32BeatWriters - Cowboys Fantasy Football Preview Discussing Prescott, Lamb, Pickens, Ferguson and More with Nick Harris
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Jul 20, 2026
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Mon, July 20, 2026
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Episode Transcript
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1:16Welcome in everyone. Today we are talking Dallas Cowboys with Nick Harris.
1:20Nick, how are we doing today, sir? Yeah, doing fantastic.
1:23I appreciate you having me on. Yeah, absolutely. You know, the Cowboys have kind of been an interesting, you know, 2026 team
1:30in terms of what's changing the offseason. I think it's all their sub weapons, right?
1:35That everyone is just dying to know about whether that's the RB2, who's behind Pickens and Lamb, all that kind of stuff, even the tight end room.
1:43So we're going to dive into all that today.
1:46And just diving right in, let's talk about the most important position on the field, right?
1:50And the quarterback. So, you know, it's Dak's second year in the scheme.
1:54Is there anything that you think that coming off of that 4,500 yard, 30 touchdown season that, you know, Dak needs to
2:01do to be, I can't even believe I'm going to say this, possibly better?
2:05Do you expect any schematic changes going into year two?
2:08And then something that I thought might be interesting, you know, if the defense sees the improvements that we could expect, does
2:15that hinder the offense in any way, shape or form?
2:18Yeah, I think both of those are really interesting conversations.
2:21I guess I could start with the one on Dak and what his intentional process that he's trying to manifest this offseason
2:28with the offensive side of the ball is improving in the red zone.
2:32In the red zone last year, they were not all that great.
2:36Although the rest of, you know, in between the 20s, they were fantastic.
2:40One of the most productive offices in the NFL.
2:42And so staying healthy is always going to be big for Dak Prescott.
2:46If he can be healthy 17 games, you know, he's worthy of being a top, I would say top of tier two in this league starter.
2:54Even bottom of tier one when he's really humming like he was in 2023.
2:59But if they can figure out those red zone issues, that'll even add to his touchdown numbers.
3:04And I think there were times last year where they would get inside the 20 and they just couldn't figure out their weapons inside the 20.
3:12And so there is a really big intentional process behind the scenes of how to get over that this year.
3:18And I think that's going to eventually help Dak's touchdown numbers.
3:21But on the flip side, like you said, the defense is going to be better.
3:26It's looking that way. The personnel is a lot better.
3:29They brought in Jalen Thompson, Kobe Durant, Rashawn Gary.
3:32And then they have the rookie class of Caleb Downs, Malachi Lawrence and traded for Dee Winters.
3:37So defense personnel wise on paper looks a lot different than it did last year.
3:41There's a lot of hope behind defensive coordinator Christian Parker and what scheme he's going to be able to bring from his
3:48time in Philadelphia and Denver under Vic Fangio and Vance Joseph.
3:52You know, how does that affect the offense at the end of the day?
3:56I think it's a valid conversation. And we'll talk about it more with receivers like Pickens and Lamb.
4:01But, you know, if Dak isn't having to, you know, sling these 40 to 35 slugfest as much next season, maybe that
4:08does affect his numbers at the end of the day.
4:11But I think you still will see, you know, efficiency out of Dak Prescott.
4:15You still will see the running game be effective.
4:18And so, you know, it could affect his numbers at the end of the day, but I wouldn't see it be too
4:25massive just because they are still going to lean on this passing game.
4:29It's really funny because Brian Schottenheimer, when he took over the job, I think there were a lot of people that were
4:36like, all right, this is going to be Marty Ball 2.0 here in the 2025 version of that.
4:41But he likes to sling that thing. And so that certainly benefited Dak last year.
4:46I think that's going to continue to be the case.
4:49I think that's happy news to everyone's ears in that regard.
4:52But, you know, I think the questions really, like I said at the start of the start, come in behind Dak, right?
4:59And let's just dive into Javante. Obviously, a tremendous first year in Dallas.
