UPGRADE: 3 Positions The Dallas Cowboys Still Need To IMPROVE Before Week 1!

0:00This is the Lockdown Podcast Network celebrating 10 years of your team every day. Today's episode is brought to you by the Dell XPS. I'm Wes Goldberg from Lockdown NBA Daily and Lockdown Heat. So what does it feel like to have a better laptop like the Dell XPS powered by Intel Core? With a premium design that's thin and light, it feels smooth. With a responsive touch screen, it feels fast and precise. And with long lasting battery life, it feels like non-stop energy with a laptop that can keep up. Built for those who want better, the Dell XPS. Built for you. Hey, Drake May here. As a pro quarterback, I know I can't do it alone. I have to trust my team, and that goes for my money too. Which is why I use Betterment, the trusted investing and savings platform. Their automated investing tools always add my back. Like my old line, over a million people already trust Betterment to build their wealth. So I know I'm in good company. Start building yours at Betterment.com or download the app.

1:02Investing involves risk. Performance not guaranteed. Paid client ad. Views may not be representative. See App Store and Google Play reviews. Learn more at Betterment.com slash ambassadors. The 53 man roster is settled for the Cowboys, but we'll tell you a couple of positions that they could still improve next. You are locked on Cowboys. Your daily Dallas Cowboys podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day. Welcome back. I am your host, Marcus Mosier. He is Landon McCool in today's episode is brought to you by Fandall. College football Saturdays are already packed with reasons to get excited. In this season, Fandall is giving fans even more ways to get in on every single matchup. Join all of the action at Fandall.com. Welcome back on today's show. We're going to take a look at the Cowboys roster going into week one. There are going to be some small tweaks.

2:03I'm sure they're going to be shuffling players in and out of the practice squad. But I got to say, Landon, one of my favorite things to do, like with a week to go into the NFL season, is just to look at every team's 53 man roster. Because now you get an idea of where every team is at coming out of training camp, coming out of preseason. All teams have made trades. They've made signings. We've already had a couple players lost for the year with injuries. Looking at the Cowboys 53 man roster, is there a spot or two you think that still needs to be improved? Yeah, I mean, I still think it looked, I mean, I think the Cowboys put in a claim on a cornerback. And I think you and I have talked about the fact that it feels like the back end of the cornerback depth could add one more veteran piece. I mean, I think that's probably what they had eyes on when they worked out Adorey Jackson a few weeks ago when that was announced. So I wouldn't be shocked if they did make one more corresponding move, maybe cut in Kaelin Carson trying to get him back on the practice squad and signing a veteran fourth

3:06corner, just so they feel like they have the depth to kind of play more nickel and more die. Which I do think is something they're probably going to want to do, just knowing Christian Parker. I'm going to pause real quick. I'm going to ask you a question before we get into all this. Brian Chottonheimer revealed during his Tuesday press conference, I'm trying to think of the days, the Joe Milton was the 53rd man on the roster. And that's why they ultimately decided to wave him. I don't know if I necessarily believe that or not, that might be some game theory, but who do you think right now are the last couple names on the roster where yes, they're technically on the 53 man roster, but maybe they shouldn't be buying homes and Dallas yet. Yeah, I mean, I think it's the guys we talked about. I think Kaelin Carson is the first of that. I think, you know, Elijah Clark is a guy that we all like, but he would, I would say, be near the bottom of that list, Tyrus Wheat. I think we thought had a good all season and earned that spot on the 53 man roster. But if we're just kind of naming guys that we feel like are occupying the bottom of the

4:10roster, I think him. Probably Camden Brown, right? Like, I mean, you know, just as as the guy that we all debated whether they would make it. I think all those are probably and that's what I know like with Camden Brown. Like, is he a guy that could be potentially cut or waved and try to sneak it back out of the practice squad if they're able to find another corner or do they have a long term view of like, okay, Jonathan Mingo's on a one year deal. Ryan Flanois is going to be a restricted free agent next year. Who knows about Cavanthe Turpin? George Pickens is obviously a free agent next year. Is Camden Brown a guy that they're thinking more of long term about and they're willing to stash or is he a guy that they like, but they're willing to move on if the right player comes up? Well, I mean, I think there's another question to be asked. And especially after hearing Shoddy kind of confirm what you and I have talked about is that, you know, it is long term a priority right now, right? I mean, I mean, when the situation comes up and we talk about claiming another player

