the goal line. He was he had a great season.
21:37
Speaker 3: But the guy they want to get started is Jayden Blue,
21:41
Speaker 3: who's explosive.
21:42
Speaker 4: Greg.
21:42
Speaker 3: I know you you raved about his tape in college.
21:44
Speaker 3: Of course he's not, but he's explosive, and Williams is not. Greg. Yeah,
21:51
Speaker 3: so what do you look good?
21:53
Speaker 4: Williams looked last year like he did in North Carolina
21:56
Speaker 4: when he came out of North Carolina. And I was
21:57
Speaker 4: not the only one, but I really liked his tape
22:00
Speaker 4: and I thought he had the traits to be a
22:01
Speaker 4: foundation back, and obviously Denver did too, and then he
22:04
Speaker 4: had injuries and it just didn't work out. But last
22:07
Speaker 4: year he played to that and that's why they re
22:10
Speaker 4: signed him in this offseason, did they not?
22:12
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, they sound a nice deal. Yeah yeah, oh
22:13
Speaker 3: yeah yeah.
22:14
Speaker 4: So I mean he's their feature back. Blue will be
22:16
Speaker 4: a compliment and he's a good receiver and he'll play,
22:21
Speaker 4: but but you know, Williams is the foundation of their
22:24
Speaker 4: run game.
22:27
Speaker 1: They seemed to be have some buzz over pilm MafA,
22:29
Speaker 1: their seventh round pick.
22:30
Speaker 2: I don't know if he can come in and be
22:32
Speaker 2: a good.
22:32
Speaker 1: Number two type of runner if Williams were to get hurt,
22:35
Speaker 1: because we know.
22:37
Speaker 4: Williams. Williams is better, but MafA is similar in that
22:41
Speaker 4: he's physical, he's tough, he's aggressive. He's not a breakaway back.
22:45
Speaker 4: You know he look you know how backs are. He
22:47
Speaker 4: was a seventh round pick. But you know he's Stylistically
22:51
Speaker 4: he can play in the NFL. I mean, he's never
22:52
Speaker 4: gonna blow you away, but stylistically, because of his physicality
22:55
Speaker 4: and size and toughness, he can play in the league.
23:00
Speaker 3: Rusher on a receiver group. Greg everybody knows about Pickens
23:02
Speaker 3: and lamb Ryan Floorinoy has kind of been like the
23:06
Speaker 3: surprises that is now as your three. Do you like
23:09
Speaker 3: their when they go eleven personnel? Florinoy urpin a sort
23:14
Speaker 3: of a movable chess piece. Do you like their backup
23:16
Speaker 3: group depth?
23:17
Speaker 4: Yeah? I mean flora I came on toward the end
23:19
Speaker 4: of last season. He looks like a solid number three.
23:23
Speaker 4: The guy that they still have, which I guess I
23:25
Speaker 4: was wrong on because he hasn't done anything, is is
23:27
Speaker 4: Jonathan Ming Though I thought when he came out of
23:29
Speaker 4: college he could be a good bro He's still on
23:31
Speaker 4: the roster. He may not make the tea who knows.
23:33
Speaker 4: But Florinoy came on last year is a really solid
23:36
Speaker 4: three because obviously they're top two or as good as
23:38
Speaker 4: any top two in the league, you know, with Pickens
23:41
Speaker 4: and Lamb and so yeah, there's no problem with the
23:45
Speaker 4: receiving corps. I think Jake Ferguson is a really solid
23:48
Speaker 4: tight end. In the context of their offense, I think
23:50
Speaker 4: they're pretty deep at tight end as well, So you
23:54
Speaker 4: know the key thing and you know, it gets back
23:56
Speaker 4: to the tackles, but I think otherwise they've got a
23:59
Speaker 4: really solid offensive group.
24:02
Speaker 3: The word Jeff I got real quick on Mingo is
24:04
Speaker 3: practice performance. With him, he just can't practice consistently well
24:09
Speaker 3: and he can't get on the field, and they gave him,
24:10
Speaker 3: I believe, a fourth round pick for him.
24:13
Speaker 4: It wasn't he originally a second round pick.
24:15
Speaker 3: Yes, yeah, yeah it did. It didn't work. No, Greg,
24:18
Speaker 3: you're not alone. You just go by the comp stafe,
24:21
Speaker 3: this is what he looks like, and he just didn't perform.
24:23
Speaker 4: You do, And again, you know, sometimes not sometimes all
24:27
Speaker 4: the time. I don't necessarily know about the person the character.
24:30
Speaker 4: And I'm not knocking Jonathan Mingo. I don't know anything
24:32
Speaker 4: about him. But a lot of times, guys, you know,
24:34
Speaker 4: you watch him on tape and you go, boy, the
24:37
Speaker 4: guy looks pretty good. And then you know, you get
24:38
Speaker 4: to the league and you guys know how it is
24:40
Speaker 4: in the league. I mean, if you're not a hard working,
24:43
Speaker 4: you know, it means everything to you. You know you're
24:45
Speaker 4: not going to make it.
24:46
Speaker 3: Here's another one, Jeff Denzel Mems. Denzel mem another failed
24:50
Speaker 3: second round pick.
24:51
Speaker 2: He just signed with somebody recently.
24:53
Speaker 3: Who I brought him up?
24:55
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right.
24:56
Speaker 3: Yeah.