5:03Clearly, and correct me if I'm wrong, the clear cut number one in Dallas.
5:07You know, can we, and we're going to, I'm going to prerequisite this by saying we're going to break this into two
5:14parts, you know, Javante and then the running backs behind him, which I'm dying to hear where we go on that.
5:20But me too. Can we expect another 250 carry year from Williams?
5:24And then what are your general expectations of him schematically from a rushing receiving standpoint and what you expect out of him as this RB1?
5:32Yeah, that's probably the biggest question I have when it comes to Javante is the touch numbers.
5:37And you mentioned it. I mean, he was right around 250 last year.
5:41That was a joke. Like if you had told me that at the beginning of the year, I would have been like,
5:48yeah, I don't know about all that. Like he still does have a lot of injury history.
5:53But I think, you know, especially now that, hey, he proved it last year.
5:57He's capable of being a legit starter in this league.
6:00They gave him the three-year contract. They need to see those three years through and two of them are guaranteed.
6:06And so they really need to see these next two at the very least.
6:10And so they need someone to offset that. What do the touch numbers look like for Javante at the end of the day?
6:17I would imagine it probably goes down to around 200 instead still, which is still a heavy amount.
6:23But it really just depends on what the room behind him looks like and how comfortable they are with the room behind them.
6:30Because I think if you had told Brian Schottenheimer at the beginning of the year last year that Javante was going to
6:37be a 250 guy, he would have said you were crazy.
6:40I think that was just kind of the nature of the room behind him.
6:44And, you know, there wasn't really a capable week-to-week guy until late in the season.
6:49And it came out of nowhere in the form of Malik Davis, who was kind of resorted to their practice squad and
6:56was a last-minute addition to the practice squad even before the season started.
7:00And so it's funny because it is two different conversations, but it all kind of forms into one.
7:05Who can be that guy to emerge behind Javante?
7:08And, you know, how does that affect Javante's numbers at the end of the day?
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7:58Learn more at americanexpress.com slash business dash platinum. No, I mean, I think the insight you just gave on Javante kind of
8:05gives people an idea based off of, you know, leading right into this next question.
8:10There is so much behind him, whether that's blue or if you talk to anyone on our team, they are obsessed with Phil Maffa.
8:17So, you know, and then you have Davis who I feel like when you have the conversation about the RB2 and man,
8:24even the RB3, people are just not talking about Davis, but he, I feel like he needs to be in the conversation.
8:31You know, so I'm not necessarily asking you to predict it, but more of what are these roles behind Javante look like?
8:37What's the RB2 role? And then what's the RB3 role need to be?
8:41I mean, I know traditionally we're talking like the third down back, whatever, but from this Cowboys offense, what is, what do
8:48you think these roles need to be? And if you want to throw it out there and say who you think the best fits are, feel free.
8:56If not, nothing against you. Yeah, I would say of the guys in that room, Jaden Blue is probably the best fit
9:03to be RB2, just because he does a lot of things differently than Javante Williams in a different way than like Phil Maffa would.
9:10So Jaden Blue, he's going to have the home run speed.
9:14He's going to have, hey, we're going to dump you off in the flat or we're going to send you on a
9:20wheel route and we're going to just bomb it to you and see if you can go run under it.
9:27And they can line him up in the slot.
9:29We saw that a little bit in OTAs and minicamp, which I thought was kind of a new wrinkle that we didn't
9:36necessarily see a whole lot from the Schottenheimer offense last year.
9:39It's really all about Jaden Blue putting it together off the field.
9:43There was a word that Schottenheimer, it's been a buzzword for him.
9:47It's kind of his way of saying that this guy needs to improve in the classroom whenever he says maturity and professionalism,
9:53like whenever those two things are continuing to be mentioned.
9:57And Jaden Blue was probably like the staple child of that last year in his rookie season.
10:02And so he, everything that we've heard so far this offseason is that he's taken that.
10:07He had a really positive exit meeting with Brian Schottenheimer.
