Who Will Replace Dallas Cowboys TE Jake Ferguson In Week 2?

how will the Dallas Cowboys replace Jake Ferguson if he's unable to go in week two all that more in this episode of the Laton Cowboys podcast you are locked on Cowboys your daily Dallas Cowboys podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day welcome back to the loton C voice podcast part of the lock on podcast Network your team every day we'd like to thank you for making us your first listen of the day today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a three-week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV just visit fanduel.com to get started welcome back I your host Marcus moer you can follow me on Twitter at Marcus cormo joining me today as always is Le mol you can follow him on Twitter mbcb we're going to answer your Twitter questions today including which players exceeded expectations in week one how can the Cowboys now start the plan for a future without Dak in 2028 29 wherever whenever that happens but let's start with the Jake Ferguson news so yeah L luckily it seems like the Cowboys lucked out here Jake Ferguson has a MCL sprain in a bone bruise when it initially happened my fear was that this was a season long injury now it appears that there's a chance he could play in week two but if we've learned anything about Mike McCarthy he's gonna air on the side of caution with this I'm gonna bet that he doesn't play in week two if he doesn't how do the Cowboys replace his production Hunter lipy no uh listen first of all that was the first guy that that was mentioned when they talked about the Fergus so I I I I'm only half joking here um I I think that but I think you know the funny thing about that was when the question was asked I'm sure that the the answer that everyone was hoping for or looking for was who would be replacing Ferguson's Targets in the passing game and I think that the answer that McCarthy gave was who will be replacing Ferguson and all the other aspects of what Ferg of what uh Ferguson does right and so I think that you know like you're gonna throw the ball gonna see what you've got in John Stevens JR this week is he going to be able to come back off that hamstring injury uh if he is then you know you'll probably get an opportunity to see him dressed and maybe get a couple targets but I I do think that what they're going to do is is try to use scoon maker to kind of replace Fergie you know and this is his shot this is his opportunity um and I think in in in that section of the kind of going up the seam and being a big Target in in the in the area of the seam where Dak likes to throw I think you know that's something that's could do he's a even bigger Target than Ferguson is May he's not maybe quite the athlete as far as like getting up the field but he is incredibly athletic for a guy that size so I I think in the past target range it'll probably be kind of triangulated between you know scoony and and maybe just a couple more extra targets for the wide receivers uh probably running similar LS honestly they may just use CD in some of the targeting that that uh that they would have used for Ferguson because he likes to operate in the middle of the field Maybe you send him on a on a seam route so um I do think that it's going to be a kind of a collaborative effort right because uh you know fery does a lot of things for this offense and and who he is as a pass Target eater uh is not you know also touching necessarily the the other aspects of his game where I think you can kind of farm that out to right span brev Ford and and and lupy like I said but I think as far as past targeting goes it's going to be a combination of scony uh and then maybe just a slight uptick of white receiver targets I think scon Maker's going to get a lot of the inline work like he usually does but it'll just be uptick and snaps there I think you'll see him get the targets like within seven yards right like a lot of these like sit routes and maybe flat routes I think he'll probably get a lot of those but when it comes to like key third Downs my guess is it's just going to be more jayen tolber like I we didn't see a lot of jayen tobert in week one it was mostly CD lamb and Brandon Cooks I feel like this is probably the game for him him and we're going to talk about on tomorrow's show with Ross Jackson Marshon Latimore status because he's dealing with a hamstring injury if he's not out there that I really expect jayen Tolbert to have a big role because it probably means Paulson adbo is gonna be following cidd lamb so my guess is they'll be okay for a week or two the problem is Laya like once we start to get further along in the season you're going to need Ferguson's playmaking ability and Yak ability I think they can certainly survive a game or two without it yeah I mean I think you know the first part of that sentence really supported the second part of the sentence there you're right is that I think they are going to need him later in the season which does to me again further support the idea that it would be smart to let Fergie sit out this game if possible yeah and they've got enough tight end depth where they can get through the game right like I I expect to see more of brevan Spain Ford just as a the number two tight end more of inline blocker you just might not see as many routes run from the tight end as a whole and maybe that means more kavante Turpin maybe that means more Hunter lipkey and running some 21 Personnel out there with three receivers but I they've got enough weapons and enough things they can do on offense to get by a week or so the problem is again once you get into the meat of your schedule yeah need as many of these Playmakers as possible when you play Baltimore when you play Pittsburgh you're gonna need these guys so for sure and listen I I listen we are not poo pooing this new New Orleans Saints no one game absolutely I I do think the other thing to keep in mind here is that they're going to be