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DCC 4Life
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The Cowboys, Remade
OXNARD, Calif. —You know what I love doing at training camps? I love watching the teams that have re-invented themselves quickly, for better or worse, and I love seeing what that newness actually looks like. Like here, last Monday, 1s on 1s, in a spirited late-afternoon scrimmage.
Dak Prescott (25 years old, round four, 2016), drops a dime to Swiss-army-knife Tavon Austin (27, free agent, 2018, former eighth overall pick) down the left sideline. On another play, linebacker/modern-science miracle Jaylon Smith (23, round two, 2016) runs stride for stride across the middle with Ezekiel Elliott (23, round one, 2016); as a Prescott pass arrives, so does a big hit from Smith, and the ball skitters away, and Smith celebrates. Later, coach Jason Garrett says, “Our young talent has really emerged this camp.”
The whole scene brought to mind one of the intense drafts I’ve covered in my 34 years covering the league—Dallas, in 2016—and this Yogi-type cliché that has never been more true: Sometimes the best deals are the ones you don’t make. I said that to Jerry Jones here, and he knew exactly what I was talking about.
If Jones had his way on draft weekend 2016, the Cowboys would have exited the draft with Ezekiel Elliott and Paxton Lynch, the Memphis quarterback who has fallen down the Denver depth chart and may lose his roster spot there in the next month.
Instead, the Cowboys ended up with Ezekiel Elliott, Jaylon Smith, Maliek Collins (a solid rotational defensive lineman) and Dak Prescott. If you ask influential Cowboys, they’ll tell you that—if Smith’s health holds—he and Prescott will fill the two biggest leadership roles here for the next eight to 10 years.
Quick refresher: The Cowboys spent 67 minutes late in the 2016 first round on the phone trying to find a trading partner to move up to draft Lynch. They offered their second and fourth-round picks (34 and 101 overall) to Seattle, at 26 overall in the first round. Denver offered 31 and 94. Seattle asked Dallas to make the offer its second and third-rounders, 34 and 67. Jones agonized. He wanted a quarterback of the future badly, with Tony Romo close to the end. Dallas said no. Seattle traded with Denver, and Lynch went to Denver. The next day, Jones said to me, “I’m second-guessing the hell out of myself for not giving the three. I have always paid a premium for a premium. So many times my bargains have let me down.” I will never forget the look on Jones’ face. This perpetual optimist, 18 hours after losing Lynch, was pissed off.
No Lynch. The next QB target, Connor Cook, was on the board at the start of round four. Dallas had the second pick in the fourth round and tried to move up with Cleveland, the pick ahead, to get Cook. The Cowboys made two offers. No dice. Oakland then jumped over Dallas, traded with Cleveland, and got Cook. So the Cowboys settled for Prescott with their other fourth-round pick, late in the round.
Two failed trades left Dallas with two cornerstone players.
As the story rolled around in my head watching practice—I swear, just at the same time—Prescott dropped back to throw 20 yards in front of me on the practice field at camp; Smith, pivoting to cover tight end Geoff Swaim, using the damaged leg everyone was studying in this camp, caught up to Swaim, reached across his chest and batted the Prescott pass away. Smith broke up three passes in this practice and was the best defensive player on the field.
In camp, Smith said he believes he can be a better player in Dallas than he was before his injury 32 months ago. The Cowboys are happy with this version of him. “You can run in a straight line all day, but you need to move in spontaneous ways out there, and that’s what we’ve been seeing,” Garrett told me. “Jaylon’s so much more fluid now.”
Jaylon Smith. (Getty Images)
I remember Garrett telling me during the ’16 draft about how excited he was to draft Smith and Prescott for another reason: leadership. Both are young captain types now, Prescott in particular. Garrett told me a story from the pre-draft process the other day that resonates now. Prescott’s draft status was clouded by a DUI charge shortly before the draft, and when he visited Dallas, Garrett drilled him on it. The coach brought it up a couple times, saying he couldn’t understand why at such an important time in his life that he’d messed up. Finally, the kid, a little exasperated, said to Garrett: “Coach, I don’t know what you want me to say. I made a mistake. I learned from it. It won’t happen again.”
“I look back and I think that was a case of him being the adult, not me,” Garrett said.
Now, with Tony Romo and Jason Witten gone, it’s Prescott’s locker room. At age 25.
“Tony Romo and Jason Witten gave me a good foundation, taught me how to be a leader and wear the star the right way,’’ Prescott told me in camp. “You have to do things the right way. Lead by example. We have such a young team.”
Big duty for Prescott—leading this team while needing to get better as a player. His efficiency regressed last year (from plus-19 touchdown-to-interception differential in 2016 to plus-nine last year), and he says he’s concentrating on being a facilitator this year. With Elliott in the lineup from opening day instead of sidelined by his 2017 suspension, expect Prescott to be more consistent, even with a lesser group of receivers.