10:10They were both really honest with each other, the way Schottenheimer explained it.
10:14And they have liked what they've seen from Jaden Blue so far.
10:17But training camp, the season, that's going to be a completely different story.
10:21You know, how does it manifest in November versus, you know, in the dog days of May and June?
10:27And so, you know, I will say every time we were in the locker room as reporters, he was on his iPad
10:34and, you know, going through practice footage. And he's trying to be more intentional about that role.
10:39And again, he has the speed and talent to be the shoe-in for that RB2 position just because I think he would
10:46offset, you know, the Javante Williams physicality so well.
10:49But if he doesn't, Phil Moffat is right there, yes.
10:52And he's healthy. It's a healthy Phil Moffat, which I don't think we've seen a healthy Phil Moffat since his early days at Clemson.
10:59Even that senior year, he was battling the shoulder.
11:02Last year, he was on IR for most of the season.
11:05And so, you know, seeing him in the preseason, if he can find some sort of home run ability, I think that
11:12really could open up his opportunity to be that RB2.
11:15And I think he has, you know, an inside look at that just because he has been the mature professional guy off the field all the way through.
11:23And so, you know, I'm very curious to see how that manifests between those two guys.
11:28And then Malik Davis is still there. And I have to mention Malik Davis.
11:33And it was funny because I think I exchanged a Twitter thing with you guys a couple – a few months ago.
11:39And you were like, hey, you know, if the season started today, who do you think is RB2?
11:45And I was like, I guess Malik Davis because, you know, he was the guy who had the big games last year on Thanksgiving and Christmas.
11:53And finished the year, I think, with around 350, 400 yards.
11:56But he's 28. And so, you know, they need to get younger in that room behind Javante Williams, not necessarily, you know, older.
12:03And Malik Davis is the oldest guy in that room, even older than Javante.
12:07And so it would make sense that they want to lean more on a young back.
12:12And we didn't see Malik Davis get barely any touches with the second team in OTAs and minicamp, which I thought was a little fascinating.
12:20But I guess it makes sense. You know, they want to get younger there.
12:24But that's going to be a really fascinating battle.
12:27It's one of the more fascinating position battles that I think the Cowboys will have.
12:32And then a couple of guys on the outside looking in.
12:35Israel Abanaconda, they really liked him during the draft process a few years ago.
12:39Finally were able to pick him up after he was cut midseason last year.
12:44Spent some time on the practice squad. But he's going to have, you know, a big growth to overcome.
12:49And then they had an undrafted free agent signing in Dominic Richardson out of Tulsa.
12:54And they really like his grit. Grit is one word that's kind of been a buzzword for him.
12:59We'll see if they make any impact during preseason.
13:02But I would say right now, Blue, Mafa, whoever emerges there would probably be RB2.
13:07That makes sense. It's super interesting from the, you know, I feel like Blue, to your point, we've heard really the last,
13:14I can't even know how much, the maturity, this, that, the other thing.
13:17I think people got excited for, you know, the final week of the season, saw Mafa get his run.
13:23And he looked pretty decent. But, you know, you talking about that maturity aspect of it and whatnot.
13:29I mean, I hate to even say this, but it almost adds another wrinkle to this backfield.
13:34It does. That, you know, maybe a lot of our listeners didn't know about, you know, until this conversation.
13:40So it's super interesting in that regard. Let's get a little less interesting, but a little bit more fun, I guess I should say.
13:47So Pickens and Lambs at the top of this depth chart again, you know, we have to talk about them.
13:53My biggest question is, you know, are the expectations the exact same for these guys this year?
13:58Do you see anything changing with them? And then I hate to even bring it up, but do you see or are
14:05you hearing any rumblings about a Pickens extension in Dallas?
14:08Yeah, it's funny. The date today is July 14th.
14:11So we have about 24 hours for that extension to happen.
14:14And I would be very, very surprised if that extension comes through.
14:18It feels like both sides are content with letting it roll on the franchise tag.