playing at home which which I think you know helps the Cowboys if they want to kind of even further open things up a little bit more to kind of just you know redistribute those pass targets to a wide receiver I think it makes a little bit more sense to do it this week uh so yeah if you had to if you had to have him miss a week I think it it it isn't going to kill you to have Ferguson necessarily missed this week against the Saints I mean and look against the Browns last week that's one of the best defenses in the league and really didn't have a big role only a couple catches mostly underneath stuff and you were still fine on offense now I think you're going to need to score more on offense right like I don't know if you're gonna get a punt return for a touchdown right and the Saints have a better offense than Cleveland did at least going into the this week so you might need to score 27 28 points and that might be a little bit harder without Jake Ferguson and this is where I want you to talk for a minute or so about Hunter liy like if the if the role is to not have him one for one replace Jake Ferguson but to see an increase in snaps what would that look like for Hunter liy I I think it's you know it's it's it's a combin here's the thing is that they've used him in a wide variety of roles I mean clearly he's not just being deployed as a fullback I I think when when discussing you know his replacement of of Ferguson I think you'll see him literally line up in line at times as a tight end probably I don't think we actually oh no we actually did see that last week but I think you will see maybe a little bit more of that I think you'll definitely see him line up as an H as a as an F like off the line of screamage as a wing uh you're going to see him as a fullback as you have uh and you'll see him as a running back which is another thing that he's been doing so I think that ultimately what it will mean is that you know uh uh maybe instead of 12 Personnel on this run that you want to execute you're running uh a 21 personnel and and he's coming off the wing and executing the same block just from maybe from a different spot right and and and maybe you know you have him run a route that you would have liked Ferguson running uh against this defense but you have him running it from the wing spot or you know you know that sort of thing so I just think he's the kind of athlete that can create mismatches because obviously you're not going to waste a corner on him you're not necessarily going to put a safety on him with all the other weapons that the Cowboys have on the field uh and so that's where I really love love him right is because you can get through all your progressions and then suddenly you get down to your last regression and oh I've got a fullback mismatched with a uh Zone Corner in the in the uh in the flat I don't think he's gonna make that tackle if I can make it out to Fergie and and and he's able to kind of bang away a little bit on on some of the smaller players so uh yeah I I think I just think that he can be a a a mismatch player for down roster Defenders who are kind of just taking the leftovers and I think that that's a really great way to like you know kind of optimize your opportunities on each snap last thing this is a very big opportunity for Luke Schoonmaker even if Ferguson plays I got to assume that he's going to be limited like Cowboys spent a second round pick on Luke scon maker because they believe he can be a quality starting tight end he's healthy this is a big opportunity for him so I can't wait to see him play all right ly Let's uh let's talk about some players that exceeded expectations in week one we will get to that next this episode episode is brought to you by FanDuel you've heard us talk a lot about FanDuel America's number one sports book we get something a little bit different for you this week now through September 22nd all fandu customers can bet $5 and get 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some real NFL talk added the loton local experts and you get unprecedented in NFL insights hot opinions detail breakdowns all in 30 minutes it's the new loton NFL and it's twice a day make the madman Tyler Rolland in the barber Tony Wiggins your second listen at the new loton NFL on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast all right Len this next question comes from at bigor squeak he wants to know great name uh he said we've had four rookies gon BB nean and Carson all play a significant amount of snaps in week one which of those four players exceeded your expectations the most the most I think that's the key thing because I would say that I think that all four of them exceeded my expectations I mean they they all played fantastically on Sunday so uh I I guess I I would have been really surprised even knowing the situation with the tackles to see Marshon nean coming away from this game with six pressures man like that's I I I I think you know we've seen all the kayin Carson when when he got into uh training camp camp and started practicing immediately looked like he belonged like there was Zero like at no point during training camp did he look like a rookie or look lost or look uh uh like he didn't know what he was doing so when when Bland got hurt and it was we all knew that was Carson was gonna be going into the spot we never had any question like it was oh yeah okay here's Carson's shot you know we didn't even have a conversation like hey these are the free agent Corners that are available or hey did the Cowboys make a mistake by not signing Gilmore I mean we could have maybe we're still wrong on that but through one week doesn't seem to be an issue you know I think with gon we've talked about giden all offseason long about that matchup specifically right and I think he struggled I think he you battled through it but I think he did a fine job I don't know that he exceeded my expectations no I think he was like right around what we were hoping for probably