5:11and it's time to cut one of these guys, I have to think that one of the first thing that comes up is which one of these guys is maybe not for our future and not worth holding on to right now. And that's maybe why Camden Brown may be like a more expendable guy than a Kaelin Carson because you're going to want to play a lot of these corners. You're going to probably have to play a lot of these corners. And if you're still trying to hold on to these guys, I think you're ordering them in the priority of who you think can actually help you this year versus the rest of these guys. I don't want to get too much into the weeds here, but really quickly, you tell me who you think is safer on the roster right now. On mere speed, the Cowboys cornerback who is really a special team's demon who Brian Chautner and I am kind of praised at his last press conference or Tyrus Wheat. I imagine it's probably Tyrus Wheat just because... You're a safer. Yeah, I would say that he might be safer just because you still need numbers there. And I think safer, you mean on the 53 or just being on the Cowboys at all.

6:16Being on the 53. Yeah, I think we might be a little bit safer. Okay. A mere speed or Kaelin Carson? I think speed because of the special team's prowess. I agree with you. Kaelin Carson or Camden Brown. I'm doing it this way to kind of figure out who that last man is. I even though I've said that Camden Brown is... I mean, Kaelin Carson was the guy that I think may end up being on the practice squad. I think right now, if let's say they signed somebody who wasn't a corner or a wide receiver. A linebacker, right? I would say it would be Kaelin Carson is safer than Camden Brown. Okay. A couple other positions just wanted to talk about running back. I think this is the group that they're going to go into the season with right now. I wouldn't be surprised if on the practice squad landing, they kind of cycle in names, whether that's, you know, is he Evan Aconda?

7:18We're going to get that name right eventually. Maybe they bring back Phil Moff at some point. Maybe they go out and sign some other young running back. Running back is just a spot that I haven't feeling they're going to turn over a bunch. But I'm really going back to linebacker. They have four linebackers on this team right now. The Marvian overshown who can't stay healthy, D Winters who's in the last year of his contract, Jason Baram, Arukey, and the Chamar James who... I got to be honest, I thought he had a pretty rough preseason. And I know we shouldn't judge everything based on the preseason, but I was really hoping that he would take a big step. I don't think we saw that. Yeah, and he doesn't really have a skill set that like is so unique that you feel like you have to have him on the roster. So I certainly think that both running back and linebacker are positions where, you know, those spots are kind of locked in for now, but there's a wandering eye to say the least. You are definitely looking to see what opportunities are out there and not just necessarily in the

8:20cut market and the free agent market, but maybe even seeing, hey, are there some cheap trades that can be made by guys that aren't playing on the field at some other team that we think that we can get into this roster, it can help improve those rooms. Now we should mention, Marquis Spell in a break glass in case of emergency, can play some linebacker for you. And again, I think it's notable that Brian Schottheimer said that they did not reveal everything in terms in the preseason of what they're going to do early in the season. I don't want to say that you're going to see Marquis Spell as a starting week side linebacker in week one because that's obviously not the case, but maybe we do see eight to 10 snaps with him being a nickel linebacker. I mean, one of the things that I talked about on the squad show is that I feel like we didn't see a lot of dime packages in training camp or in the preseason. I'm wondering if that's one of the things that Jody even referred to it today is that they hold on to a certain amount of packages and things until they're back home at the start and until the practices are closed and not in front of the media.