14:23And I'm very fascinated to see what that looks like for George Pickens and how he approaches that during the season.
14:29You know, as of right now, he is showing up to the mandatory stuff.
14:33There is no reason to think he won't be at training camp.
14:37And it'll be the first time in a while that the Cowboys haven't had a holdout situation.
14:42So that'll knock on wood. That'll be fascinating to just cover from a media aspect.
14:47We can watch football now. No, I think you look at his numbers last year.
14:5193 receptions, 1,429 yards, nine touchdowns. I would say that, you know, it would be really shooting for the stars to think
14:58that he could replicate that, especially the receptions and receiving yards number.
15:02I don't think it's necessarily far-fetched to think he could replicate those touchdown numbers, though, because of what I mentioned earlier about
15:09them trying to get more intentional in the red zone.
15:12And who is their best red zone guy on paper?
15:15It's George Pickens. He's going to be the jump ball guy.
15:18He has the size, the physicality, kind of the box-out power forward ability in contested catch situations to go up and grab those type of situation balls.
15:26And so I think, you know, that would certainly be something to lean on.
15:31Like, even if you don't get the 1,400 yards that he had last year, I think you still do get double-digit touchdowns
15:37at the end of the day, which is very valuable.
15:40You know, those six points will go a long way on a fantasy Sunday.
15:45And then C.D. C.D. is a fascinating case because he had a really bad case of the dropsies last year, especially in that opening game against Philadelphia.
15:53And they never really went away. It wasn't as bad as it was in that initial game, but there was a few
16:00times last year where you look up and you're like, gosh, that was bad.
16:04It was the Vegas game where they were blowing out the Raiders on Monday Night Football, but it was a fourth down
16:11in the red zone, and he just dropped a wide-on touchdown.
16:14Got open on a quick out and just dropped it.
16:17And I think that I would be surprised if you continue to see that going in 2026.
16:22And so I think his production will go up just by nature of that.
16:27As long as both of these guys stay healthy, I think Lamb will be your receiving leader this year, and I think
16:33you probably lean more on him being the 1,300, 1,400-yard guy.
16:37And then Pickens probably in the 1,000 to 1,100-yard range, which is still phenomenal as a wide receiver, too, in this league.
16:43And then one thing I would add as well with Pickens, they are trying to figure out how to move him around on the line of scrimmage.
16:52They want to play him more in the slot.
16:54They want to see what that looks like and what kind of opportunities that opens for CD or Ryan Flannoy or Jake Ferguson or even the running backs.
17:03And so these two guys – I asked Offensive Coordinator Clayton Adams at the end of the season last year.
17:09I was like, hey, you know, now that you have a full offseason, what are you excited to, like, dive into X's
17:16and O's-wise and really get into the nitty-gritty of – he's like, I feel like we're only hitting the tip of the
17:23iceberg of what we can do with having two elite wide receivers like this.
17:27He's like, teams don't get this. What can we do with it then?
17:31How can we get creative and create some things out of it?
17:34And so I'm very fascinated to see what that looks like here in a few weeks at training camp.
17:40No, for sure. I think anytime you hear that creativity or – I feel like those are the two hot phrases of this offseason.
17:48Like, we've got to get creative and we have to move guys around the formation.
17:52You know what I mean? I feel like that's every team's – let me rephrase that.
17:57There's three, right? 13 personnel, which we can – but those are, like, the three things that everyone seems to be talking about.
18:04So it's really interesting to hear that from a Dallas standpoint, but more importantly to what you were saying, the fact that
18:11they have two elite wide receivers to do it makes it all the more fun.
18:15So let's now talk about everyone behind those two because I feel like this is where it gets interesting, right?
18:22Like, Flournoy has kind of gotten some offseason hype.
18:24I mean, he looked decent last year as well.
18:27You know, obviously then you have, you know, the Turpin, MVS, Mingo, which I forgot Mingo was on this team for a hot minute before I looked up.