EXA we knew it was going to be a struggle just don't let miles G ruin the game Cooper BB I think was the only is the other guy that could be cont this list because I expected him to be uh a a a serviceable solid Center and I think he was a little bit better than that right I think he was even a little bit better than I expected I think for me defensive lineman is such a difficult position to to crack into as as a as a you know as a rookie especially well I mean I think both defensive tackle and defensive both very difficult to crack in now especially when you're coming from a smaller school right Marsha nean definitely played some some higher level competition he went to the Senior Bowl he definitely is not you know this isn't new to him necessarily but if if we're talking about like expectations versus where you know where they produced like the fact that he came into his first game was not the starter at defensive end you know so he didn't get like the Lion Share necessarily of of the of the snaps at defensive end but still managed six pressures and and and a QB hit and I think to do that in your first week um uh I I think that's really really impressive and it it kind of shows you uh I think we weren't surprised about the Run game stuff that stuff like I I knew that he could probably come in because he's just powerful in the way he plays the way he was able to kind of Bend and get around the corner like that's stuff that seems you know more exceedingly new and I think that we have gotten a player in marshan neand that is maybe a rung higher than all of us kind of expected when we when we drafted him yeah nean I thought was really good I mean you could see him driving these tackles back like I Cleveland has some athletic tackles that don't necessarily have a lot of power and it was just a bad matchup for them with Marsha nean uh I'm curious I think there's one of two things that could happen with nean as the season goes along right like I could see as the year progresses I could see offensive tackles when they get more tape on nean like preparing for the power maybe we don't see him being as productive but I also could see nean the more he plays developing some counters to the power and some other moves and if he can do that now we're talking about like a real impact Defender because if you have power and a couple other moves off of that that's when you come become really hard to stop so if I had to bet I think Nan's gonna be a player that actually progresses quite a bit as the season goes along and it doesn't hurt that it seems like he's got that kind of mentality where he wants to be really really good we just need to see him develop some pass rush moves and maybe it doesn't happen until year two but so far what we saw in week one and what we've seen in preseason in the training camp it's hard not to be highly encouraged yeah I mean I think just where we've seen his Improvement as a player since college right like since not having not even played games he's improved this offseason so much so uh yeah I think you know as the season goes on as he sees more as he starts to kind of you know internalize what the the his playing time a little bit uh and seeing himself on film you know he'll develop counters he's already well on his way the fact that he's able to kind of get around the corner and be as flexible and bendy as he is around the corner is that's that's seemingly a new development so he's already developing his game as he's going along so I'm excited to see where it's going to be in a couple games from now can can I give you one non rookie that I thought perform expectations I mean dear Demar and overshown is an easy answer so I'm not gonna give you that one how about Eric Kendricks um I not that I thought Kendricks was going to struggle or anything like that but if I would have told you six tackles two sacks and one interception and first game of the year I don't think you would have believed me right like I think we've kind of glossed over just how good Eric Kendricks was because overshown had a couple massive plays and everybody got really excited about rightfully so I I I told Pete on the locked on Sports Today Show that uh I I got some Advanced metrics from some inside folks I know that that apparently Kendricks is on Pace for 32 interceptions and 16 sacks this year so uh other way around other way other way around 32 sacks 16 which is still a fine it's it's a fine season I guess um yeah I mean look you know I I think it's a couple things one um clearly he's just very comfortable playing in this defense he understands you know where what his assignment is he understands every aspect of it very deeply and it's it's you know we talk about internalizing right like he's internalized this defense you know to himself uh in a way that that is second nature right and and again it's just he's just he's just so instinctual and and and he understands exactly you know he understands offenses and how they work the question W with him was you know how much does he have physically left in the tank and I don't know that I saw anything from him with the Chargers that made me think that he had lost a step necessarily no he's not the same guy he wasn't Minnesota but that doesn't mean he can't be a productive linebacker yeah or or very good you know because he was a All Pro at Minnesota so you know you know being a very good linebacker is I will accept right very much so so uh you know I think having a guy like that to it's almost like Brandon Cooks right in the same sense where it's a he's a plus player he's not your Superstar but the other aspect that you get out of it is that he's making all the other guys around him better too like he's bringing them along with him so uh yes he's a positive plus player I did not expect him to have so so much of an impact as he did in that game um but I I do think that he is going to be a big player for this defense throughout the season even if he isn't like you know sha