Dallas Cowboys News During OTAs On DaRon Bland, Jack Sanborn, Kenneth Murray And Jaydon Blue

Dallas Cowboys News During OTAs On DaRon Bland, Jack Sanborn, Kenneth Murray And Jaydon Blue

Welcome back into the Cowboys report. Tom Downey here as always. Coming up on today’s show, we’ll discuss some additional news, notes, updates out of the ongoing Cowboys OTAAS, including some linebacker maybe developments. Don Bland role and contract talk and Jaden Blue with high expectations for himself for 2025. Before we dive into that, I know George Pickkins is wearing 13 at Cowboys OTAAS. That remains more of a temporary number. He may or may not change it. Now, you can pre-order his jersey on Fanatics at chatsports.com/pickins. It’ll ship out with the proper number once that one is finalized. So, if you want the Pickkins Cowboys jersey, get yours today over at chatsports.com/pickins. Let’s talk linebackers, then. The Dallas Morning News mentioned Jack Samborn, the free agent addition from the Bears and Kenneth Murray, the trade acquisition from the Titans as the top middle linebacker options. Calvin Watkins leading leading this uh writing on the piece saying, “We have Jack Sanborn and Kenneth Murray as the co-leaders at he said the position, but it was middle linebacker.” So for clear there, Sanborn, the free agent pickup, seems the favorite. Murray acquired in a trade might surprise in training camp to make this a close race. I find that reporting really interesting to the point that it’s kind of the opposite of what I would have guessed expected based on the amount of investment into each player. Kenneth Murray is making almost 7x what Jack Sanborn is making this upcoming season. Now, I like Sanborn. This was the Bears acquisition. Matt Eberfloose knows him super well. There’s a trust level there. I think Sanour could be like in an ideal world, it’s kind of like what he was for the Bears. He’s like the third linebacker, but can start at middle, can start at weak side, can strong can start, excuse me, at strong side. He he could be an early green dot player, which is is almost I think more important than middle linebacker, weak side linebacker designations, especially in the more modern day NFL with the way things are spread out and nickels and all that stuff. I I could see that being the case, but it’s not like he’s got experience on his side. Kenneth Murray’s been far more productive in terms of snaps and tackles and although the raw accounting stats, he’s also getting paid a lot more. So, if I I would be I found that report really interesting to where I’m like, hm, really? That’s okay. That that’s that’s curious. Like that’s that’s noteworthy newsworthy that that is what the Dallas Morning News is reporting. More on the linebacker group to come. But first, who would you rather start? JS for Jack Samborn, KM for Kenneth Murray. Let me know in the comments section of today’s show. This will be the pinned comment on today’s show. Now, it wasn’t just Sanborn and Leafoul the Cowboy the Dallas Morning News discussed about the linebacker room. They also mentioned Maurice Leafoul who obviously kind of got pressed into more duty with some injuries to Eric Kendricks and whatnot as the year went along. I thought was especially when Overshot went down again too, unfortunately. I thought overall was was pretty good. Here’s what Calvin Watkins wrote on Leafoul. The coaches also love what Maurice Leafoul brings the enters year two. He has speed, not afraid to contact. Two things needed from that position. Leafoul mainly played offball linebacker last season, but moved to middle when Eric Kendricks was injured. So here’s my issue with and this is like kind of why I question all this reporting. Now, first off, offball linebacker is middle linebacker. like middle linebacker is an offshoot of offball linebacker. It’s the square rectangle thing. It’s not a triangle. The the difference is offball versus edge. Leaf is not playing edge rusher. The way that reads, I think they mean weak side linebacker. Like weak side linebacker versus middle linebacker. Those are different. Not really that much in the modern day NFL, but those have some differences of like taking on more blockers versus being able to be kept clean a bit more and utilizing some more speed. Like that’s the typical archetype, right? So I red flags going off when I when I read that. I do think Leaf Foul will be a part of this team. I think this is really kind of almost a good jumping off point of like, okay, how does this linebacker room look? How does it all look? Because Leafoul is worthy of playing some snaps. Sambour can play snaps. Murray can play snaps. You’re not going to have Demorian oversh he’s he’s gonna miss some time, which is really unfortunate because he was playing super good football last year. Going to be in a lot of two base sets. You’ll utilize some three linebackers. Those are probably your top three. Who plays where? Who’s your one, your two, your three? Almost a better way to look at this uh from a linebacker perspective once Overshung comes back and is potentially the one. Watkins wrote with offball linebacker. Again, it’s kind of why I think it’s weak side because that fits pretty well for oversh out while recovering from knee surgery. The Cowboys might go deep at this spot once the 53man roster is finalized in September. Okay, so again, what is deep? Four is not deep. Is five average? Is six deep or is six like still kind of average-ish? Like define deep for me here. I I am extremely curious how this entire linebacker room plays out because you can substitute the positions and change them all around. It doesn’t even matter. It’s almost one, two, three really. And then, you know, four, five, six with Sanborn, Clark, and James kind of, you know, snake style. I I don’t know what what the rotation’s going to look like. I don’t know who’s going to play where. I don’t know who’s going to have the green dot. That’s that’s important to figure out. That’s what training camp is for, obviously. I think linebacker just of like figuring out the rotation, the order, all of that is one of the more intriguing spots to me on this Cowboys roster. Now, piggybacking off of