18:36Maybe we talk about that here. Okay. From those wide receivers, like, anything standing out to you?
18:41How do you expect them to slot into this offense?
18:44And then are there any other wide receivers that you feel like on this roster currently that we should be keeping an eye on as we approach camp?
18:52Yeah, it's funny because I have to start with Ryan Flannoy in this conversation, and rightfully so.
18:58Other than Dak Prescott, I think analytics people love Ryan Flannoy the most on this team of anyone.
19:03And it's rightfully so. I mean, he has been super dependable when called upon.
19:07And it's wild to think that he was cut at the end of training camp last year, hung around on waivers for
19:14like 48 hours before the Cowboys brought him back on the practice squad.
19:18And he sat on the practice squad for like two weeks before he was signed to the active roster.
19:24And then just a few weeks later, exploded with his 100-yard game against the Jets.
19:29Did it again later in the year against the Lions.
19:32And I think from a fantasy perspective, though, I would be a little cautious about Ryan Flannoy.
19:37I don't know if he's like, you know, a sexy flex option at the end of the day.
19:42But if CD or George Pickens have to miss a game or two, you want him on your roster.
19:48Like you want him in a flex spot because he's going to be dependable and they're going to throw the ball to him.
19:55And so the trust between Dak and Flannoy really, really powered through whenever CD went down early in the season with that
20:02high ankle and he was out for the 34 games.
20:05And that's when that Jets game happened. And he had, I think it was seven catches, 120 yards, something like that.
20:11And so, yeah, I would definitely have him on the roster in that sense in case one of those guys has to miss a game or two.
20:20And then the room behind them, very fascinating picture.
20:22I think Kevontae Turpin, I think, is safe just because of his return ability.
20:27And, you know, they let a couple of guys go in the offseason off the practice squad that could have threatened him
20:33for that return job at the very least. So I would imagine that Turpin is safe.
20:38But then behind that, it's going to be a wild competition to see what that looks like.
20:43And obviously special teams are going to play a big role for a wide Super 5 role.
20:49So, you know, Marcus Valdes-Scantling, he's huge. And he was honestly very – he was a lot bigger than I expected him
20:55to be when I saw him at OTAs and minicamp.
20:58Made some big-time catches at OTAs and minicamp. But, again, you know, it's underwear Olympics in those kind of settings.
21:05So MBS, I'm definitely keeping an eye on just because of the veteran savviness.
21:09But he has a lot of special teams in his career.
21:12So, you know, how can he pick that up?
21:15Treshawn Holden was a guy that they really liked at training camp last year.
21:19But, again, had no special teams experience and was really having to learn that on the fly at training camp.
21:25And so, you know, what does that look like now that he's had a whole year of development there?
21:31It could look a lot better. And he had a better chance of making this roster.
21:36But from a pure receiving perspective, if it was just based off that, I think Treshawn Holden would have a pretty good chance of making the team.
21:44But the special teams aspect is arguably bigger than the receiving aspect of it.
21:49And so that's why it probably gets tougher to, you know, project at the end of the day.
21:54That's where a guy like Jonathan Mingo maybe could end up sliding in and buying one more year.
22:00But he just really hasn't lived up to the hype that he had definitely since he was drafted.
22:05But even since he was traded for a fourth-round pick a couple of years ago, is still searching for his first NFL touchdown.
22:12And has had moments where, you know, he really could have stepped up and been the guy to, you know, take over whenever CD goes down.
22:20Or Pickens has to miss a quarter or two.
22:23And he just hasn't done that. And so that competition behind, you know, Flannoy and Turpin, it'll look pretty fascinating at training camp.
22:30No, definitely something to keep an eye on. I think, to your point, something that could materialize into something more should, you
22:37know, they need to move guys around. Excellent insight on Flannoy, too.
22:40I completely forgot he went to the practice squad last year and then came up.
22:45Which is, hey, it makes it a better story, right?
22:48It does. Yeah. The kid grinded. I remember, man, two, three years.