Lee level of of of affecting the the defense type Defender I I think his presence and him being better than average linebacker uh around guys like overon and Clark as they start to level up I think is GNA be huge and this is one of the things that I noticed when I was watching the sounds from the sidelines which is always fantastically done by dallascowboys.com uh it's like he's talking to the linebackers pregame and he's being the leader which the Cowboys needed but like you look at some of the linebackers he's talking to and like over shon's never played in an NFL game before uh Deone Clark is a young player I mean uh leafu has never played in a game before like this is why you you need players like Eric Kendrick and this is why it was such a big signing for the cowys to get him to like just have somebody that's been in all of these wars right so far so good for Eric can I one two more people real quick we'll go quickly we don't even talk Jordan Phillips and lynval Jo don't need to say much about it but the fact that they were able to get in there and give you that quality of snaps early on do their jobs A+ love that which one of those guys is bigger right now Jordan Phillips it is crazy like he's playing three technique and he is clearly bigger than lindvall Joseph right like I'm not crazy right you see all that too it was just listen you and I both watched a lot of the all 22 compared to what we saw last year for their defense tackles to this year like it just looks so funny onfilm it's like it's like it's like we were playing with with like linebackers at defensive tackle last year or something right yeah it's wild they are enormous and it's not it's wild to see run plays where the middle of of our defensive line is just like two dudes standing up going yeah we're not going anym yeah those guys those guys do not get moved which is really nice and that's what you need in Mike simmer defense uh all right let's talk about Dak Prescott fresh off a four-year deal so what are we going to talk about of course when are the Cowboys going to replace them we will get to that next this episode is brought to you by eBay Motors passion drive and patience it's the formula for winning championships and it's also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to Peak Performance superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you're into speed power or style eBay Motors has got you covered with over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die you'll always find find exactly what you're looking for and with eBay guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back because with eBay Motors you're burning rubber and not cash with all the parts you needed the prices you want it's easy to make your car the nvp and bring home huge wins keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com eligible items only exclusions apply eBay guaranteed fit only available to us customers welcome back to the loton Cowboys podcast every dayers on tomorrow show it's a crossover edition of the loton Cowboys podcast with rock Ross Jackson from loton Saints we talk about the defensive coordinators in this match up we're gon to talk about uh Mike Zimmer's impact what Derek Carr is going to try to accomplish in this game so make sure you T tune in for that L let's finish up here with a question uh about the Cowboys succession plan for Dak Prescot which again I I understand the Ridiculousness of it but this question comes from olly he wants to know now that the deal is done with Dak and he's locked up for the next five years right do you expect the Cowboys to draft a quarterback relatively soon and let him sit behind Dak as early as the first round to be clear to the question person who asked the question it's a very great it's a great question not we're not laughing at the question they laughing at the general idea that that Cowboys you know are are looking for success for running backs quarterbacks it's you know the most popular my grandfather used to always say the most popular cowboy uh uh who whoever plays to the cowes at any given time as the backup quarterback oh you have no idea I was a huge Clint sterer fan back in the early 2000s so I totally understand that um so yeah to answer the question I and I think it's it is smart to talk about it now because like you know this you we don't know how many of these more contracts he's gonna have in his career and as Todd Archer and we we've mentioned on this show as Todd Archer said Dak will have been if he finishes this contract will have been the longest tenure Dallas C starting Dallas cbus quarterback in history so and I don't see why he wouldn't with all the guaranteed money the Cowboys have tied up like it seems like it is time to kind of start considering what you need to do moving on and I think the Cowboys have kind of done that at different steps you know obviously that's part of what the Tre Lance situation is whe however you feel about that I mean that's an effort to try to like you know kind of get into that situation and I think that it's it's a good example of the Cowboys need to have a holistic plan here right like I I think it's it's easy to say that oh the Cowboys need to draft a quarterback in the first round and that's how they'll find a their their quarterback that's not how the Cowboys found their last two quarterbacks to be honest and and so uh I think that you know it's it's gonna have to continual to be they need to fold quarterback into the larger plan that they have for free agency which is attack it at all times you know find Opportunities find deals uh and and and and take advantage of of them and I think you know with the trade L situation that's one way to do it right to to buy low on a guy that is being sold uh that that that that you know that somebody liked a lot that that you feel like has developable potential uh and I think that that's you know one way to do it obviously the draft is going to be uh the the the most traditional