9:22And I'm wondering if one of those is just a package that might include Marquis Spell in playing that opposite slot corner from Caleb Downs because I think he has that kind of overhang ability specifically. So yeah, I do think that some of these guys might have more niche roles than we even understand right now that are going to be installed outside of our vision. All right. I want to talk about the defense as a whole because now we've gotten through training camp. We know who's on this roster. Did the cabboys do enough to have maybe an average defense in 2026? We'll get to that next. This episode is brought to you by five average energy. There are certain flavors that instantly feel like summer. And for a lot of people, it's those classic red, white and blue freezer pops that are right on the top of the list. And listen, I gotta be honest. Since I've been doing this read for a while, I went out into the store and bought some of my kids and I have been sitting on our back porch eating them every single night. They're absolutely amazing.

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11:24drive in. They're more than just items to check off the summer bucket list. There are also opportunities to earn 2% daily cashback when you use your Apple card with Apple Pay. Buy for Apple card now and use in minutes with Apple Pay subject to credit approval. Apple card is issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City branch terms and more at Applecard dot com. Welcome back to the lot on Cowboys podcast. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen every single day. Landon want to talk about the defense as a whole because you got to see them just about every day out in Oxnard. You got to see them in training camp. Excuse me. The preseason. I'll be it without a lot of starters playing as we sit here now on September 2nd. Can't believe it's already September. Well, do you think the Cowboys did enough on defense to be a average unit? It looks like they did. I mean, I think look, the number of the amount of turnover is hard to overstate.

12:27And I think Nick Harris had a great tweet about this that 15 of the 26 players that were on the initial 53 man roster that played last this time last year are currently unemployed. I mean, and then another two are on PUP, right? What Parsons and Leopold? So I mean, I think most of those we can agree are defensive players. And I think the amount of talent injection that they've included, especially if you include the period of time that the first part of the season, let's use Kenny Clark. I mean, let's use the Parsons straight as the marker might as well. I just think the amount of talent that they were able to add back and kind of, you know, in a way that spread it out across different parts was quite impressive. And I look, they certainly aren't finished yet. And I think that we've seen this that there are a couple different holes maybe at some starter positions that you want to improve on. But I would say for the vast majority of what, you know, we were extremely concerned about.

13:30We've gotten some pretty decent reviews. I think we still don't know exactly where Ezoraku is on the pantheon of starting defensive in past rushers. But I think we feel that extremely good about the Savon Rebell situation as we were concerned going in. Absolutely. I think we feel solid enough about the, you know, at least the two linebackers that are going to be playing for you. And then you consider, you know, we didn't have any idea what would Jashon Barham would be. And now we have an level of excitement about that player, even for this year. I think that that's an improvement. I think the defensive line and the edge, edge room overall are where we're going to have the most to kind of discover. But even down to like being concerned about Doron Blanc's health, and would he even be able to come on out of your practice? And he had an entirely, you know, he did an entire training camp. He went through the preseason. So I think that, you know, it's, it's been a lot of positive reviews, especially in areas where we are concerned. But I still think obviously there's a level of discovery to kind of find out because,

14:34you know, all we've seen of them is in these joint practices so far. I think there are a couple moves. Again, I have to be the wet blanket because somebody has to. Yeah. There are a couple of moves that in hindsight are a little questionable. It's not necessarily their fault. Like I'll give you an example. They signed PJ Lock to a one year, believe it was five and a half million dollar deal. And I think PJ Lock is going to play quite a bit this year. They didn't know that Caleb Downs was going to be available at pick 11. You can't, you can't kill them for that, right? But I think at hindsight with drafting Caleb Downs with getting really good production of like Elijah Clark, Julius Wood obviously played really well in training camp. He's gone now. Maybe you could have saved that five and a half million and used it on, let's say like another defensive tackle. Just to give you a little bit more depth, I think would have been better. The other one, say, a million, they guaranteed him two million. We thought maybe he would be a better fit in this defense. And I think he was, but I don't think Christian Parker thought he was the best fit.