22:52It had to be three years ago, right, when he was drafted.
22:55So we had Jacob Infante on. And he said the one guy that late round he would keep an eye on is Flannoy.
23:02So it's been cool. We've kind of, as a team, been tracking him just based off of that conversation.
23:08So to see him as a wide receiver at three and potentially own this role will be really fun for our group here.
23:15I'll add a quick nugget. Sure. Flannoy. He, when the Cowboys went to go scout him during the draft process, this was
23:22like during his senior season at Southeast Missouri State.
23:25And you're only going to see Mo if there's one guy.
23:28And he was the one guy, obviously. And so he had, it was the middle of the year.
23:34He had broken his hand in a game that previous week.
23:37And one of their scouts went by on like a Tuesday or Wednesday.
23:41And he knew that they were coming. And he was like, I'm going to wrap this thing up and I'm going to practice today.
23:48Like, I know they're coming and I'm not going to, you know, let them come all the way out here to not see me.
23:56That was huge for them because it showed them toughness, you know, grit, accountability, all those things.
24:01And when it came time to draft him, you know, I guess, what was that, seven, eight months later, a story was brought up in the draft room.
24:09And it was a six-round pick. And, you know, those kinds of things matter when you're in the sixth round.
24:15And it's kind of the deciding factors. And look up a couple years later, and he's a cemented wide receiver three on this team.
24:23So cool story and a good dude. Yeah, absolutely.
24:26I mean, you just want people to succeed more when you hear stuff like that.
24:30So, hey, everyone, keep an eye out for Ryan Flannoy this year.
24:34Yeah. There you go. All right, let's dive into this tight end room.
24:38I feel like Jake Ferguson, again, kind of, you know, like Javante, clear cut, number one at the top.
24:44Top of this room. 80 catch season last year, pretty damn impressive.
24:47So what does he need to do to replicate that?
24:50I know we've kind of learned about this offense as we've talked today.
24:54So I'm going to go with my gut and say 80 catches might be a little hard to replicate after the previous conversation here.
25:02But then behind him, you know, you have Schoonmaker.
25:04You have Span Ford, who we've heard a little bit of rumblings about some intrigue there.
25:09And then Michael Trigg, which is somewhat intriguing to me.
25:12And I'm hoping you're either going to confirm that or just tell me I'm insane and to just forget about Michael Trigg.
25:19But can you just touch base on each of these guys?
25:22And then, you know, again, I got to ask the question.
25:26Do we expect any kind of 13 personnel in Dallas this year?
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26:17Terms and conditions apply. Yeah, I'll start with the Jake Ferguson point.
26:21I think as long as Dak Prescott is healthy, Jake Ferguson will have that catch production somewhere in that stratosphere.
26:27It might not be 80 catches, but I would say 65 plus for sure.
26:31I think Dak just loves the tight ends. And that is his safety net.
26:36That is what he is comfortable with. And he's built such a strong rapport with Jake Ferguson through the years to where he trusts him in crucial situations.
26:44The one thing that I always point to when I talk about the Dak-Furtison relationship is week two last year, if you
26:51remember, it was that slugfest they had with the Giants at AT&T Stadium.
26:55I felt like they scored 35 points in the last five minutes between the two.
26:59Giants had taken the lead with like 17 seconds left.
27:02And they were up three. The Cowboys needed a bomb Brandon Aubrey field goal just to put them into overtime.
27:09And they had two plays to figure it out.
27:11First play was incomplete. Second play, Ferguson just ran like a deep hitch.
27:15And he ran to the 50-yard line, turned around, and Dak had the ball waiting for him right there.
27:21And that just speaks to the trust between those two guys.
27:25Dak knew where Ferguson was going to be. Ferguson ended up in that spot.
27:29He brought it in. They call timeout. Aubrey hits the field goal.
27:32They go into overtime and win that game. And so I will always point to that just because that's the relationship between those two.
