- 4 hours ago
Tommy Yarrish joined Shan, RJ, and Bobby to preview the Cowboys' upcoming matchup against the Colts. Yarrish discussed George Pickens' contract outlook, the lack of offensive creativity, injury updates, and more.
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00:00Tommy Yarsh, DallasCowboys.com.
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00:10Good morning, Tommy. How are you?
00:13Good morning, guys. I am great.
00:15You know, I was listening to y'all earlier, and I didn't realize Bobby's name on Zoom is Tommy Irish.
00:19I didn't realize that's what Nate Newton called me.
00:22I've never heard that before. That was pretty good.
00:24It was just one time he did it by accident, I think.
00:26He was talking to Dick, and he goes, you know, we could have Tommy Irish sitting here.
00:31And so you're now a combination between Tommy Irish and Billy Eilish.
00:37It's fine with me. That's Nate. He can do whatever he wants.
00:41Tommy, would it surprise you to hear that of all the different moods,
00:47that George Pickens would be happy right now as a Dallas Cowboy and to stay here?
00:57I wouldn't be surprised by that, no.
00:59I think every time that we've spoken to him, he's been pleased with his situation.
01:05He's been happy to be in Dallas.
01:06You know, he and C.D. Lamb have a very, you know, tight friendship and tight relationship.
01:12So, you know, they like playing with each other.
01:15You know, they open things up for each other.
01:17I know maybe the production this year may not reflect that,
01:20and the struggles they've had on offense may not reflect that.
01:23But there are certainly some instances where you do see it on tape,
01:25and we've seen it at multiple points this year.
01:29So, yeah, I wouldn't be surprised to hear that he's happy.
01:32And I haven't gotten any indication that he's unhappy in Dallas.
01:36Tommy, I want to read for you Jeremy Fowler's comments.
01:39He wrote this in an article.
01:40I guess it was the comments, but right up.
01:42On Pickens, he said,
01:44He's been told he remains content here, does not want to be moved.
01:48They have no plans to trade him.
01:52But also, the deal he would get would be in the line of a Zay or Drake London
02:00at about $35 million a year.
02:03And then Nick Harris adding to this yesterday of a possibility, Bobby.
02:06Yeah, Nick had said on Haymaker that he was basically looking at it
02:11as he thought Joey Porter would be the one that would get tagged
02:14and Pickens would get an extension before everything.
02:17What do you think of that?
02:21I would say that's a possibility.
02:23One of the many possibilities that could come from this,
02:26I don't know if I would be shocked if it was the other way around either,
02:30whether that be Porter gets the extension and Pickens is tagged again.
02:36I think that everything is going to be on the table.
02:38They want to keep as many of their good players as they can.
02:41Of course, every franchise is going to want to do that.
02:45I know that there's been chatter about moving Pickens,
02:48and I understand why people would say that makes sense.
02:51It's a fair thought, but I don't get the sense that that's what the Cowboys want to do.
02:58I think that what Nick threw out is certainly a possibility,
03:03but I think the inverse could be true as well, that you extend Porter and tag Pickens.
03:08It's going to be a really fun offseason to figure out what's going to be what,
03:13who's going to get what contract, where the dollars lie,
03:16and it's going to be some tough decisions that will ultimately have to be made for Dallas.
03:20Tommy Yars, DallasCowboys.com here on Sean and RJ.
03:23On all the different shows that y'all do over there,
03:27has it been mentioned on there,
03:28or what percentage of your brain has wondered about Joey Porter's ankle
03:34and the conspiracy theories over not finishing or playing these full games?
03:43I'm not really much of a conspiracy theory guy.
03:46I kind of just go off of what I see and talking to these guys.
03:51So every indication that I've ever gotten from Joey Porter has been that he really wants to play.
03:56He wants to play at a high level.
03:59He's a competitor.
04:00So I don't think there's anything to it.
04:02I think if he could be out there, he would be out there.
04:05I saw him a couple times during the game going out and trying to work on it.
04:09I think there was one point in the first half where he was really,
04:12really working it on the sideline and talking to the training staff about it.
04:15And then when he came back in for a little bit,
04:18and then I think towards the back end of the second half is when he really couldn't go anymore.
04:24But my interactions with him and knowing about him say that I don't think there's any conspiracy to that.
04:32Tommy, in terms of signing or tagging Joey Porter,
04:36how much different is the money that he would get in a long-term contract
04:41versus what the tag would be just for next year, if at all?
04:48I don't have the numbers of that in front of me,
04:50but I think obviously in extension you're probably getting more.
04:55And you obviously get the added security of multi-year dollar amounts
05:02versus the tag, which is just one season.