15:35I think they obviously like Tyrus Wheat more. And that's why they went outside Tyrus Wheat. And the last one I'm going to, it's tough because I really like my own Kyloans. And I think this is a really good long term pick to the Cowboys. But even Steven Jones in a recent interview was saying that, you know, they're, they kind of built this team to win now. I wonder if they would have been better off taking a more polished past Russia, whether that's like our Mason Thomas or Cassius Hal, who are maybe a little bit more undersized, but have more past Russia chops right now. Again, I don't think those are disastrous moves. And I, again, I like the selection of Malachi Lawrence, but I do wonder in hindsight, like if they would have been better off going with a player that can maybe contribute more right away. I think those are all fair points. The only part I would push back on is the Sam Williams part, which ended up being mostly okay, because he ended up getting signed by the Browns. So you're probably going to get some of that money back. It's a little wonky how that might work.

16:36I've seen some differing reports. But according to Todd Archer, he thinks the Cowboys could get like $1.4 million back from the guaranteed. So 600 grand, you know, but it's not saying, but yeah, but it's, but it's pretty much nothing. And look, I think that situation, you know, I think it's fair to say, you know, they, they took a gamble there. It was a little bit of a pricey gamble and they got a little bailed out by someone else who's also willing to take the gamble on Sam Williams. So we'll see how, how that goes. And look, everyone has those. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. So it's not like, again, if it ends up being a $2 million loss, it's not that big of a deal and the grand scheme of things. I think the PJ lock thing, like even with Caleb Downs, I imagine PJ lock is still going to play a lot because you've got to older safes who you like, but our injury prone and I think you're going to end up playing a lot of defensive back. So I don't disagree that like, you know, at $5 million, maybe you're not going to get a quite the return of investment that you were hoping for.

17:38If you were to just take that $5 million and got one more cornerback, again, not a starter, but Kobe Durant signed for $5 million. It's like another caliber of cornerback like that. I think we'd be feeling not like the ceiling is way higher for this defense, but maybe the floor would be a lot better. I think the area where I'll say this, if you take that $5 million and invest it on another defensive lineman, I think that is where I would really feel good, right? Because I think right now you're hoping Bullard comes back and can give you some more depth there. I think LT Overton is useful for a piece. Oh, and that was the other thing I wanted to push back on. I think Malachi Lawrence is going to help you this year. And I think he may help you this year at a rate similar to those other guys that you mentioned, because I do think I do think that he has some ability, physical ability and enough of a pass rush, move and then counters to be something as a defense of pass rusher,

18:38as a DPR, like at times. But I don't disagree with the idea that there were times when it felt like we were going back and forth between, are we trying to solve for right now and are we trying to build towards the future? And if we had maybe fully leaned into solving for right now, maybe at an earlier point, you know, it feels like, but it feels like you could have done more. However, having said that, I do think that part of the fully leaning into it could work right now is the drafting of Caleb Downs, right? Is the fact that you've got Caleb Downs at 11? I think that's what kind of kickstarted the excitement for this defensive for this team onto another level. And I think we saw flashes of Malachi Lawrence being able to stop the run. I think he was way more physical than I anticipated him being. Now we'll see how fundamentally he's sound he is once he gets into the games and the run fits and all that kind of stuff.

19:39Whereas I think players like again, Armass and Thomas and Cassius Hall, two players they really like those are up the field speed rushers. And they do that job incredibly well. I just wonder with like, again, hindsight being 2020, you kept Tyrus Wheat because he's really good at stopping the run. You have Elty Overton, who I think can kick out there to stop the run. You've got Rashon Gary, who can stop the run. What you need are the guys that can win one-on-one at a high rate. We're hoping Malachi Lawrence can do that. I think I feel a little bit better about those guys right away, but you're picking that's here. Yeah, and I think the kind of wrap it up, you know, as to did Dallas do enough, I think the fact that we're picking nits on the on the back end of this roster kind of shows you that they did quite a bunch. And obviously they're going to continue to try to improve this roster. I would imagine that they'll be active around the trade. You can only do so much in one off season, right? Absolutely. They could have gone out and tried to chase a star.