27:40And it's only going to grow as time goes on.
27:43Now, behind those guys, last point I'll put on Ferguson, actually.
27:46The one criticism that he does have is the yak ability.
27:50And what can he do after the catch? I feel like that has certainly gone down.
27:54He had a pretty bad knee sprain in week one of 2024.
27:58And since then, I don't feel like we've seen the yak ability that we saw prior to that.
28:04And it could just be, hey, I have a long contract now.
28:07And I need to preserve what my body is at the end of the day.
28:12And if he's still having the catch production, it's maybe not as bad to look at.
28:17But if he adds that yak ability to his game with the amount of catches that he is getting, he could easily
28:24be a top five tight end in this league.
28:26But I think his average yards per reception last year was right around like eight or nine yards.
28:32And you just need a little bit more than that if you want to consider yourself that top echelon of tight end talent.
28:39But I think from a fantasy perspective, he'll still get the catch production.
28:43Behind him, it's an interesting room. I would say tight end, too, is probably Brevin Spanford.
28:48He has the physicality, the run blocking ability, the athleticism.
28:51And going back to that red zone conversation, I think that's a guy they could certainly utilize in red zone situations just because of his size.
28:59He's 6'7", 260, 270 pounds. I mean, he's huge.
29:01He looks like an edge rusher at tight end and really sure hands and only grew as the season went on last year.
29:09Has completely eclipsed Luke Schoonmaker on the depth chart, I think comfortably at this point.
29:13And is one of the most trusted special teams players on the roster.
29:17And so, you know, what does that look like, you know, in the passing game?
29:22I would like to see more of it because he has never really been the receiving threat, even going back to Minnesota.
29:28But I do think he has that ability to his game.
29:32For him, I always point back to his performance at the Senior Bowl in Mobile when he was coming out.
29:38He had an awesome week in the red zone.
29:41And he was just being trusted with jump balls in the red zone.
29:45Like, man, this is what you maybe want to do with this guy.
29:49And we just haven't really seen that necessarily. I would like to see that utilized.
29:53Luke Schoonmaker, his special teams ability is the thing keeping him on the roster.
29:57But I think if you have, you know, a Michael Trigg or a DJ Rogers, who's another undrafted tight end they took,
30:04of all the undrafted guys that they signed this year, those two guys got the most guaranteed money.
30:10And that typically, you know, offers an insight into who has the best chance of making the roster.
30:15And so, you know, Trigg and Rogers are coming for Schoonmaker's spot.
30:19He's going to have to fight for it. And I'm fascinated to see what that looks like because Trigg has such a fun receiving threat to his game.
30:27But can he add just a little special teams to make his roster spot worth it at the end of the day?
30:34But, you know, if you're looking for a guy who, you know, has home run ability from that tight end spot, there's
30:41maybe no one more fun on this roster than Michael Trigg.
30:44And he's driving a lot of intrigue from fans right now, and rightfully so.
30:49No, great insight, as always. Let's finish this up.
30:51Love this because it's kind of a sandbox question.
30:54Gives you the chance to take it whatever direction you want.
30:57What is something that you feel fans, listeners, need to know about this Dallas team?
31:02Can be anything. Doesn't necessarily need to be the offense that you feel they need to know that might not be overly obvious.
31:09Yeah. You know, it's funny because I it's you know, when I talk to fans or I talk to, you know, content
31:16creators, the the question about, OK, if the Cowboys can improve this year, it's going to be defensive driven.
31:22And it will. Don't get me wrong. Like if the defense is better, this team is better.
31:27If this defense can just be average, they're making the playoffs because of what this offense showed last year.
31:33But I would say if you told, you know, me and I was saying, hey, you know, if there's one thing that
31:39this team could fix and you don't have to worry about it, I would probably look at left tackle before I would
31:46look at, you know, the defensive side. I think they've done enough on the defensive side to improve their personnel wise, coaching wise, scheme wise.
31:54I think that's going to figure itself out over time.