05:06And then the cap numbers are going to be different for the Cowboys.
05:09There will be benefits and there will be pros and cons to both sides.
05:12But I would think that you would see him make more in extension.
05:17That's without having the numbers in front of me.
05:20That's typically just what it would be for a player of his caliber.
05:23Because right now he's playing like one of the best corners in football.
05:25So I would expect that he gets a deal somewhere that would pay him like one.
05:30Tommy Arsh from DallasScoutWords.com joining us here on 105.3 The Fan.
05:33Tommy, we're talking about Joey Porter's ankle,
05:35and there was obviously the news about Malachi Lawrence this week,
05:39Caleb Downs with the concussion and the ankle on the injury report yesterday
05:43as they did not practice.
05:45Just reset us on where the injury situation is at,
05:48who's in jeopardy this week, who we think is going to be available to play.
05:55Yeah, there's a lot to get to.
05:56I think the two that you look at first are in your safety room with Caleb Downs
06:00and P.J. Locke, both those guys going through concussion protocol.
06:03They were out there at practice yesterday.
06:05They were working conditioning stuff, no football activity for them yet.
06:09So they've got to get through the protocol if they want to have a chance
06:12to play on Sunday.
06:14And the question is going to be, are Brian Schotheimer and his staff
06:16comfortable with having those guys that maybe don't practice this week
06:20or don't practice as much this week back on the field?
06:23So that's one thing.
06:24Let's see, Dee Winters was back out there yesterday.
06:27He did a little bit of individual work,
06:28so there's some help for your linebacker room.
06:31Luke Schoonmaker was back in practice.
06:33Jake Ferguson was working with the training staff.
06:35He's got the ankle injury.
06:37Kevontae Turpin was rehabbing a little bit.
06:39He did not do any individual drills or anything like that.
06:41He was with Downs and Locke on the other field doing some conditioning work.
06:46Lawrence is looking like a couple of weeks.
06:49Pickens and Porter were both out there.
06:51Pickens was limited.
06:52Porter was full.
06:53And then, let's see, Jalen Thompson's practice window is not opened yet.
06:57So I think the biggest ones to watch for me are the safeties.
07:01Downs and Locke, where they are throughout the week, if they're able to go.
07:04Because if not, then you're looking at probably Marquise Bell, Elijah Clark,
07:10and somebody being elevated from the practice squad on game day.
07:15Wanya Thomas is on the active roster, too.
07:17So they would have to lean on their depth there at safety.
07:21Tommy, when you mentioned Kevontae Turpin there as part of the injury report,
07:25has Tyler Goodson flashed enough these couple of weeks as a returner that you would potentially
07:32reevaluate what your return game looks like even when Kevontae Turpin is back?
07:36Because Turpin obviously has been a Pro Bowl guy there.
07:39But the efficiency maybe wasn't there as much last year.
07:42And you're still, I think, waiting for him to return to the form he was maybe two years ago.
07:47But would Goodson be a guy that you think could compete with Turpin for the full-time return job?
07:54I think what he's shown you so far at least gives him the right or he's earned the opportunity to
08:00at least compete for it.
08:02I think he's been really good.
08:04And, you know, both of those guys will line up together sometimes.
08:07So I wouldn't necessarily hate if it's, you know, hey, Kevontae's getting three.
08:11But, hey, Goodson, we're going to give you one.
08:12And we're going to see what you do with it.
08:14And, you know, see if that's an opportunity.
08:16The only thing would be, you know, then you're using Kevontae Turpin essentially as sort of a lead blocker in
08:22that situation.
08:23And, you know, with his size and his frame, are you going to be, you know, confident that he can
08:27do that?
08:29But, yeah, I think Goodson has played well enough to where you at least give him a chance.
08:33But, you know, Turpin's, I think, still a good returner and would probably be your guy when he comes back
08:37healthy.
08:38Tommy, a lot of talk about motion and creativity offensively.
08:43What do the numbers show?
08:46Yeah, so I looked at this yesterday because I've seen everybody, you know, talking about it.
08:51Last year, the Cowboys offense used motion on 67.6% of their offensive snaps.
08:58That was the 10th highest rate in the NFL.
09:00This year they're down to 56.6% of their snaps.
09:04That's 30th in the NFL.
09:06Those numbers are really dragged down by a couple weeks stretch in weeks five and weeks six.
09:12They were 43.6% against Tampa Bay and 44.3% against Green Bay.
09:19Brian Schottheimer yesterday was telling us that it was, you know, some situations that they've played in.
09:24They've been playing from behind, and that's why you don't have as much motion.
09:27Now, whether or not you agree with that is up to you.