20:41By the sounds of it, they kind of did with Max Krosby for a little bit. My concern has always been you go out and trade two first round picks or whatever ends up being for Max Krosby. You get back into the same exact situation you were with Michael Parsons where you're too top heavy. And I think for the Cowboys, they just needed to be deeper, right? Where because last year they had five guys on the field that you just didn't trust at any situation. Now it's maybe one or two. And if you could just be more, yeah, maybe if you could just be more fundamentally sound, I think that just gives you a lot more opportunities to stay in games and ultimately win that. Yeah, absolutely. I think they they needed to do this fast, but they didn't microwave the defense. If that makes sense, they built it by adding a lot of different pieces all throughout their defense. And then the top of all this and the thing that we haven't even brought up is they are just a fundamentally better coach defense than they were last year. And I think adding Christian Parker from a schematic element, we haven't even seen that

21:42part yet. And on that, just a fundamental level, this team is tackling better. They're more disciplined. They understand their assignments better. And just those two things, the overturning the defense and the playing sound football, that's going to get you 60% of the way that you want to go anyways. All right, let's talk about the offense now that we've been through training camp and been through the preseason. How can they make sure that they don't regress? We'll get to that next. This episode is brought to you by Fandall College football fans. It's time to put your knowledge to the test with college football pick them from Fandall. Each week you can make 10 free against the spread picks, finish with one of the week's top pick totals and you can win a share of 500,000 in bonus beds. There's no entry fee and no wage required. You just make your picks based on your college football knowledge and see how you stack up. The competition doesn't stop there.

22:44Make your picks before kick off, follow the live leaderboard throughout the day and see if you can outpick names like Will Compton, Taylor Luan and Josh Payt. Be any of them and you'll unlock a profit boost to use on Fandall. I love anything that puts my fall knowledge to test. In fact, there's no entry fees. Makes this one easy to jump into. One free picks every week gives me a reason to see how I stack up. So download the Fandall app today and play college football pick them for free only on Fandall. Visit Fandall.com to get started. Welcome back to the Lothon Cowboys Podcast. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen every single day. Really quickly, Lanyl. Let's talk about the Cowboys offense. We feel very good about this unit. All 11 starters are back. George Pickens took a big step this off season. That press got seems like he's locked in. Jake Ferguson looks skinny again.

23:46How can they make sure that they don't work for us? Yeah, I mean, I think all those things that you mentioned are steps, right? And I think regression is something you have to worry about, especially with the way they jumped a little bit on offense. I think that they have some things working in the positive way, regressing the positive way. The injury that they had on the offensive line was pretty extensive and CD-LAM as well. And you're hoping for maybe just a little bit better injury luck. And that plus the fact that like we've mentioned before, you've got a young offensive line that's hoping to grow a little bit. We think that Tyler Geiden has taken a clear step into being a more than competent, hopefully more than competent starter, which again, when you align that with the rest of the guys in the interior, you hope that you have an offensive line that's take a step. You do worry about Terence Steel. We still don't really know. Can Terence Steel at least give us what Terence Steel was last year? I think if you can get that plus an improved Tyler Geiden and guys like BB and Booker taking a step.

24:47And honestly, Tyler Smith was injured for good portions of the year last year. So all of those guys, I think, have the opportunity to take a step. And I think that's where the offense kind of needs to grow is. It needs to be, it was a very good run game last year. It needs to be a great run game next year. And I think if they can take that step, that can help continue to buoy the off at the passing game, which is obviously the highlight of this team overall. And if you can find ways to give opportunities for your receivers, you're going to dominate a lot of teams. Two players for me that I'm keeping an eye on early in the season. Number one, Ryan Fenoi. I'm not looking for him to have 115 yards. Big games like he did last year. But hey, on your three or four targets per game, can you average nine yards of target? Can you make big plays on third down? Can you be a reliable threat in the red zone? If the answer is yes to all those questions, I have no doubt this offense is going to be top five. Like he is, he's one of these guys that you could, if you just told me his stats and his efficiency coming out of the season, I could probably tell you how the year went.