31:57It may not be, you know, top 10 defense off rip, but, you know, it's going to be, you know, much better than what we saw last year.
32:05But that left tackle spot could derail everything we just talked about, man.
32:09You know, from especially from a fantasy perspective, you know, if if Dak Prescott goes down, this team completely changes.
32:15There's not a lot of confidence in the QB2 situation.
32:18Joe Milton and Sam Howell are duking it out in preseason and training camp to be that guy.
32:24And, you know, Sam Howell, he's at least started a full season in the NFL.
32:29He could probably drive your bus for a few games.
32:32But, you know, if Dak goes down like he did in 2024, where he was out for the rest of the season
32:38in week nine, then, you know, the trajectory of this team drastically changes.
32:42And so that left tackle spot, Tyler Guyton was a first round pick in 2024.
32:47And injuries have been a big part of his progression, but his progression just hasn't really gone, you know, up.
32:53It's more so been very plateaued. And the options behind him aren't that much better.
32:58Nate Thomas is going to be the guy, you know, battling out with him to be the starting left tackle.
33:04He was a seventh round pick in that same draft a couple of years ago.
33:08He's also battled injuries. And so, you know, if they don't feel confident about that left tackle spot coming out of training
33:15camp, I wonder if they go make a move just to make sure that nothing happens to Dak.
33:21And that's going to be that's that's the most important thing with this entire team is keeping Dak healthy.
33:26And that left tackle spot is obviously going to be a crucial part of that.
33:31They have the best interior offensive line, I feel like, in the NFL between Tyler Smith, Cooper B.B.
33:36and Tyler Booker. But the tackles have been a question over time and especially now that left tackle spot.
33:42So, you know, I would definitely keep an eye.
33:45I think it's August 18th. They scrimmaged the Los Angeles Rams at training camp.
33:49And so especially if Aaron Donald is on that team, but Miles Garrett will be.
33:54It's going to be fascinating to see what that looks like.
33:57Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I feel like when you have even Miles Garrett, right?
34:02Let's not even bring Donald or Donald into this.
34:04If they are pressuring him off that left side, it's it sounds like it's going to be interesting.
34:10Yeah. You know, but everything, you know, the games won in the trenches.
34:14We've talked about that. So that is some great insight just kind of into what Dallas is thinking, where they are.
34:20And let's just wrap this thing up. Just letting people know a little bit about what you got going on, where they can find you.
34:28You know, if you haven't followed Nick already from this conversation, his info has been down the bottom of this set up since we started.
34:36But please do. But go ahead, Nick, give us a little bit about the insight on yourself, what you're working on and all that fun stuff.
34:43Yeah. Cowboys beat writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
34:46I'm heading into my fourth season. It's time flies.
34:49And in the four years, I've covered one playoff game.
34:52And it's that Green Bay Packers disaster from 2023 at AT&T.
34:55But, yeah, it's been a blast on this beat.
34:58There's never a dull day. And I always get phone calls from beat writers on other teams during the offseason just when something random happens to this beat.
35:07And they're like, man, I wish we had, you know, the fun and festivities of y'all's beat sometimes.
35:12I'm like, no, you don't. But, no, it's a blessing.
35:15It's a blessing to cover this team. There's never a dull day.
35:19It's funny because I was just talking with one of my fellow beat writers a couple days ago and being like, man, it's been too quiet lately.
35:27Like, what's about to happen? And so, but it's a lot of fun covering this team.
35:32And, yeah, I'm on the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. That's my Twitter handle there below.
35:36Give me a follow and shoot me a message so you watch this and we can exchange some questions and stuff.
35:43But I appreciate you having me on, man. This was awesome.
35:46Yeah, absolutely, Nick. I mean, I like how you avoided saying that it's because of Jerry Jones.
35:51But we all know at the end of the day.
35:54That was very nicely done there. I just, I couldn't leave that out before we signed off here.
36:00But third to be right is for Matt Olson, Nick Harris.
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