OXNARD, Calif. —You know what I love doing at training camps? I love watching the teams that have re-invented themselves quickly, for better or worse, and I love seeing what that newness actually looks like. Like here, last Monday, 1s on 1s, in a spirited late-afternoon scrimmage.
Dak Prescott (25 years old, round four, 2016), drops a dime to Swiss-army-knife Tavon Austin (27, free agent, 2018, former eighth overall pick) down the left sideline. On another play, linebacker/modern-science miracle Jaylon Smith (23, round two, 2016) runs stride for stride across the middle with Ezekiel Elliott (23, round one, 2016); as a Prescott pass arrives, so does a big hit from Smith, and the ball skitters away, and Smith celebrates. Later, coach Jason Garrett says, “Our young talent has really emerged this camp.”
The whole scene brought to mind one of the intense drafts I’ve covered in my 34 years covering the league—Dallas, in 2016—and this Yogi-type cliché that has never been more true: Sometimes the best deals are the ones you don’t make. I said that to Jerry Jones here, and he knew exactly what I was talking about.
If Jones had his way on draft weekend 2016, the Cowboys would have exited the draft with Ezekiel Elliott and Paxton Lynch, the Memphis quarterback who has fallen down the Denver depth chart and may lose his roster spot there in the next month.
Instead, the Cowboys ended up with Ezekiel Elliott, Jaylon Smith, Maliek Collins (a solid rotational defensive lineman) and Dak Prescott. If you ask influential Cowboys, they’ll tell you that—if Smith’s health holds—he and Prescott will fill the two biggest leadership roles here for the next eight to 10 years.
Quick refresher: The Cowboys spent 67 minutes late in the 2016 first round on the phone trying to find a trading partner to move up to draft Lynch. They offered their second and fourth-round picks (34 and 101 overall) to Seattle, at 26 overall in the first round. Denver offered 31 and 94. Seattle asked Dallas to make the offer its second and third-rounders, 34 and 67. Jones agonized. He wanted a quarterback of the future badly, with Tony Romo close to the end. Dallas said no. Seattle traded with Denver, and Lynch went to Denver. The next day, Jones said to me, “I’m second-guessing the hell out of myself for not giving the three. I have always paid a premium for a premium. So many times my bargains have let me down.” I will never forget the look on Jones’ face. This perpetual optimist, 18 hours after losing Lynch, was pissed off.
No Lynch. The next QB target, Connor Cook, was on the board at the start of round four. Dallas had the second pick in the fourth round and tried to move up with Cleveland, the pick ahead, to get Cook. The Cowboys made two offers. No dice. Oakland then jumped over Dallas, traded with Cleveland, and got Cook. So the Cowboys settled for Prescott with their other fourth-round pick, late in the round.
Two failed trades left Dallas with two cornerstone players.
As the story rolled around in my head watching practice—I swear, just at the same time—Prescott dropped back to throw 20 yards in front of me on the practice field at camp; Smith, pivoting to cover tight end Geoff Swaim, using the damaged leg everyone was studying in this camp, caught up to Swaim, reached across his chest and batted the Prescott pass away. Smith broke up three passes in this practice and was the best defensive player on the field.
In camp, Smith said he believes he can be a better player in Dallas than he was before his injury 32 months ago. The Cowboys are happy with this version of him. “You can run in a straight line all day, but you need to move in spontaneous ways out there, and that’s what we’ve been seeing,” Garrett told me. “Jaylon’s so much more fluid now.”
Jaylon Smith. (Getty Images)
I remember Garrett telling me during the ’16 draft about how excited he was to draft Smith and Prescott for another reason: leadership. Both are young captain types now, Prescott in particular. Garrett told me a story from the pre-draft process the other day that resonates now. Prescott’s draft status was clouded by a DUI charge shortly before the draft, and when he visited Dallas, Garrett drilled him on it. The coach brought it up a couple times, saying he couldn’t understand why at such an important time in his life that he’d messed up. Finally, the kid, a little exasperated, said to Garrett: “Coach, I don’t know what you want me to say. I made a mistake. I learned from it. It won’t happen again.”
“I look back and I think that was a case of him being the adult, not me,” Garrett said.
Now, with Tony Romo and Jason Witten gone, it’s Prescott’s locker room. At age 25.
“Tony Romo and Jason Witten gave me a good foundation, taught me how to be a leader and wear the star the right way,’’ Prescott told me in camp. “You have to do things the right way. Lead by example. We have such a young team.”
Big duty for Prescott—leading this team while needing to get better as a player. His efficiency regressed last year (from plus-19 touchdown-to-interception differential in 2016 to plus-nine last year), and he says he’s concentrating on being a facilitator this year. With Elliott in the lineup from opening day instead of sidelined by his 2017 suspension, expect Prescott to be more consistent, even with a lesser group of receivers.