25:50He's going to be a good harbinger to kind of see how this guy was offense goes. And the other one is Tyler Booker, who this is my fault. We have not talked about a ton on this podcast over the last two months. I think we're all expecting Tyler Booker to take a big step forward. He was really good as a rookie. But when you draft a guard at 12 overall, you expect him not to just be good, but to be a dominant player. Is this the year he goes from a good starter to a pro player or an all pro player? If the answer is yes, they're going to be just fine. Yeah, and I think it's hard sometimes because he's a guard and because in training camp, there aren't a ton of full contacts, you know, real run period opportunities to kind of really appreciate what some of the things that he does extremely well, right? But I do agree. I think, you know, like I said, obviously this run game has got to take a step and I think in order to progress this offense and to stay bar progression. And I think his taking a step in quality, his stepping into maturity as being an

26:52NFL player and Tyler Smith's continued health are going to be the two kind of biggest elements to kind of drive that progression forward. Well, and I look at the first two games of the season. It's the giants and the commanders. And neither of those teams have great defensive tackles anymore. Like those used to be like a gauntlet right when they had the rom pain. Well, the rom pain is still there, but better, the rom playing and John, the Dutch Dexter Lawrence. Those guys aren't there anymore. So now that this cannot be a matchup where the Cowboys just go, you know, it's where it's equal like Tyler Smith, Cooper, BB, Tyler Booker, they need to dominate these fronts. And if they do, I don't see how teams are going to stop this offense. Yeah. And I think the giants are a great example of why the Cowboys need to be able to have a dominant run game because a game a defense like the giants is not uncommon where they have all this investment in past rushers, right? And they don't have a strong spine of that defense necessarily. We'll see how our Valries, you know, puts up with it. But like you said, the defense tackles are not what they were.

27:53If you have a way to dominate these types of teams and just wear down these past rushers by running at them constantly and then hit them with the cross with the play action pass. I mean, that's how you win a ton of different ball games on the road in difficult environments. Not that the giants are necessarily difficult. There you go. Sorry, smack, talk about four week one. All right. That is it for today's show. Thank you for making a lot done Cowboys. You're first. Listen today. Now on video, we send you to the first ever 24 seven YouTube channel on the NFL and on audio check out the lot done fantasy football podcast with fabs and Marcus. Yes, that's me. We're getting you ready for your fantasy football drafts over the weekend. Make sure you check it out. Follow Lane and on Twitter at McCool BCB. I'm at Marcus underscore Moser. We will see you right back here tomorrow. On CowShi, you're trading against peers in a live market, meaning there's no house and as the probability changes, you can buy in and out of your position for a limited time. Download the CowShi app and use code locked on to get $10 when you trade 10 KAL S H I CowShi.

28:58Trade on anything, 18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices, values and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see cow she dot com slash regulatory. The locked on podcast network is brought to you by Fandall baseball fans. If you think you know who's hitting a home or today, Fandall is giving you a free chance to call your shot with daily dingers. It's easy to play. Just make your free pick for who you think will hit a home run in their game. If you're right, you'll receive a profit boost to use on your next bet for a chance at extra winnix. Best of all, you can make a free pick every day throughout the MLBC's. So are you ready to play your game today? Join all the action at fandall.com. It's fandall.com to play daily dingers and make your free pick on who's hitting a home. Play ball and swing for the fences on Fandall, an official partner of the MLB. Hey, NFL fans. I'm Brian Peacock and that is Matt Williamson hosts of the NFL six pack part of the locked on podcast network. Your team every day NFL six pack brings you the latest NFL news and analysis and breaks down all of the weekly action.

29:59A six pack of takes daily on the playoff pushed in the 2025 season or if your teams in draft mode, yeah, we'll hit that too. All right here every day on the locked on podcast network. The NFL six pack subscribe on YouTube or everywhere you get your podcasts.