the other report there from Watkins, how many linebackers make the Cowboys 53man unit? Let me know in the comments section of today’s show. Let’s talk to Ron Bland. like he’s got a real chance to make the Cowboy to play nickel corner for the Cowboys because of just the holes they have and timing and maybe end of season plays more nickel. I do wonder how on board he is. And this is something we kind of mentioned weeks ago going into the draft like what happens here will inform this. Remember Ron Bland is in a contract year. That that is the reality of the of of where he is at. He probably wants to play more on the outside. Here’s what Clarence Hill reported. now did spoke. It’s okay. Cowboys corner uh probo quarterback Don Bland worked in the slot today as I merge a bunch of words there with Caum Andrew Booth on the outside. One of those I hate. I asked Bland about it and he said he first play outside and what is a contract year for him. He said he would be talking to the Cowboys about it. Now again, he’s on board. He’ll do whatever is needed of him, but there is a clear preference. You know, he he had five interceptions in 2022 playing a lot of nickel and he had nine in 2023 with a bunch of pick sixes. We we can point out that a he can do both. He should get paid like both. That’s not It does interject though more potential drama into his contract situation if it’s not crystal clear. You know, Jier Alexander can play the nickel, but he mostly plays on the outside first and foremost. The the quarterback contract market has exploded. Derrick Stingley at $30 million. JC Horn at 25. Ramsay Certan 24 respectively. I don’t know what Bland’s market’s going to look like. I think it’s going to be expensive, but I don’t know for certain how big it’s going to be. What I do know is this. There is a gulf of difference between outside guys and pure nickels. First off, completely redone this off season, but it’s still Kyler Gordon at 13.33 million. That that’s a fraction of what the top end outside corners make. So, if I’m Don Bland in his camp, I don’t even want to have the threat of possibility of not being viewed as valuably on the open market in the free agency market by my own current team because I played a lot of nickel this season. There is a solution here I think all sides should like. Now, before we move on and get to the next part of the show, first off, thank you. We already passed the 216,000 sub mark today on the Jaylen Ramsay video. Appreciate that. Make sure you guys check it out if you haven’t already. Let’s keep going. More subs, more free videos every single day right here on the Cowboys report. When it comes to the Ron Bland situation of, hey, he wants to play on the outside more, but he’ll play nickel, but he’s in a contract here. He probably wants to play on the outside more to maximize the value. I think there’s actually a very easy solution for what to do here. Just pay him. paid Don Bland right now. Now, this of course assumes the Cowboys want Bland beyond 2025. I think it’d be weird if they didn’t. But if they’re confident and comfortable in the player, get the deal done. Then you don’t have to worry about him going, I’d rather play on the outside to maximize my earnings. He’s already maximized it. There’s no downside then for Bland. And your upside is you’re saving money because it is better. It is cheaper to pay early than paying late. Now, if you don’t pay at all, obviously paying cheaper is not or paying early is not cheaper, but if you believe in the player, you’re better off getting that deal done now. And if you can secure him long-term before another jump in the quarterback market, it’s probably a good thing. I don’t know what Bland’s market’s going to look like. Got to talk to the agent. I’m sure you can come up with a number that works for both sides. So, do you want to pay Don Bland? Y for yes, N for no. Let me know in the comments section of today’s show. Fun note, uh Jaden Blue, uh part of his talk with K. Adams predicted he would win NFL offensive rookie of the year. So, first off, I love the confidence, Jaden. Thank you. That I don’t really think there’s a different answer we would want the players to give other than immense confidence in themselves. I also am happy to know it’s just not going to happen. It’s incredibly unlikely that Jaden Blue will put up enough production to get the Rookie of the Year award. I’ll explain why in a little bit, but what do you think is the percent chance that Jaden Blue wins rookie of the year? Obviously, offensive rookie of the year. Let me know in the comments section of today’s show. These are the rookie of the year odds. The top two shouldn’t be a surprise. Ashton Genty, the Raiders lead back, is going to get 250 carries, whatever. Cam Ward, the Titans QB, the number one pick in the draft. Travis Hunter, the most hyped player in the draft, frankly. Ted Ro McMillan going to be receiver one pri for Carolina. Tyler Shuck might start the entire year for the Saints. Amarian Hampton, Quinn Sean Judkins, RJ Harvey, Tvon Henderson, they’re all going to be heavily involved and they were all day two or or earlier picks. Jackson Dart is up there at plus 2,200. It be a bad thing if he won. I don’t think he’s going to. Jaden Blue. These are all for FanDuel, by the way. Listed at plus 5,500. Incredible long shot. That is an implied probability of 1.79%. I think that’s actually pretty fair. I think there there is a scenario, in fact, that you might even be able to get decent odds on Jaden Blue ending the year with the most rushing yards total yards of offense among the Cowboys backs. Javvante Williams, Miles Sanders, Duce Vaughn, Phil Mafa, Lipkkey. I would anyone be that surprised if Jaden Blue led the team in yards on the ground? I wouldn’t be, but that number is probably not going to be 1,200 yards on the ground. It’s probably be more like 700ish like it was last year at Texas. I think Jaden Blue is going to offer a lot of things that the Cowboys need. I love the draft pick. It works. It’s explosive players. I want that. I wonder that type of guy in this back field. I think rookie of the year expectations is is probably just getting way too tipsy on the Kool-Aid.