way to kind of go this route so so but if you do that ultimately you're sacrificing obviously a premium pick to to go get a quarterback if you're talking about a first round now I I do think that you know the the old Green Bay methodology of of you know drafting a quarterback or taking a quarterback every year is another way of doing this if you wanted to kind of constantly churn that third quarterback spot by you know just kind of drafting fourth and fifth round quarterbacks and see if you hit on those as I say with the Cowboys having so many comp picks every year you could theoretically do that like hey we're just going to spend a early day three pick on a quarterback every year and if we hit once set of every 20 picks that we spend it's worth it it's worth it absolutely so yeah I think that they those are all those are three different methods of attacking this High pick low pick free agents you know uh uh weird uh uh uh roster situations other leagues AFL you know what I'm saying like you you have to attack all of it and I think that's the really the key thing is that it's not it's not going to be as straightforward as okay it's uh 2028 uh we we're getting close to the end of this deal time for us to go into the 2029 draft and we are drafting a quarterback and this has been our plan you have to you have to find a couple different Avenues because you don't want to get overleveraged into having to draft a quarterback for a succession plan uh because you weren't planning uh up before that I I just want to add in a couple things number one I think what makes this hard is you don't know who your coach or what your system is going to be for the next part of Dax cont like I think it would be really easy not really easy that's the what I think it would be easier to draft a quarterback if you knew Mike McCarthy was going to be here for the next six seven years and you draft the type of quarterback that he likes but with the possibility of Mike McCarthy being gone as soon as 2025 it makes things a little bit more challenging right the other thing that I would say is I think the teams that have the best success doing this are the ones that aren't eagerly drafting a quarterback because feel like they have to they're drafting quarterbacks because they like a certain quarterback right like the I don't think the Packers had any intention of drafting a quarterback during the MVP seasons for Aaron Rodgers but Jordan love fell to them and they really like Jordan love right um the Chiefs now the Chiefs traded up for Patrick Mahomes in 2017 but he was their number one player on on the board by far and he fell I think out of the top 10 or right to 10 right so I think you have to be you have to kind of fall in love with a quarterback rather than falling in love with the idea of drafting a quarterback and I think if the Cowboys do that they're going to be just fine yeah yeah I mean don't don't get too thirsty you know that's that's that's how you draft Pat poorly it's like when you when you're too desperate for it you're forcing the issue um you're you convince yourself you convince yourself Daniel Jones could be a quarterback in the NFL guys the problem right yeah you don't want to do that and that's that's how you that's how you miss and that's how you get get a bad quarterback that you still continually convince yourself can do it uh you you sign him to extensions because you have no other plan you know so uh uh yeah one one other thing I want to add in I I don't think it's smart for the Cowboys to draft a quarterback let's say inside the top 100 until at least the 2026 draft right because that would be going into the year two of dak's new extension the hard part of this is the way the contracts are going to line up you want it to be where you're still getting some value on a rookie contract when Dak leaves if you draft a quarterback in round one let's say next year by the time that guy is going to be playing you're already gonna have to be signing him to an extension and that makes things really tricky so I think drafting quarterbacks on day three you can do that at any time drafting a guy inside the top 100 I think you have to wait at least a little bit wouldn't you agree yeah yeah and in fact I would actually say that I would probably if you're going to draft in the top 90 or 100 picks I might might actually wait until Dak is gone you know like I I actually think that the smarter succession plan is to have an intermediate quarterback like that's why I liked the idea earlier if the Cowboys had decided to move on from Dak which again I wasn't supporting necessarily but I think as far as the plan goes having a Trey Lance type that could be a interstitial quarterback to help you lose enough games to get to the drafting section you need to get the quarterback you want I I I think that that that helps right cuz then it doesn't force your hand to like have to feel like you have to go into the next year to draft a quarterback out of the class if you don't like it uh and if you do like it you can you can go and get a guy at the top of the draft you can trade if you want to but having a a a third option there like someone already in house to kind of you know the Gap a little bit yeah take away some of the desperation I think that that would definitely be beneficial and and just help you like I said not draft thir which is really a problematic for for when you're trying to get a quarterback all right that is it for today's show we want to thank you for making loton Cowboys your first listen every single day go make the new loton NFL your second listen two shows every single day one in the morning with Tyler Roland one in the afternoon with Tony Wiggins go check them out they are absolutely fantastic Go download our podcast wherever you get your podcast we are free and available on all platforms check us out on YouTube as well you can follow Lon on Twitter mbcb I'm at mark _ moer and we will see you right back here tomorrow