24:56
Speaker 4: Another guy that if you just watched him on tape,
24:58
Speaker 4: you thought he'd make it in the league.
25:01
Speaker 2: True perfect signing for the Cowboys because.
25:04
Speaker 4: His agent thought he'd making the league and he still
25:06
Speaker 4: can't figure out, you know, and he knows him better
25:09
Speaker 4: than we do, and and uh uh, he just still
25:11
Speaker 4: can't figure out why hasn't made it.
25:13
Speaker 2: That's right, You knew what I was gonna say, right.
25:15
Speaker 2: Adham is a perfect cowboy because he hates Philadelphia. Den Zelmims, Oh,
25:18
Speaker 2: I remember us in trouble?
25:20
Speaker 3: Yeah we actually we wait, do we interview him?
25:23
Speaker 2: We interviewed him, yes, and he said it on our show.
25:25
Speaker 2: He said Philadelphia.
25:26
Speaker 3: I got quoted on that. Its right.
25:28
Speaker 2: Uh.
25:30
Speaker 1: Florinoy Greg is he someone who you think is naturally
25:33
Speaker 1: tailored to the slot or is he being shoehorn there
25:36
Speaker 1: because they have, you know, Lamb and Pickens.
25:39
Speaker 2: Where does this call?
25:40
Speaker 4: I think the way that we're on offense, because Lamb
25:42
Speaker 4: can line up anywhere. I don't think that Florinoy, I
25:44
Speaker 4: don't think there're s. I mean, Pickens is your classic
25:47
Speaker 4: boundary X, which doesn't mean he's gonna line up there
25:49
Speaker 4: one hundred percent at the time. But I think with
25:51
Speaker 4: Lamb and Florinoy, both those guys are movable chess pieces.
25:54
Speaker 4: So I don't think it's it's a matter of a
25:56
Speaker 4: shoehorn a guy in the slot. I think they're gonna,
25:58
Speaker 4: you know, be be multiple in their alignments within the
26:01
Speaker 4: context of their pass game, right See.
26:04
Speaker 2: I just have questions guys on on the We know,
26:08
Speaker 2: like you said, they have a very talented passing game.
26:11
Speaker 1: They were able to exploit it last year because they
26:14
Speaker 1: had this really out of nowhere run game that was
26:17
Speaker 1: explosive and move the chains and really good. Do they
26:21
Speaker 1: do they need to have that again this year? I
26:22
Speaker 1: would think so, but I just don't know if I
26:25
Speaker 1: can see that again. From Javonte Williams we'll have to see.
26:29
Speaker 1: And I'm not big on their backup running backs. To
26:32
Speaker 1: me to say if Williams got hurt, they can just
26:34
Speaker 1: be fine, I feel like da had.
26:36
Speaker 4: Yeah. Well, I mean, I guess theoretically could probably say
26:40
Speaker 4: that with a lot of you know, teams with their
26:41
Speaker 4: backup running back. But uh, and I understand your point, Chef,
26:45
Speaker 4: but obviously Williams. Look, when Williams came out of college,
26:49
Speaker 4: no one really questioned whether he could be a good back.
26:51
Speaker 4: It just didn't work for a number of reasons, including
26:54
Speaker 4: major injuries. But I don't think people who who studied
26:58
Speaker 4: him in detail coming out of North Carolina we're surprised
27:01
Speaker 4: with what he did a year ago. You know again,
27:03
Speaker 4: whether he does it again this year, there's so many variables.
27:06
Speaker 4: But they need a run game, you know, they need
27:08
Speaker 4: a run game.
27:10
Speaker 2: Absolutely, all right.
27:12
Speaker 1: I think the big takeaway here is if these things
27:14
Speaker 1: happened for them and they make defensive improvements, so they
27:17
Speaker 1: could challenge the Eagles here.
27:19
Speaker 2: They're probably of the three teams we've.
27:21
Speaker 1: Done so far, the biggest challenge to the Eagles from
27:23
Speaker 1: a talent standpoint of winning the NFC East, and again
27:27
Speaker 1: they had a win against the Eagles last year, a
27:29
Speaker 1: big comeback win, and then they probably should have won
27:31
Speaker 1: the opener at im and then ceedee Lamb dropped three
27:33
Speaker 1: or four passages, right.
27:35
Speaker 2: The big one at the end. Yeah, it might have
27:37
Speaker 2: been four or five. That really could.
27:39
Speaker 4: Have seemed like it happened about twenty years ago.
27:41
Speaker 3: But yeah, that's right, it feels that way for all
27:45
Speaker 3: of us.
27:47
Speaker 2: All right, great stuff.
27:48
Speaker 1: So that's a look at the Dallas Cowboys, and we
27:50
Speaker 1: are three fourths our way through this preview series, and
27:54
Speaker 1: of course we will end it all in the next
27:56
Speaker 1: podcast with our preview of the Philadelphia Eagles. That's gonna
28:00
Speaker 1: do it for this episode of Inside the Birds. For
28:02
Speaker 1: Gret Cosel and Adam Kaplan, I'm Jeff Mosher. As always,
28:06
Speaker 1: we thank you for flying with us Inside the Birds.
28:10
Speaker 1: Be sure to check out our friends at Phlsportsnation dot com.
28:14
Speaker 1: They're enhancing the fans experience with their coverage of all
28:17
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