Dallas Cowboys news on May 25th, 2025 as Cowboys OTAs are underway! Here’s what Cowboys Report host Tom Downey discusses on today’s show:
– Linebacker News from OTAs on Kenneth Murray, Jack Sanborn and Marist Liufau
– DaRon Bland role & contract impact
– Jaydon Blue predicts he’ll win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year

George Pickens Cowboys Jerseys are available for pre-order! It’ll ship with the FINALIZED number: https://www.chatsports.com/pickens

The Dallas Morning News has mentioned Jack Sanborn and Kenneth Murray as the top MLB options. Here’s the report from Calvin Watkins: “We have Jack Sanborn and Kenneth Murray as the co-leaders at [middle linebacker] Sanborn, the free agent pickup, seems the favorite. Murray, acquired in a trade, might surprise in training camp to make this a close race. The coaches also love what Marist Liufau brings as he enters Year 2. Liufau has speed and is not afraid of contact, two things needed from that position. Liufau mainly played off-ball linebacker last season but moved to middle when Eric Kendricks was injured.” Some of that is … interesting to Cowboys Report host Tom Downey.

Cowboys rumors also involve DaRon Bland. That goes for both his contract (he’s entering the final year of his rookie deal) and his role for the Cowboys. Clarence Hill reports that Bland is open to playing both inside and outside, although he’d prefer to play on the outside in his contract season.

Agree or disagree with Cowboys Report host Tom Downey by commenting on today’s video:
– Pick a LB: Type ‘JS’ for Jack Sanborn or ‘KM’ for Kenneth Murray
– How many Linebackers make the Cowboys roster?
– Do you want to pay DaRon Bland? Type ‘Y’ for Yes, ‘N’ for No
– % chance Jaydon Blue wins rookie of the year?

Find Dallas Cowboys news, rumors & updates in real time by following Tom Downey on Twitter: http://x.com/whatgoingdowney

Even if you’re watching Law Nation, Mike Fisher, Attack! On Cowboys, FootsDaKing, Mark Holmes, Locked On Cowboys or 105.3 The Fan too, don’t miss these other Cowboys Report videos:
– 🚨 MAJOR REPORT: Cowboys INTERESTED In Jalen Ramsey Trade Per ESPN Insider? | Latest Cowboys Rumors – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2RslPt2sX0
– Dallas Cowboys Rumors: Sign Nick Chubb? Daron Payne Trade? Dak Prescott QB Ranking? | Mailbag – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6d25h8fKZk
– SURPRISE Cowboys Cut Candidates Ft. Miles Sanders, Sam Williams, Jalen Tolbert & 5 More Players – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYYU5KlPFJk

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Jaydon Blue predicted that he would win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. Blue is listed at +5500 to win ROTY, which is an implied probability of 1.79%. Here are the NFL Rookie of the Year Odds:
Ashton Jeanty (RB, LV): +250
Cam Ward (QB, TEN): +380
Travis Hunter (WR, JAC): +900
Tetaiora McMillan (WR, CAR): +1000
Tyler Shough (QB, NO): +1200
Omarion Hampton (RB, LAC): +1400
Quinshon Judkins (RB, CLE): +1600
RJ Harvey (RB, DEN): +2000
TreVeyon Henderson (RB, NE): +2200
Jaxson Dart (QB, NYG): +2200

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Cowboys 2025 NFL Draft Picks:
Round 1, Pick 12 – Tyler Booker (OG, Alabama)
Round 2, Pick 44 – Donovan Ezeiruaku (EDGE, Boston College)
Round 3, Pick 76 – Shavon Revel (CB, ECU)
Round 5, Pick 149 – Jaydon Blue (RB, Texas)
Round 5, Pick 152 – Shemar James (LB, Florida)
Round 6, Pick 204 – Ajani Cornelius (OT, Oregon)
Round 6, Pick 217 – Jay Toia (DT, UCLA)
Round 7, Pick 239 – Phil Mafah (RB, Clemson)
Round 7, Pick 247 – Tommy Akingbesote (DT, Maryland)

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