09:29I'm just telling you what the coach said.
09:31But this last game against Arizona where they weren't behind, they had one of their higher number of motion plays,
09:38their highest number of motion plays, 45 times they used motion on 71 offensive plays.
09:44So it wasn't their highest motion percentage, but it was still 63.4.
09:50So that's a little bit closer to that 67.6% number that you saw last season.
09:55But, you know, those couple of games in the middle of the year, and I posted the game-by-game
10:01breakdown
10:01of how much they've used motion in every game this year.
10:06But the motion rate in week eight was their highest since week two of the season.
10:12So they were using it more last week, and it was really just that stretch kind of in the middle
10:17that dragged them down.
10:18But certainly you want to see more of that because that tells you things pre-snap,
10:23and, you know, it allows your receivers and your quarterback to get a better understanding of what the defense has
10:28given you.
10:28Tommy, you know, at the end of last year, Clayton Adams in his, I think it was the very last
10:32press conference of the year for him,
10:33he had talked about how he was excited to get a full offseason to evaluate how they could maximize
10:38having two stud receivers with Lamb and Pickens, and that that was going to be a big focus for them
10:43and that they were going to come out and really try to figure out what kind of plays they could
10:48build off of having two guys like that.
10:50Are you surprised that with that being a focus like it was, we're now into the middle of the season,
10:56and Jerry's talking about we've got to figure out a way to get Pickens more touches,
10:59and it feels like there's not as much explosiveness with the offseason.
11:04Does it feel a little like, okay, what was the evaluation then if things have gone more static and seemingly
11:10more reserved?
11:13Yeah, I think it's surprising.
11:15Nobody expected it, so that makes it surprising, and, you know, I'm not saying that Clayton Adams
11:22and the staff weren't doing anything all summer and said, ah, well, we've got all 11 guys coming back.
11:26We're good.
11:27They'll figure something out, but it just hasn't worked up to this point,
11:30and I think that the other side of that is defenses have had now a full year of tape on
11:35this Cowboys offense
11:36in an offseason to digest it.
11:38I remember Brian Schottheimer after he got hired.
11:40I don't know if it was his opening press conference or shortly afterwards was saying, like,
11:44hey, the benefit that we've got this year is that nobody's seen our offense yet
11:48in the sense that nobody has seen how he called the offense with the pieces that he's got.
11:52Well, now everybody's got a 17-game sample.
11:55It's up to 25 games now with the eight games so far this year,
11:58and they had an offseason to kind of digest it, and, you know,
12:02every team obviously makes their adjustments in the offseason,
12:04but right now those adjustments aren't working.
12:07So, you know, Brian Schottheimer, Clayton Adams, those guys need to figure out
12:11what are the adjustments to our adjustments so that we can, you know,
12:15get back to finding explosive plays and getting our alphas on the outside
12:19more involved in the offense.
12:20What are you seeing with the Colts, Tommy?
12:25Offensively, it is a lot of Jonathan Taylor.
12:28It is Jonathan Taylor, and that's really a majority of their offensive game plan.
12:33Last week was pretty ugly for them.
12:35Their offensive line has really struggled to give Daniel Jones time.
12:39He was running for his life a lot.
12:41He had two interceptions.
12:42One wasn't his fault.
12:43It went off the tight end's hands, but the other one was,
12:45and he had a couple of plays where he should have had more interceptions.
12:48He probably could have had four in that game.
12:50So they've really struggled at the line of scrimmage offensively
12:53and defensively too.
12:54They're struggling to get pressure on the quarterback,
12:57so you would think that would be the case with this offensive line,
13:01but we don't know because this team has been inconsistent every week.
13:05But this should be a week where maybe Dak Prescott has more time
13:08to find some of those longer developing plays because of their defense.
13:11But, you know, the linebackers have played well.
13:14C.J. Allen, the linebacker from Georgia that we talked about a lot
13:17in the draft process, I thought had a nice game last week.
13:20And, you know, they're a struggling team,
13:22but there are still ways that they can beat this Cowboys team.
13:25Offensively, of course, that's Jonathan Taylor.
13:27And then defensively, it's if their front seven can be able to stop the run
13:31and be able to let their guys in the secondary kind of sit back and play.
13:35Are you picking anything crazy?
13:40I honestly still have not made up my mind on a pick this week
13:43because I think I picked the Cowboys with you guys last week,
13:47and then I changed my mind later in the week,
13:49so I don't want to do you guys wrong and be a fraud.
13:53So I will save my pick for Friday.
13:55Thank you, Thomas.
13:56Great stuff as always.
13:57Appreciate it.
14:00Thank you, guys.